You know, I often think about my granddaughter Arie every day.

I think about the things I can’t control—like how long I’m going to be here.

I don’t know when my death date will be.

And let’s be honest…

We all gotta go.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about breadcrumbs.

If I don’t reach the monetary amount I want to have set aside for her, then what else can I leave behind?

What other things can I have in place that still speak beyond the grave?

Intellectual property means a lot to me.

That’s why I’ve got trademarks in place, and a long list I still need to secure.

One day, I want to sit down with Arie and talk to her about what trademarks are, how to monitor them, and the importance of renewing them every 10 years. I want her to know:

You can own them forever.

And the benefits that come with that are generational.

That’s legacy.

I also want to talk to her about the custodial account I’ve set up in her name.

I want to make sure there are guardrails in place, so that she can have access to the money throughout her life.

Not all at once.

Not recklessly.

But in a way that gives her time for discoverability, to figure out who she is, what she loves, and what she wants to build.

So that she can take that money and walk into entrepreneurship with purpose.

I used to play this song by KB all the time, It’s called “Nobody Owns Us.”

It’s a reminder that when you own your business, you’re not owned by anybody.

You’re the controller.

You’re the visionary.

You have options.

That freedom hits different.

I think about the businesses I’m building now…

The systems I’m creating…

And I’m making sure the SOPs—Standard Operating Procedures—are intact.

That way, Arie can walk right into them, or she can place somebody else in that position and just work the system.

God gave us an amazing gift when it comes to imagination.

So we really, really have to think big.

When I wrote my first book, I had no clue what I was doing.

But I knew one thing:

I wanted to own the process.

I wanted to create my own publishing company, and I wanted to call it Murphy Madison.

I wanted her name tied to it.

If she ever wants to become an author, we’ve got a system in place.

She can write, self-publish, market, and distribute.

She can own the whole process.

She can be a super communicator.

She can sell her own books.

And make way more than a traditional publishing house would ever offer her.

I’m not there yet.

But I’m building it, thinking about her every step of the way.

Doing my best that every time I see her, I communicate something to her, about trademarks, business, entrepreneurship, and systems.

If God allows me to live long enough, then yes—I plan to do everything that’s in my heart.

But if I don’t?

At least I got started.

That’s what breadcrumbs are.

If I had to go today…

What foundation have I laid?

The foundation matters.

God Bless The Entrepreneur®️