“The strength and persuasiveness of a leader with a clear vision cannot be underestimated. In the beginning, take the time to build a solid vision; it will make a profound difference over time.”
— Geery Howe, Planning for Change
When I started my first business in 2017, I remember sitting on my very first webinar as a “business owner.”
And I say that in quotes because it felt strange to even call myself that. I was a stay-at-home mom with four little kids, a four-year-old family laptop, a half-finished Pepsi (in the days before I drank coffee), and an idea that I could help small-town businesses show up better online.
I had no formal business training. None.
But I knew how to take someone’s story and turn it into digital content that made their customers feel seen. I had done it for my classroom back in my teaching days to procure books for my students, fundraised for various organizations in our community with viral videos, and now I was strategically making Facebook posts for my dad’s startup business.
Storytelling and client deliverables? That part I could do in my sleep.
Behind the scenes, though?
I wasn’t totally confident.
I felt like I was making it all up as I went.
Planning. Strategy. Marketing. Sales. Bookkeeping. Accounting (which I very quickly learned is NOT the same thing as accounting). Leadership. Team building. Customer service. And on and on and on.
So when I got an ad from a business expert who could help me make sense of my entire business’ marketing, lead gen, and sales in a 60-minute webinar? Say less. Take my money and give me the blueprint. I’m in.
While that 60 minutes definitely did NOT teach me everything I needed in order to run my business (seemed too good to be true, right?), she did give me one takeaway that stuck with me for the first half-decade of Molly Knuth Media: “Start with your vision.”
Creating the Vision
Imagine if you will, 30-year-old Molly dreaming big about what was possible for her future while in the home office of her reality: one baby in a standup playplace, two little girls simultaneously coloring and playing barbies in the middle of the room, and another one child needing to be picked up at prek in an hour. And me, sitting at my corner desk staring up at the ceiling thinking about what supports business owners like me needed to make their business possible.
Remember, I had no formal business management or strategic background .
I didn’t know what a strategic plan was, much less how to craft one.
I didn’t know what an org chart was, a Gantt chart, a pivot table, none of it.
But I knew that what I was doing in business so far had a lot of crossover from skills I used in the classroom, and I thought, why not do the same thing in this vision casting scenario.
So I drew a bubble chart-— thank you, teacher education and my years in front of classrooms of 13-18 year olds.
At the center of the page in front of me I drew a circle and typed: “Small Business Advising Agency, Molly Knuth, CEO”
Around it additional bubbles splintered off representing various departments and specialists: digital marketing services, strategic support, and eventually a network of experts — legal, HR, finance, real estate — all the things small businesses need but don’t always know how to access.
And then I went even bigger with what I saw possible.
- A building on main street in my hometown to restore and revitalize.
- Office space.
- A team of local moms in flexible jobs.
- A child-friendly space where kids could play while they work.
- Maybe even a little coffee shop we could share space with for the community.
- A ripple effect of revitalizing small-town main street life.
Looking back, that single sheet of paper I drew up on a run-of-the-mill afternoon was not just my 10-year-plan for Molly Knuth Media, it was my vision, my mission, and my values all in one. Hindsight is 20/20 — I know now those should be separate things — but at the time, it worked.
The Problem with my Vision
That page lived above my desk for years.
It grounded me.
It kept me motivated to accomplish the steps it took to make the big dream possible.
It kept me moving forward when I had no idea what I was doing.
And by year five, I had made significant progress on many of the bubbles on my chart.
And then in year six, I took the biggest step towards making the 10-year-plan a reality — my husband and I bought a building on Main Street in my hometown that would serve as the new MKM HQ.
It was all perfect, right?
.…until it wasn’t.
Because here’s the part that piece of paper didn’t account for:
My life had changed in those six years since I crafted that bubble chart.
I had changed.
In 2017, I was raising four little kids — mostly home, mostly napping, mostly watching Daniel Tiger, mostly schedules lead by me. My business could fit in the margins of our day.
By 2022, I was raising an 11, 9, 8, and 7-year-old. Full schedules. School demands. Activities. A household that needed more of me than ever. And in the middle of that, one of our children experienced a medical emergency that left her with ongoing physical needs, therapy appointments, and doctor visits.
My life as a mother had categorically changed, and my life looked different in this season with older kids.
And as a business owner, I now had more experience and more responsibilities that I had taken on as opportunities presented themselves.
What didn’t change was that plan on a page. It was already printed…in color! How could I ever change that plan? (*she says with just a hint of sarcasm)
When it came time to make a blueprint for renovation plans in my dream building on main street, and my husband asked, “Where do you want your office?”
I froze. I could not make a decision.
My once-sparkly vision had become a black cloud.
I couldn’t make sense of it anymore.
I wasn’t sure why I even wanted it anymore, other than to check off that part of my bubble chart.
And that’s when I realized something important:
I didn’t fail to execute my vision.
My vision failed to evolve along with me.
I had built a beautiful dream on this piece of paper, but it wasn’t a living, flexible, shared vision that I could bring others into, including new versions of myself.
And that experience changed everything about how I now think about leadership. Yes, I should start with a vision, but that vision should be clear and inclusive and supported by a mission and values to keep everyone in the organization oriented not just in their actions, but in their being.
Why Vision Matters
A vision answers one simple question:
What does the world look like if we succeed?
Not just what your business looks like structurally.
Not just what you and your team will do in your operations.
But what kind of world you’re committed to creating through your work.
In Geery Howe’s book, Planning for Change, he writes: “Effective visions have six key characteristics: imaginable, desirable, feasible, focused, flexible, and communicable.”
A true vision:
- Unites people
- Guides decisions
- Anchors teams when things feel uncertain
And just like people grow through seasons of life, businesses and organizations grow too. A vision isn’t something you write once and laminate, like I did. It’s something you return to, refine, and realign as you evolve.
Otherwise, you end up living out a vision that belonged to a past version of yourself or your organization.
What About Mission?
If vision is the horizon and where you aspire to get to, mission is the path under your feet that takes you there.
A mission answers:
- What do we do?
- Who do we serve?
- How do we bring our vision to life in everyday action?
Your mission should show up in meetings.
In team culture.
In client experience.
In how you make decisions on tired Tuesday afternoons.
Your mission isn’t just a sentence on your website or a pretty poster on your conference room wall.
It’s a lived practice that you execute every single day and incorporate into every offer and interaction.
And Values?
Values are your non-negotiables.
They outline:
- How you treat people
- How you lead
- How you make hard decisions
- What you refuse to compromise
They preserve the core of who you are, even as everything else grows and changes.
If Any of This Feels Familiar…
If you’ve ever felt a once-clear vision turn into something foggy…
If you’ve ever thought, “I’m doing all the things, but I’m not sure if they’re the right things anymore…”
You’re not alone.
Most leaders start with instinct, heart, and hustle. Very few are taught how to build and steward living vision, mission, and values that grow alongside real life.
Without that clarity:
- Individuals feel disconnected and untethered
- Teams feel reactive instead of aligned
- Opportunities feel confusing instead of obvious
- Growth feels heavy instead of meaningful
But when leaders take time to reflect intentionally:
- Decisions simplify
- Teams unify
- Energy focuses
- Work becomes deeply meaningful
And that’s when leadership stops being just checklists and productivity for the sake of productivity and starts being on purpose.
What This Means for Molly (and The Restoration Project)
After that clouding of my vision in 2022 during what was supposed to be the culmination of my 10-year-plan, I slowed way way down.
I pared back my client list and service offerings.
I leaned out my team and contractors.
I took time to reflect on the important questions like “why am I doing this?” and “what do I really want my business to do for me?” I also asked the really big questions like “is owning and operating my own business even what is best for me and my family anymore?”
It was uncomfortable and scary, but ultimately, it helped me clarify what I wanted to do: I wanted to help ambitious women integrate what they did in their work with the reality of the season they were in at this stage of life. I let go of how that had to look, and just embraced this as my new mission in everything I did at MKM.
At the same time, I added a new, very aligned client to my roster – The Restoration Project. As I was exploring my big questions internally, I had external opportunities to grow and evolve in my role with the TRP team.
And now I’m living out my vision and purpose not as CEO of the small business advising agency I’d be operating by 2027, but as Managing Director of The Restoration Project. And it’s been such an aligned opportunity.
Which leads me to….
Our vision at The Restoration Project:
- A world that is caring enough to accept what is, and courageous enough to chase what could be.
- Organizations and individuals who live, lead, and work with meaning.
Our mission:
Build connection. Restore intention. Inspire action.
These statements were written over six years ago when Dream Builder Lindsay Leahy founded The Restoration Project. And just like my bubble chart, they deserve to be revisited — not because they’re wrong, but because we believe clarity and reflection are never-ending leadership practices, not one-time tasks.
With time and experience, we grow.
Our communities grow.
Our understanding deepens.
So our vision and mission must stay living, breathing, and aligned with what The Restoration Project is becoming and who we are here to serve.
An Invitation for Reflection and Contemplation
Before diving into deeper strategic work, start here with your own reflection and contemplation time:
1. What was the original dream that launched your work, whether personally or for your organization?
2. Where has life or growth changed since then?
3. Where does your current reality no longer match your original plan?
If you feel tension in those answers, that’s not failure.
That’s an invitation to realign and revise the vision and mission that guide you.
An Invitation to Go Deeper
At The Restoration Project, we’ve created a Strategic Reflection + Growing with Intention tool to guide individuals and teams through this discovery process, clarifying:
- Who you want to be
- What you want to contribute
- Who you are here to serve
- What you believe
- Where your greatest opportunities lie
Because when leaders live, lead, and work with meaning — the ripple effect reaches teams, families, communities, and beyond.
And that is the world we are here to build.
Written by: Molly Knuth, Managing Director at The Restoration Project
