Writer · Speaker · Founder
Ambition without abandonment.
Of ourselves. Of each other.
We deserve to build extraordinary lives without abandoning ourselves or each other in the process. I write, speak, and build for people and institutions that want to achieve a great deal and refuse to pay for it with their own wellbeing or anyone else’s.
800,000+ people in the community · 15,000+ Love Lives Here subscribers · Two books, Eyes On The Road and Keep It 100 · Featured in Forbes, Ebony, Billboard, Jet, and Rolling Out
The idea
We’ve created a false choice between caring for ourselves and caring for one another.
A healthy society should never ask us to pick one. Ambition, achievement, and excellence are worth wanting, and our ambitions should expand our capacity to live fully, love deeply, contribute meaningfully, and create opportunities for others to do the same.
I believe in agency, discipline, and personal responsibility. I also know that people live inside systems, communities, and circumstances that shape what is possible for them. Ambition Without Abandonment holds both truths at once.
01 — Don’t abandon yourself.
Pursue your ambitions without surrendering your health, dignity, values, relationships, or identity in exchange for external validation. Read the essays →
02 — Don’t abandon each other.
Our lives are interconnected. Practice solidarity, build meaningful relationships, and resist defining success only through individual advancement. Bring it to your team →
03 — Build things that don’t require abandonment.
Create organizations, businesses, communities, and institutions where people can thrive without sacrificing their humanity or depending on someone else’s exploitation. See the work →
One boundary
Refusing to abandon each other never obliges anyone to abandon themselves. Solidarity does not require self-erasure, and sometimes leaving is the right decision.
Where to start.
No. 1 · Read · Love Lives Here
Words for what you have always felt but never said.
Love Lives Here is my newsletter of essays about the private struggles people usually hide and the social conditions that shape them. More than 15,000 readers get a new essay every couple of weeks. Paid subscribers also receive Between Us, a monthly advice column built from reader questions.
No. 2 · Hire · Speaking and strategy
High performance without the hidden cost.
My signature keynote, Ambition Without Abandonment, gives leaders and teams a three-part framework: don’t abandon yourself, don’t abandon each other, and build things that don’t require abandonment. I also take on a small number of brand partnerships and strategy sprints each year.
No. 3 · Build · Selected work
I have to live this before I can ask it of anyone else.
I’m a husband, a father, and a founder working this philosophy out in real time. The books, businesses, and campaigns I have built are where I find out whether these ideas hold up.
Selected work
A few projects that show how I build.
A book, a line of art prints, an agency, and a product launch. Each case study covers the challenge, the decision I made, and what came of it.
Prints By Michell
Daily writing turned into a line of art prints and a working online store.
Eyes On The Road
A collection of short-form prose and personal reflections, published in 2024.
The Creative Summer Company
Co-founded in 2020 with my wife, Duanecia, to serve mission-driven brands. Its first-year work earned a Webby nomination.
Love Lives Here
Letters from Love Lives Here.
Honest essays about building a life you recognize, sent free every couple of weeks. Hosted on Substack. Unsubscribe at any time.
Speaking, partnerships, and advisory
Bring this conversation to your stage, your team, or your brand.
Tell me who will be in the room and what you want to be different for them afterward.