There is something I have not been able to do in over 20 years of running a business. Fully disconnect.
Every vacation has had an asterisk. A quick check of the inbox. A few minutes to handle something before Sara noticed. A call I told myself would only take 15 minutes. Business owners who have been in this long enough know exactly what I am describing.
This trip was different.
Sara and I celebrated our 25th anniversary this year. We took the family somewhere that required a flight and a willingness to leave the Texas work week behind. I made a decision before we ever boarded the plane: this time, I was going to be fully present.
The Decision Came First
I did not wait to see how it would feel once we landed. I made the call before we left. No checking in. No "just one quick email." I told myself — and more importantly, told Sara — that I was going to be where we were.
Part of what helped was the time zone. Being several hours removed from Central Texas meant that by the time the workday started in New Braunfels and Austin, we were already out living the morning together. The distance created a natural buffer.
But the real reason I could stay off my phone was not geography.
The CTTS Team Built Something That Does Not Require Me
Over the past several years, Team CTTS has worked hard to build the kind of processes and procedures that allow this business to run the way it should — without me needing to be the bottleneck.
I knew that intellectually. I had seen it in smaller moments. But I did not fully feel it until I was sitting at dinner with Sara, watching the sky change, and realized I had not thought about work in hours.
Nothing fell apart. Nobody needed a call. Every client was taken care of. Every situation that came up was handled the way we would have handled it together.
That is not a small thing. That is the product of years of deliberate work — systems, training, trust, and a team of people who care about doing this right even when I am not watching.
Team CTTS is the hero of this story. Not me.
Sara Stepped Away Too
Sara runs her own business as a care manager for aging parents. If you have ever met someone in that role, you know — the work does not stop because you are on vacation. Families count on her. She had to make the same choice I did.
Two business owners, one week, genuinely present for our family.
There is something powerful about building a team and then trusting it enough to actually walk away. Sara does it in her business, and I am still learning from her. After 25 years, she is still teaching me things.
A Note to Other Business Owners
If you are reading this and you have not been able to fully step away from your business, I am not going to tell you that you are doing it wrong. I lived there for a long time.
What I will say is this: if you cannot leave, the answer is not to stop trying to leave. The answer is to build the team and the systems that make leaving possible.
That work takes time. It takes investment. It takes a willingness to let go of being the person who handles everything.
But when you get there — when you find yourself at dinner with your spouse on your 25th anniversary and you are genuinely, fully there — it is worth everything you put into it.
Thank You, Team CTTS
To every member of our team: you gave Sara and me something we had not had before. A week that belonged entirely to our family.
You did your jobs. You took care of our clients. You handled what needed handling. And you did it without needing me to look over your shoulder.
That is not just good business. That is the culture we have built together, and I am proud of every one of you.
Thank you. Truly.
— Josh