Yesterday, Jason announced that he’s handing over the reins of Reach Your Apex to new management. That new management is me. And wow, am I excited! Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Kirsten Lambertsen. More about me in a moment.

You might be wondering what this means for RYA. My plan is to continue running RYA in the excellent way that it’s been operating. There are no plans to make sweeping changes. Rather, you’ll see a lot more of the good stuff that’s been happening—more live workshops, more on-demand courses, more blog posts and more resources. I see no reason to disrupt what’s been working so well. RYA just needs someone who can focus full-time on doing more of it.

My first priority is to resume live courses. I’m working on that right now. My hope is to have at least one or two available in February, but of course that depends on the availability of instructors. At the latest, I think you can expect new courses starting in March. Stay tuned.

That said. I’m hungry for your requests and suggestions. So let ’em rip! Please feel free to use the comments section below.

Now, a little about me. I’ve been working in online technology since 1997. My first internet job was at a startup in San Francisco that offered free homepage hosting. If you don’t remember things like Geocities, ask a Gen-Xer or a Millenial.

I started my own company in 2000, BeautyRiot.com. Yes, it was a beauty website. But it was a punk beauty website. I sold that in 2009. I went on to hold several product management leadership roles at various startups. And from 2014 to 2016 I worked at Automattic, the company that runs WordPress.com (where RYA is hosted).

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been downsized from startups getting ready to sell out. But after the last one in 2022, I decided to stop making other people rich and work for myself again. It’s not as easy as it was in 2000 to succeed on the internet. But I’ve launched a competitor to Patreon (PatronHunt.com, which is how I met Jason) and operate a rapidly growing indie music radio station at TheIndieBeat.fm.

Independent art and artists are my world. Supporting them is how I plan to spend the remainder of my life (which is hopefully a good couple of decades at least). So when Jason mentioned the opportunity to take over the operations of Reach Your Apex, I literally jumped for joy. Dream job! I’m still pinching myself wondering how I could be so fortunate.

My dream for RYA is that together we’ll continue to make it a place rich with knowledge, opportunity and support. I’m here for the long haul.

In closing, I think it’s important that I share my favorite joke. Maybe you know its origin? Here it is: Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

See you tomorrow and every day from now on.