What the Middle of the Ocean Teaches You About Business
Stop Rowing Harder. Start Engineering Smarter.
I’ve been glued to my phone for the past several weeks.
Not scrolling. Watching.
Watching Taryn Smith row across the Atlantic Ocean. Alone. 3,000 miles to Antigua.
46 days, 3 hours, and 37 minutes.
She’d never rowed before she decided to do this.
Read that again.
The first American woman to complete this row solo had literally never done the specific thing she was about to spend nearly seven weeks doing in the middle of the ocean.
But here’s what stopped me in my tracks, what kept me checking her progress every single day, what made me think about you and your business and everything I’ve been building:
She didn’t do it on belief alone.
The Boat Knew What She Didn’t
Taryn’s boat wasn’t just a vessel. It was engineered specifically for this journey.
It rolled with the waves instead of fighting them. It had strategically designed holes that filtered water through so she didn’t take on dangerous levels. It had cabins underneath to keep her dry and safe when the Atlantic turned violent. It had technology that kept her on course and alerted her when larger vessels were in her path.
The boat was smarter than her fear.
When the waves crashed over—and they did, repeatedly—the boat did exactly what it was designed to do. It didn’t require her to be superhuman. It required her to trust the infrastructure.
But the boat didn’t build itself.
The Team She Couldn’t See
Every day Taryn was alone on that boat, there were people she couldn’t see doing the work that kept her alive.
Her father, tracking weather patterns, sending updates about what was coming.
Her mother, on the other end of satellite calls, holding space for the fear and the doubt and the moments she wanted to quit.
The team that built her boat, who understood ocean currents and vessel design and how to create something that could withstand what she was about to face.
Her trainer, who spent months teaching her body how to row 12+ hours a day without destroying itself, who knew that the wrong preparation would lead to injury that could end everything.
Thousands of us watching her tracker, commenting, cheering, holding her in our minds when she was in the middle of nowhere wondering if she could make it.
She was alone. And she was never alone.
There were days she cried. Days she was exhausted. Days the doubt crept in and whispered that maybe this was a mistake.
But she kept rowing.
Not because she had some reserves of strength the rest of us don’t have.
Because she had infrastructure that was stronger than her fear.
Because she had people who believed in her capacity even when she couldn’t feel it herself.
Because she had systems that worked even when she was too tired to think clearly.
You’re Already in the Ocean
Here’s what I keep coming back to as I watch your businesses, your launches, your pivots, your exhaustion:
You’re already rowing.
You left the shore when you started your business. You’re already in the middle of your Atlantic.
You have the capability—10, 15, 20+ years of leading teams, managing budgets, making decisions that affected entire departments.
You have the credentials—the degrees, the certifications, the track record that proves you know what you’re doing.
You have the belief—you wouldn’t have left corporate if you didn’t believe you could build something of your own.
But do you have the right boat?
Is your business engineered to roll with the waves, or are you taking on water every time a challenge hits?
Do you have the systems that filter out what’s dangerous and keep what’s essential, or are you drowning in tactics that don’t move you forward?
Do you have the technology—the positioning, the messaging, the frameworks—that keep you on course and alert you to actual opportunities versus distractions?
Or are you trying to cross the Atlantic in a boat that was never built for this journey?
The Infrastructure No One Sees
I watch so many of you rowing with everything you have.
Posting every day. Showing up on video. Launching programs. Creating content. Doing discovery calls. Giving free value.
Working so hard. Believing so deeply.
And still not getting where you’re trying to go.
Not because you’re not capable.
Not because you’re not committed.
Not because you don’t have what it takes.
Because you’re in the wrong boat.
You’re using frameworks designed for coaches who are building from zero, not credentialed experts who should be commanding $50K-$100K+ contracts.
You’re following advice from people who’ve never done what you’re trying to do, who’ve never crossed your particular Atlantic.
You’re in communities with beginners when you need to be surrounded by people who are navigating the same complex waters you are.
You’re trying to engineer your own boat while you’re already in the middle of the ocean.
And the whole time, you think the problem is you.
You think you need to row harder. Post more. Show up more consistently. Believe more deeply.
But you don’t need to row harder. You need a boat that was actually built for where you’re trying to go.
What Actually Gets You Across
Taryn didn’t cross the Atlantic on grit alone.
She crossed because she had:
The right vessel—engineered specifically for her body, her journey, her mission.
The right training—not generic fitness advice, but specific preparation for the exact physical and mental demands she would face.
The right systems—weather tracking, navigation technology, safety protocols that worked even when she was too exhausted to think clearly.
The right team—people with expertise she didn’t have, people who could see what she couldn’t see from the middle of the ocean, people who held her capacity when she couldn’t feel it herself.
The right community—not people cheering from the sidelines, but people invested in her success, tracking her progress, holding space for her journey.
She had infrastructure, not just inspiration.
And that infrastructure is what got her to Antigua.
This Is What I’m Building
THE 6 Speaking Industry Xpo isn’t a conference.
It’s not three days of motivation that fades by the time you get home.
It’s not another event where you learn tactics you’ll never implement because they don’t fit your actual business model.
It’s the boat. It’s the training. It’s the team. It’s the infrastructure.
Three days. Five pillars.
Positioning that makes you sought-after instead of struggling—so you stop being the best-kept secret in your industry and start being the obvious choice.
Packaging that commands $25K-$100K contracts instead of $2K speaking fees—so your Pricing finally matches your credentials and experience.
Systems that scale your expertise without scaling your exhaustion—so you stop trading time for money and start building actual leverage.
Sales that convert without convincing—so you stop feeling like you’re begging for opportunities and start receiving invitations.
Not theory. Not inspiration. Engineering.
We’re building your boat while you’re at the event. You’re leaving with infrastructure, not ideas.
You’re leaving with frameworks that are specific to credentialed experts, not generic coaching advice.
You’re leaving with AI-powered tools that do the heavy lifting so you can focus on the high-value work only you can do.
You’re leaving with a community of women who are crossing the same Atlantic you are—women with credentials, with corporate backgrounds, with expertise they’re finally ready to monetize correctly.
You’re leaving with what Taryn had: a boat engineered for your specific journey.
You Don’t Have to Do It Alone
You won’t be the only one in the water.
There will be other women who understand exactly what it feels like to have all this capability and still feel like you’re not getting where you’re trying to go.
Women who’ve managed teams and budgets but are undercharging for their expertise.
Women who’ve been giving it away, speaking for exposure, hoping someone will finally see their value.
Women who are done being the best-kept secret and ready to build the infrastructure that makes them impossible to ignore.
You’ll have me and my team—not cheerleading from the shore, but in the water with you, building your positioning, your packaging, your systems in real time.
You’ll have the frameworks I’ve spent years developing specifically for women like you—not beginners, not aspiring experts, but credentialed professionals who need leverage, not basic business advice.
You’ll have technology that tracks your progress, keeps you on course, alerts you to real opportunities versus distractions.
And after the event? You’ll have access to the people who are rowing alongside you, who understand your specific challenges, who won’t let you quit when the waves hit.
Because here’s what Taryn taught me:
The Atlantic doesn’t care about your belief. It doesn’t care about your capability. It doesn’t care about your credentials.
It only cares if you have the right boat.
She Made It
46 days, 3 hours, and 37 minutes after she started, Taryn Smith stood on solid ground in Antigua.
3,000 miles of ocean behind her.
First American woman to complete this row solo.
Never rowed before she decided to do it.
She knew she had all the support behind her. There were always people pulling and pushing her forward.
She didn’t do it alone.
She did it with the right infrastructure.
What could you accomplish in the next 12 months if you finally had the same?
What if you stopped trying to engineer your boat while you’re in the middle of the ocean?
What if you had people tracking the weather for you, technology keeping you on course, a vessel designed specifically for your journey?
What if you had a community that held your capacity even when you couldn’t feel it yourself?
What if you had the infrastructure that makes unprecedented journeys possible?
THE 6 Speaking Industry Expo. March 16-18, 2026. Atlanta.
The boat is being built. The team is assembled. The infrastructure is ready.
The only question is: are you on it?
Seats are limited. Not because of false scarcity. Because the infrastructure we’re building requires knowing exactly who we’re building for.
To unprecedented journeys,
Kelly
P.S. Look up Taryn Smith. Watch her arrival video. Watch what happens when you have infrastructure that’s stronger than your fear. Then ask yourself: What’s my Atlantic—and do I have the right boat?
About the Author:
Kelly Charles-Collins is Founder of Speaker Moguls and the creator of Speaking Industry Xpo a/k/a THE 6 and the Mogul Operating System (“MOS”). She teaches speakers, trainers, coaches, and consultants to turn their expertise into an enterprise—without underpricing or undervaluing their work. Through strategic positioning and proven business frameworks, Kelly equips experts to amplify their visibility, package their brilliance, and build sustainable, revenue-generating brands with authority.