Welcome to EverMore So
👋 Hi, I’m Courtney!
After two decades in tech as a startup founder and people ops leader, I’m getting back into my first love—writing. It’s how I make sense of the world and its intricacies.
Substack is a place to share my founder journey as well thoughts on company culture, identity, and leadership. Expect to read pieces that string together personal stories, career insights, and dreamy ideas.
I hope to reimagine work and identity—one essay at a time.
About Me
Beyond work, I’m a mother to Henley, 4 rescue pets, and hundreds of plants. My life in Austin includes living sustainably, hula-hooping, and collecting vintage. Since 2020, I’ve run a program called Work Healing to support folks navigating work break-ups. I like to leave people and places better than I found them. ♥️
Why EverMore?
It’s an extension of a pre-launch company that I’m building with two co-founders. I liked the idea of writing about how we’re ever-evolving, ever-learning, and evermore.
My entire career has been one experiment after the next—whether it’s finding what will work (or not) while building kind, high-impact companies or piecing back together my fractured identity—there’s a lot to share and try.
So, who’s this for?
Fellow founders, people ops leaders, culture designers — Anyone fascinated by the intertwined systems of work and how to reconstruct them.
Soulful managers who want to give better than they got to their teams.
Anyone who’s ever felt left behind or that they’ve lost themselves in a job.
EverMore’s Cadence
✍️ I write the following formats each month.
EverSo Brief: A 2-minute read to capture the swirling thoughts in my mind.
EverBound: Roundup of what I’m reading and what stuck with me.
EverMore Feature: Deep-dive into research, trends, and what to know about company culture and work. Here’s my favorite one so far!
EverStill: A collection of reflection prompts for journaling and digging deep.
My Career Story
Dear Reader,
I once planned to be a poet, regardless of practicality. I imagined couch surfing, sleeping on benches, collecting human experience like sea glass for my magnum opus. In practice, I shared a bunk bed with my little sister, dodging student loan calls and clinging to the hope that meaning would reveal itself.
The next few years were murky as I tried on different roles, searching for a fit. My college advisor suggested McDonald’s. My family suggested childcare. My friends, newly minted business school grads, mocked my English degree. At 23, I felt profoundly behind. And no one tells you how lonely that can feel when your identity hasn’t yet caught up to your ambition.
We’re all asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Rarely are we asked, “Who do you want to become?”
Companies offer easy-bake identities: a tidy title, money, benefits, friends, and a ready-made answer for “So, what do you do?” But your company will change. Your title will shift. Your path will twist. The jobs to be done will evolve.
I was ripe for the cultish work cultures of the 2010s—the ones that promised purpose in exchange for obedience. I ached for performance reviews and comp cycles. I wanted my worth in writing. Until the year I got married, and my manager cut my bonus for “dwindling dedication.” I left the proverbial dream job and the identity that came with it. On a whim, I moved to Austin, and the wayward poet in me stirred again.
Over the past decade, I steadily worked in startups establishing a niche as the first people hire. Along the way, I built new versions of myself and clung to the parts that I already liked. I became a mom, manager, executive, first-time voter. I also tried on several ideas and businesses, until landing on EverMore.
Amidst all the change, I was a constant.
Regardless of what project I’m on or what company I’m with, my soul is always with me. I wish I’d had more reflection and resources earlier on to unearth who that person was. That’s what this publication is all about for me.
Welcome to the fold.
XoXo,
Courtney
