How I’m Choosing My Work for 2026

What does Jesse even do now?

At BlueModus, it was a running joke, said with a lot of love. Over the last few months, as I’ve been building this consulting practice, I’ve been intentional about what work I’m taking on and who I’m working with.

We’re already a month into 2026. As I’ve taken time to organize my thoughts around my independent consulting focus, I’ve been reflecting on:

1. What I’m genuinely good at
2. What I want to spend my days doing
3. Who I want to work with

“Please put me in the company of first-class artists with good hearts and good minds doing meaningful work.”
— Noah Wyle, New York Times Interview

I’m fortunate to be in a place in my life and career where I can take a minute to reflect and decide the path forward. I’ve learned that while I can acquire many skills and be effective in a lot of areas, my best work shows up in places that are hard to neatly define. You might not always be able to point at it, but you’d feel it if it stopped happening.

The bigger question for me has been: what do I actually want to be doing?

That’s why the Noah Wyle quote has stuck with me. At the end of the day, most of us want to work with good people doing interesting work. Being in a position to choose that is a mix of fortune, timing, and a lot of hard work. Stepping into the solopreneur world has only expanded my ability to have an impact across teams, projects, products, and people. I do know one thing.

I want to have an impact.

At my core, I’m deeply passionate about helping teams do their best work. That means giving people access to the right tools, providing guidance and coaching, and removing the roadblocks and distractions that get in the way of progress.

I’ve always found satisfaction working closely with founders, owners, and senior leaders as a right-hand partner. I’m not drawn to the spotlight. I care about making others shine. That intersection of technology and operations is where I do my best work. Getting my hands dirty. Supporting people with a vision who need help turning it into reality. In many ways, it’s the role of a Chief of Staff.

As I move through 2026, I’m focused on the following five areas. This work can show up as project-based support, fractional leadership, or hourly consulting. However I’m engaged, what matters most to me is contributing meaningfully and making progress together.

Here is how I show up for teams in 2026

Operational clarity & scaling
Helping ensure the right people are in the right roles, expectations are clear, accountability exists, and performance issues get addressed. This often includes team structure, process clarity, recruiting, interviewing, and onboarding.

Tools analysis & enablement
Simplifying and improving how teams use the tools they already have. This includes platforms like Jira and the Atlassian stack, Microsoft and Google ecosystems, and productivity tools that should be enabling work instead of slowing it down.

Practical AI adoption
Helping teams adopt AI in ways that actually stick. Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, and GitHub Copilot. Clear guidance on what’s worth using, how it fits into real workflows, expectations, governance, and risk.

Project delivery & execution leadership
Supporting teams in hitting timelines, managing scope and budgets, improving client communication, and creating clarity on next phases of work.

Leadership support & mentorship
Coaching emerging leaders as they step into managing people, holding teams accountable, and building confidence in their roles. 

These are intentionally broad. The work looks different depending on the team and the moment, but my role stays consistent: stepping in where progress is needed and helping leaders move important work forward.

This is the work I’m choosing to do

If this resonates for you or someone in your network, feel free to reach out or make an introduction.