Life is especially hard right now. We’re in the ninth month of a global pandemic, the days are getting shorter and colder and darker, and the dread of the current moment can sometimes feel paralyzing. Against that backdrop, how do you take a step forward in any direction—and how do you know if that step is right?

The short answer is that, even though you can’t know the results before you start moving, taking a step in any direction is often enough to shake something loose. Carlos Sims Jr. believes in action—in forward motion, in building momentum, and in taking steps to actualize the vision of the world he wants to create.

Carlos’ enterprising attitude is not without consideration. He’s the owner of Happy Home Coffee Roasters, a business centered around his identity as a family man. His children are on the bags of coffee beans, his family proudly displayed on the company’s homepage. He’s had to make a lot of careful decisions about who he is and how he wants to share his story, eschewing trends or fears about what’s “cool” to create a business that feels true to him.

Carlos is a fanny-pack-touting, minivan-driving dad, and you’ll hear us talk about what it means to be your authentic self. We spend this episode swapping stories, waxing poetic about the less-than-glamorous aspects of a shared childhood in Florida (him in Jacksonville, me in Miami), and talking a lot about action. We also discuss how to make your dreams and projects tangible. Risk is scary, life is uncertain, but the exciting thing about action—about taking a step in any direction—is the guarantee that something, that change, is about to happen.