Founder
E. Lee Woods II
I spent years making moves I believed would set my family up for success. I worked my way from salesman to regional sales manager, earned a good living, and kept reaching for the next step. But I was working so much that I was absent from the life I was building. Moving us closer to family and taking a corporate role was my first attempt to change that. When that still didn’t bring the life I had closer to the life I wanted, I knew I had another choice to make.
There was a clear voice within me asking whether I wanted to keep building someone else’s legacy or step out and co-create my own. Before taking that leap, I had to commit my life to the journey and trust the process of becoming completely. The only thing I felt promised I could keep was my children. I didn’t know what that would look like, but I chose to leave a “safe” job and consistent pay. Entrepreneurship asked all of me too, though this time I was doing it on my terms. I partnered in a crypto mining company and other ventures, and as crypto took off, it felt like overnight we became the people others turned to with questions. It was exciting to be learning and building in the middle of something new.
“With awareness, we can regain the power to make our own decisions.”
The foundation beneath it all wasn’t strong enough to last. As our businesses and life changed, we looked for another way forward, and I agreed to take over the home full-time while another family business was being built. I loved being a stay-at-home dad, and I excelled there. Raising and homeschooling five kids under ten, with sports, activities and everything in between, was its own Wild Wild West. A corporate approach wasn’t going to run that household. I had to build something that worked for my children and me, and that’s where I learned to create systems that could last. What we put in place continues to work even when I’m not there. Being present with my children rebuilt my confidence as a father when so much else felt stripped away. At the same time, years away from the field took a toll on my professional confidence and network. I was capable in one part of my life while trying to find my footing in another.
When I began rebuilding, I reached for businesses first. But I kept seeing something that made me reconsider where that work needed to begin. I watched leaders try to build companies while their lives at home were in chaos, and I saw that pressure show up in their decisions: compromises, dishonesty, and promises they couldn’t keep. To me, much of it looked like survival. If someone was barely holding their family together, how could I expect them to build a stable community at work? That question made me look at my own foundation too. I came to understand why anything I wanted to last needed to take root at home. It’s why, through SPA, I want to understand the person and the life their business is meant to support before we start building systems around it.
Today, I’ve built the foundation for the life I want to live and the business I want to work within. I’m still building and growing with my company, but I know we’re moving in the right direction because I can see it and feel it in every part of my life. I move freely, enjoy the small circle I’ve kept, and choose how I work. My children and I remain extremely close, in many ways closer than when I was following other people’s rules. Life is still messy, and progress, joy and meaningful work happen alongside it. Freedom, Authenticity and Connection are the values that foundation is built on, and they continue to guide my choices.
“Persist, pivot, or concede. It’s up to us, our choice every time.”
Now, with AI, I recognize some of the same excitement I felt in those early crypto days. I see another opportunity to learn, build and help people find their way through a major change. This time, I’m bringing a foundation, a roadmap and a plan rooted in who I am and aligned with the life I want. I expect waves of excitement and disappointment along the way, but I believe these tools will become part of the foundation of how we work and create. I want to help people who are willing to learn understand what’s possible and put it to use in ways that matter to them.
Through SPA, I help people connect the practical pieces of their lives and businesses so they have more room for what matters to them. It’s work I use in my own life, shaped by the same question that brought me here: what am I building this life for?