What's Working?
A newsletter posing one question and begging for you to answer.
Hi, my name is Alexander Agent. I'm a digital organization expert and the founder of Pain in the Assistant. Every time this newsletter lands in your inbox, we'll be asking you one question that you'll have the option to answer just by hitting 'Reply.' Together, we will explore the messy, weird, and sometimes uncomfy side of life and of business while confronting our own belief systems around politics, relationships, adventure, mental health, and life at-large. This newsletter is an opportunity to share thoughts and feelings, and it will always be free. Please consider supporting me and my love for asking questions and (over)communicating answers by subscribing below.
Cheers! To 30 And Beyond đ
Alexander Agent | April 8th, 2023 ⨠If you like what you read, help me by sharing with your besties ⨠âYour thirties are where you substitute expectations with hope.â - My friend, John Fairbairn A friend recently posed a thought that made my heart sink. She said, âMy younger self would be so proud of me today.â The words stung unexpectedly, and I was IMMEDIATELY paralyzed in thought; and after ~mulling it over~, I donât think I can relate. đ¤ˇâď¸ Today is my 30th birthday (WOOHOO!!) and the...
about 1 year ago â˘Â 3 min read
Am I THAT type of person?? đ¤ˇââď¸đ¤
Alexander Agent | July 15th, 2022 ⨠If you like what you read, help me by sharing with your besties ⨠"The least we can do is to think we can do something." - Robina Courtin If you would have told me in 2019... One day, I would be the type of person whose identity and life philosophies have blossomed because of what Iâve learned from Tiktok... I would ask you why dancing and lip-synching were so important to future me. The app has changed its form and improved itself so intensely and...
almost 2 years ago â˘Â 4 min read
No straight pressure, no queer diamonds đ
Alexander Agent | June 16, 2022 ⨠If you like what you read, help me by sharing with your besties ⨠"Hi gay" - Meg Stalter First of all, Happy Pride! My queer life really jumpstarted in the Spring of 2014 (I wrote a bit more about that last year). Prior to that, I lived the classic childhood and adolescence of a straight male. Even through college, I flirted exclusively with women and my âdream lifeâ was built around being married to a woman and having kids by the age of 22. A bit ambitious...
almost 2 years ago â˘Â 4 min read
What do a hero and a caterpillar have in common?
Alexander Agent | May 27, 2022 ⨠If you like what you read, help me by sharing with your besties ⨠"There are at least two kinds of games. One could be called finite; the other infinite. A finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the play." - James Carse SHEESH! Itâs been a minute! I'm glad to be back. A lot has happened since we were last here. For starters, my volleyball team recently started our second season together. You likely...
almost 2 years ago â˘Â 4 min read
Wouldnât it be lovely? (the magic words that inspire me to get sh** done)
Lately, Iâve had a lot of things to do, but very little motivation to do them. Iâve barely had the motivation to get dressed, much less to do something impactful, useful, or even necessary (like work⌠for money⌠to pay my bills). What a DRAG. I know Iâm not alone. You might relate if you are chronically depressed or anxious, and you might relate simply because youâre human and we all have things we do and do not want to do. Regardless of your relationship with mental illness, we all...
almost 3 years ago â˘Â 5 min read
"There's a breeze."
I had an encounter with a homeless man earlier this week... ...and I canât shake it from my mind. So Iâm writing about it⌠thatâs what this thing is for, right? Homeless people are everywhere. Last year, 66,433 homeless people were counted in Los Angeles County (0.66% of the total population of 10.04M), and thatâs only an estimate. âOh, well, it must just be because I live in a big city.â You know, city life. Home to skid row. Wrong. Even in my tiny hometown of Lafayette, Louisiana, which...
almost 3 years ago â˘Â 3 min read
Who gets to celebrate Pride? Do you?
I attended my first Pride parade... ...in Houston, Texas, in June of 2014. I went alone and in secret, and I âcelebratedâ by making out with this random woman in some bushes just off the parade route, behind a gas station-- not the gayest thing I've ever done. I still wasn't "outâ at the time, and the girl and her friends-- a colorful palette of Ls, Gs, Bs, Ts, and Qs-- took me in under their festive and very gay wings. We spent the rest of the day together, going to a diner, and chatting...
almost 3 years ago â˘Â 2 min read
The negative consequences of automated messaging
A company I once admired became a company I no longer trust: Last week, I received a friendly message on Instagram from a company asking if I was interested in becoming an ambassador for their brand. For those of you who arenât IG-savvy, this doesnât make me special-- most people receive DMs all the time from brands seeking âinfluencers;â AKA you get their goods at a discounted price as long as you take a picture and post in the merch that you purch⌠ase. The tricky bit here is that it was a...
almost 3 years ago â˘Â 3 min read
Embracing change changes everything
I have lived most of my life... ...focusing on the prosperity of tomorrow rather than the happiness of today. đŹ Sad, but true. (What a terribly negative way to start this post lol) I came out to my parents as not-exactly-straight, not-exactly-Christian, and not-wanting-to-be-a-veterinarian-anymore during one extremely longggggg car ride to New Orleans circa 2014 (Now, THAT is a conversation you wouldnât want to be present for -- ba-dum, chhhhâŚ). Those are three MAJOR changes of plans for a...
almost 3 years ago â˘Â 2 min read
Get a hobby
When I was in middle school... My mom took me to see our family doctor concerning a large lump that she noticed on the back of my neck. The lump didnât hurt and, considering I was a quickly and inconsistently growing pre-teen, it didnât seem all that unusual to me. But to my mom, it looked like it could be a cancerous tumor, or a bone growing incorrectly, or the beginning of my humiliating yet inevitable journey to starring in the live-action Hunchback of Notre Dame. Because it was important...
about 3 years ago â˘Â 2 min read
Hi, my name is Alexander Agent. I'm a digital organization expert and the founder of Pain in the Assistant. Every time this newsletter lands in your inbox, we'll be asking you one question that you'll have the option to answer just by hitting 'Reply.' Together, we will explore the messy, weird, and sometimes uncomfy side of life and of business while confronting our own belief systems around politics, relationships, adventure, mental health, and life at-large. This newsletter is an opportunity to share thoughts and feelings, and it will always be free. Please consider supporting me and my love for asking questions and (over)communicating answers by subscribing below.