Slate Spark

01/08/2026

Alysa Liu is the kind of woman we should all be paying attention to.

She was at the top of her sport in figure skating at 14. National titles. Global attention. Olympic trajectory. And then she walked away. No apology. No explanation tour. She chose to live a teenage life, fully and deliberately.

At 18, she put her skates back on, not to chase medals, but because she missed the feeling. The internal rush. The joy. On her own, without counsel, she decided she wanted to compete again. She went to the two coaches she wanted and set the terms. She would choose the music. She would shape the training. She would determine the routine. They would collaborate. She would not be directed the way she had been as a child. Eventually, they said yes.

Then she went to her father, who had his children through surrogacy, and told him he would not be involved this time. And then she trained.

In the upcoming 60 Minutes piece, you hear her repeat the same phrase while she skates. “Just one more time.” Over and over. Not because someone is pushing her, but because she is driven from within.

She went on to win the World Championship and secure her place at the Olympics. A comeback that, by most standards, should not exist.

When asked about the pressure of being the favorite going into the 2026 Olympics, she said, “I don’t feel any pressure at all. I just want to make people feel something. Good or bad.”

I think she means it.

She also made something else clear. No one would tell her what to eat. No one would comment on her weight. She has an athletic, powerful, beautiful body and she owns it. And she smiles. A lot.

My takeaways.

She is motivated from the inside. She knows how to find her own ignition.

She loves the audience. But she does not need them.

She does the work. Just one more time.

She built her own circle of collaboration, chose the right team, and set clear boundaries. They are proud of their work and visibly in awe of hers.

This is not the only thing in her life. I have never heard her say she wants to be number one in the world. Or even that she wants to win.

She charts her own course, not impulsively, but through experimentation and growing commitment. When told that what she was attempting might not be possible, she simply did not care.

Let this be the woman of the future.

Best of luck to her in February.

Watch her skating. Watch the interview. You will learn more than any workshop can teach you.

​Welcome. Slate Spark is our new home for ideas, strategy, and the moments that spark possibility. We are adding content every day and hope you will visit often, sign up for updates, and share any thoughts or topics you would like us to explore. This is a growing space and your feedback will hel...

01/07/2026

The Oil Companies and Venezuela Merger. That's what it is.

Corporations have always had influence in government. They are now running it from inside. Very different.

“For corporate leaders, this moment demands something deeper than opportunism. It requires honesty about the environment they now inhabit. The central question is no longer only where expansion is possible. The question becomes who will define the conditions under which expansion happens, and whether that power is accountable to anyone beyond itself.” - Christine Merser

CEO's need to consider this new paradigm.

If governments can create markets through force and then invite corporations in to run what follows, we may be entering a new era where the line between state power and corporate expansion simply fades.

What does that mean for leadership, strategy, risk, reputation, and growth?

I explore it in Slate Spark’s newsletter today. Link in comments.

12/27/2025

We have changed our name, vision, and mission this year. But I came across the first video year and review we ever did for social media in 2010, as Blue Shoe Strategy. My things were different than.
Out with 2025 and in with 2026. - Christine Merser

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17qUPvcjRz/?mibextid=wwXIfr

12/07/2025

Michael Dell once told a room full of his executives that in five years a company none of them had ever heard of would arrive and do everything they did, only better, with more imagination and passion. Unless Dell became that company, they would be out of business. His point was simple. When you are at the top, the natural instinct is to keep doing what you are doing and to believe that yesterday will predict tomorrow. It never does.

A lot of people have asked me why, after thirty years of success in marketing and strategy, I shut down the company I built and opened Slate Spark. Why close a business that worked. Why start again at this moment in time.

Long before I heard Dell’s story, I already felt the warning in my bones. I knew that if I stayed who I had been, I would not be able to stand in the center of this moment. Too much of the company’s strength lived in its past. And the past is not the direction of the future.

These are extraordinary times with extraordinary possibility. Before the year closes ask yourself a simple question. If you set everything aside today and rebuilt from scratch, what would you create?

2026 is weeks away. Take the time now to decide how you want to be seen, what you want to offer, and how you want to serve the circles you collaborate with. It will be time well spent.

11/08/2025

This is the last post for Blue 2 Media. Announcing our next step shortly.

(and the first step toward Slate Spark)

09/23/2025

“To collaborate well, you must not only be a good partner but also a generous witness to the success of others.” - Christine Merser

From Harper Lee and Truman Capote to Shonda Rhimes and Hoda Kotb, this essay explores the hidden challenge of collaboration — learning to celebrate someone else’s success without diminishing your own.

Read Christine's full article to see how their stories reveal what it really takes to grow, succeed, and keep relationships strong.

Harper Lee and Truman Capote were best friends growing up in Monroeville, Alabama. She was steady and watchful, he was flamboyant and fragile, and together they found in each other a partner for the imagination that sustained them both. As children they sharpened their voices side by side, inventing...

09/22/2025

We’re living through a collision of politics and AI that’s reshaping industries, jobs, and financial security at record speed. This 60-minute interactive session with Christine Merser will help you connect the dots, see the terrain more clearly, and position yourself for what’s next. Sessions offered on October 7th at 4 & 6 PM EDT.

If you are a current or past client of Blue 2’s, please email [email protected] to register.

There is opportunity around every cataclysmic shift. But opportunity doesn’t reveal itself without clarity, and you need a plan for how to face the next few years and anticipate the changes about to unfold in your industry or arena. We are already doing this work with many of our clients, and it is both exciting and challenging.

Right now, two forces are colliding at once: political decisions that can shift markets overnight, and artificial intelligence transforming business models and roles at lightning speed. Together they are reshaping the future of business, work, and financial security.

After the session, I’ll stay on for as long as the Q&A lasts to address your questions.

A few years ago, I wrote about the difference between a trend and a megatrend. Trends come and go, like the hula hoop. Megatrends, like birth control or the internet, permanently change how we live. Today we are living through something even bigger, not a megatrend but a maxi-trend, an explosion.

Most people are skimming headlines, not connecting them to what tomorrow will look like for their industries, their jobs, their investments.

When you can’t see the patterns, you can’t prepare. This session is about connecting those dots differently, so you can position yourself more effectively for what’s next.

We’ll cover:
How lessons from the past can sharpen our view of what’s unfolding now.
Approaches that will work when we account for the seismic shifts underway.
Real-world examples of industries adapting successfully, and the signals to watch.
Where leaders and professionals are gaining ground, and how to apply those moves yourself.
Fresh ways to think about risk, agency, and possibility in a rapidly shifting landscape.

You can submit questions ahead of time or anonymously during the session, and I’ll take them all in the extended Q&A.

Introduction & How We Got Here
Setting the stage: why politics and AI are colliding to redefine business, work, and financial security, and how lessons from past signals can help us recognize the ones emerging now.

Spotting Signals Before They Become Headlines
How to move beyond surface-level news and identify early signs of disruption, opportunity, and shifting power.

Politics, AI, and the Future of Business
Where AI is driving change, how policy decisions amplify those shifts, and what this means for industries, business models, and careers. With real-world examples to help you evaluate your own positioning.

What’s Working Now
Where professionals and business leaders are actually succeeding in adapting, and how to avoid the outdated strategies that waste energy. From industries reinventing themselves to individuals building influence, you’ll learn how to separate signal from noise.

Enough About Them: Turning Data Into Your Own Path
How to analyze the trends, case studies, and shifts we’ve discussed and translate them into choices for your own career, business, or financial positioning. Practical ways to filter the noise and apply insights directly to your context.

Positioning Yourself Strategically
How to ask smarter questions of yourself, your advisors, and your employers to assess your exposure, create real options, and navigate disruption with clarity. You’ll leave with a simple framework you can apply immediately.

Rethinking Risk, Agency, and Possibility
Why your personal and professional history can no longer guide your decisions, and how to adopt future-focused frameworks that open new ways of navigating uncertainty.

Q&A
An extended, dedicated session to connect workshop insights directly to your industries, careers, and challenges. Submit questions ahead of time or anonymously during the session.

-- Christine

About Christine

Christine Merser has spent more than 40 years at the strategic table, shaping marketing, political, and business landscapes through times of seismic change. She was there for the rise of e-commerce and the internet, the early adoption of social media in political campaigns (including Barack Obama’s), and for forecasting both the threat of Trumpism and the collapse of companies like Enron. Known for her curiosity, creativity, and ability to adapt, she has guided companies, candidates, and changemakers with innovative strategies that anticipate what’s coming next.

We’re living through a collision of politics and AI that’s reshaping industries, jobs, and financial security at record speed. This 60-minute interactive session will help you connect the dots, see the terrain more clearly, and position yourself for what’s next. Sessions offered at 4 & 6 PM ED...

09/04/2025

There are ever-increasing numbers of people out looking for jobs right now. A few weeks ago, I was in a meeting where an AI analyst predicted that by the end of 2027, 50% of Americans could be out of work. Yesterday, the CEO of Salesforce announced layoffs of 4,000 employees, not because business was bad, but because AI had replaced them.

And yet, I watch friends and colleagues looking for the same jobs they were just laid off from, in the same industries, because that is where their résumés point them.

We are in a megatrend moment, my friends. The difference between a trend and a megatrend is simple. A trend shifts what is happening. A megatrend changes how we think, work, and live permanently. The pet rock and the hula hoop were trends. Birth control was a megatrend. It sparked a sexual revolution that changed everything.

This wave of layoffs is not a blip. It is not temporary. It is a megatrend. And if you treat it like a trend, you risk getting left behind.

Before you chase the next job that looks like the one you had, stop. Reevaluate where you fit in the new world that is coming. Then, and only then, decide how to position yourself and be first to market the new you.

There is always opportunity, but it starts with clarity. I am hosting a Zoom session in two weeks on how to evaluate your current place in the business world before deciding your next steps. - Christine Merser

DM us if you would like an invite.

08/22/2025

Every word you choose carries weight. The right one can transform a simple sentence into something unforgettable, while the wrong one can flatten your message. Writing isn’t about adding more—it’s about choosing better.

06/20/2025

"Eventually, I realized that my best moments, my most effective, creative, energizing moments, aren’t about leading from the front or falling in line behind someone else. They’re about sitting in a circle. Collaborating. Co-creating. That’s where I come alive. That’s where I see others shine as well." -

That’s the vision Blue 2 Media's Christine Merser brings to life in her new book, Circles of Collaboration.

Years in the making, this book challenges traditional leadership models and offers a new blueprint—one built not from the top down, but side by side. Preorders are now open.

Links in bio to Christine's piece and to preorder the book.