The Hard Rep

I put this off for months.

The videos. The content.
The part of this journey that meant actually stepping out from behind the ideas and being seen.

Every time I thought about doing it, I found something else to fixate on.
The website. The logo. The funnel. The writing.
All important. But all distractions.

If I’m honest, it wasn’t about being too busy.
It was about being scared.

Because getting in front of a camera meant being visible.
And being visible meant being vulnerable.

And that’s the hardest rep there is.

I kept telling myself I was waiting until the brand was ready.
Until I had the right lighting, the right confidence, the right version of me to show up.

But the truth?
I would’ve been waiting forever.
That version never comes.

So I kept kicking the can down the road.
Finding new ways to prepare instead of perform.
Polishing instead of practicing.

Until one night, something finally cut through all the excuses:

The man I want to be has to be okay with this.

He has to be okay with the awkwardness.
The imperfection.
The shaky voice.
The version that’s still rebuilding.

Because that man, the one I’m working to become, doesn’t wait until it’s comfortable.
He moves because it’s uncomfortable.
He acts before he’s ready.

So I planned. And planned.
Tried to prepare for everything filming myself could throw at me.
Wrote script after script, thinking if I got the words perfect, it would feel easier.
But that was just me avoiding the real work.

One afternoon before heading home, I stopped overthinking.
I set up the camera.

And I filmed.
Two hours.
Dozens of takes.
Every single one felt wrong.

And then, finally, I hit post.

Not because I loved the video.
Not because I thought it would perform well.
But because I needed to keep a promise to myself.

That’s what From The Ashes is.
It’s not a brand.
It’s not content.
It’s a system of keeping promises, even the small, uncomfortable ones.

If you want to see what that rep looked like, here’s the video I finally posted: Watch it on Instagram Here

This was one of mine.

It’s not flattering. It’s not perfect. But it’s honest.
And sometimes honesty is the only rep that matters.

If you’re reading this and you’ve been putting off your own first rep —
whether that’s posting, rebuilding, changing,
or finally doing the thing you keep saying you’ll do —

Stop waiting to feel ready.

Readiness isn’t coming.
Courage is what happens when you stop waiting.

No noise.
No hype.
Just work.

— Dylan
Founder, From The Ashes