December always feels like a double-edged sword. It’s the season of magic and reflection, but also exhaustion. This year, it hit especially hard. Between selling a company, having a baby (Lee), scaling another business (Alex), and now training for a half marathon (both of us… what were we thinking?), we’re ending 2024 feeling like we’ve lived five lives in one.
One of the tools that’s kept us grounded—and thriving—through it all is manifestation. For nearly a decade, we’ve leaned into this practice to shape our goals, dreams, and daily actions. It’s helped us land major business deals, navigate personal transitions, and even find our husbands. 😉
In this week’s Unfinished Business, we’re skipping the guests and turning the mic on ourselves to share how manifestation plays into our journey, why it’s not just “woo-woo,” and the practical ways we use it to set ourselves up for success. Plus, we’re giving you a sneak peek into the Unfinished Business Manifestation Challenge — a 2025-setting exercise that’s part reset, part roadmap, and all about designing your best year yet. Let’s dig in.
Lee Rotenberg: Alex, it's December and I'm dead. I can't. This has been the longest year, an amazing year. We sold a company. I had a baby.
Alex Schinasi: How insane? The year started with you having a freaking baby.
Lee: I know, and we hadn't sold our company yet. Then we end up getting acquired. You, in the meantime, scaled Hulken like crazy. It's just... we've been traveling. I'm exhausted. I'm tired. I actually, to be fully transparent, don't want to be on this episode with you right now because I kind of want to take a nap instead.
Alex: We both texted each other like, we have to do this. Let's freaking do it because there's a reason why we're so tired. I always say I burn out twice a year—every June before the school break and every December because of Q4 milestones, the upcoming school break, holidays, and family stress. It's just exhausting. I'm tired, Lee. I want to come back to New York in two weeks to see you, but I'm freaking tired.
Lee: But that's also what's so fun, right? I know it's exhausting to fly here to New York, but it's also that boost of the most fun.
Alex: The most fun. I think we're addicted to this pace and intensity. It makes us both feel alive, but our bodies are tired. And now we're training for a half marathon. What about that?
Lee: So we're psychopaths. People always ask me, "Lee, you've sold two companies, you’re not going to do a third one, right?" I'm like, obviously, we're going to do a third one. We're psychopaths. But Alex, I often say that December, even though we’re so tired, is such a powerful point in the 12-month journey because we can reflect on what worked this year, what didn't, and what we want to do differently in 2025.
And that's why it’s so tiring—there’s so much reflection, thinking about everything that didn’t work. The spring was really challenging for us, even though we had that wonderful exit. It's funny—right when you hit that big thing you’ve been wanting, it can also be a letdown because then you’re asking, "What’s next? What do I want? What’s going to fulfill me?"
Alex: Yeah, I think the soul searching is exhausting, right? Thinking through what's next. In the midst of this, you were freshly a mom of two. That’s a trauma of its own. It’s a major shift that you had to go through. But I think that’s why I’m so attached to the yearly exercise you and I have been doing for almost 10 years.
So every January, we do a reset to refocus all of our desires and goals for the upcoming year. It’s a two- to three-week challenge we do together, and we invite other women to join the movement. We now have a group of about 30 women who do it with us, and we support each other through the process. The goal is to understand what we want for the upcoming year, but not just in terms of the concrete goal, but also how that makes us feel.
And that’s why we’re so believers in manifestation. We’ve learned over the years that if you can be clear on how you want to feel, rather than what you want to have, it’s much easier to set intentions that are achievable through small but actionable steps.
Lee: I think a powerful element of manifestation for us is, as you said, don’t think about the outcome, think about how you want to feel. The magic is feeling how you want to feel once you hit that outcome. When I always say I manifested my husband, he hates it when I say that because he’s like, “I existed long before you manifested me.”
Alex: Tell the story.
Lee: Honestly, I was very wise in my early 30s. I really wanted to find a life partner. I ended up going to Barbara, who was on one of our earlier episodes. I encourage anyone exploring intentional living or manifestation to listen to that episode. One of my friends said, "You should see Barbara." I went to Barbara and said, "I want someone x, y, and z." She said, "Hold on a second. Let's think about how you want to feel with this person. Don’t think about how they look or anything else. How do you feel when they walk in the door after work?" And I was like, “Oh.” That shift was really interesting for me. Instead of thinking about what I wanted, I focused on how I wanted to feel: fulfilled, light, and loved.
Alex: Wait, and what did you say? I need to know. How did you want to feel?
Lee: I wanted to feel fulfilled, light, and loved. What’s interesting is that because I was thinking about how I wanted to feel, I could start feeling those things even before that person came into my life. That’s the power of manifestation—you think about how you want to feel, and then you start actively feeling those things long before you reach whatever milestone you think is necessary for them to come into your life.
I think that’s when you become a magnet. I recommend the book Calling in the One if you’re looking for love. I had gone to Barbara and started reading that book. A lot of friends start it, but then stop after a chapter or two. It’s a seven-week process. If you can’t do 20 minutes a day, you’re not really ready to manifest that love. Manifestation isn’t magic—it requires intentional steps and living intentionally.
Alex: And that’s why we do this exercise, right? Because we know it takes work. The whole point of that yearly reset is not just to set your desires and what you’re manifesting into the universe, but also to set those steps. What are you going to do in January? What are you going to do the rest of the year to actually reach that goal? It doesn’t need to be big things. If you’re launching a business, it can be as small as calling your parents, telling them your idea, or sharing it with a friend. It can be a coffee date with someone in your industry. Small steps make you feel empowered and take you closer to your goal.
Lee: And when I think about it, it’s like us manifesting that we run a half marathon. We’re not saying, “We’re going to be runners.” No, we have to work backwards. We have to start running and working out today if we want to run that half marathon in April.
Alex: And how did we start? We started with a 10-minute run. That’s how bad of runners we are. Just 10 minutes, and it was exhausting. It was so painful. That’s how small of a step you can take.
Lee: Exactly. It was basically a walk. And think about those little steps. It doesn’t have to be a big step. It’s about doing a little step every single day. For those who aren’t into manifestation and think it’s “woo-woo,” this is not about that. It’s about understanding how you want to feel in 2025 and thinking about the milestones to feel that way.
If you're spending 10 minutes scrolling on Instagram but not taking 10 minutes for a small step toward your goal, then you’re not going to get it. It means you don’t want it bad enough. Everyone has 10 or 20 minutes a day for something.
It doesn’t have to be big steps, but doing small steps every day toward your goal works.
Alex: Yeah, that’s true. Let’s talk about the power of the mind. There’s science behind this, but we’ve used it very successfully, the two of us. We started manifesting about 10 years ago with our first company, Ivy. Ivy was our first business. We didn’t really know what we were doing, but the company was growing nicely. We were at this crossroads: Are we going to raise more funds? We were getting a lot of interest from investors, but was there another path for us?
Lee and I started intentionally manifesting around selling the company and getting acquired. We saw Barbara together and started ping-ponging energy around a potential acquisition. The energy around manifesting is so powerful. We started feeling as if we were already acquired, exited founders. Through that, we learned the power of energy—how radiating that specific energy eventually led us to getting an outreach from our acquirer.
We never stopped exuding that powerful, radiant energy because we knew that if we felt it, it could really lead somewhere. And then one day, we got a LinkedIn message for a biz-dev request. We always say, "Never miss a LinkedIn message," because there might be an acquirer there. Doing it together made it even more powerful. That’s why we have this community of manifestors doing the yearly reset with us every January.
If you’re interested, reach out. We’re doing something very special this January that’s designed specifically around launching a work project or business.
Lee: And Alex, we actually started believing in the power of mindset even before Barbara. Remember when we had to do that pitch for NFX? We both hate public speaking, and we were like, "What are we going to do?" We literally Googled and found a hypnotist in San Francisco. Going through that process was so interesting. The hypnotism itself wasn’t magic—it just gave us the confidence to believe we could do it.
It’s the same with the mindset of feeling how you want to feel. When we started thinking about getting acquired, we began feeling the excitement, the energy, and the belief. It shifted everything.
Alex: It’s a mindset.
Lee: Exactly. It makes you a magnet.
Alex: We went into so much detail, like knowing which restaurant we’d go to the day we signed, which drink we’d order, and how it would feel. We pictured looking at each other with our partners next to us, feeling so happy and proud.
Don’t hold back on details. Where are you when you reach that goal? What are you wearing? What are you drinking? Those details make it concrete in your head.
Lee: When I’m manifesting, there’s always this little voice of doubt whispering, "That’s not going to happen. It’s going to be a failure." But I speak back to that fear: "I hear you, but that’s not going to happen."
I speak in the present tense: "I am calm. I am successful. I am fulfilled." I out-speak the doubt. Even when I think about what we’re working on next, I sometimes think, "There’s no way I’ll be so lucky to have a third success." Then I say, "Nope." And I out-speak it.
Alex: The hypnotist in San Francisco taught us to visualize taking fear out of your body—grabbing it with your hand and mentally throwing it away. Put it in the garbage, throw it in the water—whatever works. Visualization is so powerful.
Lee: Completely. And during the process of running these groups with women manifesting their dream year, I’ve noticed that clarity is where the magic happens. Barbara talked about this on her episode: Make sure what you’re manifesting is what you want—not what society wants. You might think, "I should want that," but if your gut says otherwise, it won’t work.
Be very clear about how you feel, what milestones would make you feel that way, and the small, intentional steps you can take every day toward that.
Alex: So, essentially, you manifested Zach, your husband. We manifested two acquisitions. But the last acquisition was a whirlwind. We got a term sheet, which was exciting, but then our acquirers vanished.
Lee: I had just had a baby.
Alex: It was so stressful. What followed required so much action-driven energy. Our initial acquirer disappeared, and we were running out of money. It wasn’t easy.
We could have gone back to investors for a bridge round, but we knew we wanted that acquisition. Lee, literally within weeks of giving birth to Henrietta, started DMing people on LinkedIn—all the competitors in our space.
Lee: Massive companies I didn’t think would reply, but they did.
Alex: If you need a template for LinkedIn outreach, ask Lee. She’s the pro. With a newborn, she was texting potential acquirers, letting them know we had an offer and a term sheet. Within a month or two, we had not one but three offers on the table.
It wasn’t just manifestation. We put all our intention and energy toward the goal, and we took steps. It started with a LinkedIn message and followed with hard work, figuring out the best acquirer, what we wanted, and navigating the process.
Lee: The mindset gave us stamina. Building a company—or just life—requires stamina. Manifesting gives you confidence that things will work out. If you believe it, you can push through. And in that process, Alex, this is why I’m so tired right now. I realize it’s because I’ve been nonstop since the beginning of the year, starting with literally cold messaging people on LinkedIn after that term sheet expired.
How we had that stamina to keep going was that Alex, Omri, and I knew we would get acquired, and we knew we’d be happy with it. We knew that in our inner being. We were like, “We need to do the work to make this a reality.”
So again, if you’re listening to this, embrace manifestation, but understand what it really is. It’s essentially a roadmap to be intentional with the steps you take toward the direction you want to go. It’s not about sitting around doing nothing.
If you’re like, “Hey Lee, I want to find a husband who makes me happy and fulfilled,” then start doing the work—10 minutes a day, 20 minutes a day. Start feeling happy today. Don’t wait for that moment.
And I think that’s the most important part. Same thing with starting a business. A lot of people are in this phase of brainstorming a business they want to build. Go do a small thing every single day that takes you closer to that idea. Even if you have a job and are working on something else. Even if you’re pregnant and have another kid. You have 10 minutes. Do it while you’re sitting on the potty for all I care. Instead of scrolling Instagram—
Alex: Create an Instagram account.
Lee: Exactly. The next time you’re on the potty, I want you to hear my voice. Stop Instagramming and do something that moves your life forward.
Alex: I think you all understand now why I’m such a fan of manifesting. I have Lee’s voice in my head all day, telling me to take the step. That’s how we’re doing it. Again, the dynamic of doing it with other people is incredibly powerful, and I recommend it. Doing anything in isolation is just not as interesting.
Join a community, do it with a friend, encourage each other. We text each other about running every day because I know if I don’t, I’m not accountable. It helps me. I also share my doubts. It’s not just about, “Oh my God, everything is wonderful.” There’s a lot of doubt and fear that comes into it.
Learning to deal with self-doubt and fear is like what I think about with my kids—they’re learning to express frustration, tiredness, and fatigue. We also have to learn to handle our own self-doubt around taking steps forward.
Lee: And one thing I’d like to say is, you should spend time doing things that make you feel how you want to feel. When you manifest, if you want to feel energized with your partner, go do something that makes you feel energized today. Maybe it’s tennis, maybe it’s surfing, whatever it is—start now.
If you want to start a business and feel stuck in your current job, go do something that makes you feel alive. Take an art class, do a small project. Start because when you feel the way you want to feel, you’ll start attracting more of it. Like attracts like.
Alex and I hold each other accountable for not focusing too much on the negative. Focusing on the negative attracts more of it. I’m actually a much more negative person than Alex. She’s always like, “Stop saying that!”
Alex: That’s so true. That’s why people often find their life partner when they’re with someone else. It’s not about having an affair; it’s just that when you’re in a relationship, you meet more people. Likewise with work—
Lee: You’re not desperate.
Alex: We were just talking about how going back to work can actually motivate you toward your next project or business. Inaction is the enemy. You have to keep moving and feeling how you want to feel to reach your goal.
Lee: You constantly have to be doing. Inaction is the worst thing. Overthinking is just as bad. It’s better to take an action that doesn’t work out than to stay stuck.
Right now, it’s early December. Use this month to reflect on what worked, what didn’t, and what you want to bring into the new year. Who do you want to become in 2025?
Come January, Alex and I will be running a really exciting project where we’ll manifest together and take intentional steps toward building the lives we want.
Alex: Yeah. There’s so much power in this. We’ve learned over the years what makes a good manifestation versus a bad one. Vague things like “feeling fulfilled” or “feeling happy” are too broad.
If you have a financial goal, set a number. If you’re manifesting a partner, think about how they make you feel, where they live, what they like. Go into detail about what will make 2025 your best year yet.
Join us in January for our Unfinished Business Manifestation Challenge. We’re very excited about it and will take it from there.
Lee: When you’re clear about what you want and how you want to feel, you will get it. But you have to do the work—just 10 minutes a day is enough.
Thank you for listening. I’m excited to end this year strong and kick off 2025 with all of you.
Alex: Let’s go!