A client told me this week, “You don’t waste people’s time.” He said I should add it to my LinkedIn. I’ve been accused of being direct—of saying things without fluff—and I’ll own that. But I’ve actually chilled out quite a bit on both efficiency and directness. It’s not about efficiency at all costs. Still, it’s one of the reasons I find AI so compelling: it can create meaningful efficiency.

I’ve spent a lot of time serving people who are dealing with strong fear because I’ve worked with people doing very hard things; like moms getting hired in tech and founders building for scale. We all have fear, but when you are doing brave, life altering things like a mom breaking into tech when she was a stay-at-home parent or a teacher, or in a non-technical field. That leap into technology brings real fear.

I’ve also worked with startup founders trying to grow their companies. On paper, growth sounds amazing—who doesn’t want to grow? But in reality, growth is painful. You must keep doing what’s working while simultaneously stretching yourself to grow by adding and ruthlessly cutting all at the same time. You have to make operations more efficient to free up the capacity to go after 10x opportunities. That’s the startup game.

Even in cash-flow businesses, like those growing through acquisition, fear is a constant companion. What if the company you buy is riddled with lawsuits? Or is the codebase garbage? You can do all the due diligence you want—and you should—but you still don’t really know what you’re getting into.

This ties into something I mention often on LinkedIn: my love for Purdue. Yes, I’m an alum, but only from an online master’s program. I didn’t even go there for undergrad. And nobody from my Michigan upbringing likes that I cheer for Purdue—my husband, kids, and even my parents call it “Purdue don’t” because they think it’s hilarious. In Michigan, you choose Michigan or Michigan State, with Notre Dame as a third option. Luckily, I’m used to being a contrarian.

But Purdue is a model for efficiency in high education that every university should look to for the standard. I received my masters degree in 18 months for $30,000 and it was an excellent program. No time (or money) wasted. There are others doing well too—my daughter is at Georgia Tech, and I’m thrilled with how they manage cost-benefit—but overall, higher ed is bloated and wildly inefficient. Some people argue education shouldn’t be efficient. I disagree. Education dollars should absolutely be efficient. It’s a nonprofit system; every dollar should be maximized. You shouldn’t waste people’s time or money. It’s finally really being looked at for cost cutting, but how did we let it get this far?

So, maybe I will put “I don’t waste people’s time” on my LinkedIn profile. It’s a meaningful distinction.

I don’t think he originated the phrase, but Tim Ferriss said, “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.” Or take Seisemovsky’s flow state—you want to be in that zone. When you’re efficient, you shouldn’t feel rushed or stressed. It should feel like you’re cruising. Fast and smooth.

That’s the goal every day: show up and create efficiencies. In your operations. In your sales. In your marketing. You, as a human, should be getting better. Your tools should be getting better. And you should demand it.

The real blessing of not wasting time is that you can pack 30 minutes or one hour with massive value, fast movement, and meaningful decisions and it feels great because when you’re focused and everyone’s aligned, there’s momentum.

I’m focused on growth. If my clients get on a call and don’t want to talk about growth, they’re in the wrong place. Let’s get to the real hurdle. What’s the actual problem? When people say I’m direct, what they really mean is: I aim for efficiency by zeroing in on the core issue.

Yes, it’s uncomfortable. Yes, it feels hard sometimes. But when you’re actually solving the hard thing, you unlock real efficiency. You don’t have to work so hard when you’re focused on the right 20%—the part that actually moves the needle.

That’s how you make sure you don’t waste time.