“I am staying.” – Jack Barsky Three words on a dirt road. Three words that ended one life & cemented another. Three words that turned a mission into a calling. Because by the time Moscow ordered this KGB agent home, Jack wasn’t just a spy with a cover story. He was a college valedictorian, a successful corporate executive, a father raising a little girl who’d stolen his heart. Piece by piece, he had built a life in America. Not perfect. Not easy. But real. A life that didn’t come from forged documents or coded radio signals. One built like any other—by late nights, failed ventures, second chances, & love discovered. So, when the KGB told him to run, he stayed. He chose the life he’d built over the life he’d been assigned. And that’s the real story here. Jack’s tales of espionage may make headlines, but it’s the everyday work of building something that lasts — a business, a family, a future — that defines his legacy. And it’s exactly what defines yours. To stay—to keep building, to redefine yourself again & again—that’s what sets you apart as an individual & an entrepreneur. Ready for more? Connect with him at JackBarsky.com. Jack proves what C.S. Lewis said best: “Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.”

“I became an American & said goodbye to them [the KGB].” – Jack Barsky Sounds like the opening line of a spy thriller. Except this one’s real. For a decade, Jack lived undercover in the U.S. as a KGB agent. His mission wasn’t excitement. No tuxedos. No martinis. Just the discipline to disappear — and never get caught. And he did it so well that he not only avoided capture — he built a whole new life. A college valedictorian. A corporate exec. A family man no one suspected. Until one day, the story broke on 60 Minutes. That’s when Jack faced the choice every entrepreneur knows too well: – Start over. – Reinvent yourself. – Risk failing again & again. He wrote a book that flopped until he rewrote it from scratch. He gave speeches so bad he wanted to “jump in a lake”… and kept at it until Microsoft put him on stage. He built a business that went nowhere — and had the guts to kill it when no one showed up. Every failure became fuel. Every dead end, a redirection. This isn’t just a peek into espionage. It’s a raw look at resilience, reinvention, & the grit it takes to survive when the plan collapses.

Winston Churchill said it best: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

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"I thought my calling was to be a Catholic priest." – Ryan Monk It wasn’t a whim. Ryan devoted years — undergrad, master’s, a year of theology in seminary — to answering what he believed was his life’s purpose. But somewhere along the way, a quiet unease began to grow. His head said priesthood but his heart whispered his gifts might belong in a different kind of service — one with a family at the center & a new way of walking alongside people in their most important moments. So, he traded vestments for brick dust, late-night restaurant shifts, & finally, law school — chasing a career that could both provide for his young family & serve others. Then 2008 hit. The economy tanked. A Big Law offer disappeared. And that mortgage, those babies… they were staring him down. Ryan took one last leap of faith — starting from a borrowed desk in a warehouse. Little by little, he built his own law firm on three values you can’t fake: humility, gratitude, & joy — the kind that shows up in grief, uncertainty, recessions, pandemics, & all the moments in between. If you’ve ever wondered whether changing course can bring you closer to your true calling… Connect at monklegal.com Joseph Campbell said it best of journeys like Ryan’s: “Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.”