Charlie Gilkey is a veteran of the United States Army and the founder of Productive Flourishing, Inc., a website, community, and app that helps “creators, business owners, and leaders figure out how to finish their most important projects.” The company also produces planners and provides one-on-one coaching. Gilkey is the author of two books in the business genre, Start Finishing and The Small Business Life Cycle. His third, Team Habits, will be published in August 2023. We sat down to talk about everything from his process to marketing to platform.
The Writer: What made you decide to start this company?
Circa 2006, 2007, I was simultaneously pursuing my Ph.D. in philosophy, and I was an Army Joint Force military logistics coordinator. I had recently come back from Operation Iraqi Freedom, and I was flummoxed, vexed by something that seemed weird to me: I could move battalions of people to large organizations, but this 5,000-word essay was kicking my ass. How is that possible? I’m not the only person with this problem, right? I’m not unique in that way. So [I asked myself], what have otherthose things. And both are great. But so many of us struggle in that middle, [with] projects that are in the middle: that need to be written, articles that need to be written, sales that need to be happening. There wasn’t a whole lot of work out there that really helps people like us; creative, altruistic, knowledge workers get projects done. I [said to myself], Well, that seems like an obvious hole. And I started filling that hole, and that’s where came from.
