Elephants & Nuts

There are two forces at play in everyone’s growth:

1. The big thing you’re trying to build, and 

2. The small things you pick up along the way. 

Around here, we call them:

🐘 The Elephant: the big vision you’re working on

🐿️ The Nuts: the small-but-critical bits of knowledge, infrastructure and goodwill (intellectual capital) that feed it

This is the framework Cris uses to teach, advise and move through civic and entrepreneurial ecosystems.

🐘 THE ELEPHANT: YOUR BIGGER THING

Your Elephant is the long game, the system, vision or opportunity you’re trying to build:

• your career arc

• your business model

• your community impact

• your civic identity

• your capacity and confidence

It’s the thing with weight. The thing that needs direction, strategy, and context. The thing that takes time.

The Elephant is what you’re ultimately trying to grow strong and steady. 

*It's important to note: Often times, you don't know what that mature Elephant is. The Elephant is found in purpose, and sometimes, purpose isn't revealed until ready. You can discover an Elephant to build toward, and it may later become simply a baby elephant in the herd, led by your mature Elephant. Either way, you can continue to collect Nuts.

🌰 THE NUTS: THE BITS THAT ACTUALLY MOVE YOU FORWARD

Nuts are small, specific pieces of intellectual capital that you gather one moment at a time:

• that one insight at a council meeting

• the clarity you get from asking a question

• the “ohhh, that’s how that works” moment

• the shortcut someone hands you

• the story that saves you three years

• the context that suddenly makes a system make sense

Nuts don’t look big on their own.

But a steady supply of nuts is what actually feeds the Elephant.

This is why Cris shows up in the community, pays attention and lets people “catch” her in real time, because that’s where the nuts live.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Most people focus on chasing the Elephant and wonder why they stay stuck.

Cris focuses on feeding the Elephant. The right nuts, gathered consistently, are what turn capacity into confidence and vision into traction.

This is how Cris teaches.

This is how the community learns.

This is how the work spreads.

Where You Catch Cris to Gather Nuts

You gather nuts any time you encounter Cris in a place where learning can occur:

• Candid Café

• Community events, Civic meetings and Workshops

• Talks & speaking events

• Tagalongs

• Nacho Academy discussions

• Random moments where you happen to catch her somewhere

Every one of these moments feeds your Elephant.

Where You Grow Your Elephant

You grow your bigger vision through structured support:

• Nacho Academy

• Cris’s advising calls

• The Library (lessons, resources, context)

• Longer-form teaching moments

• Civic Sense (on socials)

• Your own work between the moments

This is where you put the nuts to use, build stability, and shape the long game.

• CATCH CRIS

• Calendar: to see where Cris will be in the community

• Nacho Academy (Membership): to build your Elephant

• Programs & Events: for broad gathering