Jedi Council Meeting - Feb 16, 2026

Team & Culture Domain Notes

Meeting: Role Overview Meeting
Duration: 41 minutes
Attendees: Quan, Charlie, Steven, Kristin
Fathom Link: https://fathom.video/share/Ksz2GN6fJJJ9xsY5jmF_TK8hTMVzAaW4

Major Decisions

1. Paula's Maternity Leave Plan Confirmed

Context: Paula is pregnant, expecting ~April 2026 (6 months along, shared openly with team)

Approach Approved:

Policy: AI will draft maternity leave policy (action item)
Communication: Kristin to have 1:1s with Paula and Carmee first (she already has rapport)
Transition Doc: One shared Google Doc for handoff visibility
Social Media: Paula may continue social media async during/after leave (flexible return)
Design Handoff: Carmee takes full design ownership

Quan's Direction:

"Let me first give an overall plan, because I think the AI might give us some other dimensions we haven't considered. And then most likely it'll point to you having a one-on-one with each of them."

Team Sentiment:

Steven: "Someone's having a major life experience and event. They're a member of this team and a valued family member. We can basically provide another person the opportunity to fill in a niche gap."
All supportive, focused on smooth transition

2. Carmee's Design Onboarding Plan

Role Shift: Pathways coordination → Design execution (+ some pathways automation)

Onboarding Framework (Steven's Proposal - APPROVED):

Tuesday/Thursday "Jedi Council" sessions (1 hour each)
Structured 30-day plan (day-by-day achievable goals)
Autonomy, agency, efficacy - keep her intrinsically motivated
Avoid "syllabus feeling" - chunk work, show daily progress

Charlie's Assessment:

"I see Carmee, and she's really strong at the ability of adaptability. Whatever the role we need her, she just accepts and did a great job. And I do see some of her little artwork in the team. I kind of like it."

Kristin's Context:

Carmee just got house loan approval (motivating!)
She's been expressing passion for design
Needs smooth transition (lots of changes lately, mentally overwhelming)

Design Handoff Details (Charlie):

Project-based work (straightforward)
All files on Drive
Branding docs in place
Canva + design software access
"For a designer, a well-trained designer, it's really easy to get on to working on projects, it's not like coding"

3. Charlie's Release (Finance/Admin Automation)

The Crux Identified:

"Charlie is like the biggest vulnerability we have because she's taken on so much by default. It's almost her blessing, but also her curse because it's like I would have to actively remove things from her for those things to come off of her. Otherwise, she's almost like a magnet and just like responsibilities stick to her." - Quan

What Charlie Actually Wants:

Brand and design focus
NOT day-to-day repetitive finance, HR, admin

Automation Plan:

Finance/Bookkeeping → DeepSky (Gantom's existing provider)
- Day-to-day books, reconciliation
- DeepSky does NOT touch actual money transfers
- Charlie + DeepSky already have relationship
Admin/HR → Minnie AI + JustWorks
- JustWorks for payroll across ZTAG + Gantom
- AI drafts emails, invoices, documents
- Oversight reports only (Charlie not doing tasks)
Charlie Keeps:
- Collecting checks at office
- Money transfers (in/out)
- Brand strategy oversight

Kristin's Insight:

"I think it's a good shift, and this next stage is absolutely getting Charlie less involved in all the training."

4. Kristin's Partner Relations Evolution

Shift: From sales/outreach → District implementation + ZTAG Extended Care

The Realization:

"My role as partner relations really is district implementation and using the ZTAG Extended Care, which is exactly this process that we're talking about, the data, the case study. Year three that we've never implemented. We've never used it."

New Framework:

Offer ZTAG Extended Care (3-year support) instead of unit discounts
Case studies for districts (e.g., emotional kids losing gracefully)
Kristin handles big picture with district → hands off to Steve for execution

Origin: Millstone case study led to this insight

5. Steve's Data Work Progress

Status: 65-70% complete

What's Being Built:

Direct one-to-one data from playmakers
Step count, interaction count, what worked/didn't work
Linking accounts, playmakers, CRM back-end

Timeline: Hopefully done by end of week (before Steve leaves for Florida)

Impact:

"Data is music to my ears. It's music to all of our ears." - Quan

Kristin's View:

"We'll really be able to have a much higher hit rate" (for converting leads)

6. Valencia Fulfillment Partnership

Scope: Outsource RMA, shipping, ZTAGGER retrofitting, firmware flashing

Capabilities:

In-house RMA processing
ZTAGGER retrofitting (starting point)
3D printing (same printer as Quan's)
Shipping/fulfillment
Technical oversight (Jose's daughter from Navy, nuclear carrier tech experience)

Location: 5 minutes from Quan's house

Timeline: End of Q1 for full transition

Steve's Reaction:

"Get it out of your garage!" (re: 3D printers, copper particles from watch manufacturing)

Kristin's Question Clarified:

Checks still go to office (not changing business address)
Charlie collects mail/checks at office

Minnie AI Introduction to Team

Quan's Explanation:

Name: Minnie (minimize cost function)
Goal: Reduce cost function to minimum
Ingested: Emails, transcripts, VTO, 2+ years of meeting notes
Capabilities: Draft emails, generate invoices/documents, track packages, check emails/texts
Alignment: Won't go off rails (2 years of corpus weight)

How Team Will Use:

Chatbot interface (type as if real person)
Highly capable (outputs everything except human face/voice... eventually voice too)
Carmee: Will have access for pathway automation drafts

Steven's Reaction:

Hesitancy towards AI is normal
"Tired of pivoting and shifting and reprioritizing"
But sees necessity based on team needs
Serendipity: Minnie was his dog's name (died ~1 year ago)

Quan's Assurance:

"Once you guys get a taste of the capabilities, I think you will be quite amazed. It's like having this assistant that is super on top of all the things."

Team Sentiment Check

Steven:

Supportive but feeling pivot fatigue
"Feelings and tired nature aside, that's kind of irrelevant, right? It's the necessity function."
Appreciates team-first approach: "I don't see that often."

Kristin:

Excited about partner relations shift
Ready to do 1:1s with Paula and Carmee
Sees clear path forward

Charlie:

Positive about Carmee's adaptability
Looking forward to design focus
Acknowledges Carmee's mental overwhelm with changes (short period, lots of shifts)

Carmee (not present, but discussed):

"Strong at the ability of adaptability" - Charlie
Passionate about design
Just got house loan (motivating)
Needs structured support during transition

Paula (not present, but discussed):

Shared pregnancy openly with team (fun announcement)
May continue social media work async (on her own accord)
Flexible return path (not full workload immediately)

Action Items

Immediate (This Week):

✅ AI Draft: Maternity leave policy (Quan → Minnie)
✅ AI Draft: Transition plan + 1-week onboarding doc for Carmee
⏳ Kristin: Schedule 1:1s with Paula and Carmee
⏳ Team: Review AI-generated docs, provide feedback

Ongoing:
5. Tuesday/Thursday: Jedi Council sessions for Carmee (1 hr each)
6. Steve: Keep 10 memory cards on hand for ZTAGGER flashing
7. Steve: Monitor Find My on ZTAGGER trackers (currently in Georgia, on pace)
8. Charlie: Collect mail/checks at office (only finance task remaining)

Q1 Goals:
9. Valencia Fulfillment full transition (RMA + shipping)
10. Steve's data work complete (direct playmaker data)
11. Carmee design onboarding complete (30-day structured plan)

Quotes Worth Remembering

On Charlie's Overload:

"She's almost like a magnet and just like responsibilities stick to her and she holds on to them by default." - Quan

On AI Alignment:

"The alignment's not going to go off the rails because there's so much weight of existing content." - Quan

On Paula's Maternity:

"Someone's having a major life experience and event. They're a member of this team and a valued family member of this team." - Steven

On Carmee's Onboarding:

"Chunk it a little bit... keep it aligned and keep it in planned and pathway... ensure that Carmee does the best that she can do without feeling like, oh my goodness, there's so much pressure on me." - Steven

On Team-First Approach:

"I'm happy to know that we're taking care of everybody and making sure that it's the right thing by everybody. I appreciate that because I don't see that often." - Steven

On Data Impact:

"Data is music to my ears. It's music to all of our ears." - Quan

Team & Culture Domain Analysis

Capacity Status:

Charlie: HIGH risk → being actively unloaded ✅
Carmee: AT CAPACITY → automation first, then design onboarding ✅
Paula: Maternity leave ~April → smooth transition plan in progress ✅
Tin: (not discussed, but Valencia handoff will free her 5-10 hrs/week)
Steve: Focused on data work (ends this week), then Florida training

Burnout Prevention:

Steven showing pivot fatigue (acknowledged, addressed with structured plans)
Carmee getting "syllabus feeling" mitigation (chunked goals, daily wins)
Paula getting flexible return path (async social, no pressure)

Role Clarity:

Charlie: Brand strategy (released from finance/admin)
Kristin: District implementation + Extended Care (not cold sales)
Steve: Training + data (not admin/paperwork)
Carmee: Design execution (pathways → automated)
Paula: Social media (async, on her accord)

Council Support Structure:

Tuesday/Thursday Jedi Council hours for Carmee mentorship
Structured 30-day onboarding (autonomy, agency, efficacy)
One shared transition doc (visibility for all)

Success Signals:

All four Council members aligned on plan
Steven's appreciation for team-first approach
Charlie's positive assessment of Carmee's adaptability
Kristin's excitement about partner relations evolution

Risk Flags:

Steven's pivot fatigue (acknowledged but not addressed beyond "necessity")
Carmee's mental overwhelm with recent changes (mitigated with structure)
No discussion of what happens if Valencia partnership doesn't work (Tin fallback?)

Next Steps for Team Domain

Monitor Council decision doc feedback (maternity policy v3)
Track Kristin's 1:1s with Paula and Carmee (this week)
Review AI-generated 30-day onboarding plan for Carmee
Check in on Steven's morale (pivot fatigue needs watching)
Update capacity tracker after Charlie's finance handoff to DeepSky
Escalate to Main if any capacity issues emerge during transition

Meeting Assessment: ✅ Productive, team-aligned, clear action items, people-first approach validated

Charlie Release Progress: 🟢 Finance → DeepSky confirmed, admin → Minnie AI confirmed

Carmee Transition: 🟢 Structured plan approved, Council support committed

Paula Support: 🟢 Policy draft in progress, flexible return path, team fully supportive

Team Morale: 🟡 Steven showing fatigue (needs monitoring), others positive