Hey Dreamer,

Can you believe we’re officially halfway through the year?

It’s the perfect moment to pause, reflect, and ask: Where am I now—and where do I actually want to be by the end of this year?

Almost five years ago, in September 2020, I was sitting in my childhood home in Sacramento.
One year out of college. One year into my first “real” job.
Filming TikToks after work.

And writing the very first draft of something called... Global Dream Team.

I had a document open with big goals, wild dreams, and a vision I wasn’t sure anyone would understand yet. I was dreaming of travel, storytelling, connection, purpose. I had no business model (yet) — just a just a vision and a document.

I’m sharing this today because I recently spoke with a friend who’s just starting her creative journey… and it made me reflect:

What did I actually do back then that helped me turn my dream into a business?

Here are a few things I told her:

Before the brand deals. Before the “success.”
I started putting the vision into words — combining all my passions into one and getting clear on the mission behind it.

I mapped out the future I hoped to build: who I’d create with, what stories I’d tell, and how it might all come to life.

I opened a doc and outlined everything:

The doc grew to 30+ pages of unfiltered vision and notes.
It was messy. It was real. And it gave my dream structure.
And that structure gave it momentum.

This exact process became the foundation for the visioning framework I now teach inside GDT. If you’ve never fully written out your dream — I’ll help you do it inside Cohort 5.

At the time, I had $11,000 in my bank account. That’s it.
And I started spending it.

💸 $2.5K → A One-Month Founder House / Community
The environment I needed to launch my dream. I met other builders and creators — some of whom ended up in my first YouTube videos.
It wasn’t just a place or a group of people. It was the catalyst.

📸 $1.5K → A Sony a6400 Mirrorless Camera + Sigma 16mm f/1.4 Camera Lens
So I could film professionally — and take myself seriously as a creator.

🎓 $750 → A Course on Content, Business, and Monetization
Because if I was going to build this, I wanted to actually learn how.

🌍 $$$ → On purposeful travel — journeys that cracked me open, helped me uncover my true path, and doubled as content that poured right back into the business I was building.

🛠️ Plus everything else behind the scenes — editing tools, creative software, supplies, subscriptions, and the tiny things that keep a big dream moving.

By the end of that first year, I’d invested over $20,000 into my dream.

But here’s what changed:

My brain stopped treating it like a hobby or idea —
and started treating it like a real business.
A startup. A mission.
Something I was fully committed to.

That mindset shift?
It changed everything.

That means investments. That means business expenses. That means tax write-offs. That means taking risks with intention.

The people I see succeed?
They show the universe (and themselves) that they’re serious — not just with words, but with action.

And the wildest part?
I still have the exact paragraph I wrote on my laptop during quarantine — when I was 23, still figuring out what I wanted.

Here’s a screenshot of what I wrote back then.

It’s raw. It’s messy.
But it captured the heart of what I wanted to build.
And somehow… It all began from there.

Since then, I’ve...
🌍 Traveled to 40 countries
✨ Worked with top-tier brands like KIND Snacks, BuzzFeed, Marriott Hotels and global travel companies
💻 Built a business that supports both my life and my mission

In my first few years running my creative business, I made over $120K —

Not as someone’s employee.
But on my own.

But I’ll never forget the exact moment it all shifted:

When I decided to take myself seriously —
Even before anyone else did.

Because if you’re in your building season right now — I want to help you do it with support.

GDT Cohort 5 is for creatives, visionaries, and purpose-led entrepreneurs ready to turn their ideas into real, income-generating momentum.
The kind that gives you the freedom to actually build — with people who see you, support you, and stretch you.

Inside, you’ll get:
💬 Weekly 1:1 coaching & accountability
🎓 A brand-new Dream Monetization Masterclass
📥 Templates & tools to help you pitch, post, and profit
🌍 A global community of dreamers walking the same path

🔥 Enrollment is open now — and the Mid-Year Sale is on.
If you’ve been waiting for a sign to take your dream seriously... this is it.

👉 Click here to join Cohort 5 or learn more
Or just reply to this email with DREAM and I’ll send you the details personally.

Every week, I spotlight what the dreamers in our community are up to — because this isn’t just my story. It’s ours.

This week, meet Elīna — the very first member of GDT.

Since joining, she’s said yes to opportunities that once scared her: speaking in public, organizing events, stepping fully into her voice.

But when I asked her what truly changed, it wasn’t just about the actions she took.

Here’s how she describes the shift GDT helped her unlock:

“It’s not even about what I’ve done — it’s how I think now. The bold moves you see on the outside? That’s just the surface. What’s changed most is my mindset. Ysabel helped me realize I don’t need to be perfect. I just need to be willing to show up. That’s what this community gave me — the courage to try, the space to grow, and the belief that I could.”

And that’s exactly what GDT is here for.

→ Want to be featured next? Just reply to this email with something exciting you're building 💫

Here’s what’s coming up inside the community:

📅 Wednesday, July 9 – Driving Your Vision Masterclass
Theme: Personal Branding, Purpose & Mission
with Career & Leadership Coach Madeline Miller | Virtual

📅 Thursday, July 10 – Global Dream Café (Vol. 3)
A creative co-working day ☕🌍

🚀 Now Open: Mid-Year Enrollment for Cohort 5
Spots are limited — if you’re ready to build serious momentum, this is your sign.

💫 If this resonated, take the next step. Click here to learn more about Cohort 5 — or reply with DREAM and I’ll make sure you get the details.

Let’s build this dream with purpose — together.

You’re not crazy. You’re called.

With love,
Ysabel

Founder, Global Dream Team
Website | Instagram | YouTube

P.S. I’ll never forget the first time I spent “too much” on my dream. It felt like a risk — but it also felt like a declaration. And I’m still standing here, five years later, building what once lived in a doc on my laptop.