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Smoke Signals from the Dopamine Desert
Still. Watching. Mapping the chaos.
"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished."
— Lao Tzu
While everyone else is sprinting toward the noise, I'm in the desert listening for signal.
I work with early-stage teams, solo founders, and companies in transition who need more than marketing. They need message-market clarity and system-aligned execution.
No funnels. No fluff. Just frameworks, traction, and clarity that breathes.
Who I Work With
Teams in Search of Strategy
Teams who've tried a few too many tactics without a core strategy
Founders Seeking Clarity
Founders ready to articulate their value clearly — not just loudly
Products Needing Framing
Products that deserve deeper traction, but need sharper framing
"The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long." — Taoist Proverb
Whether you're launching, repositioning, or realigning, I help you find the thread that makes sense of the noise.
SECTION 3: ABOUT ME
“Know thyself.”
— Inscribed at the Temple of Apollo, Delphi
I’ve worn a lot of hats — marketing director, founder, strategist, builder, and reluctant technologist.
My early career was spent in the trades, design, and nonprofit sectors, where clarity was earned by doing — not pitching. Later, I built a strategic messaging consultancy (Harmening Marketing Co.), led high-revenue teams at agencies (The Get Smart Group), and repositioned companies at the edge of industry (Veksel Consulting).
I’ve created messaging systems, launched SaaS products, directed full-stack GTM strategy, and quietly built a life at the edges — in a small town without a stoplight, watching the chaos with a slow hand.
This is where strategy meets spirit. Narrative meets nature. And product meets pattern.
Selected Work
1
Relatance
A graph-based SaaS born from internal need, now growing into its own as a visual relationship OS
2
Messaging OS
A flexible system for aligning GTM, product, and brand around a shared narrative
3
Vintage Valley
Every word, pixel, and photo — a 6-year client relationship built on authenticity and resonance
"The master does nothing, yet nothing is left undone." — Lao Tzu
Want your story told with clarity? Let's talk.
Consulting Services
Strategic Messaging
Product Positioning
Narrative Systems
GTM Architecture
Founder-to-Market Translation
"Do your work, then step back — the only path to serenity." — Lao Tzu
I'm not selling hype. I'm not optimizing for algorithms.
I'll look at a computer screen for you. But it won't be cheap.
Philosophy
"The wise man is still and watches."
— Proverbs 17:27–28 (paraphrased)
Most people sprint toward the fire.
I sit in the stillness and watch the sky.
The Dopamine Desert is not a performance, it is a posture.
It is the only place I have found signal worth listening to.
I am not here to optimize your marketing stack.
I am here to ask if your stack even makes sense.
Smoke Signals

Clarity
Finding signal in the noise
Messaging
Building systems of meaning
Slowness
Creating things that last
"I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what He will say to me."
— Habakkuk 2:1
A writing series for those learning to build systems of meaning in an age of chaos.
Thoughts on clarity, messaging, product, faith, burnout, slowness, and building things that last.
Ready When You Are
"Be still, and know…" — Psalm 46:10
You are not lost. You are just ready to listen.
If this landed, just shoot me an email.
No calendar link. No funnel.
jjharm@proton.me