Make the BIG Ask

Welcome to Wednesday. Safe moves are officially off the table.

There are asks.

And then there are BIG Asks.

The ask that makes your stomach tighten a little.

The introduction you aren't sure you've "earned."

The fee that feels like a stretch when you say it out loud.

The partnership that feels above your current level.

The opportunity you could easily convince yourself you're not ready for.

The person you assume is too busy, too powerful, or too far outside your network to say yes.

So you make a smaller ask.

Or you wait.

Or you tell yourself you'll ask when you have more experience, more proof, more confidence, or a warmer introduction.

But here's the problem:

Every time you decide someone's answer before asking them, you've turned a possible yes into a guaranteed no.

Women like us don't do that.

Women like us make the BIG Ask.

A BIG Ask isn't about asking recklessly.

It's about refusing to negotiate against yourself before the negotiation even begins.

You don't control whether someone says yes.

You control whether you give them the opportunity to.

That's agency.

And sometimes the answer will be no.

Sometimes it will be not yet.

Sometimes it will be yes, but differently than you imagined.

And sometimes someone will say yes so quickly you'll wonder why you spent three weeks talking yourself out of asking.

The point isn't to get every yes.

The point is to stop manufacturing your own no.

Make one BIG Ask this week.

Not the comfortable ask you already know you'll get.

The one you've been circling.

Ask for the introduction.

Ask for the higher fee.

Ask for the partnership.

Ask for the speaking opportunity.

Ask for the meeting.

Ask for the sponsorship.

Ask someone to invest.

Ask to be considered.

Ask the person you think is "too important" to respond.

Then send it.

Your job isn't to determine the answer.

Your job is to make the ask.

Think about how many opportunities require someone to know that you want them.

A client can't agree to your higher rate if you never quote it.

A potential partner can't explore a collaboration you never propose.

Someone can't introduce you to the person you want to meet if you never request the introduction.

A decision-maker can't consider you for an opportunity they don't know you want.

Making the ask doesn't guarantee the outcome.

It does something more fundamental.

It creates the possibility of an outcome that didn't exist while the ask stayed in your head.

The BIG Ask isn't really about confidence.

You can be nervous and ask anyway.

You can feel underprepared and ask anyway.

You can have no idea whether the answer will be yes and ask anyway.

That's why making the BIG Ask is an act of agency.

You stop waiting for certainty.

You stop requiring yourself to feel ready.

You stop making the decision for the other person.

And you put possibility back on the table.

Brazen Law reinforced: Don't manufacture your own no.

Women like us make the BIG Ask.

What would you ask for if you stopped trying to predict the answer?

That's today's move.

Stop deciding what other people will say. Make the BIG Ask and let them answer for themselves.

I'm in the stakeholder-discovery phase of developing the Brazen Capital Movement, and I'm deliberately listening before deciding exactly what BCM should build.

I'm conducting 20-minute research conversations with women founders, investors and capital ecosystem professionals, and leaders of organizations supporting entrepreneurs, investors, women wealth holders or allocators, women in business, or economic development.

I want to hear what's actually working, what isn't, where meaningful gaps remain, and what could create greater economic opportunity for women entrepreneurs.

This isn't a sales pitch or networking request. I'm looking for people willing to share their real experiences and perspectives. I'll select participants to create a useful mix across the three groups.

→ Volunteer for a 20-minute BCM research conversation https://forms.gle/vzJbf6sH2H8tpiTd9

—Martise
Founder, BrazenEra
Building Project Brazen 2026

P.S. - In six weeks, The Brazen Code arrives.

Be Brazen is one of the three pillars of the Code, and the BIG Ask is one of the ways we practice it.

Because this isn't just something I want women to read.

It's something I'm proposing we practice.

One more thing:

Another pillar of The Brazen Code is:

Huddle Your Teammates.

Sometimes the BIG Ask becomes easier because another woman gives you information, makes an introduction, tells you what's possible, or simply says:

"Ask."

Be that woman for someone this week.

Think of a woman who's ready for a bigger opportunity.

Tell her about it.

Make the introduction.

Encourage the ask.

And if the Brazen Power Letter could help her make bolder moves, forward this email to her.

Or send her here to subscribe:

👉 https://newsletter.brazenera.co/

Women like us don't just make BIG Asks. We help other women make theirs.