Avery Crumrine - For the Dreamer With a Vision Who’s Ready to Make It Happen
How to Follow Through on Your Goals: Avery Brenna Crumlin
At 10, Avery Crumrine ran a business. At 12, she hosted an entrepreneur fair. At 18, she is a bestselling author, a college student set to graduate early, and training for her first marathon.
On this episode of Conversations with Carroll, Carroll Patrizi welcomes Avery, one of the young professionals Carroll loves to spotlight. Her book, Intention into Action, shows readers how to follow through on their goals.
The day she decided to become a bestseller
Avery never wrote the book to become a bestseller. About a month after it came out, someone asked if it was one, and suggested maybe her next book would be. Avery hung up wondering why this one couldn't be.
A few days later, she woke up and decided that today her book would become a bestseller. She posted everywhere and reached out to everyone she knew. Less than 24 hours later, it hit number one.
It's a perfect example of the message in her book: decide, then act.
A Young Entrepreneur From the Start
Avery grew up watching her parents build a successful business from the ground up. She learned early that when you say you'll do something, you follow through, or it won't succeed.
A crafting business at 10
Always creative, Avery loved crafts and photography. At 10 she turned that into a crafting business, sold at entrepreneur fairs, and raised enough money to buy a professional camera.
An entrepreneur fair at 12
As a Girl Scout, Avery wanted to earn her entrepreneur badge. The usual suggestion was to attend an entrepreneur fair, and she was already a regular. So she hosted her own in the parking lot of her parents' business. She handled the marketing, emails and sign-ups herself. The result: 23 booths and more than 200 attendees, with every booth run by an entrepreneur under 18.
Action before confidence
Carroll asked whether Avery had to surrender fear to step out like that. Avery grew up an introvert and says she didn't have that confidence then. She still considers it a work in progress, though writing her book gave her real confidence in her message. At 12, she simply knew that if she wanted the badge, she had to act, even without feeling confident.
Confidence, it turns out, can follow action.
Do the Thing: Charity Auctions With a Twist
Carroll first met Avery and her mom at a gifting suite in Los Angeles and saw right away that they were a power duo for good. Avery's mom founded Do the Thing, a community whose members join her many projects. Together, mother and daughter host charity auctions.
Items range widely, from artwork and clothing to podcast guest spots and appearances as TV extras. Each sale is split three ways:
Share | Goes to |
|---|---|
40% | The entrepreneur who donated the product, service or artwork |
40% | The charity or nonprofit being supported |
20% | Running the next auction |
Members of the Do the Thing community can nominate a nonprofit they lead, serve on the board of, or care deeply about to be the next beneficiary.
Avery admits the format sounds complicated at first. The best way to understand it, she says, is to take part in one and feel the energy.
Why Avery Wrote Intention into Action
Many people assume Avery wrote the book because she struggled with follow-through. In fact, following through has always come easily to her. Watching people around her struggle with it is what moved her to write. Follow-through is one of her most important values, and she wants to help others live it too.
Today she also works with people individually. Her main program takes writers from a book idea to a published author in 45 days.
Avery's book-writing process
Brain-dump your chapters. List everything you want to talk about as separate chapter ideas, in no particular order. They don't need titles yet. One might be your first business, another rejection, another a story about your mom.
Add bullet points. Once you have about ten chapter ideas, add three to six bullet points under each.
Talk it out. Avery uses voice typing. She goes bullet by bullet, speaking about each point until she's said enough. Typing works too, if that's easier for you.
Repeat. Work back through the draft several times.
She set aside about an hour a day, roughly five days a week. Carroll appreciated those built-in breaks. Planning days off makes the schedule more realistic and easier to keep.
Where People Get Stuck, and How to Keep Going
Avery sees resistance show up at three points:
The start. Many people stall before they begin and don't know how to take the first step.
The middle. Momentum is high while the idea is new and exciting, then interest fades.
The finish. Some people get close and don't know how to wrap it up.
The fix depends on where you are. Knowing your stage helps you reframe the resistance that's showing up.
The power of community
Avery built a follow-through community inside an app. Members track multiple intentions and the steps to reach each one, alongside others doing the same, and that energy is contagious. The community meets for weekly productivity sessions, where people film content, write books or work on their businesses together, plus monthly recap calls. She also offers one-on-one accountability for those who want it.
Everyone's needs differ, yet Avery always recommends having community around your goals.
Follow-through builds self-trust
Carroll shared that everything her team works on falls under one umbrella: accountability. Without it, the next step doesn't happen, we don't learn to trust ourselves, and others can't trust us either.
Avery agreed. Each time you say you'll do something and don't, you break trust with yourself. Each time you follow through, you build confidence and self-trust. Put the book in your calendar and start writing today. "I'll figure it out later," she warns, is a dangerous place to be.
She sees this daily in college, where so much potential slips away to "I'll do it later."
Turn Your Intention into Action
Avery's core message: an intention only matters once you put action behind it. You can dream of starting a business, launching a podcast or writing a book. Results come when you move from "I'm writing a book" to "I'm a published author," and from "I'm trying to start a podcast" to "I have a podcast."
The principle is universal, she says. It works for starting a business, writing a book, running a marathon or building better habits.
Carroll put it this way: she wants her days full of thoughtful, intentional action that creates a positive impact. Avery is already working on her next book, and she's happy to come back and answer listener questions.
Key takeaways
Decide, then act. Avery made her book a bestseller in less than 24 hours once she committed.
You can act before you feel confident. Confidence grows from action.
Know where you get stuck: the start, the middle or the finish.
Surround your goals with community and accountability.
Every promise you keep to yourself builds self-trust.
Schedule the work, and plan your rest days so the schedule lasts.
Frequently asked questions
How do you follow through on your goals? Identify where resistance shows up for you, put the work in your calendar, and surround yourself with community and accountability. Each completed step builds the confidence to take the next.
What is Intention into Action about? Avery Brenna Crumlin's bestselling book on following through on goals. It applies to business, writing, fitness and everyday habits.
How did Avery write her book? She brainstormed chapter ideas, added three to six bullet points to each, then used voice typing to talk through every point, about an hour a day, five days a week.
What is Do the Thing? A community founded by Avery's mom. Its charity auctions split proceeds between donating entrepreneurs, nonprofits and future auctions.
