I stepped up onto the raised stage under the bright overhead lights and looked out over the packed room without the slightest hesitation.

I didn’t check my phone for messages about household grocery lists or late dinners.

“Good afternoon,” I said, my voice clear and steady across the big hall.

“We wrapped up the fourth quarter with fourteen percent net growth across all eleven Midwest distribution corridors.”

I clicked the remote and brought the master financial chart up on the forty-foot screen behind me.

The green line for the Chicago regional office rose higher than any quarterly total in the company’s fifteen-year history.