Sometimes the Next Step Is Just Saying Yes

There are moments when life presents us with a choice that doesn’t come wrapped in certainty. No plan. No clear path. Just a nudge. A whisper. A sense that maybe, this is something you’re meant to do.

For Terry Grahl, that moment came in 2006. She was asked to volunteer and paint one wall at a shelter for women and children escaping trauma. She didn’t know what she was walking into and certainly didn’t know that single act would reroute her entire life.

When she arrived at the shelter, what she saw broke her heart. A dorm-like space meant to house 30 women and their children for up to a year. Bunk beds held together with duct tape. Stained mattresses. A room that looked more like a prison than a place of healing. She left that day thinking she wouldn’t do anything, it was just too overwhelming.

But then she looked at the photos she had taken.

And there it was: a pillow with polka dots. A pattern Terry had loved since childhood. In that moment, she heard something deep within her: “Trust me.” Without knowing what came next, she raised her hand and said yes.

That’s the power of inspired action. It doesn’t wait for conditions to be perfect. It doesn’t require a five-year plan. It just asks for one thing: willingness.

From that one “yes,” Enchanted Makeovers was born, a nonprofit that now serves women and children across the country. What started as a makeover of a broken space grew into a movement that reimagines what healing looks like: handmade capes for kids. Traveling pillowcases. Sacred sewing rooms. Programs that don’t just offer comfort, they restore dignity, imagination, and self-worth.

Terry didn’t have a roadmap. She didn’t wait until she had funding or a full team. She took the next best step. And then the next. She spoke her needs out loud. She let people in. And over time, the right people showed up.

It’s a reminder that sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is say yes, even if it’s messy. Even if we’re scared. Even if we don’t yet know what it’s going to become.

Because what if the thing you're supposed to build isn’t waiting on your perfection, it's waiting on your participation?

Terry's story is more than a nonprofit origin story. It's a call to action for anyone sitting on the edge of something meaningful. You don’t need to have it all figured out. You just need to be open. The next step? It might be a conversation. An offer to help. A project you can’t explain yet but you feel it pulling at your heart.

Whatever it is, let this be the reminder:

You don’t have to know the entire path. Sometimes, the next step is just saying yes.