What Is Mike Michelini Up To Now: September 6-12, 2026

I thought this was going to be one of those boring weeks. Then Amazon suspended Esatto's seller account.

The reason was an INFORM Act documentation problem. That sounds almost harmless when you write it in one sentence. But when Amazon switches off an important sales channel, it does not feel like paperwork. For a few days it felt like the whole week had been hijacked.

We worked through the requirements and the account came back on September 2. I did not sleep very well while it was down. I am relieved it is back, but I also do not want to waste the lesson: access, documents, account ownership and recovery plans only look boring before you need them.

Miles is trying a different kind of school

On September 7, Miles starts a hybrid online learning and coaching program. He is one of two students in the first local class. Maggie is staying at a different school.

So we are trying something different for each child. I am not ready to declare the experiment a success before it even starts. We will watch the things that matter: Is Miles learning? Is he building confidence? Is he doing well?

Then on Saturday, September 12, there is an open house for his 3D-printing maker space. I like the fact that he can design something, print it, see what failed and try again. The printer gives a faster and more honest answer than a report about what should work.

Cross Border Summit is getting close

We are also preparing the eighth annual Cross Border Summit, happening November 3 to 5 in Chiang Mai.

Right now we are working through speaker preparation and improving the application and attendee experience. There are still pieces to finish, and I do not want to pretend the whole machine is already running perfectly. But after eight editions, I still get excited when the people, topics and plans begin turning into a real event.

Akitai is still in the messy middle

The Akitai layered-necklace collection is moving forward too. We are redesigning the packaging and working through supplier coordination, product presentation and the supply-chain process.

This is development work, not a launch announcement. Packaging has to protect the product, work with the supplier, make sense financially and still feel right when a customer opens it. None of that is glamorous, but skipping it creates expensive problems later.

Maybe boring is the work

The rest of the week has been apps, testing, documentation and improving the AI skills and workflows we use. We are trying to make GFAVIP Chat and the related systems more dependable before Q4.

A week ago I might have called all of this background work. After the Amazon suspension, I see it differently. The documents, recovery paths, packaging revisions and test cases are the work. You usually notice them only when they are missing.

So no, this was not really a boring week. It was a week of fixing weak points before they became bigger problems.

What is one boring part of your business or life that you know you should fix before it becomes urgent?