If you think you’re busy, spend a morning with Michelle Ly. By the time most people have finished their first cup of coffee, she’s already handled school drop-off, gone through her emails, mapped the week’s city council obligations, and possibly climbed on a roof. Michelle and her husband Erik co-own Hall Roofing and Construction, The Rock Sports Bar, The Flats Round Rock, and Alcove Cantina, and she’s currently serving her third term on Round Rock City Council.
The most surprising thing about Michelle might be this: she’s an introvert. Not the kind who stays home, but the kind who sits back, watches, and listens before acting. She told Bryan that her superpower is figuring out who’s good at what. The best deescalator on her bar staff handles the angry customers. The person who can’t manage a crowd is in the back organizing reservations. She plays to people’s strengths, and that’s how she keeps multiple businesses running without being in all of them at once.
What really stood out was how she handles accountability. When she felt she was no longer making a meaningful contribution to the YMCA board, she didn’t quietly let her term slide. She finished it and walked away on purpose. She’s had coffee with nonprofit directors and flat-out asked, “Am I still effective for this board?” That’s not a question most people are willing to ask out loud.
Her servant’s heart comes from watching her Vietnamese refugee parents make the most of every opportunity America gave them. They never told her to give back because they had money. They told her to give when you can, with whatever you have. Time, talent, connections. That lesson is woven through everything she does in Round Rock today.
Listen to the full episode and ask yourself: when’s the last time you honestly checked whether you were still being effective somewhere that mattered to you?
