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dustiarab · 5 years

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love and light: the harbingers of death

It’s been a minute since a Facebook post got me so fired up I had to rage write a blog post before bed, but here we are.

Someone who I’m not sure how I’m connected to posted a fake Times cover calling Trump America’s greatest president. My feed is typically scrubbed sparkling clean of any pro-Trump activity, so I clicked into it to see if she was serious.

Little did I know I’d just stepped into a steaming pile of bullshit. I read in horror as her friends continued to agree with her about how much good he’d done.

Like failing to implement gun control so kids are safe at school. Like condoning white supremacists and their actions. Like being a known rapist who consistently degrades women.

Reason didn’t matter. These people were part of the Fox News believing, misogynist block, and no appeal to logic or even facts would shake their beliefs.

And what did they all have in common? Naturally, they were all white women. Of course they were. That’s how this works.

Let’s backtrack a second.

A few years ago during the 2016 primaries, I lost almost all of my clients because I came out and took a strong stand against anti-immigrant, anti-woman, anti-family policies and people. (In case you need a reminder, that’s just a taste of the current reality of what it means to be a conservative in the United States.)

I maxed out my limited credit. My company went belly up, and I let my team go. I started working as a barista again. I am still paying for the choice I made to have a fucking backbone and stop taking the money of white women profiting off of their ability to say absolutely nothing.

Nothing about politics. Nothing about the complexities of their lives beyond #firstworldproblems. Nothing about what they believe beyond a very whitewashed version of Christianity that is pro-capitalist and pro-gun, and it’s just too bad about other people’s kids getting shot because it only happens in public schools.

No. You’d never see anything of substance – just love and light.

The kind of love that thinks it’s okay to rip apart families and keep kids in cages. The kind of light that shines bright on faces who couldn’t care less as long as it doesn’t affect their bottom line. Love that always has a price too high, light like on a stage always playing games to distract you from their more cruel, more sinister purpose.

When white women do nothing, we are harbingers of death.

I shudder to think of the things I’ve accepted, the things that I’ve choked down because I was so convinced it was the only way to survive.

That’s what they what us to think.

That’s how they want us to feel – scared, helpless. Like they only way out is by playing their game by their rules. But the truth is no one gets out. By participating in the system, you’re trapped into giving up a little of your power at a time, sometimes so small you barely notice it being sapped away, and before you know it, they’ve already come for everyone else – and now it’s your turn.

Even with my background. Even being from a family experiencing intergenerational poverty, being part of the LGBTQIA+ community, being a woman, being a sexual assault survivor: I am still so fucking privileged. Because of so many isms, I have been given chances I didn’t deserve over and over again. And for the moment, I can breathe a little.

Over the past few years, I’ve seen exactly how easy it is to just stay quiet, look pretty, and get my way. The longer and blonder my hair gets, the more I look like a version of myself that society says is preferable, the more yeses I get.

But I will never, ever forget what it felt like to be an outsider.

I will never forget how many people helped me along the way. And I will never renege on my moral obligation, my personal responsibility, and my duty as a human and a patriot to help others find a way out of the system and into stability.

Starting today, I’m implementing a firm policy: If I find out I’ve taken money from someone who supports Trump or his policies, I’ll donate the amount directly to the ACLU or Together Rising. Someone has to stop him, and throwing as much legal red tape at his nonsense as possible is one way.

(If this resonates with you, and you’d like to have a brand with a backbone, I’ll be running a week long free challenge called Braver Than Before starting on July 29th. Click here to join the waitlist.)

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dustiarab · 5 years

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circus freak

I walked in and watched a woman hanging upside down from the silks and took a deep breath. Day one. Let’s do this.

I’ve been thinking about trying aerial since my friend Sarah Jane (you may remember her from slutwine) told me about it a couple years ago. At the time, it seemed too far out of reach. It had been so long since I’d been active, and I was under no illusions of what moving myself that way would require of me. I told myself I wasn’t ready, but mostly I was making excuses not to start.

I have never considered myself an athlete. When I was growing up, I was athletic because I have a body type that easily builds muscle, but I was never interested in sacrificing my time in theater and music and dance for weekends filled with being active with people I didn’t particularly like.

Now that I’ve been doing Barre for a year and half, I’m stronger, though I still have a long way to go before I’m where I want to be. I got through warm ups without issue, noticing the tightness of my inner thighs as we moved through stretches and splits. It’s been five years since I’ve danced in a show, and since starting Barre, my flexibility hasn’t been quite the same.

Next up was trapeze. Any confidence I had dropped straight to the pit of my stomach, watching the bar float a couple of feet off the floor. This was, shall we say, an unexpected turn.

Aerial had been on my list for a while now, and I felt like I knew what to expect. But there was something about seeing that bar and the coach telling me I was going to hang from it without holding on with my hands that made me rethink this whole airborne sport thing.

I took a deep breath. I could hear a little voice in my head. To be honest, I don’t hear that voice very often anymore. Doubt used to be a consistent presence, but not so much these days. But there it was, back to visit and remind me of all the ways I’ve failed to perform, to commit before.

When I moved into Portland, my back was so messed up that I went to see a massage therapist. They told me what I already knew was true – my core wasn’t strong enough to support my back.

It took me a couple of years to find movement that’s stuck. While I loved the people at CrossFit, it wasn’t for me. I tried ClassPass. Occasionally, I’d catch a yoga class down the street.

But it wasn’t until PureBarre that I found something I could actually stick with.

But the voice didn’t care about my commitment to Barre. And if you’re used to dealing with the voice, you know you have to hear it out before you can address it.

So I listened and gave it space to thrash a moment. It struck me that I still have a lingering, deep distrust in my ability to handle challenges as they arise.

This wasn’t about trapeze. This was about my fears as so many things in my life are shifting and growing. Between moving back to the suburbs, moving in with my partner, and everything in between, I was feeling incredibly vulnerable. And now, someone was asking me to climb a rope and get over my fear of heights and my inner child was throwing a tantrum. Deep breath.

But I wasn’t about to not try it. In case you’re curious, circus classes are not particularly cheap. I managed to get myself up there. The kick up wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Thank God for long legs. Sitting on top of the bar, I started to lower myself down backwards. It was time to let go.

Letting go is, ahem, NOT my strong suit. In fact, anxiety-ridden control freak is a fairly apt description of my Virgo rising ass.

I couldn’t quite make it happen the first time around, but I gave it a shot. Deep breath. Done.

It wasn’t enjoyable, but I’d tried it. I went into trapeze knowing just enough about to know it likely wouldn’t be an amazing experience for me – but that’s not what I came for.

We switched over to the silks, and I immediately felt my shoulders drop. There’s something about working with a stiff bar that is much less satisfying than the flexibility of silks.

The instructor showed us how to approach the long hanging fabric, and I opted to go first. I started to climb – and to my surprise, it was easy. I climbed all the way up to the top of the silks, and once I realized how I high off the ground I was, I took a deep breath.

Heights are not my strong suit either. But the truth was, I was fine.

Because the truth is, I am strong enough to work hard and stay true to myself. I am committed – and if I’m not, it’s because deep down, I know it’s not right for me. I can trust myself to continue to build a life I love – and I have years of stories to prove it.

Inching my way back down the ropes, I remembered exactly how far I’ve come.

Besides, if I can turn circus into a spiritual practice, what can’t I do?

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dustiarab · 5 years

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beautiful messy perfect

Jon and I saw the house we applied for on Sunday.

We applied sight unseen Friday – the rental market in Portland is tight – and they said we’d be first in line for the place. (Who knew it would be so hard to find a three bedroom with a yard that will take a cat?)

And this place? It was gorgeous. A huge, brightly-lit four bedroom house in Beaverton that met all our requirements and was in our price range (though was admittedly at the top of it)? Check. Plus, it was only a ten-minute walk from the train station that we’d be taking to work during the week.

We were already going to ride the train out to my mom’s house to visit my sister who’s in town from North Carolina. They were having a barbecue, and we figured we’d make a day of it. I wanted to see what the commute would be like before we were in a hurry.

When we got to the station, we started walking. There was nothing to write home about, just suburban streets and wide bike lanes – everything I’ve been craving if I’m being honest.

The city has become exhausting for me in many ways, primarily due to Portland’s increasingly violent homeless population. My son and I have been threatened walking home on multiple occasions. Someone’s lunged at me, forcing me to run into the street. The icing on the cake was in April when I saw someone get stabbed on my way to work. The worst part about it was that I’ve become so desensitized, I was more frustrated when I had to stay as a witness and was late to work than I was disturbed by what I had seen.

Needless to say, I’ve filed enough police reports this year to be 100% done with my current situation.

It’s funny the way things evolve and shift as time passes. Moving to Portland was my dream fours years ago – and I did it. I moved into the apartment of my dreams, surrounding myself with high ceilings and big windows and white plaster walls with crown molding. I learned how to date myself. Eventually, I learned how to date other people. Somewhere along the way, I even met the love of my life.

But dreams change. I’ve changed.

So there we were walking together, and that was when we walked into the park that would take us back home. We were instantly immersed in beautiful wetlands as walked further on the stone path. A footbridge led us over a pond, and not only were ducks in the pond, but there were a dozen of their babies playing because this is the kind of place that happens. A family passed on their bicycles, the littlest one of them has only just learned how to ride a two-wheeler confidently. And then we come out on the other side of it to the street.

It’s like a scene out of a movie I never thought I’d be a part of. It’s a newer suburb, built in the last 20 years. When we walk up there’s a balding dad with a beer belly mowing the lawn, and people are looking at us walking down the street because they don’t recognize us, and this is a street where everybody knows everybody. We can’t hear the sound of the highway.

That’s when we found the house. As soon as I saw it I wanted to cry. This is the burbiest burb there ever was, and I’m watching kids run around outside in the front yard without worrying about them disappearing, and it hits me.

I can have everything I’ve ever wanted.

I have spent my entire life either thinking I didn’t deserve or assumed that I could never have or be part of a family that felt like it was normal in any sense of the word. “Normal” can mean so many things to so many people. but to me, the idea of a family unit that was stable and was there for each other was never something I was exposed to. The way I grew up didn’t fit that mold. I never got what I really needed as a child, and everything was constant chaos.

But that’s not who I am. It’s never who I am. It’s how I reacted to the circumstances that I was born into, and now, I am so much more than that. I’ve done (am doing) the work of overcoming vast amounts of trauma. And it was (is) fucking hard.

But now I’m here. I have two wonderful kids. I have a partner who is everything I’ve ever wanted, and I can’t stop crying because I cannot believe how lucky I am. I can’t believe how much life is left to live outside of what I thought I had to be. I can’t believe that I get to build a life with this wonderful man who takes me and my mess like it is nothing. And I can’t believe I ever tolerated the behavior of anything, anyone less.

And as I’m standing in front of this house, I realize that I can and am building the life of my dreams, the ones I never dared utter because I felt they were so out of reach. But I am done paying a debt that isn’t mine. My grief for a childhood that was stable and different serves no one, and the guilt I carry for being complicated is useless.

This thing – this beautiful messy perfect thing – this is mine. I have nothing to apologize for. I am allowed to be this happy.

And I am so ready for this next phase.

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dustiarab · 5 years

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For the woman who will never just be one thing

You know those people who’ve always known what they were going to be when they grew up? The ones who kept to the straight and narrow who never questioned their path, at least not for a moment or two. The ones who, even after they fall apart, pull it back together and package it and profit, because so many of us wish we could have that kind of one track mind and singular focus.

This isn’t for them.

This is for the wild and wandering ones. The ones who don’t believe in the almighty right way. The ones who’ve already fucked it up, and keep going anyway. The ones who are continuing to persevere in the face of their fear, fighting to create their art on their terms.

I have a few thoughts for you.

First of all, you have nothing to justify. You don’t have to settle on one title. You’re allowed to be nuanced and different, and you don’t need anyone’s approval or permission slip.

Second, depth is a strength – and it is not the sole possession of those who never branch out. Depth comes as much from a multidisciplinary practice across subjects as it does only allowing yourself to go deep on one thing.

Third, the satisfaction you crave can come in many different packages – so don’t get hung up on the title it comes with.

Finally, code-switching is an underappreciated skill – and it’s one that you have been gifted with since you’ve spent years learning to speak so many different languages.

I work with so many marvelous humans, and something they share is an abhorrence to being confined. I understand intimately. It’s a defining characteristic that can be located approximately between Being Human and having an upbringing that limited in some way who you were allowed to be.

After sabotaging myself so many times in the name of relinquishing the titles that would be attached to me as a result of accomplishing or finishing something, what I know is this.

You can always change your mind, but you’ll never be sorry for showing up.

If any of this spoke to you, here is my plea to you. Don’t be so afraid of being put into a box that you never make it where you want to go.

Be your own guide. Trust yourself. Show up over and over again exactly as you intend to in the truest way you can muster. This is where integrity lives. (And maybe it’s why it has perpetually felt out of reach, as you’ve grasped for something worth committing to.)

It sounds so trite to say be yourself, but I’m not convinced there is anything much else to do.

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dustiarab · 5 years

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Barter offer: wisdom teeth for tiny bits of wisdom

My son’s dad has been out of the country for the past three and half weeks. I typically have him half time, and while I couldn’t imagine being away from him for more than a night a few short years ago, I’ve become accustom to my rhythms. These rhythms that allow me to work, move my body, and then show up for my kids when they are present in my own time, and tbh, I felt the absence of them.

So naturally during this extended solo parenting spree, I experienced one of the most painful moments of my life when my impacted wisdom teeth finally let me know they’d had enough of my shit and were coming out NOW. The result ended up being 5 teeth being surgically removed.

When it rains, amiright?

The pain was on the scale of childbirth. All I could do those first few days was read, and oh, did I ever. Essentialism, Attached, BARE, and more kept my brain engaged while I dipped in and out of lucidity. As weak as my body felt, there was something stirring here that I had to pursue.

BTW I was 100% on the couch the whole time all of this was spinning in my head, so don’t @ me about self-care and taking a break to recover. Trust me, I did. I had literally no choice, otherwise, I never would have paused this long.

But thank god I had no choice.

The time to truly pause and think has been transformative.

*I had to ask for help.*

More than that, I had to rely on other people in ways that, frankly, I hate doing. I don’t call myself a single mom, because in many ways, I’m not. My kids’ dads are engaged and have them half-time. But because they are both effectively remarried, the burden of care is much more distributed there.

And y’all know the process of beginning to integrate a new human into a family – let alone a complex coparenting situation – is a long game. I’m lucky enough that it has gone as smoothly as it has. My boyfriend helped get my son to school and back after it happened. My mom took me to the appointment and back.

And I’ll have you know, I was SO excited to ride in a wheelchair out the door back home.

But after the meds wore off, I didn’t move from my couch for almost three days.

*I had to get more efficient.*

If you’ve known me long, you know the number of things I can get done in a day borders on obscene. My systems are the work of years of trying, testing, and truly dedicating myself to the pursuit of what I most care about.

But let’s go back to the part where when I’m so drugged up on my couch that I’m only having moments where the pain isn’t debilitating. All of the systems have gone out the window.

All that’s here is the present and managing the pain and that’s when it hits me that that is all that any of is is ever really doing.

The only difference this time (for me, as a person who is generally healthy) is the pain is on such a scale that it refuses to be ignored. I have less spoons than I tend to, and they are more precious to me as a result.

Suddenly, there’s only one question left. What really matters?

If I am this limited, I can only spend my focus where it counts, and it’s never been so clear to me that so much of what I do and how I spend my time does not.

I’m more than a little embarrassed by that. Who am I to waste my normally healthy body and my precious energy on tasks, ideas, people who are unequivocally not worth it?

When I see the people I admire, is this how they are choosing to show up? No. No, they’ve been here before, and now, this is the next phase for me.

*I have to choose.*

If I only have so much time, I cannot waste it. The people I love and the things I care about are worth far too much to me to keep doing things the way I’ve done them before.

Given that, what can I cut out, delegate, or stop doing? What will move the needle most? There are so many questions to answer now.

Content creation is one of my most valuable tasks at work, at home. How can I create better content faster? According to Strengthsfinder, my top skill is Input. Synthesizing a lot of concepts and curating them into something useful is my jam.

That said, I can hang out way too long in research mode. So what can I do? I can outsource the research part of that task to my assistant based on the post concept.

Then I can batch it, generating all of the related social media posts, come up with possible photography concepts to shoot later for Instagram, and oh, also, stop procrastinating on creating content because it’s not always easy to just sit down and produce The Damn Thing.

From the macro to the micro, there’s so much room for change and improvement, and it’s just. not. enough. to do it for the sake of being more productive. Who fucking cares?

You might hit inbox zero every day, but do you make it to your kid’s soccer practice? Sure, you had a viral Facebook post with a hot take, but have you written the book yet? (When was the last time you even worked on it, tbh?) Maybe you sold a thing, but was it something you were proud of?

I’m not trying to shame anyone. What I desperately want is for you to see just how precious this time we have is. The tiny, repeated choices we make add up to routines that will make or break us into who we do or don’t become.

If we aspire to be more productive, let it only ever be in pursuit of a life that leaves us tired and satisfied at the end of the day. To create a perfect-fit sized life dripping in sweetness, one that I can smile and say with quiet pride is mine – does anyone really need a Why story beyond that?

I don’t think they do. I know I don’t.

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dustiarab · 5 years

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Systems talk: Getting Started with Mailchimp

Systems are crucial for accomplishing your most important tasks, in life or business. If you’re throwing a bunch of things at the wall, I can tell you right now what you’re going to end up with: A mess.

Lately, I’ve been having a lot of discussions with folks across wildly different industries about getting the back-end systems of an effective marketing program setup because you can same so much time so fast by implementing some simple automation tools.

Typically, when I setup a system around content marketing, it looks like an replicatable editorial calendar that takes into account email marketing, blogging, Instagram, and Facebook groups.

Because I know many of you are in the beginning steps of starting a business or are still learning how to set these systems up, let’s take a first step – let’s get started with email marketing.

I recorded this video last year as part of a series I created on systems for small business owners. This video explains how to get started with Mailchimp, a free (until 2000 subscribers) email marketing solution popular with small business owners.

(Niche note: to my friends who work in direct sales or cannabis, Mailchimp explicitly doesn’t allow your businesses to use their platform. I recommend using ActiveCampaign, which is a better platform anyway.)

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dustiarab · 5 years

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Personality-driven brands: a theory

I have a theory.

Over the past 10 years, I have almost exclusively worked with brands that were led by someone with a powerful personal brand.

I call these businesses personality driven companies. They are almost always solopreneurs or small businesses – and they like it that way.

When it comes to a powerful personality driven brand, the people running them are unmistakable.

If you follow them, you could name three things off the top of your head that matter to them. You probably can name one of their programs, their book, or something that they work on year after year.

And what do they do?

Usually, a lot of different things.

They refuse to be penned in by a particular job title, even if they used one to give people a shorthand idea of what they do.

They create programs at the intersection of their unique areas of expertise. They offer them annually or biannually. They offer a variety of ways to engage with them that ranges from one-on-one to group coaching to DIY programs.

They are generous. The giveaway so much of what they do for free.

They have the systems in place for their success to stay sustainable, across their life and business.

But it’s one thing to notice the similarities across these brands. It’s another to figure out if it’s a repeatable pattern that other business owners could use.

I’ve wondered what separates them from brands led by a strong personality that don’t achieve sustainability.

They may gain some traction, but ultimately, many of these brands fail to survive.

Including mine. I was never able to achieve real sustainability on my own as an entrepreneur.

For me, I had mastered systems, but I didn’t have the support to be consistent. My content may have been excellent, but I didn’t have the ability to maintain predictable output or a schedule.

Over the past few months, I’ve been slowly developing a framework of what makes these brands so special. I wanted something that was simplified enough to be useful but also had the depth to consider that we are not all operating on the same playing field.

And now? I can analyze any brand and break it down and show you exactly why it works – or why it doesn’t – in a half page of bullet points. Not only that, I can drill down beyond the strategy into the tactics with you.

(I hate that people brush over tactics like they don’t. Not only that, I can drill down beyond the strategy into the tactics with you matter. They do. Tactics are your day-to-day – and really? They are what make or break you.)

As it turns out, it’s a pretty short list when it comes to what a brand is lacking: support, systems, or subpar content.

Support is without a doubt the most important of these. Why?

Because this is the part of that’s where we acknowledge systemic injustice, racism, poverty, mental illness, and more.

Not acknowledging the realities of these things is akin to putting your head in the sand when it comes to some of your biggest barriers and business.

Let’s be real. It is harder to build a personality-driven business when you don’t fit the blond-haired, pale skin archetype. It’s harder still when you’re struggling to maintain basic levels of self-care.

(And I’m not talking about going and getting a pedicure. I’m talking about things like getting enough movement, human interaction, and taking the right meds consistently – that shit is hard enough when things are going right, let alone when they aren’t.)

When you feel like your entire house of cards could come crashing down at any time, it’s hard to maintain consistency. A missed bus could mean missed networking opportunities. A late check from a client means you got late fees now because you don’t have the wiggle room to be able to afford that.

I want to make it really clear that these aren’t things to be ashamed of with a personal story.

This summer, I found myself unexpectedly unemployed for 4 months. I had some work, but not enough. Never enough to make it happen on my own.

So you know what I did?

I started cleaning houses. I actually cleaned houses through December because I really enjoyed it. By December, it was clear I was ready to be on to what was next.

Honestly, I probably would have done a lot more of that kind of work this summer if I hadn’t been fortunate enough to have a significant other who could help me financially while I figured out what was next. And I am really lucky to have that. It’s not something that I’ve ever had before, and it certainly isn’t something I take for granted.

My journey over the past couple of years and entrepreneurship has seen more than a few ups and downs. It’s certainly hasn’t been a linear process to finding my way into, of all things, a job – one that I really, truly love.

And I am keenly aware that I’m not alone in this. I have watched colleagues in similar situations to me have fantastic seasons in business, only to watch it all slip away when life got in the way.

Depressive episodes, crippling anxiety, the empty bottom of a client pipeline, the inability to pay for the systems that you know you need to be successful – these are the things that haunt people like me. And maybe, people like you, too.

Support comes in a lot of different forms.

Whether it’s having the financial backing in order to confidently take risks in the pursuit of an idea, having a community that supports youregardless of if it works or not, or a partner who is understanding and supportive when it comes to what you want to create, everyone deserves to have this kind of support.

But not everyone does.

And if you don’t, finding solutions to that it’s going to be crucial in order to create your best work. I know this can be the hardest part of the work you’ll ever do. I know because I’ve done it. Many times, it wasn’t pretty, I had to make hasty decisions, often I was postponing things for the future when hopefully I’d be able to deal with them better.

As a result, I’m paying off tens of thousands in student loan debt. I’m twice divorced. (I didn’t want either marriage.) I moved out to a farm to do a work trade for rent is that unsurprisingly ended up being a complete dumpster fire. I stayed in an abusive relationship. I even lived in the backyard of a Christian cult trying to get back on top of my finances, my relationship, and my life.

When you don’t have the support you need, you make decisions so you can survive.

For the entrepreneur who is struggling to find adequate support, life’s little moments of hardship turn into insurmountable obstacles quickly. That’s real life.

Support is paramount. Even if you’re in this by yourself, you need to identify your pillars, build them up, and begin to build your sustainable business from there.

Next, let’s talk about systems.

As your Millennial friend, I’m just going to say it. Most of you just need a basic course on how to use the internet correctly.

All due respect, but if you don’t know how to Google the answer to a question the right way, you’re doomed.

But let’s go beyond that. Let’s talk about how the tech that powers your business can be simple, easy to understand, and easy to hand off to someone else to run.

That’s probably what you expect me to focus on here, right?

Sorry, I’m actually going to tell you that you’re talking tactics which, while they’re probably holding your brand back, are not the most important things you should be focusing on.

When I think about the systems that have to be in place for success and when I think about the people who are already doing it right, you know what I noticed? They have consistent fitness routines. They tend to be pretty honest about whether or not they’re hitting their workouts. And usually, they adhere to some sort of diet. I’m not talking about restricting what they’re eating. I’m not talking about trying to fit a particular body type or weight goal.

What they’re doing is consistently investing in the body that carries them to and from meetings. They are practicing an act of self-devotion by doing their best to care for their one precious self.

They have a way of working with social media that isn’t toxic for them. They aren’t constantly scrolling, watching people they wish they were more like or seem to have it easier. They aren’t engaging in Facebook groups where they’re not getting any return on the investment they’re putting in. They’re not trying to curate their life so carefully that it’s all about the gram.

When it comes to systems in your life and business, they’re the hardest thing to pin down at the beginning, but eventually, they’re the thing that keeps you most grounded. Your systems are rooted in your personal support systems. It’s why without adequate support it can feel impossible to implement new systems.

If you’re in a place where financially you can outsource some of this, awesome. That’s exactly what you should be doing. But, you absolutely should not be doing it until you actually understand it. It’s too easy to hire people who are incompetent, unreliable, or otherwise cheap for a reason.

Yeah, I said it.

It’s a balancing act, wanting to give people the opportunity to be great and also looking out for your best interests.

You should do both to the best of your ability. Also? If you’re a white person, you have a responsibility to make sure you’re doing your part in dismantling white supremacy, which includes reparations.

And trust me, you’re going to screw it up. I certainly have over the years. (IMHO, capitalism is a huge part of why. But that’s an essay for another time.) But we keep trying because it’s the right thing to do.

We learn how to educate ourselves. We pay for the time of those who help educate us in whatever way we can. And when we arrive, we take as many people up with us as we can because there is room for all of us at the top.

I said earlier that tactics matter, but I’m not going to go into them here. (But if you want help working on your systems, I’m here for that.)

Lastly, we get to your content.

To be honest, I think this is the least of most of your worries. Most of the people I work with are brilliant and have comprehensive, deep knowledge in whatever it is they are teaching, exploring, or creating.

The format of your content may need work, but the vast majority of creators in my experience have already created a body of work that is enviable.

Fortunately, as someone who is a content marketer for a living, this is also my deepest area of expertise. If you need help building at your content, I would love to help you.

Now, I’m not saying this has to be done sequentially. Far from it. I literally did this backwards. (That is something I do not recommend to anyone, for the record. It takes like five times longer tbh.) Because I have done everything the hard way, I am particularly good at helping you avoid those pitfalls.

I am looking for a few brands to test my theory with. If you’re interested in a brand audit, I would love to talk to you. It’s 100 for the hour, and at the end of it I will give you a page of recommendations based on our time together. hmu.

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