A Year of Community
Looking back at 2022 and looking forward to 2023.
If you’re a “sit and reflect” kind of person, what’s that defining thing for you this year? For me, it’s you.
While I’ve been freelancing in some capacity since 2009, this newsletter is new.
(In fact, it’s exactly two months old today!)
And now, as I type this, there are 48 of you who raised your hand to come on this journey with me as I share everything I know about branding, content, and storytelling from an autistic and ADHD perspective.
I truly wouldn’t be here without you, and I’m grateful for each of you.
While there were many ups and downs this year (and a lot of uncertainty, especially around health while dealing with POTS), community is definitely the one thing that stood out the most.
Last year, I burned out with my business because I was trying to do things the way my coaches told me to do them: high-ticket groups (instead of the low-cost membership I had started), being everywhere all the time, doing just one thing, following the steps without asking questions.
And after years of trying to follow their frameworks and templates (ugh) and having to perform a certain way, I was sick of it and decided to get some space.
So, I joined Twitter and expected to scream into the void about nothing and everything all at once, but I very quickly made friends in different communities.
The Trekkie, writer, gamer, freelancer, and disabled and AuDHD communities, among others.
And a year of being social and feeling like I really belonged somewhere gave me the courage (and self-esteem) I needed to come back to my own business — to recreate it on my own terms that actually worked with my brain.
I started with being more active in a virtual coworking community*, writing this newsletter, ventured into the Medium community and wrote articles (an article), and created the Content Writers Guild community challenge.
I even started working with organizations to help them grow their community through brand strategy consulting.
I believe in a world where connections can be so fleeting — we write a comment here, attend an event there — finding a space where we feel like we belong and are truly seen and embraced for who we are is potent.
And that’s exactly what I strive to create for us.
So I’ve decided to lean more into community as we navigate 2023, and that includes you.
Here are some fun things I’m integrating this upcoming year and would love to invite you to:
There’s a chat feature on Substack that I think looks really fun. Instead of this being one-way communication, we can have an actual conversation.
The Content Writers Guild challenge will reset every month with a small cohort for intimate accountability. (We start again on January 9th, and it’s open now!)
I’m reopening the Brandcrafters Guild community for service providers and creators to get high-touch support with their brand.
And I’m growing a community on Medium for brandcrafters who love reading articles.
In other words, I crave more (and deeper) interaction with you, our community, so I’m creating several ways for us to be a part of this brandcrafting journey together and so I can support you.
I’d love to know what your goals are for 2023 and if you have a theme you’re focusing on.
Happy branding!
Cat
PS In case you missed it, the Content Writers Guild challenge is restarting on January 9. If you want more accountability and structure to reach your content goals, this 4-week community challenge is for you. It’s limited to 20 people to keep it intimate, supportive, and safe, and there’s still space. If you’re interested, come check it out and consider joining us. I’d love to have you!
*PPS: This is an affiliate link, which means should you choose to join the Caveday coworking community, I’ll get a little thank you from them but you won’t have to pay extra. I take sharing resources with my own community seriously, and I only share things I personally use and benefit from. If you choose to try it out, let me know! I’ll join a coworking cave with you so you’ll hav
e a friendly face to work with. (By the way, I write all these newsletters in caves!)