GROUP CHAT — Create & Cultivate

FEATURED CONTRIBUTORS

WELCOME TO

LES

ALFRED

Lex

Niko

You’re officially in. Weekly hot takes from influential voices before they become headlines — across business, marketing, money, and culture. Turn notifications on. You won’t want to mute this one.

Maha

Abouelenein

MARINA

MIDDLETON

JACLYN

JOHNSON

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Lex Niko

KATIE

AUSTIN

WELCOME TO

You’re officially in. Weekly hot takes from influential voices before they become headlines — across business, marketing, money, and culture. Turn notifications on. You won’t want to mute this one.

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FEATURED CONTRIBUTORS

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JACLYN JOHNSON

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LES ALFRED

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MARINA MIDDLETON

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LEX NIKO

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MAHA ABOULEINEIN

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KATIE AUSTIN

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april 2026

KATIE AUSTIN

Katie Austin

“Creating an Online Community IRL”

🗓️ POSTED TO THE GROUP CHAT APR 2, 2026

Community has always been at the center of everything I do — long before my business lived online. Back in 2015, I was rolling out workout mats in sorority houses and leading small in-person classes with whoever wanted to move together that day.

Marketing & Cultural Virality

COMMUNITY, NETWORKS & SOCIAL CAPITAL

MARCH 2026

JACLYN JOHNSON

Jaclyn Johnson

“I Started to Treat my Social Media Feeds like a Business and Here is What Happened…”

🗓️ POSTED TO THE GROUP CHAT Mar 31, 2026

One of the first things that happened when I started treating my social feeds like a business was that I lost followers. And not a small dip—enough that I noticed. A few year ago, that probably would have sent me into a spiral. But this time, it didn’t.

CAREER & PERSONAL BRANDING

COMMUNITY, NETWORKS & SOCIAL CAPITAL

LEX NIKO

Lex Niko

“The Athlete Mindset: How Building in Public Requires Doing the Work in Private”

🗓️ POSTED TO THE GROUP CHAT Mar 26, 2026

Let me just break the fourth wall for you off the top: Building in public requires doing the work in private. And that’s the part we don’t talk enough about. We love the screenshot of the sold-out launch. The viral tweet. The “I just hit 100K!” post.

CAREER & PERSONAL BRANDING

Leadership & Identity

COMMUNITY, NETWORKS & SOCIAL CAPITAL

MARINA MIDDLETON

Marina Middleton

“You're Not Stuck Because of Your Company. You're Stuck Because of Your Working Style.”

🗓️ POSTED TO THE GROUP CHAT Mar 23, 2026

I've seen this pattern play out across every phase of my career. Corporate. Solopreneur. Hiring freelancers. Running a multimillion-dollar company with multiple departments. The roles change. The dynamic doesn't.

CAREER & PERSONAL BRANDING

Leadership & Identity

LES ALFRED

Les Alfred

“Pitching Yourself: How to Sell Your Story”

🗓️ POSTED TO THE GROUP CHAT Mar 19, 2026

Manifesting is great, but sometimes you have to ask for the opportunities you want. For ambitious women, pitching is one of the most valuable skills you can have because a well-crafted pitch can open up so many doors of opportunity and visibility.

CAREER & PERSONAL BRANDING

Marketing & Cultural Virality

JACLYN JOHNSON

Jaclyn Johnson

🗓️ POSTED TO THE GROUP CHAT Mar 17, 2026

Most founders talk about “building a business” as if it’s one path. It’s not. There are two very different games people play: lifestyle businesses and venture-backed startups. Both can make money. Both can be successful. But they operate on completely different rules, expectations, and timelines.

“The Pros and Cons of a Lifestyle Biz”

Venture & Fundraising

Leadership & Identity

MAHA ABOUELENEIN

Maha Abouelenein

🗓️ POSTED TO THE GROUP CHAT Mar 12, 2026

“AI is the Key to Building and Elevating Your Personal Brand.”

In the world of high-stakes communications, your reputation is currency. This is one of the key takeaways of my corporate communications career, and I always come back to it when I am thinking about my personal personal brand and my clients’. Your reputation opens doors before you do, and can close them even faster.

AI & The Future of Work

Career & Personal Branding

MARINA MIDDLETON

Marina Middleton

🗓️ POSTED TO THE GROUP CHAT Mar 10, 2026

“IRL Experiences Should Never Be Optional. And I'll Die on This Hill.”

OOKKKKAYYY, let’s get something straight. IRL never left. Not during the pandemic. Not when Zoom became a verb. Not now, when every AI tool promises to simulate connection and replicate the energy of a room from behind a screen.

Community, Networks, & Social Capital

AI & The Future of Work

Marketing & Cultural Virality

KATIE AUSTIN

🗓️ POSTED TO THE GROUP CHAT Mar 5, 2026

“Burnout Isn’t a Badge: The Cost of Ignoring Your Body”

For a long time, I thought exhaustion meant I was doing something right. If I was sore, running on caffeine, squeezing workouts between meetings, filming content late at night, and still showing up the next morning, I told myself that was ambition. That was discipline. That was what high performers did.

Women’s Health & Longevity

JACLYN JOHNSON

🗓️ POSTED TO THE GROUP CHAT Mar 3, 2026

“No One Gives a Sh*t About How Many Followers You Have.”

There I said it!!!! For years, social media trained us to chase one number: followers. More followers meant more influence. More influence meant more credibility. More credibility meant more opportunity. Or at least, that was what we thought. But quietly — and then very quickly — that stopped working.

Community, Networks, & Social Capital

Marketing & Cultural Virality

February 2026

LEX NIKO

🗓️ POSTED TO THE GROUP CHAT FEB 26, 2026

“2026 Is the Year of the Try: Here’s How to Actually Live Like It”

I’ve noticed we’ve spent the last decade pretending effort is cringe and desire is distasteful. And I’m so tired of that narrative. So 2026 marks a clean break. TRYING IS SO BACK! Here’s how you can actually participate.

Career & Personal Branding

Leadership & Identity

COMMUNITY, NETWORKS & SOCIAL CAPITAL

MARINA MIDDLETON

🗓️ POSTED TO THE GROUP CHAT FEB 24, 2026

“Why Do We Still Ask Mothers Questions We’d Never Ask Men?”

It almost always happens the same way. I’m on a panel. Or stepping off a stage. Or sitting across from someone who’s just heard my bio read out loud — CEO, founder, mother — in that particular order that signals admiration and curiosity in equal measure. And then the question comes.

Career & Personal Branding

Leadership & Identity

LES ALFRED

🗓️ POSTED TO THE GROUP CHAT FEB 17, 2026

“How to Grow Your Personal Brand While Scaling Your Business”

For years my podcast, now named “She’s So Lucky,” was the center of my world. I poured my all into each episode of the interview-based show, giving each guest the floor and making them the star of the show.

Career & Personal Branding

Community, Networks, & Social Capital

JACLYN JOHNSON

🗓️ POSTED TO THE GROUP CHAT Feb 17, 2026

“Why AI Could Crush the Influencer Economy”

For the last decade, the influencer economy has been powered by one simple thing: real people, living real lives, having experiences the rest of us want access to. That’s the magic. That’s the sell. But AI is about to test that entire premise, and honestly? It might break it.

AI & The Future of Work

Community, Networks, & Social Capital

Marketing & Cultural Virality