This weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving and it's really such a lovely time of the year to be thankful - the leaves on the trees are gorgeous shades of yellow, orange, and red, the sun is shining, and the farmers markets are bountiful! It's also the time of year I am so grateful to have a healthy, happy family and the ability to pursue entrepreneurship so that I can be more present for them. Alongside that, I am forever grateful for this amazing community and all of you who make it the warm, welcoming, and collaborative place that it is. The vibe her is one-of-a-kind, and so many people who join comment immediately that it feels like a great space - and that is all because of you! A few days ago, I accidentally allowed in someone who I shouldn't have. This person sent hundreds of spam messages using AI. Two amazing things happened as a results. First, three different people immediately reported the comments to me so that I could take fast action and ban him from the group. But also what occurred to me was that his comments were so easy to spot because they were so different from the usual lovely comments that are authentic and genuine and full of real connection. I appreciate so much how you all show up here every day posting authentically about how you are able to help others and then commenting on each others posts with genuine interest and questions. Running a group of this size is not easy, and I really depend on the vigilance of the group to help me keep it the safe space it is. I also really appreciate how the majority of you take it upon yourselves to make sure that you are following the community guidelines so that we don't have to do as much enforcing. So, on this lovely October Sunday, thank you and I hope you have a lovely day no matter where you are in the world. ❤️Shannon

Once a day, I check where C&C is in the Discovery, and today is the highest we've been so far at #105. I was thrilled to see that! BUT before I closed the page, OMG I discovered that the Classifieds is now a top 100 group!!!!! @Shannon Boyer was this already the case, and I missed it?! Either way... CONGRATS! And geez, I know the numbers can and do fluctuate with the Discovery. But this is so rad! It's an absolute HONOR to be dancing the Discovery dance near you! ::waving:: from behind!! 🤓🫶🤠

As we roll over to a new year and enter the comma club (in terms of members) it seems fitting that this is also a good time to introduce a new moderator! Please help me in welcoming @Faith Adebayo who will be joining @Mona Weathers as moderators for this group. Both have a wealth of experience leading groups, have been around the CLASSIFIEDS since the beginning, and I am so grateful that they have both agreed to help out with ensuring the CLASSIFIEDS is a positive, supportive place where you want to hang out. I think this is also a great time to clarify some of the guidelines that people get confused about: 1. Posts in the community are for free offers (paid Skool groups are fine). 2. Paid offers must be posted in the Classroom (you can link to the classroom from the community). You can do this by becoming a Premium member. 3. You can post once a day in any category, NOT once a day in each category. If you have more than one group, you still only get one post a day. This is to prevent the feed from getting clogged up. 4. You must promote yourself (and you must be the one doing the posting - not a VA, admin, etc). Affiliate links and shoutouts are reserved for the #FriendFriday thread. 5. Absolutely not promotional DMs or DMs inviting people to join your group - this is grounds for immediate removal from the group. The whole purpose of the group is to promote yourself, so please do it in the public feed. I'm so looking forward to seeing what everyone creates this year, how everyone collaborates, and most importantly getting to know you all more through our meet ups, which you can find on the calendar. Don't forget that you are able to earn affiliate commission by using your personalized invite link in the right panel. Let's do this, team!

About 4 weeks ago, @Nick Nebelsky quietly mentioned that we were racing towards 1000 members, and I threw out the end of the year as a random goal to hit it... Since then, many of you have been doing amazing work referring as many people as possible. A special mention goes out to @Karen Castillo @Éva Raposa @Sondra Verva @Grant Hepworth and @Mona Weathers for the most referrals in the last month. As of December 28, we are 61 members away from reaching our goal. I'm not really one for random goals generally, but this one seems a little special for some reason. To ring out 2025 and ring in 2026 with 1000 members who are high-quality Skoolers committed to supporting each other, collaborating, and growing our businesses together seems exciting. Had I accepted everyone who requested to be a part of this group, we would easily be over 2,000 members by now, but instead, I've chosen to keep the group carefully curated, and I think the payoff has been well worth it. You can tell this group is special by the quality of the posts, the engaging comments, and the energy in our in-person meet ups! 😊 If you're up for it, I'd love your help in welcoming in 61 more amazing members to help us all grow together! Here's to an amazing 2026! 🎉