@Virgel Nel surprised us by creating a magazine cover for Skoolology. So, of course, I had to return the favor. 😂 But while I was creating his, something interesting happened. I realized a magazine cover is actually a pretty good branding test. You don't have much room to explain yourself. You have to communicate quickly: 💙 Who is this for? 💙 What do they care about? 💙 What do you want to be known for? 💙 What should this community feel like? And here's the part that really got me thinking. Virgel had to decide what stood out about Skoolology. I had to decide what stood out about Singular Vision. That's different from writing your own About page. Your brand isn't only what you say about yourself. It's also what people have come to associate with you. So here's a little experiment if you want to play with us. Upload a photo of yourself, your community name, and your community description to ChatGPT and give it this prompt: Create a magazine cover for my community using the photo and information I've provided. Treat the cover as a branding exercise. Capture who the community is for, what they care about, the change they want, and the personality of the community. Make it look like a real lifestyle or business magazine, with a strong masthead, feature headlines, smaller cover lines, and visual details that reinforce the brand. Don't just repeat my description. Interpret what this community should feel like to the right person. Then don't just look at whether you like the design. Look at what it reflects back to you. 💚 Does this feel like us? 💚 What did it pick up that we're communicating clearly? 💚 What did it get wrong or overemphasize? 💚 What's missing that you thought was obvious? And maybe the biggest question: 💚💙 If someone else created your magazine cover based on what you're putting into the world right now, would it match what you want to be known for? If you try it, bring your cover back here. But also tell us what you noticed. 🐼

Well, this makes me happy. ❤️ Welcome to Skoolology, @Kathryn Zabinski! Kathryn and I have known each other for a long time, so seeing her walk through this particular door feels pretty special. I’m really glad you’re here, my friend. Now I’m curious...what made you decide to come hang out with us over here? 😊

A mysterious package just showed up with your name on it. Inside is something you would absolutely LOVE to find. No rules. Something you lost. Something you’ve always wanted. Something that doesn’t even exist. 😂 What are you hoping is in the box? Mine would be my grandmother’s recipe book. The funny thing is, there never was one. She made everything from scratch and, as far as I know, never wrote any of it down. We have none of her delicious recipes. So somehow, my mystery box contains the recipe book I wish she had left us. ❤️ What would be in yours?

You are so generous with each other. Someone shares what they’re building, and you lean in. You ask questions. You offer ideas. You share something you’ve learned. You encourage someone who’s unsure. You celebrate the wins. And sometimes you simply say, “I get it.” You notice each other. You remember what someone was working on and come back to ask how it went. You see a question and think, “I might be able to help with that.” You share what worked for you without assuming it has to be the answer for someone else. And sometimes you ask the question that helps another builder see something they couldn’t quite see on their own. When you share what you’re learning, someone else learns, too. When you ask the question you’re afraid might be obvious, someone else is relieved you asked it. When you encourage another builder, you remind them they don’t have to figure all of this out alone. You make this room what it is. Not just by being here. By bringing what you know, what you’re wondering, what you’re trying, and what you’re learning. And by being willing to share some of it with each other. I hope you know how much that matters. And how much YOU matter here. 💜

A little reminder because @Jessica Cosci Jessica’s Human Advantage Summit speaker applications close in 2 days. And before anybody reads this as “Donna thinks I should apply”...I don’t. 😂 But I DO think opportunities like this are worth stopping long enough to consider. Jessica invited me to speak, and my immediate reaction was: “But I’m not an AI expert.” So I almost ruled myself out before I really thought about what she was asking. The more I looked at The Human Advantage, the more I realized this isn’t necessarily about being an AI expert. It’s about what we humans bring as AI becomes a bigger part of how we live and work. Our experience. Judgment. Creativity. Curiosity. Connection. Perspective. The things we’ve learned by actually living, working, building, failing, trying again, and figuring some stuff out along the way. 😂 And that got me thinking beyond Jessica’s summit, too. When we’re building something of our own, it’s easy to spend most of our time inside our own little corner of the world. But sometimes participating in someone else’s summit, podcast, panel, interview, workshop, or community puts us in conversations we wouldn’t otherwise have. 🧩We meet people. 🧩We practice talking about what we believe. 🧩We hear different perspectives. 🧩We discover which parts of our own message connect. 🧩And yes, sometimes new people discover our work, too. So this isn’t me telling you to apply. It’s me saying: If you looked at Jessica’s summit and thought, “Oh, she doesn’t mean someone like me,” maybe take one more look before the deadline. Your perspective may genuinely belong in the conversation. And if this particular opportunity isn’t for you, that’s okay, too. Maybe the bigger question for all of us is: Where might we be ruling ourselves out before we’ve even explored what could happen if we stepped into someone else’s room? 👀 Jessica has all the summit details in her In the Build post. 🔨💜