Todd and I met in second grade. SECOND GRADE! Can you believe that? 😂 I never could have imagined back then that the little boy I met at school would become my best friend, my husband, and the person I'd share so much of my life with. Now here we are, building Skoolology together. Who would have thought? 😂 Todd is one of the funniest (not as funny as me 🤣), most generous people I know. He's creative, always coming up with ideas, and a tech wizard who can figure out just about anything. I still don't know how his brain works half the time! He makes me laugh, challenges my thinking, believes in me, and makes me want to be a better person. And I love that after all these years, we're still dreaming up new things to do together. Of course, I have some competition for his attention these days. Nick absolutely adores him! I'm pretty sure our cat thinks Todd hung the moon. Honestly, I can't blame him. ❤️ We've been through a lot of life together since second grade. Some wonderful, some hard, and plenty we never saw coming. I wouldn't trade our story for anything. Happy 60th birthday, Todd! I love you, and I'm so glad we found each other all those years ago. ❤️ Since so many of you are part of this latest adventure of ours, I thought it would be fun to celebrate him right here in Skoolology. If you have a birthday wish, a little wisdom for turning 60, or a good old-man joke, I’d love for you to leave it for Todd in the comments. 🐼❣️ I'd love for him to see a whole lot of love (and maybe a little teasing) today! 😂 And Todd, just so you know, I fully intend to keep getting us into trouble for many more years to come! 😂🐼

I came across something this morning that I thought some of you might find interesting! I've followed Bushra Azhar for quite a few years. She's built a substantial business through memberships and low-ticket offers, and now she's bringing a new experiment to Skool. It's called The 1,000 Member Experiment, and she's starting with a $7/month membership. What caught my attention is that she's inviting people to follow along as she builds, sharing her decisions, numbers, what's working, and what isn't. Her community is already showing 288 members! I know several of us have wrestled with whether to charge for our communities, how much to charge, and what makes a membership worth paying for. And yes, I know we've been talking about not chasing every shiny new thing that comes along! That's actually part of why I wanted to share this. I think there's a difference between chasing someone else's strategy and being curious enough to learn from what they're doing. Bushra already has an established audience and years of experience, so her results may look very different from what a newer builder might experience. But I'm curious to see what she tests, what works, what doesn't, and why. I'm planning to follow along and bring back anything I learn that might be useful for us to explore together. Here's the link if you'd like to take a look: 1000 Member Experiment **(It is not an affiliate link.)** It's a paid community, and there's certainly no expectation that anyone needs to join. I just thought it was an interesting experiment worth keeping an eye on. And I'm curious... For those of you still figuring out your pricing, what's been the hardest part? And for those who've settled on a price, what helped you decide?

@Jewels Sherriff shared a fun post about birth flowers in her community, and it got me thinking! October's birth flower is the marigold. And since Todd is an October baby, that makes it his birth flower! ❤️ But here's why I love marigolds so much. Years ago, when I was working in education, I came across an article called Find Your Marigold. It was written for teachers, but the message has stayed with me. Marigolds are often planted alongside other plants because they can help protect them from certain pests and create a healthier environment for growth. The article uses that idea as a beautiful analogy for the people we surround ourselves with. Marigolds are the people who help us grow. They're the ones who encourage us, share what they've learned, celebrate our wins, and remind us what we're capable of when we're having a hard day. And I've been thinking about how much that applies to building communities, too. We all need people who make the journey a little easier. People we can think out loud with, laugh with, learn from, and lean on when things get messy. And sometimes, we get to be that marigold for someone else. ❤️ Here's the article that started it all: Find Your Marigold 🌼 A little Common Ground fun for today! 🌸 🌷 What's your birth month, and do you know your birth flower? (I had to look some of them up!) 🌼 And who's been a marigold in your life? Someone who's helped you grow, encouraged you, or simply made life a little brighter? P.S. Thank you, Jewels, for the birth flower inspiration! I had no idea your post would bring me back to an article I've loved for years! 🥰

Happy Wednesday, builders! ❤️ The Build Room is open, and you know what? You don't need a polished plan, a finished project, or even a perfectly worded question to join us. Sometimes the most helpful thing we can do is bring that idea we've been turning over in our heads and let someone else take a look at it with us. Maybe you're trying to make a decision, working through something that isn't quite clicking, or testing an idea and wondering what to do next. Bring it here! A few things we can work through together: 🔨 What are you working on right now? 🤔 Where are you getting stuck or second-guessing yourself? 💡 What would help you take your next step? And if you're making progress on something we talked about before, we'd love to hear how it's going! Remember, this is about having people beside you while you figure out what works for YOUR community. And a little reminder: ❤️ Not everything has to happen in a public conversation. If there's something you'd rather talk through privately, you're always welcome to DM Todd or me. And if talking it through would be easier, you can request a call with us, too. We know everyone works a little differently, and we want you to have options. I'll be popping in throughout the day, and I hope you'll jump into each other's conversations, too. So, what's on your workbench today? ❤️🐼

In today's Skool update call, the team clarified that growth boost ads are ineffective for Freemium groups. They confirmed there will be no individual ads and minimal advertising overall in Freemium accounts. They also noted that implementing free trials has proven difficult, even with a 7-day deadline in place. Currently, free trials are underperforming across most groups. What do you think all this means for Freemium groups on Skool moving forward?