Hi, @Cristal Vancarson !! Welcome to Skoolology! It's so good to see a familiar face from our U2U days. 😊 And of course, I had to go take another peek at what you've been building. 😂 For those who haven't met Cristal, she's a Los Angeles photographer and former international model with more than 30 years of experience behind and in front of the camera. And she's doing something pretty interesting with all that experience! Through Photography by Cristal, she offers LIVE remote headshot sessions. You can be sitting in your own home with your smartphone, and Cristal guides your lighting, posing, and expressions while capturing the photos herself. No trip to a studio required! How cool is this! I love seeing how people are finding new ways to use their experience and make what they do more accessible to others. Cristal, I'm so glad our paths have crossed again!🙌 I'd love to hear more about how things have been going with you and what you're working on these days. And everyone, come say hello to Cristal! ❤️

We're so glad you're here. 👋 If you're building a community and wondering... - Why aren't my members engaging? - What should I improve first? - How do I build a community people don't want to leave? You're in the right place. Skoolology is a learning community for community builders who want to stop guessing and start improving. Together, we study what works, test ideas in real communities, and learn from each other's experiments. Before we talk about your community... Let's get to know you. 👋 Your first step takes about 10 seconds. 👇Drop ONE WORD in the comments below. It might be: • A value you live by. • A word that describes the community you're building. • Or simply a word that's meaningful to you today. We'll create something special from your word and welcome you personally. ❤️ We read every single one. Your next step When you've posted your word, head over to the next pinned post and take the 5-minute Community Snapshot. It will help you discover exactly what to improve next. Welcome! Donna & Todd Learn. Build. Lead.

In the Build is where we bring the work that is still...well...in the build. 😂 Not just the finished version. The graphic you’re deciding between. The offer you’re testing. The post that got crickets. The community you’re getting ready to open. The idea that makes perfect sense in your head but isn’t quite translating yet. The thing that WORKED and now you’re wondering why. The little win that happened before you’ve reached the finish line. This is the messy middle. And we think there’s a whole lot we can learn from each other here. When we created In the Build, we kept coming back to four questions: What are you trying? What are you wondering? What would help? What are you learning? A few of you have since reminded us of something important... Sometimes knowing you’re welcome to post isn’t enough. It helps to know how to start. So if the blank post box is staring back at you, here’s a little shape you can borrow: What I’m building: Who it’s for: Where I am right now: What I’m working on next: What would help: That’s it. Use all five. Use two. Ignore the whole thing and tell us the story your way. 😂 This is a starting point, not a formula. Explorer Panda would approve. 🐼🧭 You don’t need the whole map. You just need to show us where you are right now. Then keep us in the build. You don’t need to create a brand-new post every time something happens. Come back to your original Build and tell us: What I tried: What happened: What I’m wondering now: Over time, that thread becomes something pretty cool. It becomes a record of the decisions, experiments, wrong turns, little wins, surprises, and changes that got you from there to here. And those are surprisingly hard to see when you’re the one doing the building. When someone lets you into their build, come alongside them. This may be my favorite part. You do NOT need to have the answer. Ask a question. Tell them what you notice. Share something you tried. Look at the graphic. Click through the page.

One thing I've learned over the years is that we can work incredibly hard trying to solve the wrong problem. I've seen it happen in education, organizations, and now online communities. Something isn't working, so we do MORE. More content. More activities. More challenges. More strategies. And sometimes? We end up exhausted, with very little to show for all that effort. 😂 But what if the problem isn't that we're not doing enough? What if we haven't figured out what's actually getting in the way? That's one of the big ideas behind SKOOLME, the framework Todd and I developed to help community builders look beneath the surface before deciding what to change. For example, let's say members aren't participating. It's tempting to call that an engagement problem. But what if members aren't sure where to begin? That might be Onboarding. What if they don't see how participating helps them accomplish something meaningful? That might be Outcomes. What if they haven't developed a sense of connection with anyone? That might be Kinship. Same symptom. Very different things to investigate. And very different next moves. 🔎 The Seven SKOOLME Lenses Each lens helps us ask a different question about what's happening in our communities. S — Substance: Is what we're offering genuinely useful to the people we're here to serve? K — Kinship: Are members developing meaningful connections and a sense of belonging? O — Onboarding: Do new members know where to begin and how to take their first meaningful step? O — Outcomes: Are members making progress toward something that matters to them? L — Leadership: Are we creating the conditions for a healthy, sustainable community? M — Money: Does our model make sense for both the members and the people building the community? E — Engagement: Are members participating in ways that create value and move them forward? These aren't seven more things to add to your to-do list. 😂 They're seven ways to understand what's already happening.

@Alice Rienzo Alexander Well, this just made my day! ❤️ Welcome back to Skoolology, my friend! It's so good to see you here again. 😊 For those of you who haven't met Alice, she's a math professor, manifestation coach, and the woman behind Law of Attraction Book Club. And of course, I had to go see what she's been up to. 😂 I found something on her About page that I absolutely love... “Read less. Apply more. Manifest for real.” Alice, you know that speaks my language! She's helping women take what they're learning from books and put it into practice in their everyday lives. Not just more reading, more information, or more things to add to the to-do list. Little steps that actually mean something. I love that she's making room for people to start wherever they are, without feeling like they're already behind. Alice, we've got some catching up to do! 😂 I'd love to hear how things are going with you and the Book Club. I'm just really happy to see you back here. ❤️ And everyone, if you haven't met Alice yet, come say hello!