THE EMAIL GROWTH SHOW EPISODE 234
I need to tell you something that genuinely surprised the shit out of me.
A few days ago, I started a Skool community fully expecting it to be fine. Helpful. Quiet.
Instead, within days, it lit me up in a way I didn’t see coming.
I’ve had deeper conversations with people on my email list in a matter of days than I’ve had in years. And it’s clarified something really important about connection, growth, and the kind of business I actually want to build.
So today, I want to share my honest thoughts about this Skool experiment. Not as a platform review. Not as a strategy pitch.
But as a real-time reflection on depth, accessibility, and why small rooms matter more than we think.
Listen to this episode here:
TL:DR
What you’ll learn in this episode:
– Why small rooms create deeper trust than big audiences
– How accessibility beats attendance when it comes to connection
– Why email still matters – and how community expands it
– The role fun plays in sustainable business growth
– How to build depth without burning yourself out
A Room You Can Step Into
If you’re craving a quieter room and deeper connection, I’ve opened a free Skool community where these conversations are already happening.
You can request to join the Skool community here:
skool.com/online-biz-growth
Why I Was So Skeptical Going In
Let me be very clear.
I did not jump into Skool excited.
I resisted it for a long time. Partly because I’m not a huge Hormozi fan, and partly because from the outside, Skool felt very bro-marketer, hustle-culture coded.
I genuinely didn’t think it would be aligned.
This wasn’t some grand strategy. There was no funnel. No monetisation plan. I created the community purely out of curiosity.
That was it.
I assumed people would lurk.
That engagement would be slow.
That it would take weeks for anyone to open up.
You know that feeling when something is fine, but it’s not alive?
That’s what I expected.
What Actually Happened Instead
Within days, over 130 people joined from my email list.
People started posting.
They were thoughtful.
Open.
Honest.
We were having real conversations.
I’ve already had one-on-one chats inside that space with people who, until now, were just names on my list. Some of them have been there for years.
Years.
And yet we’d never actually spoken.
Email is powerful, but it’s still mostly one-directional. I talk, you read. There’s no tone, no nuance, no back and forth.
In this smaller room, people started sharing what’s really going on. Not the polished version. The real version.
And it reminded me of something we all know deep down.
Going deep beats going wide. Every single time.
Small Rooms Change How People Show Up
In small rooms, people soften.
They stop performing.
They stop trying to impress.
They just talk.
Trust forms fast when people feel safe.
This connects directly to something I shared back in Episode 222, where I talked about the Empire Mixers. Those invite-only networking events for my email list.
On paper, they were great.
But attendance slowly dropped over time.
Not because people didn’t care.
Because life happens.
Time zones.
Kids.
Energy.
Capacity.
What this Skool experiment has shown me is that accessibility wins every time.
A space people can drop into when it suits them creates far more connection than calendar-dependent events ever can.
No one misses out.
The conversation keeps moving.
The room stays alive.
That feels deeply human.
Why This Is Not an “Email Is Dead” Conversation
I want to be really clear about this.
This is not an email-is-failing conversation.
Email is still my home.
It’s still powerful.
It’s still where long-term relationships are built.
But community adds a different dimension.
Email is me talking to you.
Community is us talking with each other.
And that changes everything.
I’ve had more meaningful conversations in a few days than I sometimes do in months of emails. Not because the emails aren’t good, but because intimacy lives in smaller spaces.
The Unexpected Gift of Voice of Customer
From a business perspective, this has been gold.
People are telling me, in their own words:
- What they’re stuck on
- What they’re tired of
- What they don’t want anymore
- What they’re craving instead
And here’s the key part.
There is nothing for sale in this group.
So people aren’t guarded.
They’re not wondering where it’s leading.
They’re just being themselves.
You can’t fake that kind of insight.
You can’t survey it.
You can’t reverse engineer it.
You just have to listen.
Fun Is Information
I want to share something personal.
I’ve had a post-it note on my desk for about 18 months that says, What feels fun right now?
I wrote it at a time when business felt heavy and joyless.
Somewhere along the way, I stopped asking that question. Not intentionally. I just got busy. Responsible. Focused.
This Skool community reminded me that fun is information.
This feels light.
Playful.
Alive.
I want to show up. And that matters.
Because when business stops being fun, it starts to feel heavy. And heavy businesses don’t last.
Fun isn’t a reward. It’s a signal.
What This Experiment Is Teaching Me
Very clearly, this experiment is reinforcing a few things I already suspected.
People want quieter rooms.
They want to feel seen.
They want pressure-free spaces that build trust fast.
They want depth, not noise.
Growth does not need to be loud to be powerful.
And connection does not need to be complicated.
Where This Is Heading Next
Because this space feels like the right room, next month I’m running a Break Up With Instagram Challenge inside the Skool community.
No yelling into the void.
No performing for strangers.
Just a room of people already questioning the noise.
Right now, the community is completely free.
That might change.
Or it might not.
I’m letting it unfold.
One Question to Leave You With
Whether you join the community or not, I want you to sit with this.
What feels fun right now?
And where might you be craving depth instead of more?
Because that question is exactly what led me to create the Skool space in the first place.
If you’re craving a quieter room, real conversation, and a place to explore growth without noise or performance, I’ve opened a free Skool community for my email list.
It’s a space to drop in when it suits you, connect without pressure, and be part of conversations that feel thoughtful, grounded, and human.
You can request to join the Skool community here:
https://www.skool.com/online-biz-growth
And whether you join or not, follow the answers that come up for you.
They will not lead you astray.
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