Dear Bri: Community Strategy, Fiascos, and Drama
Welcome to Dear Bri, an advice column for community conundrums, fiascos, and drama! In each episode, host and community strategist Bri Leever invites a guest community expert to respond to an anonymous letter from a real-life community creator in distress. From online community-building mishaps to community engagement tactics gone awry, this podcast delivers relatable stories and sound community strategy for navigating the chaos of digital communities—all with empathy, expertise, and a touch of drama. The mission? Helping community managers and community creators feel a little less crazy and a lot less alone while building thriving brand communities. You're in the right place if you are... 🐣 Community Curious: Creators or brands exploring the benefits of a community-powered business. Learn the fundamentals of community strategy for online businesses, and discover how to build an online community from scratch. 🐥 Community Hatchlings: Newcomers to community building seeking guidance and support. Get tips on how to grow a paid community, avoid common mistakes in community building, and build trust through smart community roles and responsibilities. 🦅 Senior Community Folks: Seasoned pros facing complex dilemmas. Explore topics like managing community drama, setting boundaries in digital communities, and advanced community retention strategies. Dear Bri combines relatable storytelling with expert community strategy, making it a unique and valuable resource for community managers and creators. Episodes provide the most up-to-date community management practices, common mistakes to avoid in community building, the best community engagement tactics I've seen, tips on setting boundaries and building trust in online communities, and of course, a touch of community drama to keep things interesting and fun! Community creators listening to Dear Bri will feel a little less alone in the important work of community building and a whole lot less crazy as each episode normalizes and provides strategic insights for some of the toughest online community scenarios. Whether you're curious about building a community, just starting out, or a seasoned professional looking for advanced advice, Dear Bri has something for you. Episodes drop weekly on Tuesday. Hit the follow button so you don't miss out! Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.
Episodes
In this episode, we’re hearing from Community Creator at the Crossroads. Our letter today deals with someone who's proven the concept for their community but is overwhelmed with what comes next and how to build something truly sustainable and scalable.
To better help Community Creator at the Crossroads, I invited Jac White as my guest because she's in the same crossroads. She helps women sell with confidence and build a scalable sal...
In this episode, we’re hearing from Overwhelmed on the Delegation Struggle Bus. Our letter today deals with figuring out how to get the right type of help to make sure your community will thrive even when you're not there.
To better help Overwhelmed on the Delegation Struggle Bus, I invited Kristen Pavle as my guest expert. She is a relational designer transforming community-driven businesses into creative, self-sustaining ecosy...
This week on Dear Bri, we hear from Seeking Community Connection, and they’re in the middle of one of the most universal dilemmas in online community management: how to foster peer-to-peer connection and learning.
To solve this community conundrum, Bri invited community strategist and business coach Diana Davis, founder of Recess for Creatives. With a background in photography, graphic design, and seven years of community-building b...
In this episode, we’re hearing from Ready to Retreat. Their letter explores how to deepen connection in a thriving online community through an in-person retreat.
To better support them, I invited Eric Plantenberg as my guest expert. He’s a client, friend, and mentor—and the founder of the deeply transformative Abundant Living Retreat. I’ve been to many retreats, but none like his. Tune in to hear how Eric creates powerful containers...
In this episode, we’re hearing from Wavering But Hopeful. Our letter today deals with the very tough reality of deciding whether to continue putting in the effort to keep your community going or to close the doors when it feels like there’re more times when it isn’t working.
To better help Wavering But Hopeful, I invited Salome Schillack as my guest expert. She has been through over a decade of owning her craft and her expertise, an...
In this episode, we’re hearing from Community Newbie. Our letter today deals with how overwhelming it can be to enter the world of community-building without really knowing where to begin.
To better help Community Newbie, I invited Marjorie Anderson as my guest expert. She is the Director of Community for Exos and the Principal Strategist at Community by Association L.L.C. Marjorie is a bright light in the community spaces, has been...
In this episode, we’re hearing from Curious in Colorado. Our letter today deals with knowing whether jumping onto the community train is worthwhile by understanding the future of community building.
To better help Curious in Colorado, I invited Zach Hawtof, Co-Founder, Community Manager, and CEO at Tightknit, as my guest expert. He is someone who has extensive experience building community, and not only thinks a lot about where...
In this episode, we’re hearing from Sensitive in Seattle. Today’s letter deals with how to grow a community where joining that community might in and of itself be taboo.
To better help Sensitive in Seattle, I’m bringing in the big guns. I invited Murtaza Bambot as my guest expert. He is the Founder & CEO at Heartbeat — the all-in-one platform for community businesses (also the sponsor of this podcast!) that has served has se...
In this episode, we hear from Negativity in New York. Today’s letter deals with the nuanced line between keeping your community positive while making space for people to be honest and real about the struggles they are experiencing.
To better help Negativity in New York, I invited Mallory Contois as my guest expert. She has lots to contribute today because as the creator of one of my FAVORITE communities, Old Girls Club — a virtu...
In this episode, we’re hearing from Hesitant in Honolulu. Our letter today deals with a sensitive subject between two community members and the question of whether to take a proactive approach or not to try to control the potential conflict in your community.
To better help Hesitant in Honolulu, I invited Carrie Melissa Jones as my guest expert. She is an award-winning community builder, author, social scientist, and consultant ...
In this episode, we’re hearing from Hopeful in Houston. Our letter today deals with a community builder who wishes they had better guided their community through diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB).
To better help Hopeful in Houston, I invited Jae Washington as my guest expert. She is the perfect person to bring us new insights because she is a community consultant, curator, and connector with experience at Zeenef...
In this episode, we’re hearing from Eager Beaver in Baltimore. Our writer today fell into the age-old myth: build it and they will come. Thankfully, they’ve since switched their mindset and realized that it takes a heck of a lot of consistent marketing to get people in their community and would like some advice.
To better help Eager Beaver in Baltimore, I invited Alli Ball, founder & CEO of Food Biz Wiz, as my guest expert. ...
In this episode, we’re hearing from Toxic Member in Toronto. Our letter today deals with a toxic community member stirring up trouble to revolt against the community manager.
To better help Toxic Member in Toronto, I invited Andrea Middleton **as my guest expert. She is a seasoned veteran of the community space who loves finding paths to productive and powerful collaborations with opinionated and skeptical communities, which is ...
In this episode, we’re hearing from Constrained in Columbus. Our letter deals with creating a vibrant and engaged community under the pressure of big business goals.
To better help Constrained in Columbus, I invited Jelani Memory as my guest expert. He’s not our typical guest because he doesn't consider himself a community creator or community manager. But as you will find in this episode, he has an incredible amount of insight ...
In this episode, the inspiration stems from a late-night LinkedIn DM from a distressed community manager handling a tumultuous Discord community. They felt overwhelmed and discouraged by all the suggestions and criticism constantly coming from community members.
To better help Discordant on Discord, I invited Ami Defesche as my guest expert. She's currently the community director at Wildcard Alliance—and formerly at Intuit and B...
In this episode, we’re hearing from Community in a Conundrum. Our letter today deals with the question of where to host a new online community. Specifically, as it relates to Facebook, Slack, and all-in-one community platforms like Heartbeat.
To better help Community in a Conundrum, no one better to talk about whether or not to host your community on Slack than the Slack-slayer, herself, Noele Flowers. I thought of Noele specifi...
Welcome to The Dear Bri Podcast, an advice column for community conundrums, fiascos, and drama. In this episode, we’re hearing from Frazzled Fairy-Marketing-Godmother. Our letter today comes from someone who clearly has a big heart for their online community, but is also really struggling to draw boundaries and recover from a very common mistake in community management (listen to find out which one).
To better help Frazzled Fair...
In this episode, we’re hearing from Crumbling in Kansas, a dedicated community manager navigating a seismic shift: their EdTech company is transitioning from a beloved cohort-based program to a full-blown membership model. The move promises recurring revenue—but at what cost to community engagement?
To better help Crumbling in Kansas, I invited Marie Schacht — CEO of Akimbo— as my guest expert. I thought of Marie because back wh...
Welcome Dear Bri, an advice column for community conundrums, fiascos, and drama. In this episode, we’re hearing from Anxious in Atlanta. Their dilemma? They launched a free, private online community as a test—engagement was strong, but now they’re left wondering: Did they use up their one shot at launching a paid community?
To help Anxious navigate this transition, I brought on Evan Hamilton, the incredibly thoughtful and season...
Welcome to Dear Bri, an advice column for community strategy, fiascos, and drama. On this podcast, I collect anonymous letters from real-life community creators and bring on an expert from the community space to help you feel a little less alone and a lot less crazy.
Should I build my community on Slack?
Is membership the way to go?
How do I create a test?
I feel so bitter and burnt, how do I recover?
My community is out of control,...
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