About the cul-de-sac

How this is different

After failing to do it properly two years in a row, I finally figured out how to correctly disable the display of my birthday on Facebook.  Every year, I would get wishes from friends AND a many who probably saw me in their “birthdays today” notifications and threw out a quick “Happy bday”.  While I appreciated the kind intentions, it started to feel like noise that I needed to respond to with a Like, when neither of us really felt very connected to that communication.

I want a community with the kind of people who care that they connect with someone on their birthday (or for whatever reason).  The ones who send a real message, who call, who send a card (oh for the love of real snail mail!).  People don’t need the perfunctory messages (often AI-generated that can be sent with a single click) from everyone.  They want meaningful connections from the ones who really matter.

Too many spaces begin with (often inadvertently) a more transactional reason to gather (networking groups, workshops, seminars, etc.).  Transactions are not always bad, and you can still build relationships even within a transactional dynamic…it’s just harder.  This community puts relationships first.

I hope we travel together, work together, come up with big interesting ideas together, go on a health-kick together, commiserate together…but those things can only really, truly, deeply, be done (well) if you have a connection.  If you care.  If you are invested.

I am here to make the space for that connection, that care, that investment.  Because beyond that point…the sky’s the limit.

What I long for

I want to wake up in the morning knowing I can start my day connecting with others, who will remind me I’m not the only one ramping up for the week ahead.  I want to finish my work for the day and debrief with others before easing into my evening.

I want to land in another city for work or play and know that there are some friendly souls nearby who are down to meet up for a coffee, a walk, or a leisurely meal featuring local delights.

I want to have conversations that bypass the usual “where are you from and what do you do” and instead go to “Tell me about a time when…” and allow me to truly know another person.

I want to be reminded, at any given moment, that I am not doing this life alone.

How this works

The website and slack channel are our starting points.  The meeting places.  You can always come back to them.  They are our home bases.  The places where people are gathering. 

But the real community happens when you engage.  When you make the choice to reach out, or to respond when someone else reaches out to you.

The magic happens in building those relationships.  In showing up, day after day.  The possibilities burst open when, after we create those strong relationships, then we say, “Wouldn’t it be crazy if we could…?”

Gatherings

Take a look at the calendar to get a sense of how we gather and connect:

 

Ready to join the community?  Continue to our community agreements to join us!

Frequently Asked Questions

  • This community is designed for coaches seeking social and professional connections. So many of us work on our own, and yet we are often the type of folks who long to work collaboratively and creatively with others. Our best work collaborations emerge when we have trusting, connected, and intact relationships with others, and then lean into the work together.

  • So many of us work on our own so we don’t have a ready-made network at our fingertips. With multiple events every week, it’s easy to find ways to connect with others and build relationships.

    Joining the community gives you access to multiple live events on Zoom each week, access to the Slack channel for easy communication with other members, inclusion and access to the member directory, and invitations to in-person gatherings.

    Down the road, I see big possibilities for us as our group grows stronger and more connected, in terms of how we find and create our work, arranging benefits and discounts that are often only offered to large groups, and maybe even taking on big systems issues together.

  • The basic, easy entrance to the community is the monthly membership; it can ease you into the commitment and it’s easy to continue to stay once you’ve arrived. If you already know you want to stick around and commit to the community, the quarterly pricing is the best deal, offering a discount off the monthly rate.

  • Currently there is just one weekly email that goes out to community members to share upcoming gatherings and community news. Slack is great for asynchronous conversations where anyone in the community can chime in. You are invited to create your own cadence of how often you interact with the channel so that it remains a tool of connection and not a burden of responsibility.