Find Your Tribe

I’ve been traversing hemispheres again.
New faces, new places, same pursuit — finding meaning in motion.

Spending time in the company of others is both rejuvenating and depleting. And I’m thankful for both.

Anthony Bourdain once said, “Travel is not a reward for working — it’s an education for living.”
I carry that with me. Every time I land, I learn.

This past week, I buried myself in AI tools.
New features. Faster renders. Deeper synthesis.
Astonishing and exhausting in equal measure.

I felt that familiar swing between Awe and Awful,
the magic of what’s possible,
and the melancholy of what’s missing.

After playing and publishing inside Sora, I experienced both fantasy and fear.
These tools are magnificent conjurers, they fabricate dreamscapes, they remix reality, but they also leave an aftertaste.

Because when everything becomes simulated,
you start to lose the subtle friction of feeling.

The warmth of laughter in a crowded café.
The pulse of a live conversation that takes an unexpected turn.
The quiet hum of shared curiosity in a room full of thinkers.

That’s what the machine can’t replicate: presence.
The texture of being with others — not just watching, scrolling, or prompting.

And that’s the part marketers, brand builders, and leaders need to remember.

People don’t crave more content.
They crave connection.

They want to feel part of something, to experience belonging in a world that feels increasingly artificial.

That’s why the future of marketing isn’t just digital; it’s experiential.
It’s not about impressions; it’s about lasting impressions.

As leaders, we must create spaces — real or virtual — that feel alive.
Places where conversation replaces consumption.
Where participation replaces performance.
Where community isn’t just an audience, but a shared moment.

So this week, I stepped away from the screens
and back into the village to find my tribe.

The ones who listen between the words.
Who build, not for applause, but for alignment.
Who can dream out loud in your company and hold the silence too.

Years ago, when I was at AOL with the moniker “Digital Prophet,”
I went on live TV, big hair, black nails,
and all the confidence in the world.
It broke the internet before breaking the internet was a thing.
Trolls came fast, claws out.
And when that happens — when the fog rolls in, you start to question your own frequency.

A friend pulled me aside.
He looked at me quietly and said,
“Shingy, go where you’re celebrated.”

That sentence became a compass.
It still is.

Because celebration is not vanity.
It’s belonging.
It’s the energy exchange that reminds us we’re not creating into a void.

So as we step into this colder season as marketers, as leaders, as makers remember this:

The synthetics will only get more audacious.
The noise, louder.
But what cuts through isn’t algorithmic, it’s attunement.

Your audience doesn’t want content.
They want communion.

So find your tribe.
Nurture the ones who see you — not just your signal.
The ones who challenge you, hold you, and make you feel more real than any machine could.

Because as we move into the next wave of creation,
the brands that will matter
are the ones that feel alive.

Upwards.
—Shingy