When I wrote about going off on my own again, I knew it was important for me to tell that story.
I’m a huge advocate for owning your narrative. Whatever it is you are trying to do in this world, you should own and tell that story from your point of view.
For me, that meant sharing the news of starting Unreal Collective from my perspective before it was told in some other way. It’s how I’ve always operated and historically it’s been beneficial.
But since the focus on the piece was about my decision to start a company and not the purpose of the company, I’ve had a lot of people ask me in the last couple of days to talk about what Unreal Collective does. Many have even asked how they can help – and I didn’t have an ask!
Lesson learned: Always have an ask in mind for the right opportunity.
To be honest, it is still a little squishy. In fact, that’s what I love about it; there is a lot to be defined and a lot of opportunity to collaborate with others.
At the core, Unreal Collective exists to connect people and create unreal experiences.
The company is a collective of the unreal projects I’m building in tandem. That includes a learning community (Unreal Collective), pop up experiences (Unreal Events), this newsletter (Unreal Daily), and more.
I’m bootstrapping Unreal and it will take some time to get running and encompass 100% of my time and income. The first Unreal Collective will kick off next month (info on joining the first cohort coming soon).
Along the way, I’ll be working with people and organizations who are doing badass work that I want to contribute to and be a part of. Depending on the project, I provide mercenary product, operations, marketing, and advisory services.
This way, I can collaborate with folks I enjoy working with and fund the company.
Some of this won’t be sexy. Actually, a lot of it won’t be sexy. As I write this, it’s nearly 9pm on a Friday night, I’m eating canned soup in my apartment while I hear folks having a great time in the bar below me, and planning an early bedtime due to several days of wall-to-wall (but awesome) meetings.
More information and many more lessons learned to come.