Strap in kids, cause I’m going to lay it out plain and loud: community is the only growth strategy worth your brand’s sweat and sleepless nights. And I should know, after speaking at over 300 conferences in the past 20 years, crafting a new 70‑minute keynote every single year (yes, even while sleeping half‑dead in airports), and starting with a slightly eyebrow‑raising talk titled Making Love To Your Customers (yes, that’s what it was called), I’ve come to this truth: all the flashy “growth hacks” will fade, but a fiercely loyal tribe will endure.

When I first pitched the idea for the #IMAKEALIVING powered by FreshBooks event series, the goal was simple: bring business owners together to share what was really keeping them up at night. There were hundreds—if not thousands—of resources on starting a business, but very few places to turn when things got tough. What happens when your friends can’t refer you business anymore? When you feel like you’re all alone?

I rarely make these prediction posts because I think I would say the same thing every year, and then people would say I have no original thoughts, but as we gear up for 2025, there’s one clear thing: brands can no longer afford to keep operating at arm's length from their customers. We’ve spent years obsessing over growth hacks, data analytics, and automation, but the tides are changing. The world is about to get a lot more unpredictable, and consumers are more empowered than ever before. To thrive in the coming year, brands need to rediscover something that many have lost sight of — the power of community and being human.

I’ve recently started rewatching Mad Men, and honestly, it’s just as brilliant the second (or third) time around. What I love most about the show isn’t just the retro aesthetic, the cutting dialogue, or the messy, fascinating characters. It’s the focus on ideas—the why of marketing and advertising. Yes, it’s fictional, but there’s a truth in how the show portrays the power of ideas to shape culture and drive desire. Watching Don Draper pitch his heart out in that smoky boardroom feels more relevant than ever, even in a world where we’ve swapped cigarettes for smartphones.