Dear Bri: Community Strategy, Fiascos, and Drama

How do I turn my beta test into a vibrant, scalable, and sustainable community? With Jac White, Founder of Honeybees Group

43min | 06/24/2025

Description

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 sales system. She is the founder of Honeybees Group, which she recently launched as a membership community with a beta group that was a big success.

This episode is different as it is like a live coaching call. We focus on how to architect the programs in your community in a way that serves you and your business. We take a hard look at the different types of formats and structures that might require a lot of you and might not always bring the reward that you're looking for.

In this episode:

(02:40) How this episode's unique format came about

(04:20) The communitea: Community Creator at the Crossroads’s letter

(06:11) Jac's very own community-building conundrum

(07:58) The pros and cons of leveraging cohorts and memberships

(10:58) The different education-connection community models

(16:22) The strengths and challenges of a transformative community

(19:41) Lessons from Bri's journey to a membership with cohorts baked into it

(24:27) The solution to a common pain point around cohorts

(28:40) How to scale without losing the small community magic

(34:11) Figure out how to make your community valuable and sustainable long-term

(41:49) Just get started

Resources Mentioned:

🐝 Apply for the Honeybees Sales Circle.

📗 Learn more about The Mom Test.

❤️ Sign up for Heartbeat. Bri’s recommended all-in-one community platform.

💛Join Ember. The place for go-getter community creators building community-powered businesses.

Jac White

🖥️ Website

📱 LinkedIn

🎙️Podcast

Bri Leever

🖥️ Website

📩 Newsletter

📹 Youtube

📱LinkedIn

Want your story to be next? Submit an anonymous letter about your community conundrum, fiasco, drama, or other dilemma here.

*Dear Bri is produced by Ideablossoms.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About 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 on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About 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 on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Description

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 sales system. She is the founder of Honeybees Group, which she recently launched as a membership community with a beta group that was a big success.

This episode is different as it is like a live coaching call. We focus on how to architect the programs in your community in a way that serves you and your business. We take a hard look at the different types of formats and structures that might require a lot of you and might not always bring the reward that you're looking for.

In this episode:

(02:40) How this episode's unique format came about

(04:20) The communitea: Community Creator at the Crossroads’s letter

(06:11) Jac's very own community-building conundrum

(07:58) The pros and cons of leveraging cohorts and memberships

(10:58) The different education-connection community models

(16:22) The strengths and challenges of a transformative community

(19:41) Lessons from Bri's journey to a membership with cohorts baked into it

(24:27) The solution to a common pain point around cohorts

(28:40) How to scale without losing the small community magic

(34:11) Figure out how to make your community valuable and sustainable long-term

(41:49) Just get started

Resources Mentioned:

🐝 Apply for the Honeybees Sales Circle.

📗 Learn more about The Mom Test.

❤️ Sign up for Heartbeat. Bri’s recommended all-in-one community platform.

💛Join Ember. The place for go-getter community creators building community-powered businesses.

Jac White

🖥️ Website

📱 LinkedIn

🎙️Podcast

Bri Leever

🖥️ Website

📩 Newsletter

📹 Youtube

📱LinkedIn

Want your story to be next? Submit an anonymous letter about your community conundrum, fiasco, drama, or other dilemma here.

*Dear Bri is produced by Ideablossoms.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About 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 on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About 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 on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

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