Dear Bri: Community Strategy, Fiascos, and Drama

When and how should I hire someone to help me with my community? With Kristen Pavle, Relational Designer

40min | 06/17/2025

Description

In this episode, we’re hearing from Overwhelmed on the Delegation Struggle Bus. Our letter today deals with figuring out how to get the right type of help to make sure your community will thrive even when you're not there.

To better help Overwhelmed on the Delegation Struggle Bus, I invited Kristen Pavle as my guest expert. She is a relational designer transforming community-driven businesses into creative, self-sustaining ecosystems. As a community strategist, she has experience founding and creating her own communities, as well as supporting fresh new communities into a life of growth and thriving.

So, tune in to better understand the different types of community management help available and which one makes the most sense for you and your community. You'll also be the first to know the details on the Ember community's newest program, Ember Fractionals.

In this episode:

(05:21) The communitea: Overwhelmed on the Delegation Struggle Bus’s letter

(07:20) The 3 buckets people who run communities fall into

(08:59) Kristen's experience of taking a step back as a DIY founder/community creator

(12:53) The value of leadership development within your community and asking for help

(17:19) Bri's experience and insights on getting help from virtual assistants for your community

(20:10) The identity and mindset shift behind allowing yourself to ask for help

(24:02) Hiring for your internal community versus your external community

(25:04) Bringing in the strategy piece with a fractional community manager

(32:00) How you can break into the next level of your community skills

(33:22) A sneak peek into the game-changing Ember Fractionals Program

(38:33) It's never too late to turn your community around

Resources Mentioned:

Join the Ember Fractionals: https://www.emberconsulting.co/fractional-community-managers
Hire an Ember Fractional: https://www.emberconsulting.co/hire-a-community-manager

Kristen Pavle

🖥️ Website

📱 LinkedIn

Bri Leever

🖥️ Website

📩 Newsletter

📹 Youtube

📱LinkedIn

And before you go…

💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

💚 Leave a review on Spotify

That helps the podcast more than you know and I deeply appreciate it. 🙏

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!