I’m back from my multi-stop “book tour” this week, and just have so much to share about what it was like meeting in person. (We’ll get back to the Expertise Paths series next week).
I put “book tour” in quotes because I didn't have a publisher or bookstore events—I essentially just took a book to 4 cities on the West Coast: Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. I used to live in Portland, so had friends and colleagues there, and interned in SF for a summer over a decade ago, but had never spent substantial time in Seattle or any time at all in LA.
And over the course of two weeks (and many planes, trains, buses, ferries, cable cars, and just one automobile trip!), I got to see dozens of clients, members, and colleagues.
I was blown away by the reception.
People were SO EXCITED to gather in person, and excited to stay in touch with each other. People traveled by ferry to meet, or traveled an hour each way to gather. Mary of Sensible Woo/Sasquatch Media even rushed from her unexpected tire replacement appointment so she could meet up with us.
Not everyone who planned to come could ultimately make it—summer schedules, illness, caregiving responsibilities—but people were genuinely happy to be invited and sad they couldn’t make it. The conversation still mattered.
We have to be the villagers to have a village.
I’ve done a ‘book tour’ stop now in New York, Boston, Minneapolis, Boise and all of these West Coast cities. I just planned Chicago and Columbus.
And you know where I’ve never done a book launch event? HERE. In Charlotte! Where I LIVE.
We all say we want community.
But communities don’t simply happen.
I get sucked into the rut of day-to-day life and my little routines with my hubs and my dog. But going out of town? I HAD to plan an event. I wasn’t about to let the opportunity to see people IRL slip away when I was in town. It’s far too easy to neglect the relationships when we can always meet up with people, and I aim to be more intentional about it in the coming months.
Somebody has to invite.
Somebody has to organize.
Somebody has to say, “Let’s get together.”
And increasingly, I want that to be me.
Ultimately, I was reminded that we were never meant to do this alone.
“You’re real! You have legs! I can hug you!” was said at every event, which was glorious. I got to have the conversations you just can’t have on a zoom call, to see the detail of people’s faces, to share deeper stories than can be typed into the chat.
But how could I have the same experience when I get home? When I’m back to my office, back to zoom calls in my office by myself?
And then I logged in to a Membership tending event where we co-work to clean up parts of our businesses like invoicing, task management, and other banal tasks we might otherwise avoid that are really important.
I showed up to do work I might otherwise have done alone… and got to see friendly faces. We chatted about our work, our weeks, and then got to work. Six years into business, and I still need the accountability to clean up my own systems.
I was by myself. But I was not alone.
Clients, referral partners, service providers you work with, community members. We might be soloists, but we legitimately cannot do this work alone.
I know that in-person human connection is becoming more valuable, not less. When expertise and content can be AI-generated, you know what’s real? Conversations over the dinner table or conference hallways. The lingering that happens after everyone says they’re leaving but no one actually gets up. But I hadn’t fully experienced it as much as I have in the past few months.
In-person gatherings are becoming a permanent part of Deeper Foundations because the future of expertise will increasingly rely on relationships, especially those forged with real life connection.
Want to be part of a community of experts doing the work together? The Membership price increases from $30/month to $50/month on August 1.