vidIQ just sent me this badge. 375,000 views on our YouTube channel. Here’s the thing. That’s not my number. That’s your number. Every view, every subscribe, every comment, every share, that’s you carrying this thing forward. The channel isn’t separate from the Academy. It’s an extension of what we’re building right here. The lessons we work through on Saturday mornings, the techniques we troubleshoot in the feed, the recipes coming out of the Pantry, it all lives over there too, just in a different format. So this badge isn’t really mine to hang on the wall. It belongs to everyone in this room who’s been tuning in, hitting subscribe, and telling another baker about it. If you haven’t subscribed yet, come see what all the fuss is about: 👉 https://www.youtube.com/@henryhunterjr Thank you for showing up. Every single one of you. Perfection is not required. Progress is. Henry ⭐🔥

Thank you for indulging me. A few weeks ago, a man I have never met in person sent my son a song. His name is Nick. He runs a Skool community of his own called AI Storytellers, and he had been listening to me talk about Ryan, my javelin-throwing son, in the kind of way only proud dads do. Then @Nick Nebelsky did something most people would not have thought to do. He sat down and wrote five songs for Ryan. The one that landed was called Running in Light. When Ryan heard it, he did not say much. He just nodded the way he does when something moves him. A few days later, Ryan competed at the Duke Twilight, his final meet before NCAA Division II Nationals. He was throwing against professional athletes. He put on his headphones, listened to Nick’s song, and walked to the runway. He finished first among the collegiate athletes in the field. Nick wrote about it in his own community yesterday. He said that in the right hands, AI can take a father someone has never met and a son someone has never met and produce a gospel song that makes a family weep on a Sunday morning before the biggest meet of the year. He is right. That is not a parlor trick. That is craft, taste, and care, applied to a tool most people are still using to generate noise. I am sharing this with the Academy because Nick asked me to, but also because it belongs here. This community is built on the idea that real people, working with care, can make something good. Nick is one of those people. So are you. Thank you, Nick. You gave my son something to carry into the circle. That is a gift I will pass forward. The song: https://youtu.be/uirKj0Jqdm8 Faith. Focus. Finish. ~Henry ⭐️🔥 Below is the song and my thank you poster.

His name is @David Smith . We crossed the line today, bakers. One thousand members. And the seat we'd been holding for that milestone moment now belongs to David, out of Bothell, Washington. David found us through a friend, joined quietly, and is already showing up. He loves fishing, cooking, and learning Greek. The kind of person who appreciates a process that takes time and rewards attention. That tracks with bread, doesn't it. David, welcome. You picked a good crew. Jump into the feed when you're ready and introduce yourself. Tell us what you're hoping to bake, what you've already tried, or what's been giving you trouble. Whatever you bring, this room will meet you where you are. To the rest of you: this milestone belongs to all of us. Every conversation, every Saturday bake-along, every loaf you posted whether it worked or didn't. Every time you answered another baker's question before I got there. That's what one thousand looks like. Shannon at 800. Amanda at 900. David at 1,000. And we're just getting started. Perfection is not required. Progress is. Henry ⭐🔥

Family. I’m out this afternoon celebrating Ryan’s graduation from FMU. Master’s degree. Proud day. Get your poolish going and feed those starters tonight. Tomorrow is Pretzel Bread Day and you don’t want to be playing catch-up. I’ll be back late tonight from the ceremony. See you in the kitchen. ~Henry ⭐️🔥

I know it’s late, but I had to have some. The baguette was my excuse.