I've been thinking about the metrics that I want to focus on moving forward and how I want to judge success. The goal of this community has always been visibility and meaningful connections. As I've seen other communities grow faster, sometimes it's been a struggle to maintain the bar of only allowing Skoolers in. I get tons of requests every day that I turn down. The vanity metrics could be a lot higher. The reason I've stayed true to the original intention of the group is because I honestly believe that it is the right decision in the long-run and that it directly relates to the quality of the group as a whole - and it doesn't negatively affect anyone's visibility because we are a public group that can be seen by anyone. As I was thinking more about what to watch in terms of metrics, I decided to take a look at a few other larger communities to evaluate where we stand in terms of active members, which I believe is an important indicator of the health of your community. These screenshots below were taken within minutes of each other. Yes, this only represents that people are online in Skool and not necessarily this community, but if people aren't logging in to Skool at all, that's an even bigger problem. So, in a nutshell, I'm moving forward with my commitment to make this a community for Skoolers only, and I hope that at the end of the day, the quality of the interactions that you have in the community, during masterclasses, and in the live meetups will continue to prove that this is the right decision.

Let’s try something simple… Take the most ordinary thing you’ve eaten recently — toast, coffee, pasta, anything. Now your job is to make it sound like something someone needs to try. ✍️ The challenge: 👉 One sentence only👉 No clichés👉 Make it vivid 💬 Drop your sentence below — let’s see who makes the simplest food sound the best I’ll reply to a few with feedback 👀 👉 Want to get better at this (and actually turn it into something real)?Start here: https://www.skool.com/how-to-write-about-food-8335/about 💰✨

57 to 62% engagement rate. Consistently. I didn’t believe those numbers were possible when I started this journey. Our members proved me wrong. Here’s what’s actually happening inside Crust and Crumb Academy. Our Saturday Bake-Alongs generate over 7,000 interactions in a single thread each week. Likes, comments, encouragement, troubleshooting, wins, fails, all of it. That kind of activity is what earned us our star on Skool.⭐ But the thing I look forward to most every week isn’t Saturday. It’s Sunday. Every Sunday I write a recap of the bake-along the way ESPN recaps a game I missed. Play by play. All highlights and no commercials. Every member who showed up gets mentioned by name. It’s long. It’s funny. It’s informative. And when you read it you feel like you were there, at the game. When you participated you feel seen. Everyone wants to see their name in print and my job is to make sure the ones doing the work get the spotlight they deserve. Last month I started a monthly roll call. Every member, new or veteran, re-introduces themselves. A paragraph that tells us what’s going on in their life. What they’re baking. We talk in passing every day in the chat but, we don’t really know each other that way. Oh your bread looks nice, beautiful score, nice oven spring. That’s not conversation. Turns out when you give people permission to open up they will. 654 members. Over 400 comments from members in that one introduction thread. That’s engagement. We also reach out to every new member personally. The application asks a question: what do you hope to learn or gain as a baker by joining the Academy? We use that answer to connect them with a specific classroom resource, a lesson, a recipe, something that speaks directly to what they came here for. Members who had never said a word in the community reply to those DMs. Now they’re involved.

I'm calling anyone who is interested in food. You eat it, you cook it, you want to learn about it. You're my people. Please stop by my kitchen and join the fun. From novice to chef all are welcome. Share Food Love is like walking into your gramnma's kitchen and smelling the goodness and love coming out of it. Grab a warm cup of coffee, pull up a chair at the island for some shenanigans, chat with friends, cool merch, and chef snacks. (A few recipes and video's a month.) Don't miss out on ALL the goodies in the cookie jar when you come in at the premium tier. (All the videos and lots of downloadable recipes. Plus, collab's with specialty groups and chefs.) Hope to see you inside soon.

In the Share Food Love Community, you will find: 1) An experienced home cook with over 40 years cooking for 1-500 people. Plus, all her foodie friends from around the world. Giving you the opportunity to ask any question you’d like on any number of cuisines, types of techniques, types of kitchen equipment and cultural dishes. 2) Modules on meal planning, shopping, storing, stocking, and much more to help you get the most bang for your buck in this crazy expensive world. 3) Video and downloadable recipes to try on your own along with tips and tricks videos to help you out in the kitchen. 4) LOVE. You can’t make good food without love. We share the food love and the LOVE love with all who join. We want you to feel the warmth of the kitchen, partake in the shenanigans, snitch a cookie or two, have a cup of coffee or tea, and learn a little something along the way. Join at the Premium level to get all the cookies in the jar. You WANT all the cookies, I promise. It's a bargain at $25/month.