I wanted to let all of you know about something I recently learned that changes some of the ways I'll be raising money for the animals. Over the weekend, I worked hard promoting Empowering Animals in another community and personally brought in eight more amazing new members. Everyone during their research, came through my profile page rather than going back to my post link. Like most of us do when we are deciding if a community is the right fit. What I didn't know, and neither did they, was that by doing that, those memberships were no longer credited to me. They were credited to the Skool Network and Skool now receives a commission from my memberships and any product I sell directly through the Skool platform. A Skool moderator confirmed that's exactly how the attribution works. That was a hard lesson to learn. Everything I do is centered around helping the animals and supporting trusted animal organizations. This includes the Premium memberships, my book, shirts, affiliate income, and donations. Knowing what I know now, I can't justify asking people to upgrade to Premium when I know that revenue is no longer supporting the animals the way I intended. So here's what I'm going to do instead. I've added a one-time gift page in the Classroom with several donation amounts, this will pay through Stripe. There is a fee to me for it, but it is very reasonable. If you ever feel led to help support the animals for our monthly donations, I'd much rather have you use that page because I know exactly where those gifts are going. If you're one of my fellow community owners, I also wanted to pass along the advice the Skool moderator gave me. Add a note to your promotional posts asking people to return to your original invite link after checking out your profile. I wish I had known to do that months ago, because I've probably done the same thing to some of you without realizing it. And if you're inviting people to Empowering Animals using your invite link under the Members tab, encourage people to join through your link and not the profile. That way, you receive the credit you earned

Have you ever considered spending some time with the animals at your local animal shelter just to share a little love? Many of the senior animals don’t get as many visitors, and a little love and attention can brighten their day as much as yours. Do you have an elderly neighbor with a dog or cat? Have you ever asked if there’s something you can do to help? 🐾 Take their dog for a walk while you’re walking your own companion. 🐾 Clean a litter box. 🐾 Pick up a bag of pet food. 🐾 Take their companion to a veterinary appointment. Helping out your neighbor a couple of times a week could mean the difference between them feeling like they can keep the companion they love or having to give them up. Sometimes a small act of kindness is all it takes to keep a family together. Can you imagine the ripple effect if more of us looked for simple ways to help the people and animals right in our own communities? ❤️

One of the things I love most is watching people come together and create something none of us could have created alone. I'm a member of a painting community called Painting for Drawing Dropouts, led by @Michelle Cyr who is also a member here in Empowering Animals. Recently, Michelle shared a story about an event she participated in where she invited 50 people to help paint a picture. Most told her they were worried they would ruin it. The only person who wasn't afraid was a four-year-old who simply picked up a brush and painted with abandon. She stated she wished she could give us all permission to paint like a four-year-old. To create without fear, to have fun and to simply enjoy the process. Since I've been experimenting with writing songs, I took what Michelle shared, combined it with what I've learned from her and my experiences in the group, and wrote a song inspired by her message. Then the magic of community took over. Michelle asked for a graphic to go with the song, and Kate Mack took that a step further and created a music video instead. What started as a simple conversation became something meaningful, fun, and beautiful because multiple people brought their talents and passion together. And if you watch closely, you might recognize a few familiar faces. Michelle definitely made it into the video, and I'm pretty sure I did too. Those glasses are a dead giveaway. Once I saw them, I just KNEW that was me. 😁 I've watched this video more times than I can count. Not only is it beautifully done and a lot of fun, but it also reminds me of the mission behind Empowering Animals. Animals are why we're here. But it takes people willing to share their gifts, talents, and hearts to create something beautiful. When we come together with a shared purpose, amazing things happen. Enjoy the video. ❤️🐾