This didn’t grow fast. I didn’t quit either... (the truth behind my 1$ community)

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Anybody else start doing a bit of deep reflecting at this time of year?

Because I definitely do BIG TIME, and this year especially feels like one of those years where patterns, lessons, and little “ooooffff got it now” moments have been stacking up quietly in the background.

And I wanted to share something I’m genuinely proud of, not because it’s flashy or impressive, but because it would have been VERY easy to do the opposite. (OBVS I questioned myself. Multiple times, and some, oh hello, thereby cheeky mind)

First up,I wanna be totes clear before I go any further, THIS IS NOT “THE only WAY”.

It’s just the way I did it.

There are a million right ways to build things, and pivoting is defo not a failure. Sometimes, pivoting is exactly what’s needed. This just happens to be one thing I didn’t pivot on, and I’m very proud of that.

Back in November 2024, I started my Skool Community, what is now called the Backroom. It wasn’t called that at the time; it was called Unstoppables, and TBH, the reason it existed at all was that my Facebook group literally vanished. Gone. Puffed away. No warning, no recovery, no support. It sucked alot at the time…

If you know, you know. And that moment really landed for me because it showed me just how fragile some things actually are, even when we treat them like they’re stable. We all know the story hey

So I made a decision. I didn’t want to build something again that could just disappear just like that overnight, completely out of my control, pffffttt

So, I’d already been spending time inside other Skool communities, learning, observing, seeing how they worked, and I thought… ok, now’s the time, let's give this a bash

But I didn’t do it in the obvious way.

I decided to make it a $1 community.

And not because I thought it would make money, it absolutely wasn’t a money play. That part matters.

This was about energy. Intention. Boundaries. Keeping trolls out, spam out, and people dropping in with zero intention of actually being there.

THIS WAS A MICRO-COMMITMENT.

A tiny pause point where someone had to decide, “yes, I actually want to be in this.” (Nami just whoofed as I typed that, so take that as confirmation.)

Now here’s the not so sexy part… it’s been a SLOW BURNER.

We’ve hovered around 99–105 people for a while now. It goes up. It goes down. It fluctuates.

And this is the exact point where I know a lot of peeps would have changed direction.

Made it free. Added trials. Tried to force growth. Questioned the whole thing. I felt all of those impulses too. OBVS. But I didn’t act on them…

Because when I actually looked at what was happening inside the space, something really different was going on.

Almost every single person in there had taken action. not just joined. not just lurked. actually participated.

I shared a post recently showing that 73% are above level one, (hmm should I share that in here too?) and I believe that $1 played a huge part in that.

It made joining slightly harder, yes sure, and in this case, that friction created focus.

Some people told me it wouldn’t work.

Many said you should always have free. And I also get that. Free is epic of sho.

I have other free entry points. I have lead magnets.

So, in a nutshell, it was about protecting something different.

I also have a $29 community, and a lot of people naturally move from the $1 into the $29, and that flow works for me. I haven’t added tiers yet. I didnt wanna rush to optimise

For me I focused on QUALITY > SPEED.

The quality inside the backroom has been the thing that’s mattered most to me

So nope, this ain’t gonna to make me millions.

But every single person who paid me $1, epic people

And I’m super proud that I didn’t give up on the idea just because it didn’t grow fast, loud, or in the way other people said it should.

At the start of 2024 and still today, my intention was simple: ONE FOCUS. ONE DIRECTION. ONE DECISION. Check out the post-it, almost 2 years old, still front and centre on my workspace

This year has really been about watching patterns, noticing what actually works, learning what I trust, and realising that sometimes the biggest growth isn’t about doing more, it’s about staying put long enough to see what something becomes. Somewhere along the way, without me really noticing, this year built my SELF-TRUST MUSCLE.

I’m excited for 2026 because I’m not going into it guessing. I’m going into it with a year’s worth of lived lessons, data, intuition, and self-trust. This year has been less about loud wins and more about QUIET CONSISTENCY.

What’s something you’re genuinely proud of sticking to this year, even when other people had opinions, pressure, or “better ideas”?

P.S - And yes, the 1$ did exactly as I wished, not one spam, one troll, one icky person, for that I am gonna W_ _ P (IYKYK) ❤️

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