Somewhere along the way, we started confusing attention with connection. We count followers and celebrate reach. We track engagement and chase visibility. And while none of those things are inherently bad, they can quietly convince us that bigger is always better. And that all this equals success.

More followers. More subscribers. More views. More people. MORE. But what if that's not actually the goal?

I think one of the most misunderstood words in business right now is community. Everyone wants one. Brands talk about building one. Creators talk about building one. Companies talk about building one. But most of the time, what they're actually building is an audience.

The difference matters.

I know that's not a very popular thing to say. Especially right now. But it drives me bananas as I scroll Instagram so it needs to be addressed.

Spend five minutes on social media and you'll find no shortage of people talking about purpose, authenticity, alignment, finding their people, finding their why, and living their truth. The problem is that most of what they're describing isn't their why. It's their job, or their business, or their product, or their service. And those are not the same thing.