🔥 Discernment: In Community #111

Your weekly spark centering entrepreneurial leaders, creators, and culture-makers from the rising majority

In partnership with

This week’s sponsor is Shopify—the platform for those serious about building equity in themselves and their businesses.

Shopify lowers the barrier between intention and execution, scaling from first-time founder to enterprise operator, with infrastructure that I’ve relied on myself.

With the right mix of flexibility and automation, teams can stay focused on growth instead of maintenance.

What’s one thing you’ve known you should build—but haven’t prioritized? What would change if you acted on it now?

🔥 And now, for your weekly spark.

We don’t have a visibility problem. We have a discernment problem.

Every brand brief says “break through the noise.” Every deck promises “cultural relevance.” Every platform rewards more, faster, louder.

And yet — the work can still land hollow. Especially without signal.

This moment is especially fraught. We’re expected to be fluent in culture, fluent in data, fluent in identity — and still deliver at scale. The unspoken tax? Being everywhere without being anchored anywhere.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: not everything deserves your attention — or your participation.

Discernment is no longer a soft skill. It’s a strategic one.

From Output to Orientation

In the latest In Community podcast episode, Tyler Chou — widely known as the creators’ attorney — names something most industries avoid saying out loud: clarity creates leverage.

​​Whether it’s a creator signing a contract or a brand entering a cultural moment, the risk isn’t saying no too often. It’s saying yes without understanding the terms.

Discernment is how you protect:

  • Your energy

  • Your values

  • Your long-term equity

It’s also how you build trust — internally and externally.

📌 The D.E.E.P. Model

A Discernment Lens for Modern Marketing

If relevance is earned (not claimed), discernment is how you earn it.

D — Define what matters
What’s essential to your audience — not what’s trending, but what’s true.

E — Exclude the excess
Not every moment needs your brand voice. Restraint is strategy.

E — Establish boundaries
Clear scope. Clear intent. Clear ownership. As Tyler reminds us, boundaries aren’t friction — they’re protection.

P — Participate with purpose
Show up where you can contribute, not just be seen.

This is how brands stop performing culture and start earning trust.

💬 A Quick Ask (Because Community Is Reciprocal)
If this newsletter resonates, you’ll love the conversations we’re having on YouTube.

I’m working toward 1,000 subscribers — and I’m only 37% of the way there. If In Community has ever helped you think differently, feel seen, or navigate this industry with more clarity, subscribe and share. It genuinely helps more than you think.

The New Status Symbol

The old flex was access.
Then it was visibility.
Then it was proximity to power.

Now?

Discernment is the flex.

Knowing when to speak.
Knowing when to pass.
Knowing what aligns — and what costs too much.

In a world optimized for noise, the leaders who last will be the ones who choose discernment — deliberately, collectively, and with care.

That’s how community compounds.
And that’s how relevance sustains.

✅ Now Hiring

What you asked for, delivered.

Is someone you know considering what’s next for them? Here are a few roles with people hiring across the network. I’ll be adding roles here every week, so stay tuned and make sure to spread the word.

💥 Events Producer — Hue (I’m hiring for this one!)

💥 Managing Director, Partnerships Marketing — NASCAR (among other roles)

💥 Sr Director, Paid Social — Factor (several other roles too)

💥 Sr Brand Strategist — MrBeast (several other roles too)

💥 Sr Manager, Influencer & Content Marketing — Pfizer (several other roles too)

💥 Content Strategy Lead — Bose (several other roles too)

ICYMI last week:

And before you go, consider who else might value this newsletter and what’s coming up on YouTube. Make sure to fwd this newsletter onward to them too. They can subscribe here for more directly in their inbox. 🔁 

In community,

Fahad