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🙌🏽 Welcome to In Community.

Before we dive in, take a sec to learn about this week’s sponsor, Roku.

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Relevance isn’t free.

Every brand, every leader, every career is paying for relevance in one of two ways:

• With intention, or

• With exhaustion

Most people don’t notice the bill until they’re already burnt out, boxed in, or quietly disengaged from the very work that once excited them.

Relevance built on performance demands constant motion. Relevance built on presence compounds.

👉🏽 That’s the fork in the road.

Last week, I wrote about the difference between presence and performance. This week, I want to talk about the cost of pretending that distinction doesn’t matter.

🙌🏽 One Quick Ask

I’m turning these ideas into deeper conversations and frameworks on YouTube — and I’m pushing to reach 1,000 subscribers by the end of next week. I’m only just under 25% there, and your support truly matters.

If this newsletter helps you think more clearly about your work or leadership, please take a moment to subscribe to the channel. It’s one small action that helps this work reach the people who need it most.

And make sure to catch the latest episode out today, featuring Meng Li, Founder of Huhu.

ICYMI, recent episodes featured Beyonce’s former strategy lead Dr. Marcus Collins and Junmian Sun, Managing Director of the Shorty Awards. And I went live before that with Jessica Serrano, CMO at Bagel Brands, Zena Arnold, CMO at Sephora and Everette Taylor, CEO of Kickstarter .

Tune in. Subscribe. Be part of the movement.

📌 The Relevance Tax Framework

Here’s the pattern I keep seeing across marketing, media, and leadership:

1. The Visibility Tax

You stay “top of mind” by posting more, reacting faster, and saying yes too often. It works — until your thinking starts to flatten and your energy disappears.

2. The Credibility Tax

You maintain relevance by aligning with whatever is popular, safe, or trending. You gain short-term approval, but slowly lose conviction — and people feel it.

3. The Identity Tax

You become known for what performs, not what actually matters to you. At some point, changing direction feels risky because the audience you’ve built isn’t aligned with who you’re becoming.

Most professionals of color feel this tax acutely — not because of a lack of talent, but because relevance has often been tied to proving rather than belonging.

⚓ The Alternative: Strategic Anchoring

The leaders who escape the relevance tax don’t opt out of visibility. They anchor it.

Strategic anchoring means:

• Choosing a small set of ideas you’ll be known for

• Letting go of performative opportunities that dilute trust

• Building community around shared values, not just output

This is where marketing stops being about reach and starts being about resonance.

👉🏽 And resonance is what lasts when algorithms, org charts, or job titles change.

🚀 DON’T MISS IT: My New Personal Brand Course

Built for professionals from the rising majority, who want to:

• Build a personal brand without pandering

• Stand out without selling out

• Turn reputation into opportunity

• Blend cultural insight with strategy

• Build visibility that’s aligned, not performative

⏱️ Register by Dec 27th to get in on the early-access — early pricing before it goes up — and the opportunity to help shape the curriculum.

Sign up here. 

🧠 A Closing Truth

Relevance isn’t about being everywhere.

It’s about being anchored somewhere.

The question isn’t whether you’ll be seen. It’s whether you’ll still recognize yourself when you are.

✅ 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.

💥 Content & Community Specialist — Hue 

💥 Integrated Marketing Manager — Ensemble

💥 Sr Manager, SEO and AI Discoverability — Pfizer

💥 Manager, Brand Marketing & Activation — Major League Soccer

💥 Sr Product Marketing Manager — The Weather Company

💥 Director, Social Media — Tinder

💥 Director, Marketing Operations — LiveRamp

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