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Feeling Empowered after CONNECT2025

There has never been a better time to monetize your personal brand.

7 days later… I’m still riding the high from Teachable CONNECT 2025.

From the moment I walked into the Mercury Store in Brooklyn, I knew this was going to be something special.

There was buzz. Intention. ENERGY.

It felt like I was walking into a room full of smart internet friends I hadn’t met yet.

Brett Dashevsky, founder of Creator Economy NYC, and Olivia Owens, Head of Partnerships at Teachable, kicked things off and then turned the mic over to Teachable’s chief executive, Giovanna Carvahlo, who spoke about how Teachable is helping people monetize their knowledge.

From there, we were in for a Saturday filled with fascinating panels from some of the most well known B2B creators from across all of social media.

I got to hear from some legendary creators I have admired on Linkedin for years:

Elfried Samba reminded us that people will pay you to learn from your failures, which I thought was very interesting. He also said: “don’t make things bigger than they are. Your embarrassment attracts, not detracts.”

Amen.

Gabby Beckford pointed out that “money is everywhere in so many ways” and encouraged us to “have an abundance mindset.”

Jack Appleby encouraged us: “AI won’t replace you. It’ll scale you”

Jess Ramos, whose content I always assumed served as an asset to her former employer shared that being let go is what gave her permission to jump into creating full-time, which changed her life in unimaginable ways. I can relate…

Terry Rice encouraged us to “get paid for who you are, not what you do”

Shira Lazar said “when you share your joy, you give people permission to envision themselves doing the same.” She then walked us through her JOMO (joy of missing out) concept, gave us a glimpse into what she’s doing for the mental health of creators, and then led everyone through an exercise to think truly and deeply about what brings us joy. My answer was the 10 seconds every morning when I hear our kids feet pitter pattering across the floor to come into our room for morning snuggles. Best. Thing. Ever.

Oksana Kravchenko introduced me to the concept of “creators as curators,” helping people make sense of information. The things we teach can largely be learned elsewhere, but Oksana pointed out that people “want someone to learn from.”

And the keynote, by Timm Chuisano who has 1M followers, was chock full of gems…

“Everything you’ve done is part of your narrative. Embrace it. Don’t put it away.”

“Your narrative in your journey is how you attract opportunities. It’s essential.”

“You never know when the various experiences of your career will be useful in the future. The things you don’t think are valuable really can be. Keep those experiences in your back pocket.”

“Putting yourself out there—all of your fascination and interests can work wonders”

“Awareness is built with bold authenticity”

“Empathy is an amazing way to describe what’s happening in your comments”

What became clear—in every panel, every session, every hallway convo—is that success as a creator online is about more than just what you know.

It’s about who you are.

And it’s about having the courage to share both—your expertise and your humanity.

It got me thinking that I am still holding myself back. That the voice inside of me that speaks limiting beliefs still has too strong a grasp on my psyche. And that I need to think bigger about my mission and vision for my personal brand and business.

On the flight home, I spent time digesting everything I’d heard and mindmelding with ChatGPT about how I was going to parlay those learnings into action.

More to come on that as it develops.

The ROI on this event was ridiculous (my cab rides to and from the airport cost more than the ticket) and I feel like I’m thinking so much more clearly and enthusiastically about the value I have to offer on a broader level. Stay tuned…