Something unexpected happened recently that reconnected me to a version of myself I had almost forgotten. In this episode, I share how a conversation with Aarron and Eli from the Design Better podcast led me back to my creative roots. I share my favorite insights from their interview with CreativeMornings founder Tina Roth Eisenberg, and her philosophy on community growth. I break down a principle I keep coming back to with clients right now: community is not a community until it self-organizes. I talk about why every client I work with needs an in-person strategy, why hyperlocal is the future of community, and how you can design your member experience to create serendipity, ownership, and the conditions for people to genuinely co-create alongside you.

Links to all the things:

• Tina Roth Eisenberg on the Design Better podcast
• Find your local CreativeMornings chapter
• Check out Ellen's recap of her Flowermore Philly meetup

Interested in working with my team? Book a discovery call here

Let's be friends:

• Connect with Becky on Instagram or LinkedIn
• Read the newsletter at beckypierson.com
• Learn more about Affinity Collective

Circle just dropped their biggest product launch of the year, and I have thoughts. In this episode, I'm breaking down Circle's Eclipse launch, what the new features actually mean for community builders and admins, and where I think you should pump the brakes. I'm genuinely excited about what Circle AI could do to speed up execution and free up creative bandwidth — but I also want to be real with you about the risk of outsourcing your strategy to AI. The value in your community comes from understanding your people, and no tool changes that. I'm also sharing my takes on Circle Discover, Circle Studios, updated Courses, and the new Inbox feature.

• Checkout the keynote & join the waitlist here for Circle Eclipse features!
• Past episode: Should you add AI Agents to your community?

P.S. we build membership strategies & build them on Circle for you. If you're interested (even a little bit!) book a discovery call here

Let's be friends:

• Connect with Becky on Instagram or LinkedIn
• Read the newsletter at beckypierson.com
• Learn more about Affinity Collective

I'm starting a new series highlighting membership features I see working out in the wild, and this first one comes from my client Molly Balint of the Soft Business Club. She experimented with something called a "member week," a dedicated week of events tied to a new member launch, and the results were impressive. In this episode I break down how she structured it, why it works as both an onboarding tool and a re-engagement strategy for existing members, and how you can adapt the concept for your own membership. If you've been looking for a way to build culture, celebrate your members, and create a meaningful pattern break from your regular programming, this one is worth a listen.

Follow Molly on Instagram

Interested in working with my team? Book a discovery call here

Let's be friends:

• Connect with Becky on Instagram or LinkedIn
• Read the newsletter at beckypierson.com
• Learn more about Affinity Collective

Everybody is talking about Jessi Jean’s $1.2 million launch, but most people are talking about the marketing. I want to talk about the $297 product that 3k people bought in ONE week. In this episode, I break down why her 40-Day Yap Challenge resonated so deeply, what her launch reveals about product-market fit in 2026, and why community-driven experiences are outperforming traditional online courses. We’ll explore what happens when you build trust with an audience, create experiences people want to participate in together, and stop relying on complicated funnels to drive results. If you're building a membership, course, community, or digital product, there are some important signals worth paying attention to right now.

Interested in working with my team? Book a free discovery call here

Links:

• Jessie Jean's Instagram: Jessie Jean Home
• Jess Shira's marketing carousel and launch analysis

Let's be friends:

• Connect with Becky on Instagram or LinkedIn
• Read the newsletter at beckypierson.com
• Learn more about Affinity Collective

Most alumni communities fail because they remove all structure after the program ends. In this episode, I break down why engagement drops off after a cohort experience, how we’ve been designing a highly engaged alumni community for Beyond Connections, and why more content is not the answer. I share the lightweight programming, connection rituals, and community experiences we’ve tested to maintain over 60% monthly active users in a free alumni community and how this approach creates a huge opportunity for retention, referrals, and increasing customer lifetime value.

Interested in working with my team? Book a discovery call here

Let's be friends:

• Connect with Becky on Instagram or LinkedIn
• Read the newsletter at beckypierson.com
• Learn more about Affinity Collective

People love to talk about “community culture” like it’s something magical that just happens naturally when you attract the right people. But culture is designed.

In this episode, I’m breaking down why the best communities are intentionally facilitated, how clear expectations actually increase engagement, and why psychological safety often comes from structure, not the absence of rules. I also share examples from client communities, mastermind retreats, and my own experience in architecture and product design that completely shaped how I think about designing interactions inside memberships.

If your community feels quiet, surface-level, or inconsistent, this episode will help you rethink what’s actually driving member behavior and connection.

Interested in working with my team? Book a discovery call here

Let's be friends:

• Connect with Becky on Instagram or LinkedIn
• Read the newsletter at beckypierson.com
• Learn more about Affinity Collective

One of the biggest challenges with scaling a membership is enrollment. When doors are always open, people assume they can always join later… which usually means they never join at all.

In this episode, I’m breaking down how to create real urgency inside a membership model without relying on fake scarcity, countdown timers, or constant discounting. I share examples from clients and creators like Jay Clouse and Dreamers & Doers to show how kickoff dates, live programming, challenges, masterminds, and in-person events can naturally drive enrollment.

I also talk about why your programming calendar should shape your marketing strategy, and why the best urgency comes from designing experiences people genuinely do not want to miss.

Links:

• How to Create Organic Word-Of-Mouth Marketing
• Interested in working with my team? Book a free discovery call here

Let's be friends:

• Connect with Becky on Instagram or LinkedIn
• Read the newsletter at beckypierson.com
• Learn more about Affinity Collective

I’ve been seeing more and more creators experimenting with AI agents inside their memberships and communities, and I finally have enough thoughts to share my perspective. In this episode, I break down where I think AI can actually improve the member experience… and where I think it completely misses the point of community. I talk about why I’m skeptical of “AI clones” of creators, what actually makes memberships sticky in 2026, and the operational use cases for AI that I’m genuinely excited about. If you’re thinking about adding AI into your community experience, this episode will help you think more critically about the tradeoffs.

Interested in working with my team? Book a discovery call here

Let's be friends:

• Connect with Becky on Instagram or LinkedIn
• Read the newsletter at beckypierson.com
• Learn more about Affinity Collective