Rosie Sherry

Friends don’t let their friends start a newsletter on Substack.

Not me! Or you!

Very cool to see this 👏

Thanks Jonathan, @grimalkina.bsky.social I geek out on community x research, come to Rosieland :)

From this day forth I will refer to bad actors within community as dingdongs

We’ve been building ‘meetup’ within the MoTaverse.

And it’s aaaahhh-mazing.

And MoTivating.

Highly recommend!

Added 🤝

In the age of AI it makes sense to double down on community. You will need it.

In modern community, it’s not just about making friends, it’s also about participating to benefit from the wider network effect.

People will come to save you, but they have to know that you exist.

Don’t be shy.

Join the Rosieland Slack ℹ️ It's free to join, login required to access the link.

I opened up my Rosieland Slack for free, I'm in the mood to hang out with all good community people.

Join here (free sign-up required added as a layer of care)

rosie.land/slack/

Innovation isn't always about brand new ideas.

Sometimes it's about combining things into one more efficient system.

In some senses, my community work is nothing new.

In other ways, it's wow, this is beautiful and amazing...why is no one else doing this?

Screenshot of Product Hunt launch page for MoT

2026 is a good year to do a Product Hunt launch of the MoTaverse.

Would you believe that I've never launched my own thing there? Kinda funny, considering all the things of helping support so many other launches for other indie hackers and startups.

www.producthunt.com/products/min...

Selfie of smiley Rosie in 2016 and 2026.

Happy Sunday everyone.

I thought I’d jump on the trend.

Here’s my 37 and 47 year old versions of myself.

Doing my best to stay positive in this crazy world!

🫠

I do about 30-40 at a time with the heaviest rope.

Weighted jump ropes need to come with a warning.

I dusted mine off.

Did 404 jumps, not all in one go, more what I could manage whilst my girls played at the park.

I now can’t walk, sit or move my arms. 🤪

Got my Reckless Mother socks.

Starting the year as I mean to go on. 🌊

With more recent autistic burnout for myself, it has also been a case of protecting myself.

I simply have less capacity for so many things in life.

Doing things differently is sometimes simply a way of surviving too.

Each Christmas is different.

I have a strong dislike for the commercialism around it.

The whole lying to kids about Santa seriously winds me up the wrong way.

It doesn’t mean we don’t play along at times, but when we do, it’s honest, opt in, with clear communication and with a goal for calm.

But also when my teen boy didn’t open a present from his grandma, there was no shame or pressure from us. I also shared my dislike for presents with him, to help his understanding.

He’ll do it in his own time.

I remember growing up and hating receiving presents.

It turns out to be somewhat of a neurodiversity thing.

Helping my kids choose what they want helps. It reduces the pressure and awkwardness that they may feel.

I basically said yes to it all.

And it’s fine.

They are happy.

No tears.

No meltdowns.

They are super content and grateful.

I am happy too. No stress. No pretense.

They also love presents, but we’ve also never done Santa.

They had a list and they looked over my shoulders as I ordered them.

They wanted to pack each other presents.

They wanted to open some of them early.

With monotropism, it’s basically all they could think about.

My girls love to play along and experience things.

They like the idea of Christmas trees and decorations, but in reality aren’t fussed about having it in our house.

Our compromise this year was to drive around our local area to see local lights. They loved it.

I didn’t really know about autism or ADHD back then, most people didn’t tbf.

I’d describe more as a journey of discovery and life design.

However with neurodiversity knowledge we’ve leaned into it more.

With 5 kids, two now being adults it’s a case of adapting to each of them.

It’s been 12 years or so since we stopped doing Christmas.

No decorations. No family or social pressure.

It’s mostly been replaced with quiet, calm and an intentional meal together.

These days I might call it as part of my unmasking journey, I’ve never liked the term though.

Cuddles ftw.

Autism feels like a life long series of adaptations that then end up as the new reality.

Unlikable women refuse to give in to the temptation of pressure to be someone they are not.

They are instead, themselves.

They accept the consequences of their choices.

And those consequences become stories worth reading.

— Roxane Gay

The billion dollar community engine This is what the future of sustainable, very profitable and successful (membership) communities looks like

I've never been so motivated about the work I'm doing.

Learn more: rosie.land/posts/the-bi...

It might mean a seven, eight or nine digit potential exit, even so, that's way better than most communities are performing today. So many have dwindled into nothing-ness.

No hype here, this a real pathway and one that completely aligns with all of my. community work over the past few years.

There's a billion dollar community engine that I believe almost any community business could adopt.

Sure, the outcome may not be a billion dollars, but I do believe it's a viable path for many more successful communities to arise over the coming years.