Strands of Genius: School of Stolen Genius -New, Improved, 50% Discount Codes Available until Tomorrow!
plus our thoughts on: why the 90s rocked, when you get tricked into working at a fake agency, and the Bold Woman Brands conference tomorrow and Thursday
WRITING FROM | Mexico City, MX
WORKING ON | defining principles of creative effectiveness & brand scorecards
LOOKING AHEAD
Feb 5-26 | Mexico City, Mexico
Feb 26-March 7 | Isla Mujeres, Mexico
March 7-10 | Isla Holbox, Mexico
March 10-12 | TBD: Holbox or Cancun, Mexico
March 12-17 | Nashville, TN
March 17-21 | Atlanta, GA
:: WHAT’S NEW & WEEKLY GRATITUDE ::
Rosie’s sisters have officially adopted the nomad title, too! Her middle sister Lillian road tripped across the country with her family last year, and they’ve been in various parts of Mexico since January. Her youngest sister, Marion (and Marion’s husband, Nate) quit their jobs in December (with their last days of work at the start of February) to take an extended sabbatical. They’re heading to Southeast Asia beginning March 1st, but we all met up in Mexico City for some family hangs, first. It’s been fun sharing a city we love with people we love, and while we’ve had quite a bit of work on, we’ve also managed to find time for some touristy activities — like hot air ballooning!!
This week, we’re especially thankful for:
pyramids & hot air balloons, sibling dates, Hanky Panky, PlantAsia, Lillian& Jason& Simon& Porter& Vera, Marion&Nate, Cait&Casey&Brooke&Laura, Bold Woman Brands, Squarespace & Memberspace, FINALLY getting off the dreaded Podia platform, Taqueria El Califa, (costras! tacos al pastor!), & YOU.
:: WHAT WE’RE THINKING ABOUT: OUR NEW AND IMPROVED SCHOOL OF STOLEN GENIUS ::
We’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming next week — but until then, we’re putting the new and improved SOSG front and center. The coupon codes below are only valid through today; They expire at midnight ET when the calendar turns to February 23rd.
We are beyond thrilled with out it turned out. With the platform we were using previously (we can definitely recommend *against* using Podia, lol), it was difficult to navigate and to access the content. With our brand new Squarespace site, members have a number of ways to access content.
You can pick a category (strategy, creativity & innovation, research reports, organization & collaboration, leadership & personal development), hit the browse button to see the latest from each category, or search for the content you’re looking for. We’ve also added a “request and suggest” form because we want the community to help shape the content we share and the speakers we get for our monthly meetups.
The School of Stolen Genius (SOSG) has not been a huge money-maker for us (yet!) but that’s because we keep investing what we make back into making it better. We’re still learning and growing ourselves, and we plan on continuing to invest in the platform with our time, energy and money. We’re also hoping to take SOSG offline this year, with a retreat happening sometime this fall. We’re trying not to get ahead of ourselves because: ahem, COVID, but we’re excited about all that’s in the works.
We’ve got two discount codes to offer you, with hopes of enticing you to join us:
LETSPLAY will give you 50% off for your first three months of membership. That means you’ll be billed $12.50 for the first three months, before your subscription will change to our regular price of $25.
Or, if you’re ready to commit to a year up front, YEAROFAWESOME will give you 50% off a full year of membership — meaning you’ll pay a fee of $150 for the full year instead of $300.
These coupon codes are only valid until Midnight! Our next live community meetup will happen Friday, February 25th, where we’ll trade tips and tricks about creating Zoom workshops that don’t suck.
And if you work for a larger company, we think you should be able to expense this — We’ve even drafted a letter to help you do so.
Enroll and find more information » http://schoolofstolengeni.us
S C H O O L O F S T O L E N G E N I U S >> H I G H L I G H T S
// Zoom Workshops: Trading Tips & Tricks | Community Meet Up
Friday, February 25th at 12:00 PM EDT // 5:00 PM GMT
https://www.schoolofstolengeni.us
:: THE LINKS ::
TRICKED INTO WORKING FOR A FAKE AGENCY
A charlatan who falsely claimed to have been a ‘creative lead’ at Nike, convinced a number of young people to work for free for 6 months for a fake agency that never had any clients or made any money, by being charming and leading into hustle culture toxicity. This is a crazy, cautionary, tale, about exploiting online perceptions and people’s desperation. “The company had not been "shipping products and experiences locally and globally for 10 years" as it had claimed. In fact, Ali Ayad only registered Madbird with Companies House on the same day he interviewed Chris Doocey to be a sales manager - 23 September 2020.” (BBC News)
WHY THE 90s ROCKED
If anyone has ever defined a generation, Douglas Coupland has a decent claim since he wrote Generation X, after which said generation was named. This elegiac piece celebrating the 90s (the decade Faris mostly grew up in, turning 13 in 1991 and leaving university in ‘99) considers the two distinct cultural waves - the ‘dark’ and ‘happy’ 90s - why Friends is so popular today, and what it means to lose innocence as a society. “In a century people are going to look back on right now as a sort of magic era, a charmed time of peace and prosperity and freedom from fear, as something that can never happen again, no matter how much they wish it would”. (UnHerd)
IGNITE YOUR BRAND SPIRIT :: OUT OF OFFICE WITH ROSIE YAKOB WEDS 23rd
This week, Rosie will be joining our friends at Bold Woman Brands for an interactive and lively Q&A about defying workplace norms, making the world her office, and how to create a company and lifestyle perfectly suited for one another. This will be a part of an epic two day event, and with the coupon code FIREITUP you’re eligible for a 50% discount. (Bold Woman Brands/Eventbrite)
Strands of Genius is currently read by 13,000 subscribers. Support us by sponsoring an issue, becoming a member of The School of Stolen Genius, or encouraging friends or colleagues to subscribe.
:: AND NOW… A FEW HOT AIR BALLOONS ::
If we can ever be of help to you, even outside of a formal engagement, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
rockON,
faris & rosie & ashley | your friends over at geniussteals.co
@faris is always tweeting
@rosieyakob hangs out on instagram
@ashley also writes for deaf, tattooed & employed
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It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.
Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. Our Director of Operations is nomadic like us, our accounting team is based out of Washington, our company is registered in Tennessee, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.
Hit reply and let’s talk about how we might be able to work together :)