Strands of Genius: The *NEW & IMPROVED* School of Stolen Genius
plus, some links about: managing people, unique baby names, and igniting your brand spirit
WRITING FROM | Mexico City, MX
WORKING ON | defining principles of creative effectiveness, scopes, relaunching SoSG
LOOKING AHEAD
Jan 26-Feb 5 | Isla Mujeres, Mexico
Feb 5-26 | Mexico City, Mexico
Feb 26-March 7 | Isla Mujeres, Mexico
March 7-10 | Isla Holbox, Mexico
March 10-16 | TBD: Holbox or Cancun, Mexico
March 16-20 | TBD: Atlanta, GA
:: WHAT’S NEW & WEEKLY GRATITUDE ::
WE DID IT!!! We are so incredibly excited to share our new and improved School of Stolen Genius! Yesterday we initiated all our member migration to the new platform, and today it’s ready for your eyes.
This week, we’re especially thankful for:
Cait&Casye&Brooke&Laura, Bold Woman Brands, Squarespace & Memberspace, FINALLY getting off the dreaded Podia platform, Gwenyth & Kelsey, Agua y Sal, the Intercontinental Hotel in CDMX, long walks, phone dates, female friendships, Papermate Flairs & YOU.
:: WHAT WE’RE THINKING ABOUT: OUR NEW AND IMPROVED SCHOOL OF STOLEN GENIUS ::
This week we’re switching it up — Links are a little lower in the email, because today we’re showing off the brand new School of Stolen Genius!
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 for a week. 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
:: THE LINKS ::
MANAGING PEOPLE
It’s no wonder that has nearly 65,000 views — This post from Andreas Klinger (who was a part of the founding team/CTO of ProductHunt) has put together a long list of his learnings managing people. While he wrote the article for managers of small teams and startups, there’s plenty of gold in there. We found ourselves nodding along as we read — and jotting down some notes of our own. This is one to bookmark for sure. (Andreas Klinger)
THE AGE OF THE UNIQUE BABY NAMES
It used to be that parents would pick common names so that their kids would fit in, but these days parents tend to do the opposite. In 1880, 32% of kids were named one of the 10 most popular names. But in 2020, it had fallen to only 7%. It was only in the 1960s that parents started looking at children’s names as an opportunity for novelty/distinctiveness. There were some cultural changes around this time, but Cleveland Evans, a professor and expert on names (how cool?!) said that in part we have trend reports to blame. In the 1960s, baby naming trends were published. By the 1990s, the Social Security Administration began posting popular names on their website. As this information became more widely available, people felt pressure to select a name that was’t on those lists. More generally though, distinctiveness today is considered a virtue - and that wasn’t always the case. (The Atlantic)
IGNITE YOUR BRAND SPIRIT :: OUT OF OFFICE WITH ROSIE YAKOB
Next week, I’ll 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… SKULLS & ART ::
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 :)