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Episode Description
In this episode of Entrepreneur in Residence, hosts Ilya Tabakh and Terrance Orr talk with Jeanine Suah, an influential community builder and entrepreneur. Jeanine shares her unique path from community-driven roles in large corporations to pioneering initiatives in the B2B space with a focus on authentic growth and impact. Her insights cover everything from building sustainable communities in business to the essential role of vulnerability in leadership. Listen in as she discusses the strategy behind community as currency, reflects on the evolving landscape for entrepreneurs in residence (XIR), and gives practical advice for founders aspiring to create meaningful, lasting impact through community.
Key Points from This Episode:
[00:00:00] Opening thoughts on rethinking B2B growth through authentic relationships.
[00:00:59] Ilya introduces EIR Live and its focus on entrepreneurial journeys.
[00:02:05] Jeanine’s background in community-led growth and her transition to a founder role.
[00:04:08] Jeanine’s first exposure to tech and community at Station House coworking space.
[00:07:05] The impact of grassroots initiatives like "1 Million Cups" in community building.
[00:08:17] Jeanine’s entrepreneurial path from the Doyenne Company to launching Think Global.
[00:09:00] Navigating the challenges of COVID-19 and its effects on physical community spaces.
[00:10:18] The motivation behind founding Find and addressing founder funding challenges.
[00:13:00] Transition to XIR roles and insights into building communities for brands like Brex.
[00:18:10] Building a brand presence and the value of digital visibility in community building.
[00:21:20] Defining the XIR role and explaining it to non-tech stakeholders.
[00:24:00] How content creation supports community and business growth.
[00:27:08] Importance of clarity in B2B communication and simplifying complex ideas.
[00:32:15] Jeanine reflects on the power of vulnerability in her personal and professional life.
[00:38:25] Embracing challenges as essential for growth in entrepreneurship.
[00:40:40] Three steps to building a community-led business: purpose, product, and authenticity.
[00:44:05] Case studies of successful community-focused companies, including Beehive.
[00:51:15] Jeanine's new LinkedIn show "About Community" and goals for community content.
[00:55:35] How LinkedIn's content strategy is evolving in community engagement.
[01:02:20] Book recommendation: The Courage to Be Disliked and its impact on Jeanine’s outlook.
[01:06:40] Reflections on her dream XIR role—building out XIR programs at future companies.
[01:07:58] Terrance shares his excitement about the episode, emphasizing Jeanine's impact in defining community as currency and the leadership value of vulnerability.
[01:08:37] Ilya and Terrance discuss how Jeanine’s advice on intentionality and authenticity offers a blueprint for building meaningful business relationships.
[01:09:12] Terrance highlights the importance of embracing vulnerability and pushing comfort zones for personal and professional growth.
[01:09:50] Ilya contemplates the difference between community and ecosystem, reflecting on how Jeanine’s precision in defining terms can influence EIR Live’s own community-building efforts.
[01:10:30] Both hosts express anticipation for the audience's reaction and the lasting value of Jeanine's insights.
Links:
- Jeanine Suah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeaninesuah
- The Courage To Be Disliked: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43306206-the-courage-to-be-disliked
- Terrance Orr on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terranceorr/
- Ilya Tabakh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilyatabakh/
- (00:00) - Rethinking B2B Growth Clip
- (00:59) - Welcome to EIR Live
- (02:05) - Jeanine's Journey Begins
- (04:08) - Tech Meets Community
- (07:05) - Grassroots Impact
- (08:17) - From Doyenne to Think Global
- (09:00) - Pivoting Through COVID
- (10:18) - The Find Foundation
- (13:00) - The Brex XIR Experience
- (18:10) - Digital Brand Building
- (21:20) - Defining XIR
- (24:00) - Content as Connection
- (27:08) - Simplifying B2B
- (32:15) - Power of Vulnerability
- (38:25) - Embracing Challenges
- (40:40) - Community Building 101
- (44:05) - Success Stories
- (51:15) - About Community Show
- (55:35) - LinkedIn Evolution
- (02:20) - Courage to Be Different
- (06:40) - Dream XIR Role
- (07:58) - Impact & Currency
- (08:37) - Blueprint for Success
- (09:12) - Pushing Boundaries
- (09:50) - Community vs Ecosystem
- (10:30) - Final Reflections with your Hosts
Creators & Guests
Host
Host
Guest
Jeanine Suah
Jeanine Suah is a community-building expert and former XIR at Brex who transforms B2B relationships into sustainable growth channels. With a background in linguistics and deep expertise in authentic connection, she's built numerous successful communities and developed an eight-figure pipeline through community-led growth. Now, as the host of "About Community" and an active investor, Jeanine is focused on empowering B2B companies to leverage community as a legitimate growth strategy while creating opportunities for diverse voices in tech.
What is EIR Live?
EIR Live brings you invaluable lessons straight from Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIRs) who have been in the trenches. Hosted by seasoned EIRs Terrance Orr and Ilya Tabakh, each episode offers actionable insights and real-world strategies as guests share their personal journeys, successes, and hard-earned lessons. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur in residence, venture builder, or innovation leader, you'll gain practical knowledge from those actively shaping industries. Tune in to learn directly from the experts and empower your own entrepreneurial journey.
Think differently about how we've been doing this thing this whole time. Take it back to the basics. Think about reciprocal value. It's literally, how can I help you and how can you help me? And you can literally, in the B 2 B space, use that and leverage that as a legitimate channel for growth built and based on authentic relationships, genuine connection, and that lasts longer than any type of hockey stick growth.
Ilya Tabakh:Welcome to EIR Live, where we dive into the lives and lessons of lessons of entrepreneurs in residence. I'm Ilya Tabakh, together with my co host, Terrance Orr, ready to bring you closer to the heartbeat of the innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. Every episode, we explore the real stories behind the ideas, successes, setbacks, and everything in between. For everyone from aspiring EIRs to seasoned pros, EIR Live is your gateway to the depth of the entrepreneurial journey and bringing innovative insights into the broader world. Check out the full details in the episode description.
Ilya Tabakh:Subscribe to stay updated, and join us as we uncover what it takes to transform visions into ventures. Welcome aboard. Let's grow together.
Terrance Orr:Alright, everyone. I'm very, very excited for today's episode with Jeanine Suah, not to be confused with anything else, to be clear. She is the master of community building, community community led growth, and helping people build influence around that. Not only that, she's also a serial entrepreneur, but me giving Jeanine's background wouldn't give it any justice. So, Jeanine, I'm gonna ask you to introduce yourself to the audience, to our guests.
Terrance Orr:Tell them a little bit more about your background, and we're gonna dive straight in because I'm ready to get to this conversation Let's
Jeanine Suah:do it. Let's do it. So my name is Jeanine. In a nutshell, I'm a goal giving entrepreneur who started out as a founder. Now I currently invest, had some really fun community led growth roles along the way at multibillion dollar companies.
Jeanine Suah:And, ultimately, my goal in life is to just forge better connections, more meaningful connections in market, and help b to b companies grow.
Terrance Orr:Love it. See how clear and concise this is? She's like, let's get to it. I'm I'm I'm ready to get to it. Like, let's let's dive in a little bit.
Terrance Orr:Right? So, you know, on the podcast, we love to dive straight into the entrepreneurial journeys of innovators, entrepreneurs, and investors. Right? All of which you've played, you know, roles in and still playing a role in today and and driving the ecosystem. Can you walk us through your entrepreneurial journey?
Terrance Orr:Right? We wanna hear the war wounds. We wanna hear the successful things and how that led to the things that you're doing now. And we'll we'll we'll bridge you there. Can you can you start us off there?
Jeanine Suah:So let's take it back to grad school. So did my master's program in applied linguistics, lived in Brazil for a couple years, and that understanding of just community. If ever you've spent time with Brazilians or Caribbeans, my family's Jamaican, It's all community. Everybody's taking care of everybody. It's just this idea that you contribute to the greater whole.
Jeanine Suah:And so after grad school, you know, I was like, okay. What is something that I could do next? And so while I was in grad school, I worked at a company called Eddie V's where I was their lead hostess and marketing assistant and was responsible for helping them execute on these really high end events. And so my manager from Eddie Vease basically called me one day, and he's like, look, I'm launching this huge co working space. It's 30,000 square feet, 5 different floors.
Jeanine Suah:Do you wanna help me run the events program? And so just in being in the space, I learned a lot about tech. I learned a lot about community as it relates to different ecosystems and then started building out my own communities because I saw a huge gap in the market. I was like, okay. This is cool, but, like, nobody looks like me.
Jeanine Suah:And, essentially, what happened was that I I dove deeper into the problem and found a solution which ended up being, then the Doyen company, which was a platform to help badass women grow, connect, learn how to build their businesses. And eventually, we turned that into a coworking space, which was then Think Global. So that's kind of like the entrepreneurial journey. There's obviously more points, but, you know, gotta keep it cute.
Ilya Tabakh:You know what's awesome? Maybe jumping in real quick. Tech folks and community, it it's sort of, an interesting oil and water situation from from kind of my experience sometimes. I'd love to sort of get you to spend, you know, a beat or two just telling us what that was like, you know, because the word community is used a lot. And in even your point about, you know, what community looks like in Brazil versus what community might look like in the Midwest and the US or in the South or whatever.
Ilya Tabakh:Right? These are, you know, same word, different experience. I would love to kinda have you talk about what what you found out and maybe what you learned in that experience because, you know, having kind of a technical background and spending a long time in engineering school, you know, community looked different there than than some other places. So I'm just curious, kinda how you experienced that.
Jeanine Suah:So being in this co working space, which was called Station House, there was essentially, like, this ecosystem built around it. So it was in downtown St. Pete 2015, like, all these different people are coming in. And then from a higher level community standpoint, you have community development happening and redevelopment from the the city perspective and from, the municipality perspective. So you have all these different people from all these different backgrounds, meaning professional backgrounds moving to the city because the economic development is already working on, like, business attraction.
Jeanine Suah:So my first exposure for in in a co working space like that was all these different people who had been in Silicon Valley, who had been in New York, who had been just building in this really fancy, cute, chic building using their office spaces to collaborate and grow their business on a on a global scale. And so, essentially, there were these little micro communities within the entire co working space, and it was really cool to see. But, again, given that a lot of these people came from the valley and came from New York and they were like, quote, unquote, like, tech bros, I didn't see a lot of people of color nor did I see a lot of women. And so that was my first experience of like, okay. What is this startup community thing?
Jeanine Suah:And it was also really cool because you also had influence from the city who hosted small events like 1,000,000 cups. So it was just a really cool fusion amongst several different communities coming essentially for the all the the same reason.
Ilya Tabakh:Yeah. Just a little fun side story. I was in the room in early days of Million Cups in Kansas City, when I got started at the Kauffman Foundation. So it was really interesting to sort of see that spread to more than a 100 cities, around the world and sort of kinda see what what that does for a spot, but also kinda what it could do for other places, you know, because I'd I'd traveled to Denver and some other folk places as well and kinda visited their 1,000,000 cups, and it's just really interesting to see, you know, how these things develop. But, you know, sort of the overlap of community plus kinda some of those networks, I think we'll we'll probably jump into that theme, but it's a, you know, tiny world when you get into, sorta EIR networks and kinda how these things work together.
Ilya Tabakh:So, funny to hear, or I guess awesome to hear about 1,000,000 Cubs.
Terrance Orr:I'm gonna build on this because, Ilya, you were a scholar in residence. You were in you you were in residence, you know, technically, right, with with Kaufman, and that exposed you to to a bunch. And I wanna start to sort of bridge, you know, Jeanine's background into sort of her entrepreneurial phase, how she got started. But she loves some things out people, and I'm not gonna let her get away with that. So so, you know, talk to me about how the Doy Yang company, right, transformed into later on what where I met you during that era of the find app.
Terrance Orr:Right? And then we'll bridge into, you know, the XIR thing. So talk to more talk talk to us more
Jeanine Suah:about that. So here's the story. So the doyen became a pop up concept where we leverage we we meaning my ex business partner and I, we leveraged underutilized spaces as like a makeshift co working space. And so the whole point was how can we validate this business model of community and monetize this community in order to create a sustainable business? So within 3 months, we grew to 300 members, so we knew that, okay, this is definitely demand.
Jeanine Suah:And so what we then decided to do was, like, alright. We've got this amazing traction. We've also been going and doing some internal market research, and we knew that in order to grow and scale at the level that we wanted to, we needed to go to a bigger city. And this was in the era of WeWork y'all when WeWork was just, like, had just received not just received, but, like, pre s one, but post investment from SoftBank where they were just popping up, growing at an insane rate. And so we knew that, like, okay.
Jeanine Suah:To have kind of these roots in the ground, a lot of times you need a physical space. And so we walked our happy behinds to Miami, not walk, but drove probably every week, slept on some couches, but drove back and forth every week to Miami and eventually launched Think Global in February of 2020. We all know what happened in March. And so, essentially, it was one of the hardest experiences of my life. During that process, I was also going through a divorce, and then we eventually had to close the business due to COVID because we just it there was no sustainable way to stay open.
Jeanine Suah:And so on the journey to think global, I had met 100 and 100 of founders, was providing 100 of resources for founders, and we essentially created this, like, digital conference called the Black Female Founder Conference. Then we had speakers from JPMorgan, from Meta, from, from a couple local agencies in Miami, and essentially the gap that I saw and after collecting data, it was that 86% of our founders felt that they had difficulty with fundraising. And so as we were kind of closing out the business just because, of course, we had to figure out a more sustainable route to monetization, I wanted to go into tech because I love tech and I love investing. And then my business partner went into another space, and that's kind of how find was founded. It was like, okay.
Jeanine Suah:I have all this data. I know that this is a problem when it comes to fundraising, when it comes to founders even understanding how to get access to resources. Let me create a solution for them that made it a bit more fun, exciting to be able to access that information in the click of a button.
Terrance Orr:Incredible. And and today, there are some examples of things like find in in the marketplace right now. So timing means everything, and it'll teach you that on your entrepreneurial journey. For sure.
Jeanine Suah:Everything. I'm always ahead of the game, and that that's not a flex. Actually, it is a flex, but it also creates some I'm a very forward thinker, so I think 10 years into the future. But also what that means is that the market doesn't always adapt and understand what you're doing. And so the the platforms that you're talking about today are TikTok for business or what LinkedIn is now doing with video, but essentially that the whole thing was like, how can I create a combination between Netflix and Quibi to create these bite sized video based content pieces that you don't have to watch the full thing like YouTube because it's not based on, you know, duration watched?
Jeanine Suah:It's literally based on, okay, I need to get the answer to how what is fundraising? What is crowdfunding? And I could query and find a video that explains to me quickly what is crowdfunding.
Ilya Tabakh:I just wanna jump in, point out a couple things. First of all, I I agree aggressively almost that, you know, I I tend to sail a little bit ahead of, the current epoch also. What's fun is these things come around, and so building sort of that muscle memory and and the kind of recognition of kinda what happened before, what was the timing, what was the technology, what was all these things. When it comes back, you have a very different, you know, kinda technique, approach, things that you're looking for. So, you know, it's exciting for me, like, to say that, you know, you saw timing's everything.
Ilya Tabakh:Because the timing's gonna come back, and I think in many cases for, kinda, platforms, a lot of that's playing out today. So I'm excited to see kinda what you do with that muscle memory. I think the other thing is just when I did the Kaufman Global Scholar experience thing, I really dug into kinda communities and got to spend a little bit of time in some interesting ones and sort of sit next to folks that, you know, had been involved in the Cambridge ecosystem and sort of in in the valley and things like that and kinda listening to them talk about what were the foundational companies, who rolled out of that, how the networks work, that kinda thing. I'm excited to sort of hear about, you know, how your experience went and then how you have an opportunity to connect with some other folks in in other ecosystems. Right?
Ilya Tabakh:Because I did this in the in the Midwest in the early 20 tens where a lot of the Kansas City, Saint Louis, you know, kinda Midwestern cities were kinda wrapping their head around what what is community, and what role does the city play, and what role does tech companies play. And different cities had, you know, kinda different, pedigrees of core technologies and things like that. So it's really interesting to kinda have those community builders and and folks, like, sit next to each other and talk about what's the same, what's different, what can they learn from each other. And there's a lot of, like, good insight and translation that I've seen kinda happen in those conversations. And I, you know, I actually think in in the Midwest, there's less of that exchange today than there was in kind of the 20 tens.
Ilya Tabakh:It seems to come in kind of cycles, but I think that conversation is a really powerful thing. So I just wanted to call a couple of those things out because it it really kinda resonated with me because they kinda flash back to me coming out of academia into sort of more of the entrepreneurial world.
Jeanine Suah:Same. And we're even seeing it now to your point about, like, being 10 years ahead. Back then, my investors didn't fully understand community. And granted, the business model was crap. Like, they didn't they're not gonna like, VCs are not gonna invest in a in a physical space unless you're a WeWork and you have, like, the ability to scale at rapid pace.
Jeanine Suah:But, again, we all know how that went. But I think that we're seeing it now with community, community led growth, like b to b community. It's now becoming this, like, buzzword that everybody's jumping on, and I'm only like, a lot of my colleagues are are, you know, amongst ourselves. We're like, yeah, dude. We've only been telling you this for, like, the last decade.
Jeanine Suah:But at the same time, we're humbled because finally, the market understands what is truly happening and how it is a legitimate business growth tool. So I hear you on that 1000%.
Ilya Tabakh:Something that that kinda surprised me in in in that world is, you know, Terrance and I had both spent a little bit of time in sports. And so in in the place where, sort of attention becomes and community becomes a currency, It was interesting to see, kind of, the Andreessen Horowitz folks back a couple influencers several years ago and, sort of, live sports and kind of those types of, events getting a different role in the attention ecosystem. So I think there are a couple of, like, little nuggets of, you know, how people are changing their thinking around, you know, attention, connection, place, a couple of these different things. And I think, you know, I saw it play out in the kind of sports and all the things that happen around sports ecosystem. You know, Terrance has probably more background in it than I do, but just a couple couple trends that may be in parallel with some of the things you're talking about.
Terrance Orr:No. 100%. And, you know, let's talk about community as currency, you know, on on on on that thread. Let's talk about community as currency and how, you know, Jeanine, the first time you went to go create currency for a fast growing company like Brex as an XIR. Talk to us about, 1, it's a layered question.
Terrance Orr:When you first heard about the role as on as being in residence, like, what was your first exposure to that? And 2, what led to the opportunity at Brex, and what did you do there? Give us that story.
Jeanine Suah:Honestly, it's one of the best stories I have in my life, and I'll lay it up by saying, like, the fact that I didn't fully know what the position was, but based on the description, I was all in, was just the most beautiful serendipitous moment that I personally have experienced today in my professional life because it it set the it set the the tone for everything moving forward. So here's what happened, y'all. Okay. So as I was building find, I was also building my own personal community and, you know, I had been doing crazy things in Miami ecosystem just like trying to become the go to person that founders sought whenever they came to Miami. That was, like, my goal as we were transitioning out of Think Global, out of Find.
Jeanine Suah:So what that meant was, how do I learn how to scale myself? And it was through video. And so, of course, if you haven't noticed by now, I kinda have, like, ADHD slash crazy energy. And so I was able to bottle up all that energy into video and then make myself visible and have people start to talk about it within rooms that I had never even been in. And so what that did was it laid the foundation for me to then get connected to multiple people.
Jeanine Suah:And one of the people that I got connected to along the way was Shai Goldman. I don't even remember how I found Shai, but I remember reading something about him having gone to Brazil, and I was like, oh, yeah. I need to follow this guy. So I ended up following him. For those of you who don't know Shai Goldman, by the way, he's one of the dopest people I've ever met in my life, and he is one of the oldest community builders in the Fintech finance space that is actually really good at what he does.
Jeanine Suah:So fast forward, Shai put out a call on social media and was like, hey. I'm coming to Miami. I'm looking for help with this. So what I did being the super connector in Miami was I just tagged a girlfriend who I thought would be a great job for the role. Boom.
Jeanine Suah:That was done. I DM DM'd him. I said, hey. This woman is at the Beacon Council. She's amazing.
Jeanine Suah:She's she knows everybody. Like, consider her. So he's like, great. Thanks. Blah blah blah.
Jeanine Suah:So then from there, Shy then, maybe 2 weeks later and at the time, I'm still building find. 2 weeks later, post the role for XIR. And I was like, XIR. I was like, what the hell is it XIR? Like, what is that?
Jeanine Suah:And so previously, as I was building, I was like, you know, you know, when you do your why statement as a founder, you're like, okay. What is it that I really want to accomplish in life? And I had laid out 3 specific things. I wanted to create content. I wanted to build community, and I wanted to become a super connector so that I could help more founders get funded.
Jeanine Suah:And the first three things that I saw on the role, the XIR role, when I clicked was, are you an ex founder? Are you a community builder? Do you like creating content? Do you wanna potentially invest? And I was like, oh my gosh.
Jeanine Suah:I just for the first time, I felt seen. I felt heard. And then, of course, I kept reading, and it was just, like, the coolest opportunity ever. And so how I then got the opportunity, because I applied randomly, and then how I got the opportunity was Shy had seen my content, and he saw the way that I was connecting with people and building genuine community and how people actually trusted me. Like, it wasn't about likes with me.
Jeanine Suah:It was about how can I empower founders with these resources to help them grow? I was always focused on the problem. And then the thing that kind of teed him up was that I started this segment called VC word of the day where we make VC shit fun. And so, again, they were the ideal videos that I foresaw happening, and this was, like, 3 years ago. And it was the TikTok content, like, making VC translating VC terms in a way that founders could understand.
Jeanine Suah:And so, you know, a month later, I had the role, and it completely changed my life from an investing standpoint, from a network standpoint, and just from an ecosystem standpoint. And it's just like something I would never trade anything for that experience ever.
Terrance Orr:Incredible. When you're talking to a friend or a colleague, how did you describe your job
Jeanine Suah:Oh my gosh.
Terrance Orr:At at Brex?
Jeanine Suah:So we actually had the funny thing is I actually had so I told you as through COVID, I was going through a divorce, and so I actually had, brunch. My parents and I had brunch with my ex parents in law because they were in town. And so he asked me, my ex father-in-law, he was like, alright, sweetheart. Well, tell me what you're working on right now because every time you explain it to me, I still don't get it. It's so it's like, I try the way that I say it is I build relationships, and I help businesses make a a a ton of money by helping to connect people to resources and people to people.
Jeanine Suah:And I hope that that's a way that they can understand, and then they're like, yeah. But I see you doing these videos, and I'm like, yeah. That's my way of building relationships with people, oh, excuse me, and attracting them to me. So that's how I try to explain it.
Ilya Tabakh:A term that comes up a lot, in sort of entrepreneur in residence at least is, this kind of role of translating. So it's it's it's sort of it sounds like your superpower and, you know, if I had to kind of looking at your background and chatting with you for a little while is, kind of communication, connecting, really thinking about how these connections actually create value, you know, kind of greater than the sum of their post parts a little bit. And I think that there's a lot of, kind of, value in in making that relevant for folks with other backgrounds. Right? With with whether it's a technical background or finance background, folks look at the world in a different way.
Ilya Tabakh:And so I I found kind of the and Terrance and I have talked a lot about on on this topic as kind of that translation role, and making things relevant. You know? And I when I when I was when we're kinda getting ready for this episode, I kinda noticed the linguistics translation background. And, you know, there's probably some interesting transfer from there as well. But that's that's one thing I found, kinda, useful and helpful when trying to explain, you know, why am I in residence and why is that useful to the residents.
Ilya Tabakh:Right? As opposed to why am I not in the wild. You know, why why would I choose this? And so it's kind of a that that's a that's a topic we've Terrance and I have dug into on a couple episodes now.
Jeanine Suah:It's incredibly like that part that you just said about making information relevant, that's where I feel a lot of people either, 1, don't fully understand how a linguistics background could even be applicable to the b to b space, and 2, where a lot of sales teams and just b to b companies get it wrong in general. Like, nobody cares if you build the fastest UI in the industry because we offer, like, features and like, nobody cares. How are you gonna make my life easier? How are you gonna save me time, energy, money? And to be able to translate that in a way that is relevant and culturally relevant because we have a million means and gifts and all these culturally relevant things going on at the same time.
Jeanine Suah:Like, that's what matters the most. And to be able to translate that, especially as an EIR or an XIR so that you can actually do the things that you need to do as it relates to the company and the market. It's one of the most important skills that you can have. Like, simplification is an under, I would say, underappreciated skill. Truly, it is.
Jeanine Suah:It is.
Terrance Orr:Now this is very interesting because if if you were I wanna ask you a question that's a little bit different from what we usually ask, which is if you were building the XIR, EIR role over at Brex, you know, what would it look like? Would it look very similar to what you were doing? How would you take Shai's sort of brainchild and take it to 2 dot o, right, to and I'm I'm just curious. Like, given all you know today, how would you how how would you have transformed that that opportunity?
Jeanine Suah:Oh my gosh. That's a phenomenal question. How I think is okay. I'll go through what Shai did right, and I'll go through the opportunities 2 years later of what I saw and part of the reason why I left Brex. So what Shai did right was at 1, he hired people who had existing communities.
Jeanine Suah:So it you didn't need to be this big power influencer. You just needed to have true influence. People who actually trust you, believe you, people who you have a real connection with because that goes way farther than, like, I'm Kylie Jenner posting this, and I hope that everyone buys because now we're seeing the business part of it is just not sustainable. Another thing that he did amazing that I would also tap into is hiring people who are just individually themselves. So looking for people who have a very unique makeup who may not be the traditional 10 years in finance roles for a fintech, and then also hiring people who understand how to create content in a way that is most authentic to them.
Jeanine Suah:So off rip, those are the things that I would keep. To take it to the next level where we really leverage was, like, events as a go to market strategy, I would double down on the content piece and the URL, like, the online community building piece because what that did is it empowered me through my content to build up a credible brand to then be able to be recognized worldwide so that when I go to Brazil and I'm hosting our first international event, I can leverage my track record that's already displayed to be able to get into doors that I may not have gotten into, which again increases a distribution channel and just widens a growth channel for the individual themselves. So that's where I would kind of do the 2 point o is, like, we focused a lot on IRL, which is important because that was part of our strategy at the time because it was kind of post COVID. People were still getting comfortable. But where I would now take it a step further is focusing on these subject matter experts and putting out value forward content, not just like clickbait stuff, like true value forward content and doubling down on that piece, which is part of the reason why I left Brex because I was like, I wanna focus all my energy into understanding how to leverage content as a legitimate growth channel.
Ilya Tabakh:I'm sort of a convert to this conversation in some ways because I I really as I, you know, kinda was transitioning from the first chapter of my career in academia to sort of being an entrepreneur in the wild, Through those entrepreneurial experiences, I built a really deep kind of first person appreciation for a lot of the things you're talking about. And then, also, in the kind of the tail end of my kind of PhD studies, there's a lot of focus on communicating kind of deep and complex scientific stuff, just the general public and and explaining why it's relevant and connected. And and I don't know if I had, like, a a a an awakening, you know, a moment of, clarity or something like that. But I but I was yeah. Yeah.
Ilya Tabakh:It wasn't it definitely wasn't anything like that. You know? I wake up, and I could see. It wasn't like that. But what was interesting was that kinda looking back, there's a lot of things I was pretty, kinda negative or, you know, would filter out about because I'm like, that doesn't matter.
Ilya Tabakh:Right? And and and then thinking about how do you help other folks make it relevant to them with, like, a tech or a science background or things like that is something that, you know, I always think about. And so I'm I'm curious if you've seen any, you know, sort of, levers to help folks, you know, kind of realize that for themselves. Because I think that's that's ultimately the the real unlock is helping folks understand how it's relevant and really kind of walk on their own journey.
Jeanine Suah:1000%. And that that is a conversation I I can't remember exactly who it was, but it was with an academic who understood, like, you and I how to write, like, academic papers with all this crazy jargon which goes back to why I created VC word of the day. And so where I think as I was learning, you know, for the last 8 months because I I went on the content side and I did some discovery, where I think that the opportunity lies is for these subject matter experts who think about the world differently to break down these technical ideologies in the Fintech space, in the legal space, like the typical boring industries, the opportunity is just so clear to me. It's like you can do so much and reach so many people by just breaking things down in a funny, entertaining, yet edutainment based way. And I'm helping a huge fintech right now, like, break into the US, and that's part of my strategy.
Jeanine Suah:And the the marketing the CMO, he's, like, already sees the vision, and he gets it. But at the same time, when you're working with brand teams who are used to doing things a certain way, it also creates some friction. And so my way, which I'll kind of wrap up the thought now, but my way of being able to help b to b teams see the value is by 1, building in public, which I'll be doing as I'm, like, talking about community while I'm building a community and showing people how to do it. And then the second thing is just literally just talking about it in a way that people can understand so that they can then not follow what I do, but more so I can empower them with the information to teach them how to think about it. Which again, it it's just like an untapped opportunity because you have influencers and then you have, like, subject matter experts.
Jeanine Suah:And if the 2 could just merge, which they are, but if there's a perfect fusion, b to b companies would go crazy. But it's, again, it's it's a you have to convince them. You have to convince them.
Terrance Orr:I really like this discussion around, like, empowering people with information, and it it and it speaks to impact. And and for me, you know, impact speaks to hustling for your your last name and not your first. Right? Because it's all because it's all about legacy building. And and when and when we wanted you on the show, right, we knew the value was there.
Terrance Orr:We wanted to bring some value to do, but it's mostly because you were impacting people's journeys. Right? And for me, that's legacy. Right? Right.
Terrance Orr:Empowering people with information. And, you know, thinking about legacy, thinking about the businesses you've built and communities you've built around the globe, not just in the US market, so I can be clear. You know? Tell us how being your your authentic self, you know, has led to, you know, telling the right strategic stories and helping founders build community led businesses.
Jeanine Suah:Wow. Now this is a really intentional question. So I used to have when we started the doyen, my business partner and I were a good match because we both were just, like, wild and crazy, crazy energy. So much so to the point where when we first got started and this is, like, again, 2016, 2017, more so 2017, 2018 when LinkedIn was still really buttoned up. And so we would always kinda post these just like crazy, not over the top, but just showing who we were on LinkedIn.
Jeanine Suah:And I would get messages from people, from friends who were, like, concerned saying like, hey. That's really unprofessional on LinkedIn. Like, hey. That's really this, or you should reconsider this. And for a while, I second guessed it.
Jeanine Suah:But then my membership base grew, and I was like, Okay. Something there. And then I started seeing it more and more. And the catalyst through all of this was when through COVID, it was I'll never forget this. It was September 1st.
Jeanine Suah:I had it's August 31st. I had come back from the building again going through the divorce, so I was just in a crazy mind space. My hair got, tangled up in my braids, and I had to basically cut off all my hair that night. And the next day, I decided I was like, okay, Jay. Like, we have an opportunity here.
Jeanine Suah:I went into work. I went into the building and but the we were still shut down because it was it was August, September. I went into the building and I was like, okay. We have a choice here. We can either hide in the cap that we brought or we can put on this yellow dress that you brought and tell your story in front of the world.
Jeanine Suah:And so that's what I did. And it was a 10 minute story that I just recorded. I told everybody what had been happening, then that I had to cut my hair and that I was going through the divorce and all these crazy things. And from that moment, I fully understood what it meant to be vulnerable, and that's when everything shifted for me. Business, personal life, opportunities just started pouring in because people understood who I was, and they understood, like, a deeper side of me and the fact that I was just human.
Jeanine Suah:So I give you that very long story to show you why I show up the way that I do because in terms of legacy, it truly isn't just about me. And it's hard to see sometimes because of, like, oh, yeah. I want the success and I want the recognition and I want this and I want that. But showing up as my true self even when I I got my face punched in multiple times, helped other people in my community exist better, and that's the joy that I got from being in those spaces. That's why I do it.
Jeanine Suah:So that was a very long winded way of sharing about legacy and why showing up as my authentic self and not just, like, be your authentic self, like, but as my true real self is just so incredibly important to me. So so important.
Ilya Tabakh:This is kinda crazy. I've never really thought about this, until I kinda hear you talking about vulnerability. But in another kind of discussion, and and generally, one of the best pieces of advice for myself that I I try to pull forward is always lean into the things that make you most anxious. Right? And so this is sort of, like, the other face of that, a little bit.
Ilya Tabakh:And and I think, actually, when when when you get, like, a entrepreneur in residence, and and they have sort of that experience that they're bringing to try to translate into the organization, this is the thing that's actually hardest to translate is the, hey, I have first person muscle memory from the time that whatever that's relevant to this situation happened. And when I say this is the hardest thing I had to do, you know, it sounds like, yeah. That's pretty hard. Alright. Well, you know, it's 5 o'clock.
Ilya Tabakh:I'm gonna go home now. You know, it's just not the same. It doesn't build the same muscle memory. And and sort of the the the third thing that occurs a little bit to complement all this is, you know, they always talk about in kind of extreme situations, there's growth. Right?
Ilya Tabakh:And sort of I it seems like that vulnerability, you know, plus that adversity and and leaning into that adversity, plus sort of learning your capacity and and really getting a first person experience is kinda maybe multiple facets of related things. And so as I kinda heard you talking about, I'm curious to your kinda your reaction there.
Jeanine Suah:Yes. Yes. Yes. And yes. And that's why as you were talking, I was like, wow.
Jeanine Suah:Like, that adversity and then that firsthand experience is why I built resilient capital and why I created the thesis, I invest in dangerously resilient founders, building in community productivity and connectivity. And it was because of that idea that, like, some of the best people that I know have had their faces and throats kicked in and who have been able to, like, bounce back from it. And even if they don't know what to do next, the fact that they got up is game changing, especially as a founder. They're a bit like, look at the founder of Slack. He wasn't intending to build a two way communication platform for the fastest growing b to b teams.
Jeanine Suah:No. He was building a gaming platform, but he kept going. And so that idea of resilience, especially as an XIR, as an EIR, and being able to even translate what that translates to in terms of skills is is game changing because it's like, alright. Cool. We need to pivot our approach.
Jeanine Suah:No no problem. I've done that literally in my sleep millions of times. So I I completely agree with you there.
Terrance Orr:My goodness. This is, I'm having, like, flashbacks, you know, as as I hear you 2 sort of, like, have this dialogue because, you know, when my friends people oftentimes come to me, you know, hey, Terrance. Tell me I'm trying to make a decision on x, y, and z. Can you help me sort of thing. Right?
Terrance Orr:And I go to people who help me, right, make make decisions. And how I usually make decisions on if I'm afraid of it, I go to it. You know? That's how I know. If if if I'm too comfortable, if it's like, oh, go you know, you're gonna go do this thing next.
Terrance Orr:Seems cool, but, you know, I'm not like afraid of it. But when somebody presents something to me, like, oh, I don't know if I'm ready for that yet. You know? So the thing is like, oh, that's the thing. That's what I need to go and do.
Terrance Orr:Right? Because in those moments, you find growth. Right? I mean, outsized growth, right, that you just couldn't get anywhere else because you you took the plunge, you took the leap. Right?
Terrance Orr:And now you realize that, oh, I'm actually pretty good at this. You know? And I'm not even trying. Right? Like, I'm not even trying, and I'm just naturally good at it, right?
Terrance Orr:And I think thinking about how people can be vulnerable and run towards the things that they are afraid of, you know, I think is super important. I got this lesson when I worked for Techstars. Shout out to Neil and and Brad at Techstars Chicago who took a shout on me, right, and taught me really, truly what give first really meant, right, taught me truly what storytelling can do for your life and communities, right, and those things and how vulnerability is a skill of leaders. Right? Right?
Terrance Orr:And how you translate that to future, the future things you're gonna do is really the thing that defines you. Right? And for me, I'm forever grateful for that lesson. It sounds like we're all forever grateful for the lessons that we've had, you know, along that along that journey. But I wanna ask you another question now.
Terrance Orr:So for founders looking to build community led businesses, give us a little blueprint. Okay? What are some key advice and ingredients that you would give them that they should start to think about if you had to give them a little framework or something around building in a community a community led business and doing it right from the foundation and not having to go back and try to build community into the thing that you've already built?
Jeanine Suah:Facts. Oh, there are 3 things that I would say. The first is understand, like, what exactly you're doing in terms of community and how you want to first approach community, period. There are 2 things that I I think about. Is it are you building a community as a growth tool or a community as a product?
Jeanine Suah:And a community as a growth tool is very similar to what we were doing at Brex where there your product exists as its own and you're and oftentimes, like, you don't have to monetize a community because your whole goal is to get the community to help build pipeline for the product, and you just build brand affinity along that. Think of it like a Brex, a Notion, a Beehive, and then you have community as a product where it's more like a Hampton or like a SoHo House to where you have to monetize your community, and then you have to your your core value prop is them existing within the community. So if you don't provide the value prop off rip, it's likely that they're gonna leave. So that's number 1. You have to understand what it is that you're doing.
Jeanine Suah:Number 2, I would even say, maybe even before number 1, it's like understand the intention of why you want to build community. Sometimes people just can throw out community like, oh, let's build a community and you probably will fail because it's just you're doing it with no true intention and there's nothing to really keep you rooted and grounded as to why you wanna do it. Understanding that why sounds cliche, I promise you. But understanding the why will help you do what I just mentioned is determine, okay, is this a growth tool or an actual product? And it will also help you keep pushing even when you don't wanna do this thing anymore.
Jeanine Suah:And then the last thing I would say is build with intention and build with authenticity. Right? So it's like you want to show up in a way that people actually want to engage with you. You don't whether, again, whether it's as a growth tool or as a product, but you have to attract people to you. And so you need to show up as someone who is authentic, as someone who actually cares about the people that you're serving because people can smell BS right away.
Jeanine Suah:So to kind of bring all the thoughts together, and I'll go backwards, the first one is be authentic. You really need to understand, like, why your people are gonna build, like, what it is that you're doing for them, how you wanna actually help them add value. Number 2 is build with intention and be very intentional with how you're approaching in terms of remembering your why. Ultimately, what is it that you're trying to accomplish with this community? And then number 3, decide whether you want to grow with or become a community as a growth tool or as a product because that then determines, like, all your ops, business model, all the business stuff is determined by that those two questions.
Terrance Orr:Love it.
Jeanine Suah:Yeah. We could also talk more on Zayo with you now. That was the that was the bridge version.
Terrance Orr:Don't don't don't worry because there's a little bit more. So tell me a little bit more about you start you named a few companies just now around, you know, companies that are doing it well and sort of, you know, the examples between sort of community as a product versus community, as another layer. In the last sort of 2 or 3 years, tell us a a a few examples of companies that you think, like, they're really doing this right, and and companies that you admire who's doing community the right way at this point.
Jeanine Suah:Yeah. I will give all my praise, and you can even make this a clip. I will give all my praise, glory, props, hustle, all the accolades to Beehive. For those of you who don't know, Beehive used to be a consumer platform that helped, you know, newsletters grow, but they have now kind of bridged into the b to b space, and they're powering some of the world's largest newsletters, and they're helping really great writers and really great builders get acquired. They're phenomenal, and I'll I'll break it down like this.
Jeanine Suah:It start for with them, it's more horizontal, but it also starts from the top. So Tyler Denk, who's a friend, is one of the most amazing humans that I've ever met because he's so disciplined and he's so focused on growing Beehive to be a multibillion dollar company. What he's done is he's leveraged his own personal brand as a growth channel and has started to build brand affinity through himself individually that has now extended to his all his employees are now posting content that's value add, and they're leveraging this, like, employee led growth model while simultaneously building out this community that is focused on providing the utmost value to their customers. When you have a company who can basically say one thing and a 100 people post about the company without even being prompted, that's when you know that you've built true community, and they have done a remarkable job. And I'm just so to watch that because Tyler and I met maybe a year and a half, 2 years ago for a Brex event, the way that we met was quite hilarious.
Jeanine Suah:But to watch it all happen and then to become an investor who they opened up a community round to, like, that brand affinity, getting your people to literally invest in you and invest in your success along with you, they've just done it right. You know, and I'm not saying that they did it right perfectly or everything was super easy or whatever, but the way that they think about it with intention covered all the boxes that that I mentioned earlier.
Ilya Tabakh:You know, it's fun to sort of think about, I've traditionally used the word community and ecosystem kind of somewhat interchangeably, maybe in in a bit of a flippant way. But every sort of interaction I've had with an ecosystem normally kinda comes back. And and initially, you know, kind of my thought thinking about kind of what is an ecosystem? How is it evolving? These things were not transactional, but sort of snapshots.
Ilya Tabakh:Right? I I didn't have sort of the benefit of time and, a little bit of experience to sort of think about how these things involve, come back. You know, one example is I was in kind of biofuel and, some of the early decarb stuff in, like, the late 2000. And I didn't even know that was, like, an ecosystem of, like, stakeholders. And before it was commercial, there's a lot of academic, national lab.
Ilya Tabakh:And I'm, you know, squarely back into it and touched it in some some of my entrepreneurial things as well. And it's just interesting thinking about kind of what's the snapshot type engagement and then what's the sort of community to ecosystem. For this probably longer conversation, but it's just like, you know, maybe I need to be tighter with my terms around community ecosystem. Because one of the things I've done is, spent a lot of time thinking about for climate tech, what is the ecosystem? Why do people show up?
Ilya Tabakh:You know, especially as you get to, like, deep tech technology. You know, one of the things that kinda brings me closer to Miami, we've been supporting a little bit of the climate ready tech hub stuff that's going on in Miami. So that's been kind of an awesome play for Southern Florida. But but it's just really thinking about, you know, how that works and then explaining it to my peers, colleagues, you know, other folks that are very clearly connected. I'm just not thinking about it that way.
Ilya Tabakh:And so I think, kinda listening to you talk has encouraged me to get tighter on my terms and maybe think a little bit about, you know, when I say community, what I mean, and then how does that community or kinda my view of that community connect to sort of that ecosystem context? So I appreciate you being sort of tight and putting a little bit more, definition on some of the terms here.
Terrance Orr:I'm gonna add on to that, Ilya, because I I struggle with this a lot when people ask me the difference between, ecosystem and a community. Right? And I've sort of come to terms to put my own little definition in place. Right? You know, I think communities can be vertical or horizontal.
Terrance Orr:Right? But I look at an ecosystem as a collection of communities and support. And and for me, that's for me, that is a little different, similar, but but adjacent. You know, Jeanine would tell me, yeah, maybe. Right?
Terrance Orr:You know?
Jeanine Suah:That's right.
Terrance Orr:That's that's how I'm sort of so I'm sort of thinking, like, about you know, I think about the ecosystem as like a collection literally of of communities and support. Whereas, I don't I don't know. I think I guess a community could be defined that same way, I guess, but, like, it's a collection of people, right, and and and things. So
Jeanine Suah:What's the expert saying? That's the great question. Honestly, Ilya, as you were talking, I was like, I've sometimes used them interchangeably too. It just depends on the context in which they're being used because different people, back to our understanding, our shared understanding of, like, language and bilingualism, different people have different understandings of what the terms mean. And to me, I use them interchangeably.
Jeanine Suah:Like, if I'm talking to an economic development corporation, I'll use community and ecosystem interchangeably. But when I'm talking to b to b folks, it's very rare that I'll use the word ecosystem because I'm not thinking about ecosystem in that frames in that framework or that that mindset. I'm thinking about the community around the product or the community that's gonna then power, like, whatever we're gonna build that then leads as a pipeline to the product. So to be honest, this is one of those ones where I'm like, I honestly didn't think there was anything wrong with what you were saying because I've I've done the same thing at the same time. But I think what where I really double down on is, like, the b to b sector's understanding of, like, community as this general woo hoo, like, kumbaya term when I'm like, no, dude.
Jeanine Suah:This is like an actual legitimate growth channel, and I need for you to understand that. And that's where I start to get a little saucy, a little spicy because I feel like I have to defend. I'm like, I literally built, you know, an 8 figure pipeline at a high growth company, and you're telling me that this is just feel good stuff? No. It's not.
Jeanine Suah:And so that's where I I get a little a little nuck if you buck, like, because it is a different understanding. But at the same time, those of us who have been kind of in the industry understand that difference. And so linguistically, now we have to kind of touch on the nuances because if we don't, then we can be misunderstood and and people just don't fully understand, like, what we're talking about.
Terrance Orr:It's very interesting as I hear you go. I I cannot I can talk to Jeanine for, like, a like, a whole 2 hours or something, but, like, I'm trying to keep it I'm trying to I'm trying to keep it together. So I I think, you know, as you guys are having this conversation, I'm sort of thinking about, you know, all the things that you've talked about today, on the show, and and I'm thinking about how life is a collection of these these vulnerable moments, and and these things can create this full circle for you and how things are going. And the the thread that I'm I'm I'm thinking about, and I can pull on multiple threads here, but I'm just gonna pull on the thread of the the find app, you know, being early, right, market timing, and how solutions like that is this like that today, TikTok for business, LinkedIn for x, y, and z, and how now oh, it's funny how life works. You have your own LinkedIn talk show called About Community.
Terrance Orr:So, you know, talk to me about, you know, you just recently launched this this LinkedIn talk show called About Community. And what really inspired this, right, this this initiative? And what do you hope the audience is gonna take away from it?
Jeanine Suah:Oh my gosh. So I launched About Community because, again, it's one of the first spokes in building an effective community and then leveraging that community either as a product or as a growth channel. It's distribution. It's visibility. It's building authority.
Jeanine Suah:And so I have a goal of being the number one resource for b to b content, specifically around community on the Internet. And when people Google things about community, I was like, bet, I wanna be the first thing that shows up, and that takes time. But, that's why I launched it. The and it was also just like a fun way to get some of the amazing insights of friends, colleagues that are building in these high growth companies and who can leverage their own voices and the platform that I have to inspire and empower other b to b community builders or other people who are thinking about, you know, launching a b to b community and how to do it well. And so that's why I launched it, and it's just been so much fun to start to just jam with people who get it.
Jeanine Suah:But then, again, to just like you guys have been doing, prompt them with questions that kind of break down the topic so that other b to b companies who are still on the fence about community can understand how to think about it differently.
Terrance Orr:Fair enough. Fair enough.
Jeanine Suah:It's so much fun.
Terrance Orr:I know. I can tell. You know, you you I think, you know, the true definition of, like, finding that thing that you love to do is, like, you do it for free, but you just happen to get paid to do it. You know? And because we gotta pay the bills.
Terrance Orr:You know?
Jeanine Suah:Yes. And likes don't pay the bills. Trust and brand authority do because that's how you that's how you establish yourself in the market. It's so true. Chad, it is so true.
Terrance Orr:Just a follow-up question to that, and I'm gonna let Yo Yo jump in here, is that, you know, how do you see platforms like LinkedIn, right, evolving, right, and fostering sort of a mean meaningful community?
Jeanine Suah:That's a great question, and I kinda have a different take on it than you may think I have.
Terrance Orr:Okay.
Jeanine Suah:LinkedIn is trying too hard to be something that it's not, and it's focusing too much on engagement and not enough on, like, building out these genuine connections. And that's a super blanket statement and it's a generalization. But what I'm seeing now are a lot of quote unquote b to b influencers who are taking advantage of the algorithm and they're just posting content that they think is gonna sell versus, like, actually developing these relationships. And I've gotten this feedback from multiple people who have had horrible experiences with people that they think are actually gonna help them, and they haven't. Then some of them have even taken money from people, which, again, it can happen anywhere.
Jeanine Suah:I will give this like a little sandwich, positive, you know, negative, positive. I started out with the negative piece. I do love the fact that LinkedIn is actually starting to prioritize video and that it's going back to that find vision of, like, how can I actually create meaningful content in a short bite sized piece so that people can understand and learn different skills? I love the fact that they're doing that. But I do see some things.
Jeanine Suah:I'm seeing more, like, engagement farming, AI content on LinkedIn, and it's not it's teaching people, but I feel like, again, it's engagement farming. It's not really building out these authentic communities. So I still love LinkedIn. LinkedIn changed my life. So I have I'm not gonna complain because they may wanna sponsor about community one day.
Jeanine Suah:I don't know. LinkedIn love you. But at the same time, like, there are certain things where I'm seeing that I don't necessarily love, but I guess that comes down with any product that you've been a a long time user of.
Ilya Tabakh:I kinda love it. This is sort of come completely first circle twice, and then, you know, we're now now making a sphere. You know, like, one of the questions that we ask always is, you know, what can the EIR live community, kind of the community we're trying to build, do for kinda what you're working on and to support? But what's cool is I think we're gonna ask I wanna ask it in a little bit of a different way because you're you're part of this community. You know, this conversation, I think, is illuminating a lot of really important topics to, you know, other folks that are bringing kinda unique perspective in residence.
Ilya Tabakh:So so maybe instead of just kind of thinking about this one way, you know, what can the EIR Live community do? Although, I I want that to be kind of in the response. It's how do you think about what we should be thinking about for kind of the EIR Live community and and what that can become. So 2 part question, handle it any way you want, but I just, you know, it occurred to me that this is a question we ask, but we've never asked it like this. So I'm gonna shut up and listen now.
Jeanine Suah:That is a phenomenal question. 1, I'll answer it. I'll answer the question of how should you be thinking about it. You guys have already done that. I so I texted I sent Tia a voice message, and I was like, this in and of itself is one of the best presents to help your people kinda create and and develop and strengthen their own platform.
Jeanine Suah:I have never gotten the gift, a thoughtful, intentional gift like this. And this made me and I and as I recorded, made me want to create an unboxing video to show my people how to think with intention for their own communities. This type of thing inspires customer love, and this turns people into into super fans for you guys. So I would say that you're already doing it and you're thinking with intention for, like, how the the main kind of question that I always think about is, how can I add the most value to whichever community that I'm serving? And that's what you guys that's what you did it without even realizing that you did it.
Jeanine Suah:And now I have a professional microphone for about community because I was just either too lazy to buy 1 or I didn't think it was that important. Right? So I would say that you guys are already doing it, and I just I absolutely loved. And I was raving in the voice note that I sent to you. So, like, he can, you know, play it for you, Ilya, if it was saved, but I just thought that that was one of the most thoughtful, thoughtful, intentional gifts that I've, like, ever received.
Jeanine Suah:And then I'll actually pause there because I wanna just take a moment to, like, give y'all your props because it was just such a great idea. It was such a great idea.
Terrance Orr:Oh, thank you. Really appreciate that. I mean, coming from the, like, the OG of community building and and and and building, you know, community and super fans, like, I'll take that and I'll take that endorsement. Everybody heard that.
Jeanine Suah:Take it.
Terrance Orr:We're we're we're doing we're doing things with intentionality.
Jeanine Suah:Like my version of writing when I was just getting started in Miami. I used to write everybody handwritten cards, and I used to mail it to them. And it was just and I I stopped doing it, and I don't know why. And I feel like you inspired me to to start that up again for, like, people who I really appreciate. So y'all may get a handwritten card from me.
Terrance Orr:Okay. Hey, don't hey, Anna. I'll be looking checking the mailbox.
Jeanine Suah:Okay? Send me the addresses, and I will do it because it's a it's this reciprocal value. And to, Ilya, to your second question of, like, how can the EIR community help me? It's it's all about thinking about this community thing differently. Like, if you can take one thing away from that from this conversation, it's that.
Jeanine Suah:It's like think differently about how we've been doing this thing this whole time. Take it back to the basics. Think about reciprocal value. It's literally, how can I help you and how can you help me? And you can literally, in the b to b to b space, use that and leverage that as a legitimate channel for growth built and based on authentic relationships, genuine connection, and that lasts longer than any type of hockey stick growth that you may experience from, like, a p to p click campaign.
Jeanine Suah:Yeah. I have my qualms about that, but it's it's thinking differently about it is how people can genuinely help me right now because then that helps me it helps make conversations easier when I'm having convos with potential clients.
Ilya Tabakh:So take it from tactic to ethos is maybe the way that I would say it. You know, it it's one thing for it to be sort of a transactional tactic. It's another thing for it to be sort of a key strategy. It's another thing to be kind of the the the the the thing that you are. And so that's, maybe that's how I would, editorialize, what I heard you saying.
Jeanine Suah:I love that.
Terrance Orr:I'm really gonna pull on this thread a little bit more just because I I I just have to. I'm I'm I'm itching to, like, pull on it a little bit more, and it's and it's something that, you know, I I really want you you to really go, you know, as deep as you want to, Jeanine and, and, and the next question, because you started to talk about just now, as you were responding to Ilya's question, which was, which was a great question around sort of, you know, thinking differently, if you will, and approaching the sort of the foundation, the building blocks of of what you're doing. Recently, you you read a book that that you said, you know, changed your life. Right? Can you tell our audience what that book was and and how it changed your life?
Jeanine Suah:Oh my gosh. The book is The Courage to be Disliked, and it absolutely opened my mind to the fact that I do not need to be liked by everybody. But the core ethos of what that meant for me gave me the freedom to care less because I can walk in my purpose more, and I can literally do what I need to do without thinking how this is gonna affect someone more so in a negative way because I'm an overthinker and I have ADHD. So I, like, obsess over these things and, like, go down these rabbit holes. It's like it's wild.
Jeanine Suah:Thank God I've been working on it more as I, you know, work through the ADHD. But that book, legitimately, it just taught me that not everybody has to like you. So you should just have the freedom to move on your own terms because it's essentially your life. And if you constantly think about, oh, if I did this and this relationship and and the way that I said this and that, like, some things just aren't your task in life. And if somebody is, like, super in control all the time, you have to learn to relinquish that control and just let it go.
Jeanine Suah:And those few anecdotes just it opened my mind up, and it just allowed me to have more peace because I'm not as focused on what they're doing. I'm focused on what is best for me and read it y'all. You need to not everybody's gonna like it. The last thing I'll say.
Terrance Orr:That's okay.
Jeanine Suah:And and exactly. And that's okay. Exactly. But it does talk about trauma from less of a causation perspective and more of like, okay, that's cool. It happened and that or maybe that's not cool and that happened, but how are you gonna decide to react to it?
Jeanine Suah:And it was just it's an amazing book. It's amazing.
Terrance Orr:Thank you. Really appreciate you asking that question. Delia?
Ilya Tabakh:Yeah. No. Just it's funny. So, you know, I've I've talked a lot on this episode about coming from the technical perspective and having my eyes open to other places. One of the, pieces that I spent quite a bit of time on is actually human emotion and reaction because that was my first kind of startup company, is is how to capture that.
Ilya Tabakh:But one of the things I really kind of dove into is that, the opposite of happy isn't angry or sad. Right? It's no emotion. And so, normally, when when people are emoting, right, that that you elicit an emotional reaction, it means that they care about the thing that you're talking about. And so, I definitely, you know, hear what you're saying about the you don't have to make everybody happy.
Ilya Tabakh:But remember, when you're making folks react and emote in any way, that means that they're engaged to the things that you're saying. And so, you know, in in both the how do people react to content and things like that is if they don't emote. Right? If they don't if there's no emotional reaction, then it doesn't matter. And not to be intentionally, you know, causing kind of reactions or something like that.
Ilya Tabakh:But but just remember that, you know, bad reactions, good reactions, a reaction is a reaction. Right? People people are reacting because you've hit a nerve. They care. They're engaged.
Ilya Tabakh:And so that's maybe the the other thing I would I would add there. But yeah. I mean, I I've I've loved, like, every facet of of this conversation where, you know, probably 15 minutes over where we should be, but I think we've got 45 minutes of value out of it. And so Right. You know, in in the tradition of packing and a a a really good set of insights and conversation and, honestly, just like the the back end this is not the conversation I thought we were gonna have, and and and in the best way.
Ilya Tabakh:Right? And and so whenever that happens and we're, like, sort of pulling things, weaving things, you know, Next thing you know, we got a tapestry by accident, you know. I I I think that's a good conversation. So
Terrance Orr:100%.
Ilya Tabakh:I loved it, and I appreciated sort of the the engagement and and really kind of entertaining some of our questions and and probably some of the, left and right turns that that weren't part of the plan. But, you know That's right. Reality and the plan are different, and you gotta follow the reality. So I'm glad that we're
Jeanine Suah:really looking at the is all about. Going with the flow when you gotta go.
Terrance Orr:We're at time. We wanna be respectful of your time, but I mentioned for you to quickly answer this last question. Okay? What is your dream EIR, XIR role? If Jeanine could wave a magic wand and decide where she wanted to be in XIR, what would that organization
Jeanine Suah:be? I'm gonna answer this with, my dream XIR role is to build an XIR program at the next company that I go to. That's that's all I'm focused on. Okay. So yep.
Jeanine Suah:Love it. Showing them it works and then building out more XIRs because more divergent thinkers like us who don't have the traditional background deserve an opportunity to play in a space and and make their mark. And that's what I'm really laser focused on with this platform about community is just, like, open up the door for more people.
Terrance Orr:Such a privilege today.
Jeanine Suah:Love y'all.
Terrance Orr:Jeanine Suah, thank you so much.
Jeanine Suah:Thank you.
Terrance Orr:Thank you.
Ilya Tabakh:Alright. So we're we're keeping with our change in format to kinda doing these reflections and outros. And, man, what what happened there? Right? We started with a conversation around, being in residence and kind of this entrepreneur in residence bringing communities and and and those topics.
Ilya Tabakh:Next thing you know, we're talking about linguistics, the, you know, sort of intersection of personality traits as as it kind of pertains to some important topics. I loved it. I mean, conversations like that are really, energizing to me, and what what was cool is that we were able to take, you know, some very, very different but complementary perspectives from all of our experiences and and sort of weave a tapestry and and create, you know, this this, conversation that that that really I don't think anybody expected. And so I I I loved everything about it. There's a lot of, like, little detail things I can jump into, but, I'm I'm just hoping that, the audience and and folks that are listening will get as much out of the conversation as I did.
Ilya Tabakh:What'd you think, Terrance?
Terrance Orr:Man, I'm still on a high from the episode. I mean, it was it was such a really good dialogue, and it was natural as a dialogue as, you know, with with other things that we've done. But this the energy that that Jeanine brings to the show, she has such a rich background around community. And really thinking about sort of community as currency, right, I think is very a very powerful thing. Thinking about, you know, how vulnerability, right, equals a true leadership trait, you know, and a bit an ability to move and influence people through that vulnerability.
Terrance Orr:No better person than the OG Jeanine to talk about that topic and subject. And I really felt like, you know, we we had these sort of moments, throughout, the podcast and these full circle moments, right, that will just make you reflect on how we think about intention, how we think about being our authentic selves, and building communities and businesses around those things. And, just, I'm just, I'm pumped for this episode to come out, and I think that the audience is gonna get a lot of value out of a lot of the things that she said. And this is somebody who's walked the path and did it this way. And it doesn't mean that's going to be everybody's path, but, man, just the authentic dialogue that we had a chance to engage in, I'm still on the high from.
Terrance Orr:What do you think about, you know, sort of how do we sort of, like, take that take our community and our ecosystem and our platform to the next level? What do you think about some of the things that you said?
Ilya Tabakh:This is sort of this this interplay between community ecosystem. You know, I'm still kinda reflecting and digesting, how to tighten up the language and and and what do I mean when I say some of these things. But I think I'm gonna be a lot more careful, and intentional about how I I kinda use some of these words. I mean, I think I think what's what's interesting is we're also in a place in the podcast where we can really do sort of the LinkedIn live and the EIR live part of the podcast. You know, we we the first couple episodes have been out there for a little while.
Ilya Tabakh:We've got good engagements and calm comments, you know, we're changing the format. But I think that kind of the EIR live and really bringing in the wider audience to be able to interact with, some of the knowledge that's there and ultimately connect is pretty excited about. I think the continuation of happy hours and events and things like that and, you know, we're gonna roll into sort of, Halloween and and the the Thanksgiving holiday in the US and and generally the the winter which, maybe will make it a little harder, but really thinking about where else we can have, EIR happy hours and and ultimately kinda connect and activate the the community. You know, the Atlanta event was really awesome. We were able to have, like, a pretty good connected group and, be able to cover a pretty wide set of topics for, you know, a pretty short period of time.
Ilya Tabakh:So I'm excited in thinking about, you know, which other communities and and as we reach out to folks, to be able to support and connect for those conversations, I think that's another opportunity to sort of strengthen and grow the community. And then, ultimately, like, there's, you know in sort of using this interplay between communities and ecosystems, I think the EIR community is really widely connected into a lot of ecosystems. And so thinking about where do these folks get together and can we put the idea in this concept of bringing in a translator, somebody that can be in residence to stretch the capabilities, of a of a industry of a company. I'm excited about picking that apart a little bit as well. So so many different ways we can we can move.
Terrance Orr:Plus 1, massive plus 1. I I can't add anything to that because I'm thinking all of the same things. And and we've seen the value of, you know, people coming together from different residences and wanting to share successes, wanting to share war stories, wanting to talk about the next thing that they're looking at with a group of people who've been also in residence at other organizations and have different things and tips and tricks to share. And we're we're incredibly excited about activating that network, and we're looking for for you all, the guests and our audience, to also, you know, send us some recommendations of things that you're you're thinking about, ways that we can continue to build that community, in addition to the ways that, Ilya just talked about.
Ilya Tabakh:Yeah. And there's a lot of easy ways to do that. Get signed up for the email list on the website, eir.live. Join and follow the page, eir live on LinkedIn. Or if you go to the the website or podcast.eir.live, there's a lot of different other places to kinda connect with us.
Ilya Tabakh:So let's do it. Let's get connected. And, together, you know, kinda growing and evolving this thing is gonna be awesome.
Terrance Orr:Thanks for joining us on EIR Live. We hope today's episode offer you valuable insights into the entrepreneurial journey. Remember to subscribe so you don't miss out on future episodes, and check out the description for more details. Do you have questions or suggestions? Please reach out to us.
Terrance Orr:Connect with us on social media. We really value your input. Catch us next time for more inspiring stories and strategies. Keep pushing boundaries and making your mark on the world. I'm Tiran Sohr with my goals, Ilya Sabacc, signing off.
Terrance Orr:Let's keep building.