What Herds Do that Individuals Can't

I'm very excited to report that the herds are starting to take shape! There are just a couple spots left, so if you want to lock in the promotional price and start the new year with a new support system, sign up now.

It's been tremendously gratifying to see how the groups are forming. As always, there are things I expected and things that I did not, but I'm thrilled to be on this ride.

Here's the Core Problem

I believe the big questions that keep entrepreneurs stuck—the ones that circle around in your head at 2am—come from a tension between what your intuition tells you and what you've been conditioned to think.

You already know the answer. You might be conflicted about it, or in denial, or bargaining with yourself, but in your gut, you know. The implications are just too intimidating, or the first step feels unclear, or you're worried about what it means about you if you actually want that thing.

And when you're operating alone? That tension just bounces around UNCHECKED. There's no one to reality-check your fears, validate what you know, or interrupt the loop.

Who's Joining the Herd?

If you are on the fence about whether or not you are a good fit for our new Herds, I wanted to share some (highly anonymized) things about the folks who are committed.

As expected, everyone who has joined is a founder of a service-based and purpose-driven organization, but there's lots of other diversity among our members and their work:

• Some are nonprofit, some are for profit
• Some of us have decades of experience as entrepreneurs, others are still trying to figure out what they want from the business they created, many of us have both experience and openness
• So far, our practice areas include graphic design and branding, marketing, leadership, advocacy, civic engagement, and web technology
• Impact certifications we've achieved include WBENC, B Corp, 1% For the Planet, BBB, NGLCC and more
• We are spouses and caregivers to our children, or our parents, or both

I think it's wonderful that we can anticipate cross pollination between industries and practice areas that are common collaborators, and that we have both plenty of wisdom and plenty of curiosity in our small group.

But what feels really compelling to me are the questions members are bringing to the group. They're big, scary, often deeply personal questions that have significant impact on their work:

• How do I know when it's time to "quit" my own business, and what the hell would my life look like if I did?
• How does my work style need to change so that I'm not derailed by perimenopause?
• What kind of team, impact, and lifestyle do I want this business to create?
• How do I balance the demands of caregiving with the needs of entrepreneurship?
• How do I navigate growing a new business in a completely uncharted industry?
• What can I and my organization be doing to fight fascism, patriarchy, and racism?

These aren't "I need a marketing strategy" questions. It's not "I need a playbook for client services." These are "I need to figure out who I am and what I actually want" questions that directly impact how you run your business.

Why Conventional Solutions Fall Short

Most of us have tried therapy, coaching, courses, masterminds. And look, those things work—to a point. They might have even worked really well for you at certain times, as they have for me.

But here's what they can't do: They can't make you actually do the thing.

A coach can give you super useful tools. A course can teach you the exact framework. A therapist can help you understand why you're stuck. But when it's 11pm on a Tuesday and you're staring at that proposal/pricing page/difficult email, you're still alone with only your echo chamber for support.

Think about it like running. A running coach can improve your technique, give you a training plan, analyze your form. All valuable. But they can't make you lace up your shoes on a cold morning when you'd rather stay in bed.

You know what does? A running club. People who are expecting you to show up. People who text "you coming?" when you're not there. People who run alongside you when it's hard.

Conventional solutions are still expecting you to operate effectively alone. Buffalo Collective is built on the opposite premise: you're not supposed to do this alone, and pretending you can is what's keeping you stuck.

What We Do Instead

Buffalo Collective Herds create the conditions for you to reach your own goals in your own way. We're framework agnostic—there's no curriculum, no prescribed path. You decide what you're aiming for and how you want to get there.

The one thing we ARE prescriptive about: our Community Guidelines. They provide a clear framework for keeping ourselves in integrity—with ourselves, with our work, and in our relationships.

Because here's the thing about integrity when you're a solo leader: without a team, who's there to notice when you change your mind or don't follow through? If you say you want one thing but your choices reveal different priorities, who acknowledges that gap?

That's the whole ballgame. We have to be who we say we are, and Herds provide the feedback and honesty we need to do the hard stuff well.

Here's What That Looks Like

Herd members support each other by:

• Showing up consistently
• Recognizing efforts and intentions
• Witnessing and validating experiences
• Naming inconsistencies (with kindness, but naming them)
• Cheering victories
• Sharing tools and resources

And because of that support, we can do the hard things:

• We feel seen because we take the time to see each other
• We feel supported because we can be authentically ourselves
• We feel stronger because we watch others do hard things too

It's the difference between a coach telling you "you should update your pricing" and your herd member posting in Slack at 8:47am: "Today I'm finally updating my pricing page. Been putting this off for 6 months." By 5pm, it's done. Not because someone forced her. Because she said it out loud to people who cared about her follow-through.

That's what a running club does that a running coach can't.

Ready to join? There are just a couple spots left, so if you want to lock in the promotional price and start the new year with a new support system, sign up now.