Welcome to A New Thing.

As we sunset Black Girl In Om, A New Thing emerges.

In my last newsletter, I told you that the next one would take an entirely new format. So, here we go. Welcome to A New Thing.

Lauren Ash here. The creator of A New Thing. And founder of Black Girl In Om, which you likely rocked with for quite some time. Because you’re subscribed to my newsletter, which I consider my most intimate and direct space of connection and community (outside of connecting ‘irl’) I wanted to share with you here first about A New Thing before anywhere else.

And, for a deeper dive into the direction we’re headed, I invite you to save-the-date for my first major public conversation happening on Saturday, April 13 with an incredible friend of mine. I’ll share more on that in my next note to you.

Alright, let’s dive into it…

The Black Girl In Om newsletter is now A New Thing and lives on Substack.

Learn more about A New Thing here. If you’re receiving this note on in early April 2024 it’s because I migrated you and my other community members to a new newsletter-meets-blog-meets-podcast platform called Substack. In my now 1.5 year hiatus from Instagram, where I used to share SO much with my 50k “followers” (that term hasn’t sat well with me for quite some time) on my personal page, and 120k+ “followers” on my Black Girl In Om page, I’ve learned a lot about myself apart from social media.

I’ve learned that I love to create, and that I do enjoy having a receptive audience for my creations, but that spaces that have deep algorithms create lots of anxiety within me, and codependency (in fact, I spoke on a podcast episode about this and why I left Instagram a few months ago).

Substack feels like a space where I can express myself more freely. I can be the true long-form writer that I am, share my actual voice via the audio integration, and also share photos and other visuals that I love.

Also, the core of who I am, and my creations in the world, is all about community. I’ve absolutely loved penning the Black Girl In Om newsletter for a decade now! And, I love when you all respond to me and we get to have a meaningful exchange about how what I’ve shared resonated with you, and what’s present for you on your journey. Now, thanks to Substack, we can cultivate more meaningful community amongst readers. I love this for us. If you’d like to continue to read my newsletters in your inbox, that’s cool. If you’d like to go deeper, you can do that via comments, threads of conversation that I’ll spark monthly, and more.

You can directly support me, my work, and my presence in the world—and get some amazing things for doing so.

Free subscribers will receive my top-of-the-month reflection newsletter, and another newsletter with 1-2 of my favorite things in it each month, too.

Paid subscribers will receive my top-of-the-month reflection newsletter along with an audio meditation/prayer. They will also receive my full list of favorite things each month, as well as access to our monthly community thread and reflective moment in partnership with a friend or community member of mine. Paid subscribers also get access to comment and engage with one another.

Like all things I create, I imagine that A New Thing will develop over time and I will keep everyone informed about any changes for both free subscribers and paid subscribers.

Why do I offer a paid tier?

I’ll be very transparent with you. I founded a multiple six-figure lifestyle brand and company that shifted the cultural landscape and became the standard for Black women’s wellness experiences and content. However, 60% of my revenue with Black Girl In Om was from brand partnerships—and I worked with brands considered the best of the best. Global companies that are popular by the worlds’ standards.

This may seem impressive; but, for me, fielding constant brand partnership inquiries eventually felt like a distraction from what God has called me to do with my gifts and vision. Sure, I could continue to take advantage of the benefits (according to worldy measures of success) that come with having a large, organically created community on social media platforms…but I don’t want to. Yes, even when I partnered with brands that I authentically and enthusiastically loved (which was the vast majority of the time—again I’m being transparent here). As a founder who grew a community, brand, and business on leaps of faith, clear intention, but admittedly not as much strategy and business planning as I am going about in this season of my life, I got sucked into the rat race of being a social media influencer as well as the opportunities that come with having a significant “following” online. This is very easy to do. Unlike a large percentage of today’s young people, I didn’t aspire to be an “influencer.” I did, and still do, aspire to continue to impact countless lives and feel more empowered than ever to do that in the way that God desires for me. So now I’d like to do things intentionally differently.

I’m opening myself up to allow the community that I care about so deeply to support me, my work, and my presence in the world more directly. It’s not that I won’t partner with brands anymore, but I’m holding myself to a new standard and setting clearer boundaries around where and how my gifts get shared, and the ways that I allow brands to work with me and access my community. I feel excited about creating a new norm where the majority of my revenue as an entrepreneur is generated from the community’s direct investment in my offerings, products, and services.

I believe that A New Thing will be a majority reader-supported newsletter this year and beyond.

I appreciate you.

Whether you’ve been on this journey with me since 2014, or just joined today. I’m so grateful that you’re here.

Blessings,

Lauren Ash

P.S. Don’t forget to save-the-date! I believe that we’ll have hundreds, if not more, of us gathered together for a life changing conversation on Saturday, April 13th at 2 p.m. CST. Have you put it in your calendar yet? Details coming in my next note to you.