How to Foster Community and Build a Tribe-Based Business | Interview with Erin Barrio

Listen to this episode!

Show Notes:

Erin Barrio is the founder of Cushy, an online portfolio where "community is key". Through a platform that includes a print and digital magazine, podcast and more, Cushy is bringing together women from across the country to build the content together.

Erin started Cushy as a personal pursuit of creativity, but quickly noticed there was opportunity to scale it to something bigger.

In a day where most people are concerned about creating a personal brand and getting credit for their content, I am so encouraged by Erin's path.

Instead of making Cushy all about her, she is experimenting and learning how to build a platform that not only feeds her readers, but feeds her team of contributors.

Erin's full-time job in venture capital has helped her think about things a bit differently than most bloggers, and we discuss all of it in today's episode!

In this episode:

• 2:42 - Erin’s background, education and location

• 4:16 - How lack of creative energy led to starting Cushy blog

• 5:06 - Experience of holding first print magazine in hand

• 9:03 - How Erin transitioned Cushy from a personal blog to a community blog with multiple contributors

• 14:28 - What the slogan “Community is Key” means to Erin and Cushy

• 17:31 - Story of how Cushy became a business rather than staying a personal blog

• 19:48 - How to turn the idea of business-building into a creative pursuit

• 24:06 - What Erin’s full-time job working in venture capital looks like

• 31:00 - How Erin found her career and entrepreneurial passion and opportunity

• 33:00 - Chatting about salary negotiations and how we prepare for high-pressure conversations

• 36:41 - Major lessons Erin has learned from her full-time job to apply to Cushy

• 40:59 - What Erin’s work/life balance really looks like

• 41:46 - Erin’s overview of “core desired feelings” and how she practices them

Love it? Subscribe to the podcast so you always have an episode on queue!

You can watch the video version of our conversation right here!