Ditching the algorithm as a values-aligned marketing strategy

And why I'm back to building in public

The Sustainable Solopreneur is a weekly-ish newsletter about seasonal, cyclical, supportive business strategy for solopreneurs and creative souls who want more out of life than the status quo, hosted by business coach and strategist Jenni Gritters.

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Hello, my loves.

Today I have some good news: I’m returning to Substack with a new focus, and adjusting my marketing ecosystem a bit!

First, let me catch you up a bit: Back in October, I published my debut book, The Sustainable Solopreneur, largely based on this newsletter. The book did great (and still continues to sell many copies per week! Buy your copy here). But it was pretty clear, after I launched it, that it was time for me to move to my next body of work.

Since then, I’ve been building in the dark: Solidifying the vision for my next business, starting to build infrastructure around it, creating a whole new branding and messaging approach to the new body of work, and hiring. The new ecosystem is called World Builders and it’s a learning hub for those of us who are building unique ways of doing and being. We don’t fit the mold. These systems have never worked for us! So: We’re building something new. Something our ancestors could have only dreamed of.

World Builders is very different from anything I’ve built before. It’s bigger, with more revenue required and more contractor support needed. It doesn’t even feel like my idea, honestly; it’s something I was given and asked to bring into the world. I’m excited about this body of work and, truthfully, it’s been complex to hold my old coaching business steady (for revenue) while building out an entirely new brand and business. (Read: This is some wild titration.)

Now, about 5 months in, this new business is beginning to feel real. Pieces of the World Builders ecosystem will start to trickle out onto the internet starting in March. My most recent program, ACHE, was the first body of work that feels 100% World Builders, not JWG Coaching. The spring Council cohort is the first to operate within that ecosystem, too. It’s exciting, overwhelming and (honestly) a vision I’m completely clear on building in a way I haven’t been before.

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That brings us to Substack: When I stepped back to build in October, I decided to stop posting here as often. I also stopped using Instagram. Both breaks were good for a while, but then I had to decide how to come back. Which platforms would be most useful for World Builders? And, since I’d just taken a big step back: What would feel good for me moving forward?

Y’all know I’m very intuitive and witchy, and I have a very bad feeling about most social media platforms this year. I certainly don’t believe they’re going to get any better than they are. So I sat with my own value system and the values of World Builders, and decided on a few key focus areas for my 2026 marketing, which I’m sharing below.

At the center: The Signal

First, I’m building out a custom referral network for World Builders called The Signal. Most of the brand’s marketing will focus on the whisper network: One visionary inviting another, then another, then another. Lots of affiliate payments, badges and gratitude. Inside the World Builders ecosystem, you’ll also find The Collective, which is a members-only hub for matchmaking, intelligence trading and collaboration. All of this is heart-to-heart, hand-to-hand support. I don’t really want to build things any other way.

At the threshold (business focus): The Podcast

The World Builders podcast is incredible, and I’m not just saying that. We’re a handful of episodes in and I’m already in awe of the women and non-binary people who’ve said yes to coming on. I plan to center the podcast in every way: Asking guests to share on our behalf, rewarding reviews with fun prizes, using the podcast transcripts to create content across other platforms. In early summer, I plan to start a YouTube channel with podcast content. I’ll also be dropping two episodes per week in early summer: One guest interview and one solo episode with tactical learnings for World Builders like you and me.

At the threshold (personal focus): Substack

Truthfully, I miss having a place to blog, talk about my experiences, tell my business and life stories. I used to do that a lot on Instagram stories and here, on Substack. My former podcast, Trying Stuff, gave me a place to share my experiments. And at the end of 2025, I basically composted all those spaces.

Have no fear, though: Starting next week, this Substack space will be called The World She’s Building. And I’ll be sharing blog-style updates from the road. I’ll talk to you candidly about what it’s like to step into earning more, hiring people, holding a big vision, changing your family’s lineage, and stepping into personal power. I’ll give you all the goods on nervous system attunement, re-patterning work, spiritual breakthroughs and psychology. I can’t promise that those posts will come in any order, but I can promise that I’ve been holding back a flood and have a lot to share!

What about social media?

Podcast and Substack content will drip onto my personal LinkedIn, but LinkedIn will not be a strategic focus. (Thank goodness!!) The same goes for Instagram: Lots of sharing podcast clips but more of a brand presence than a personal one.

I’ve been really deep in this questioning, honestly: Do I need social media? Should I keep it at all? A few weeks back, I deleted my entire personal Instagram account (2500 followers and counting). It felt like relief, which gave me a clue as to where I wanted to go.

Our World Builders’ values include:

• Collaborative growth (reciprocity, letting ourselves be supported)

• Seasonal decision making (ebbs and flows are normal and respected)

• Intuitive power (building in devotion to humanity and truth, not trends or profit margins)

• Relational > vertical power

• Personal power as a tool wielded for good

• Owning that we’re the prototypes of what comes next

• Joy & pleasure as generative intelligence

When I sat with those values, it helped me see that I wanted to do something different. I didn’t want to follow the “go viral” or “buy ads” paradigms. I wanted to build a business that actually runs based off relationships and human kindness. I know a lot of people doubt that this is possible and yet, that’s the issue at the core of social media use (for me).

Instagram is about feeing the machine. You have to post constantly, on a regular cadence, in order to stay relevant (the opposite of our brand’s values of ebb and flow). It’s much more transactional than relational. It does not inspire joy so much as it is built for comparison. And the more time I spend on Instagram, the less I can access my intuition. Plus, the powers behind Instagram really nauseate me.

LinkedIn feels less terrible but still divorced from direct human joy and creativity. When I head over to LinkedIn, I find myself either rushing to post or dead behind the eyes. Who am I again? What did I mean to say?

In truth, I can’t condone either experience. (And please know, this is not a judgment on anyone using these platforms! This is simply my decision making process.) And also: Most World Builders I meet want to get off these platforms. Why would I build something that asks them to spend meet me there?

This whole thought process made me realize that I want World Builders to stand for something different. Not something perfect, but something uniquely built in alignment with certain values. A way of marketing that relies on humans, not algorithms. If I’m not going to try it, who will?

A note on email:

I think a lot about how marketing means having doorways — thresholds — where people can enter into our work. My primary thresholds will be Substack and the podcast, which referrals will likely check out before they come into World Builders. We’ll also have some awesome free programming (The Clearing workshop is open now!) to guide people into our ecosystem. LinkedIn and Instagram will be very, very secondary. And, for me, speaking gigs and workshops will likely be a third primary threshold in the coming years.

But once people cross the threshold, they need a nurturing space to learn. They need time to decide if this is right for them. For me, that’ll be email! We just moved over to Kit (from Kajabi) and plan to use that platform to let you know about upcoming programs and to share lessons on World Building every week or two.

What I’m learning in this Building In The Dark season is that being a visionary requires brave steps. Walking away from social media as a focal point feels edgy and yet, I can’t spend time there anymore without feeling completely out of whack. I know I’m not alone. So let’s exhale and remind ourselves that we make the rules. There are lots of ways for people to learn about our work! It’s up to us to start to walk away from what makes us feel ill, from what’s siphoning our power away.

And in the meantime, I can’t wait to hang out here (until this platform inevitably goes the way of the tech bros and we start hanging out somewhere else). I’ll be treating this like a blog from ye olden days. It’s going to be so damn good. And yes, all content will be free for now.

xo,

Jenni

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Curious about my background? I’m the founder of World Builders, a learning hub for visionaries, creatives and entrepreneurs who are here to build what their ancestors could only dream of. I’m also a business coach, an intuitive oracle and a strategist for those of you who are ready to go all in on building wildly new ways of doing and being. You can read my debut book here and sign up for our next live community event, The Clearing, here. I live in Central Oregon with my two children and husband.