You Are The Media (YATM) is the home for marketing misfits. It started in 2013 at the seaside, in England 🌊 The community is built around creativity, interdependence, visibility, experimentation and co-learning.
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Hi creative misfits akaYATMers! I’m Susanna Reay. Are you ready to turn your brilliant brainwaves into bold, bankable frameworks?
I help coaches and experts escape the “busy” trap by transforming scattered knowledge into dazzling, signature systems that scale with ease and impact.
Not content with just teaching frameworks, I’m currently writing the book on Framework Thinking®, so you know you’re in expert hands. If you’re ready to sketch, scale and sell what you know, but need clarity to get there, reach out.
Outside of work I do love relaxing by walking and painting. This photo is me, in my kitchen, with my art. Can you guess which colours I love?.
Here's my TV recommendations for you. Recently Sneaky Pete, Destination X and Wednesday have all captured me. If you love musicals, then let’s talk as I’m a major fan and my top three do keep changing!
A special invite: Join myself and other amazing idea generators at the Long-Lasting Authority Think Tank summit. Where fresh ideas and unforgettable connections spark sustainable growth. It runs live, online 10-14 November. You can book for free here.
We grow when we have the space to practice and refine in front of people.
One of the biggest skills is to get others on your side and buy into you. This could be from the email you send to the in-person space.
It just takes practice and if you don’t practice, it won’t work.
No one starts with an abundance of talent. You only get better by having a space that is there to come back to and an audience in front of you.
Without having the ability to step up, it’s easy to remain nervous.
The most effective way to develop new skills is within an environment where you feel safe, supported and others are around you.
Practice Matters More Than Theory
When people are trusted to try, to stumble, and to iterate, they learn faster and go further.
A 2024 review in Administrative Sciences found that learning communities that encourage structured participation and leadership opportunities create the conditions where practice has a return.
However, where do you find a space that’s safe enough to practise in the first place? For me, I had to build one.
When I started YATM in 2013 and the events and occasions that followed, I wanted to build new skillsets. I treated everything as my playground and accepted that I wanted to get better. I was ok that it was just me when I started.
Every Thursday newsletter was practise in writing. I wasn’t just sending information out, I was working on finding my voice, shaping my confidence and figuring out how to hold someone’s attention.
Every event was about understanding how to host. I had to learn how to make a room feel connected and how to give people a reason to come back.
It took me years to figure it out, but YATM gave me a continual place to keep showing up. I’d like to think that over time, those skills got sharper.
What began as my own testing room gradually became something more important, a rehearsal room for other people, too.
You Have To Give Others A Space To Practice
Since 2022, the YATM space has opened up to other people to be seen, with others around them. If you don’t have an audience, you’re just dabbling in the dark.
People have discovered hosting skills they never had the opportunity to shine before.
At the start of September we started the new YATM year of events in London and Poole. Catherine Turner co-hosts the London events with Jon Burkhart and we’re now finding our feet. Catherine’s talent is having a warmth that makes people feel at home.
Emma Collins hosted the Poole event and has a skill at hosting a panel where she can pick up cues and turn it into a conversation. Emma’s talent is to keep an occasion flowing without forcing it.
As well as Catherine and Emma, other people have hosted Lunch Club events. The space to practise gave them a chance to step forward.
It’s not just hosting the room, it’s also participating in the panels we have. People get to share their perspectives. It presents the opportunity to be clear and relatable. What happens is that people who may never had the opportunity to share before, now have that platform.
This element of practice is also something that has also helped to drive Matt King’s video skillsets. Matt is extremely creative and each year he starts Creator Day with his own film to open the day.
Matt has his place to practice and a supportive audience to share with.
None of this is theory. It’s practice in action.
Why Safe Practice Works
Where does practising work best? It’s when people know they are in a safe and ready-made environment with people around it.
When you know others are on your side and when people have an affiliation, it helps to make that next step of assurance, even when you’re nervous, it’s the trusted space that matters.
People need to know they can make mistakes without being judged harshly.
When we made the step up to a conference in 2018 and 2019, there were many glitches, such as the projector not working (which was awful for a conference). You need to feel the group is on your side, not waiting for you to slip up.
The environment itself makes the difference. I’ve seen it in so many people.
How To Progress Your Side
Making a space to figure out for yourself and then inviting people to figure out together comes with these steps.
– Start with you.
If a space doesn’t exist, make it for yourself. You build around you and as the audience grows, around each other.
– Pass the mic.
Accept that over time the intention is to not keep hold of the mic, pass it around.
– Set arhythm.
Find a format people can associate with. We made a lunchtime event, but it could be any way that brings people together, where an audience can grow.
– Recognise contributions.
Encourage people to progress with their own efforts and give them status.
– Widen the stage.
Build the space so more of the right people can see and want to participate and see it as a space for them.
Let’s Round Up
Getting people on your side means honing your skills.
YATM works because it isn’t just my practice room anymore. It’s become a space where people can rehearse, try, and grow.
What you need is that safe space to rehearse, with a trusted group to respond and a rhythm that encourages people to show up. When you do that, you don’t just build skills, you build confidence, community, and momentum.
Practice is how we get better and a community is where figuring out together feels safe.
It's part of a week of activity and Creator Day is Thursday 14th May.
If you want to come but could do with a helping hand, let's spread the cost over five months.
That means £33 (that includes the discount) between now and January.
Reply to this email before the end of the day tomorrow (Friday) and just say, 'Hey Mark....I want to spread the £33 cost' and let me sort out the rest.
Let's get you to the seaside 🏖️
Coming Up In The Next Week
There is activity every week. Here's what's happening and to be with the others.
🔥 It's Work Together this morning at 9.15am BST in YATM Club, join here
🏡 Beth's Week Map at 7.30pm BST on Sunday for 30 mins in the Club here
🎁 Sense Check with Ben McKinney next Wed at 3pm, book here
You Are The Media (YATM) is the home for marketing misfits. It started in 2013 at the seaside, in England 🌊 The community is built around creativity, interdependence, visibility, experimentation and co-learning.
