🎉 A Year of building community: 5 lessons from IMMA Collective
What experimenting, reflecting, embracing imperfection and navigating messy collaborations taught me in 2024.
This January, IMMA Collective turned one. A year ago, we opened our doors to our founding members, not knowing exactly what lay ahead. It’s been a year of learning, unlearning, experimenting, and leaning into the messy process of building something new. I’ve written about the first six months of learnings here: part 1 & part 2.
Last week, the community surprised me with a birthday video. They shared their reflections, celebrated our milestones, and thanked me for what IMMA has become. Watching it, I teared up on the train. The kindness, the support, the shared sense of purpose—surprised me, emotionally overwhelmed me, and reminded me why I started this in the first place.
But building something this personal and meaningful hasn’t been easy. It has stretched me in ways I didn’t expect, revealing parts of myself I hadn’t fully faced. I’ve learned more than I can fit in one email, but here are five lessons I hope will resonate with you—whether you’re building a business, a community, or something entirely your own.
1. Experimentation is liberating
For me, life and business are one big experiment. This mindset has been a gift. It helps me detach from the fear of failure. If something doesn’t work, it’s just an experiment that didn’t pan out. Nothing more.
But here’s the hard truth: I ran too many experiments this year. I was spinning plates in every direction, exhausting myself in the process. Instead of focusing on the here and now, I got caught up in ideas for the future—like exploring a marketplace concept.
It wasn’t until August, when I hired Tatiana Figueiredo from Friendly Nooks, a community expert, that I began to find focus. Hiring someone felt indulgent at first; I worried about the cost. But I was exhausted, and I realized I could save myself months of trial and error by getting help. Tatiana brought clarity and direction. She asked questions I couldn’t ask myself and helped me prioritize what mattered most.
It wasn’t cheap. But you know what? Money is renewable; time isn’t. And the months I gained were worth every cent.
2. Reflection is a superpower.
IMMA is built on intentional rituals, including monthly reflections. Annual reviews are great, but reflecting once a year is like going to the gym once a year—it’s not enough to see real change.
Through IMMA, I’ve had the accountability to design and run monthly reflection and intention-setting sessions called Sense & Respond. Hosting these sessions for the community means I show up for others—and in the process, I show up for myself. It’s a chance to pause, tune in, and make better decisions.
This regular reflection has helped me identify what’s working, what’s not, and where to focus. It also makes it easier to align my work with my values. Pairing reflection with rest has been transformative. In 2025, I’ve already blocked out three days at the end of each quarter to ensure I fully embrace the power of rest and reflection.
3. Building from the inside out is slow, vulnerable, and worth it.
IMMA didn’t start with a market trend or a business plan—it started with my values and a belief that businesses can be built not on capitalism, but on relationships and generous reciprocity.
This approach is slower and more aspirational than building from the outside in, where market trends dictate direction. As I’ve built IMMA, it’s felt like peeling back layers to uncover what truly matters. Often, it’s when something goes wrong that I realize the core value I need to protect.
It’s uncomfortable to analyze failures and shortcomings in detail, but it’s also revealing. Building IMMA is as much about becoming the person who can hold space for this community as it is about the business itself.
There are moments when I feel deeply grateful for what IMMA allows me to do: spend time with people who believe in a world where we are driven not by fear but by a deep care for ourselves, each other, and the planet. In turbulent times, spending time with members reassures and energizes me. It reminds me that another world isn’t just possible—it’s within reach.
4. Embracing our shadow side
I’ve always been a highly self-critical perfectionist. It’s not something I love about myself—it can be exhausting, and I’ve often felt like it’s more of a flaw than a strength.
But this year, I stopped fighting it. I’ve come to realize my love for quality and depth is part of who I am. It’s why I pour so much into IMMA.
My biggest mistake this year was getting the pricing wrong. I based it on what similar communities were charging without considering how much care, time, and attention I bring to my work. I wanted to make things accessible, but I ended up overextending myself—and feeling ashamed when Tatiana pointed out that I was undervaluing what we offer.
I also learned that when people pay, they pay attention. They invest more time and energy and achieve better results. The tension between accessibility and sustainability is something I’m still navigating, but I’m learning to honor my limits while staying aligned with my values.
5. Collaboration is messy—and necessary.
If I’m honest, collaboration has been the most challenging part of this year. I tried various forms: partnerships, exchanges, mentoring, and even bringing interns into IMMA. Some of it was energizing, but a lot of it was harder than I expected.
When you run a business of one, every collaborator has an outsized impact. I learned the importance of being intentional about who I work with—and finding simpler, faster ways to test collaborations before committing.
Looking ahead, I’m curious about the rise of solopreneurship and how a conscious use of AI makes solo businesses more viable than ever. I want to explore what “companies of one” could look like—leveraging technology while finding creative and novel ways to collaborate and grow stronger together.
The Year Ahead
2024 was about experimenting, reflecting, and figuring out what works. Along the way, I realized that building an impact-driven solo business is a core purpose of IMMA—but it’s too broad. So in 2025, we’re narrowing our focus to one key goal: helping our members find clients, together.
I’ll share more about this focus in the next newsletter. For now, I’d love to hear from you:
What’s one lesson you’ve learned this year that could help others?
Share it in the comments—I’d love to learn from your reflections.
Here’s to leaning in, letting go, and continuing to build together.
With gratitude,
Lilli
If you’re feeling stuck trying to figure out what you offer, who your ideal client is, or how to test your ideas, Seed might be the perfect place to start. It’s a space to run experiments together, saving you weeks—if not months—of trial and error. Together, we explore what works, refine your direction, and build a foundation for the next step.
If you’re clear on what you offer and who you’re looking for, but want support finding clients, then Nurture is designed for you. Our membership focuses on finding clients by building relationships rather than relying on pushy sales tactics. It’s for people who want to grow their businesses with care, alongside a community that believes in creating a better world.
Interested in reading more learnings?
If you want to learn more around my reflections of building a community, read here about my insights after the first six months of launching IMMA Collective.
Learnings from building IMMA Collective - part 1
This week, I'm reflecting on the past five months of building IMMA Collective. Why? Because, as the saying goes, 'You don’t learn from experience but from reflecting on it.'
Learnings from building IMMA Collective - part 2
In the last issue, I shared five reflections on building IMMA Collective. This week, I’m adding another five that focus more on building a collective.