Legends Do The Work With Their Friends
Once again, I’m reminded that legends do their best creative work with their friends.
I recently returned from another ImpactEleven Bootcamp & Masterclass in Chicago. ImpactEleven is a keynote speaker training program and community that I’m part of (and a Faculty Member of). I continue to be amazed by this community’s evolution, not just in terms of the ongoing content development and evolution (shoutout to human-centered leadership expert Ryan Estis for leading a transformational masterclass on personal growth for keynote speakers), but more importantly, in how many quality speakers and thought leaders continue to show up to do the deep work of building a keynote speaking business when the marketplace has never been more competitive and as the headwinds keep getting stronger.
People always ask me, “Smiley, why do you keep going back to ImpactEleven? Haven’t you already been like 7 times?!!”
Umm, yes I have and YES I will keep going back again and again and again! Why? THE PEOPLE. And the GROWTH. I never want to stop seeing my close friends, making new friends, and building deeper relationships. And I never want to stop growing as a speaker— and a human being doing this work. The learning is only just beginning. The journey is just beginning— and I’ve been at this for 10 years.
It is simply impossible to thrive in the thought leadership field right now without other people, without a supportive community.
You can try to make it on your own as a keynote speaker, author, thought leader, or creative, but it seems like a fool’s errand. Perhaps one of the best ways to avoid “being replaced by AI” is not to “learn how to use AI,” as everyone seems obsessed with telling us to do (see Microsoft study and MIT Media Lab study about how AI might be making us dumber).
Perhaps the best way to avoid being replaced by AI is to always be creating something dynamic, different, and beautiful with other human beings. With every headwind facing creative thought leaders (low bar to entry, competition, AI-generated content, economic + geopolitical uncertainty, layoffs, etc.), it seems like the best answer (or at least, the best hope) is to do the work together.
Even if we weren’t living in an age of rapid AI adoption and tech overwhelm, we know that creativity thrives in community, creativity thrives in connection, creativity thrives when you leave your house, and go hang out IN REAL LIFE with other people doing something similar to what you’re doing.
What I’m most optimistic about right now in creative work is not the efficiencies that AI will make possible for us. It’s what’s possible when we share our ideas, our fears, and our tears together. When we work on ourselves—and our bodies of work—together. When we continue to shift from hustle to human connection.
This post was originally published on my Substack newsletter on July 9, 2025.
