Too Smart For This

Hello stars,
What a treat to see so many of you tune into my live this morning! Anyone who couldn’t make it, catch the recording here and on my YouTube.
My biggest pet peeve with building “personal brands” is that most people compare themselves to the wrong person.
You’ve been holding yourself to some invisible content standard: a podcast a week, a YouTube a week, three TikToks a day, two Instagram posts, a LinkedIn. I did this too, when I had maybe four hours a week to actually spend on content. It’s a setup for shame!
When you create a content strategy without a vision, goals, or capacity constraints, you will BURN OUT and resent it. But then you’ll miss out on the good parts, too!
SCALE is the framework I use to help busy professionals, founders, and creatives get clear on what they want to do and what they CAN do to show up online without getting a second personal job. Here’s the refresher, catch the live or the YouTube for the full breakdown:
Skills — what you’re actually good at. Mine is live, workshops, writing. Not short-form trends, so I stopped forcing them.
Capacity — your real hours in a bad week and a good week. Set an honest floor and ceiling so falling off doesn’t spiral into quitting.
Affinities — what you genuinely like making and watching. Everyone can tell when you’re posting out of obligation. Nobody cares. You’re more interesting than that.
Lifestyle — what your days actually hold. A doctor in the office all day has to batch. A freelancer can film anytime. Build content into your life, don’t bolt it on.
Energy — the way you show up. Teacher, curator, operator with receipts. Stop comparing yourself to the metrics of a niche that was never yours.
A dermatologist and a B2B founder should not have the same content plan. One posts once a week, one posts fifty times. SCALE is what makes it yours!
But none of it works without the step WAY TOO MANY people skip: a vision.
Where are you on a random Tuesday three years from now? What are you doing, who are you talking to, how are you making money? Get specific. If you don’t know why you’re building this or who it’s for, you won’t stick with it.
Creator Essentials is the program for moving through all of this with support, frameworks, and other women doing it just like you. We start Tuesday and there’s still room to join!
The opportunities don’t come until the clarity does. Believe me, I’ve been there!
xx
Alexis

Thank you Dr. Alysia Lillian, MD, MPH, Angelica Councilman, Jessica Onne, bre, Karen Manga, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.alexisbarber.nyc/subscribe

In 2023, on my very first trip to Paris, a man I loved leaned across the bar at the Ritz and told me I didn't have the resilience to be an entrepreneur. I cried. Three years later I walked back into that same bar after speaking at Cannes Lions, took the last seat, ordered a French 75, and toasted a year with multiple six figures, 50+ women coached into their own brands, and a second book underway.
This episode is the how. Seven shifts I made over the last six months that took me from burnt out and doubting myself to happy most days and certain of my work. The throughline is the part nobody tells you: you don't wait until you feel resilient to act. You act before you're ready, the proof stacks, and one day you notice the validation you used to cry for is beside the point.
I recorded this one live and unfiltered, with a long audience Q&A at the end. Pour a coffee, or a French 75, and let's get into it.
In this episode
(00:00) The DM that stopped me at a Paris bus stop: "how does it feel to be living your dreams?"
(00:01) What Cannes Lions actually taught me, plus the food poisoning, blisters, and lost voice it came with
(00:05) Why I retired the word "manifest," and what actually moves things into your life
(00:07) Shift 1, Listening. The thing everyone already comes to you for is the business you're avoiding.
(00:12) Shift 2, Act before you're ready. Action creates data, data creates better action.
(00:16) Shift 3, Reframe your resources. Name the one big constraint, then count everything else you have.
(00:21) Shift 4, Experimentation and detachment. Hold the goal loosely enough that it can get good.
(00:25) Shift 5, A new feeling is just a new feeling. Discomfort is your body clocking a new normal.
(00:30) Shift 6, Get your desire back. Say the outrageous want out loud.
(00:33) The Cannes moment that made me expand my money capacity on the spot
(00:37) Shift 7, Value and service-based creation. Your why is what gets you off the floor.
(00:47) The seven-shift recap
(00:49) Audience Q&A: selfish eras, building an audience versus building an offer, and figuring out what you're actually built for
Mentioned in this episode
Dr. Suzy Welch's Becoming You and the Values Bridge exercise, the room that gave me permission to start teaching
The Too Smart For This journal, wherever books are sold (Amazon, Barnes & Noble). A good place to start planning your H2.
My newsletter, where the written version of this story lives. Subscribe on Substack: alexisbarber.nyc
Come scale with me
We have enough well-documented women on the internet. We need more well-rounded ones, the kind building their content around an actual skillset instead of a camera roll.
The Authority Edit, my small-group advisory, is for the six- and seven-figure girls, and the ones scaling fast toward it. Over the last four years I've helped women gain hundreds of thousands of followers and make multiple six figures from their content, the same thing I've built for myself. If you're truly serious about scaling your impact, and scaling it fast, comment or DM me AUTHORITY on my latest IG post and we'll see if it's the right fit: https://www.instagram.com/p/DabPkAuNoem/?hl=en


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.alexisbarber.nyc/subscribe

a year after walking across the wharton stage, all three of us ended up somewhere we didn't expect: in a portfolio career, in the creator economy, and nowhere near the linear corporate path we were sold. so we went live on substack to talk about it honestly.
hannah, simmi and i covered why we went, what we actually got, what we'd do differently, and the moment near the end where we each named the best thing we got out of business school. completely unprompted, none of us said the network.
what we get into:
why each of us decided to go (and the on-paper answers vs. the real ones)
whether wharton ended up being the silver bullet we hoped it would be
the moment the first wave of google layoffs convinced me loyalty was a lie
why the entrepreneurial resources at top business schools are still built for ai founders, not media founders
budgeting for double what they tell you it will cost
whether entrepreneurship is actually good for business school
the highs (the people, the time, the city) and the lows (the optionality cost, the lost income, the pedestal effect)
who should go to business school, and who absolutely shouldn't
how to operate at the level of someone with an mba without going (hannah's husband's line: people at the very top don't go)
the part you'll want to clip: hannah said her partner. simmi said her friendships. i said my relationship with myself. simmi caught it in real time and said you really covered all of it. and that wasn't planned.
featured guests: hannah zhang & simi shah
xx, alexis
a programming note before you go. this thursday, may 21st, i’m in brooklyn at jess williamson’s million dollar personal brand workshop, sitting on the empire builders panel at 1pm to talk about the marketing, sales, and socials behind seven-figure brands. if you’ve been thinking about how to actually turn a personal brand into a business, this is the room. ticket link is here. come find me after!
xx, alexis


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.alexisbarber.nyc/subscribe

Monique Rodriguez went from being a registered nurse to building Mielle Organics, an organic multicultural haircare brand that was acquired by Procter & Gamble in a 9-figure, non-controlling deal — making her the first Black woman to secure this type of investment. And she did it with no business background, no MBA, and years of bootstrapping.

If you're trying to figure out how to start something when you don't have a business degree, if you're bootstrapping and wondering when or if funding will come, or if you're afraid of what people will say when you make moves they don't understand, this conversation is for you. Monique shares about the grief that catalyzed her pivot to entrepreneurship, the unglamorous reality of building without resources, how she finally secured investment after constant rejection, and why the P&G acquisition wasn't selling out, it was selling up.

What You'll Learn:

How Monique went from registered nurse to founder with no business background
Why grief and loss became the catalyst for starting Mielle Organics
How to bootstrap a business and the unglamorous reality of it all 
How she raised investment after getting rejected by dozens of investors
What the 9-figure P&G acquisition actually means for Black founders
How to deal with criticism from your community when you "sell up"
How she uses social listening to develop products her customers actually need
Why setting boundaries with social media is essential for mental health

EPISODE CHAPTERS

[00:35] - From registered nurse to 9-figure founder with no business background
[04:30] - Why she chose nursing over her real passion
[08:15] - How grief became the catalyst for starting her business
[12:45] - How do you know when to quit your job and go full-time?
[16:20] - How to bootstrap a product business
[19:30] - What bootstrapping actually looks like 
[23:15] - How do you raise investment for your business?
[27:40] - What happens when investors keep saying no
[31:20] - How the 9-figure P&G acquisition happened (how to 
[35:50] - How do you deal with criticism from your community?
[39:15] - What's the difference between selling out and selling up?
[43:30] - How to use social listening for product development
[47:20] - How do you protect your mental health as a founder?
[50:45] - Why she limits social media and avoids doom scrolling
[53:30] - What's next: longevity science and health equity

WHERE TO FIND ALEXIS & TOO COLLECTIVE

Instagram:
@alexisbarber: https://www.instagram.com/alexisbarber/?hl=en
@toocollective: https://www.instagram.com/toocollective/?hl=en

Substack:
Too Smart For This Newsletter: https://toocollective.substack.com/

TikTok:
@alexisbarber_: https://www.tiktok.com/@alexisbarber_

YouTube:
Subscribe here: http://www.youtube.com/@alexis_barber

Shop the Episode: https://shopmy.us/shop?Curator_id=250549

Book Office Hours: Work with Alexis Here:
https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=22112790&appointmentType=79833937

Get the Journal: Too Smart For This: A Guided Journal Here:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/761193/too-smart-for-this-by-alexis-barber/

Questions, thoughts, or want to collaborate? Email Alexis at alexis@alexisbarber.com

This show is supported by Other Kind Media — otherkindmedia.com


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.alexisbarber.nyc/subscribe

If you're tired of waiting for the right job, the right opportunity, or the right moment to finally feel powerful — this episode is your wake-up call.

The truth is, power isn't something you build from scratch. It's not waiting for you at the next job title, the next salary bump, or the next milestone. The power is already within you — you just need to stop giving it away to circumstances, external validation, and the need to be chosen.

In this episode, Alexis walks through 6 frameworks for standing in your power: taking inventory of resources you already have, using capability transfer to unlock new areas of your life, first principles thinking to find creative solutions, building alter egos to activate powerful energy, dressing like the woman you want to be, and metabolizing chaos instead of letting it derail you.

If you've been playing small, waiting for permission, or giving your power away without realizing it — this one's for you.

What You'll Learn:

Why power isn't something you build from scratch
How to take inventory of your actual resources instead of focusing on what you lack
The capability transfer technique: how to apply your natural strengths to new areas
What first principles thinking is and how it unlocks creative solutions
How to use alter egos and music to activate powerful energy on demand
Why metabolizing chaos – not avoiding it – is the key to staying grounded

EPISODE CHAPTERS

[00:00] - Why you're already powerful, you just don't realize it yet
[04:15] - How to stop waiting for external validation to feel worthy
[08:30] - The resource inventory: what you already have that you're not using
[12:45] - Capability transfer: how to apply your strengths to new areas of life
[16:20] - What is first principles thinking 
[20:10] - How to build an alter ego and use music to activate power
[23:40] - Why powerful women dress however they want (enclothed cognition)
[26:50] - How to metabolize chaos instead of reacting to it
[30:15] - Your bounce back rate matters more than never getting triggered

WHERE TO FIND ALEXIS & TOO COLLECTIVE

Instagram:

@alexisbarber: https://www.instagram.com/alexisbarber/?hl=en
@toocollective: https://www.instagram.com/toocollective/?hl=en

Substack:
Too Smart For This Newsletter: https://toocollective.substack.com/

TikTok:
@alexisbarber_: https://www.tiktok.com/@alexisbarber_

YouTube:
Subscribe here: http://www.youtube.com/@alexis_barber

Shop the Episode: https://shopmy.us/shop?Curator_id=250549

Book Office Hours: Work with Alexis Here:
https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=22112790&appointmentType=79833937

Get the Journal: Too Smart For This: A Guided Journal Here:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/761193/too-smart-for-this-by-alexis-barber/

Questions, thoughts, or want to collaborate? Email Alexis at alexis@alexisbarber.com

ABOUT TOO SMART FOR THIS

You're ambitious. You're overwhelmed. And you're definitely too smart to keep sacrificing your well-being for someone else's definition of success.

Too Smart For This is the show for ambitious material girls just like you who are learning how to channel their chaotic energy into a more intentional and fun life.

Join your host, Alexis Barber (author, Wharton MBA, former Google/YouTube strategist, and certified ambitious material girl), every Monday for the frameworks, authentic conversations, and tangible tools you need to build a life that's both driven and deeply enjoyable. Because self-care is part of the business plan—and you're too smart to settle for anything less.

Subscribe now and follow @alexisbarber and @toocollective for more.

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Hello, love!

I'm an ambitious material girl obsessed with wellness, business, consumer culture, and the creator economy. I write from New York City, where I'm busy enjoying being young, gifted, and Black, oversharing online, and remembering that self-care is part of the business plan.

This show is supported by Other Kind Media — otherkindmedia.com



This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.alexisbarber.nyc/subscribe