The One About Understanding “Community”

The first time I heard about Brené Brown was back in 2020, thanks to an amazing client I had at the time, Nina García. Nina opened my eyes with Brené’s TED Talk. If you haven’t watched this piece of art, do yourself a favor and click here.

Since that moment, I’ve been learning to see life from a different point of view, one rooted in connection and vulnerability. But for today’s episode, let’s focus on the first one: connection, because that’s the key piece of our topic: community.

(And just as a side note, I rewatched that TED Talk again while preparing for this episode… and wow. It’s so deep, so brutal, yet so compassionate. So human. As you can see, I’m a full #BreneLover.)

Now, back to our topic. For me, the concept of community is absolutely central to this project. My thesis is simple: by creating more active and human communities for women, we can expand our power and bring real benefits to everyone around us. And yes, that sounds amazing. But how?

How do we give women the ideas, tools, courage, time, and space they need to create and sustain those communities, especially at work? And I say especially, because that’s the primary playing field of this podcast.

So, I started asking, thinking, discussing, reading… and then asking again. Here’s what I found:

According to theory, a sense of community is built on four factors: membership (with clear boundaries), influence (shared power), fulfillment of needs (a fair exchange of value), and a shared emotional connection. In other words, connection is just one of the four pillars of community.

When it comes to work communities, we’re talking about purpose, relationships, and practical value. Or as some describe it: learning by doing together.

Alive communities need rituals and platforms that respect both intimacy and scale (small and big group formats) where members can share, experiment, and challenge ideas in spaces where interpersonal risk feels safe.

Healthy communities balance weak and strong ties: weak ties spread ideas and opportunities, while strong ties build trust and stamina.

A community is a living organism, and like any organism, it matures in stages. The ones that thrive have clarity around value, governance, and measurement. Not just tools or platforms.

Finally, work communities must be aligned with strategy and supported by leadership. Otherwise, they risk becoming unpaid emotional labor. And yes, women and men experience communities differently. For women, these networks often thrive in smaller, high-trust circles and high-status connections.

So, what does all this mean? That we need to rethink the structural design of communities at work for women, considering everything we just explored.

To do that, let’s take one step back and see how theory meets real life. When I think of spaces where community is truly at the core, one example stands out: the tech and development world (a wise reminder from my beloved husband.) In that industry, communities are the drivers of everything.

So today, we’ll take a closer look at how the sense of community and the practice of building alive, healthy, human communities are nurtured in the Dev world.

This episode will lay the foundation for our next conversation, where I’ll sit down with two other women to explore, in more detail, what it truly takes to create alive and healthy communities for women at work.

And by the way, when we say “interpersonal risk,” we mean the conscious decision to make yourself vulnerable to others with the understanding that it might come with emotional or social consequences. And that’s exactly where growth happens.

So, let’s bring it all together — connection and community.

Guests

Special thanks to @elonmusk and Matt Mullenweg for joining this amazing episode.