What Growing to 20,000 Followers Taught Me About What People Actually Need

I did not set out to build an audience.

I set out to build a company. And somewhere along the way, in the process of sharing what I was learning, what I was struggling with, and what I genuinely believed about mentorship and human connection, something started to grow.

When I hit 20,000 followers earlier this month I sat with it for a minute. Not to celebrate the number, though I am grateful for every single person behind it, but to ask myself what it actually meant. What had I said that resonated? What had I shared that made people want to keep showing up?

The answer surprised me a little.

It was never the polished stuff

The posts that performed best were almost never the ones I spent the most time on.

They were not the carefully structured thought leadership pieces or the posts where I had data and frameworks and a clean three point structure. Those have their place. But the ones that traveled furthest, that got the most responses and the most genuine engagement, were the ones where I said something honest about what building actually feels like from the inside.

The moment I admitted I had been the bottleneck in my own company. The season I described where you are doing everything right and still cannot tell if it is working. The specific vulnerability of building something where the value depends entirely on other people showing up.

People do not engage with perfection. They engage with truth.

What 20,000 people have in common

Here is what I have come to understand about the people who follow this page.

They are not here for content. They are here because something in what I shared made them feel less alone in something they were experiencing themselves. A career challenge they had not named yet. A season of building that felt harder than they expected. A question about whether what they were doing was actually working.

The most common message I receive is some version of: I needed to read this today.

Not because I gave them the answer. But because I named something they were already feeling. And there is something quietly powerful about having a thing you are carrying recognized by someone else who has carried it too.

That is what I have learned about what people actually need. Not more information. Not more frameworks or best practices or step by step guides. Connection. The feeling that someone else understands where they are standing and has something real to offer from having stood there themselves.

That is also exactly why I built Upnotch.

What growing an audience taught me about people

The topics that consistently generate the most engagement are not the most sophisticated ones.

They are the ones closest to a real human experience. Career transitions. Self doubt. The gap between where you are and where you want to be. The loneliness of building something before it works. The relief of finally finding the right person to talk to.

These are not niche topics. They are universal ones. And what I have noticed is that the more specifically I describe my own experience of them, the more broadly they seem to resonate.

Specificity creates connection in a way that generality never can. When I say I was scared when I stepped into my first real leadership role, more people feel seen than when I say leadership transitions are challenging. The particular unlocks the universal.

That is something I try to carry into everything I write here.

What this community has taught me about community

Building this audience has reinforced something I believe deeply about why Upnotch exists.

People are not looking for more content. They are looking for more connection. They are looking for the people who understand the specific terrain they are navigating and have something real to offer from the other side of it.

A following is not a community. I want to be clear about that. 20,000 followers is a number. What matters is the subset of those people who are genuinely invested in each other’s growth, who show up not just to consume but to connect, to share, to push each other further.

That is what I am trying to build here. Not an audience but a community. And the difference between those two things is the same difference I write about constantly: the difference between knowing a lot of people and being genuinely invested in where they are going.

What I want to keep doing

I am going to keep writing about the things that actually matter. The hard seasons. The moments of clarity that come from exactly the right conversation at exactly the right time. The gap between what building looks like from the outside and what it feels like from the inside.

Not because those things are easy to write about. Because they are the things people actually need to read.

If you are one of the 20,000 people who has chosen to be here, thank you. Not for the follow. For caring about the same things I do. For showing up, even on the days when you are not sure what you are looking for, because something in this space feels worth your time.

That means more than the number.

And if you are looking for more than content, if you are looking for the actual relationships, the mentors, the conversations that change how you see a problem, that is what Upnotch is for. Come find your people there.

Find Your People on Upnotch

FAQs

What kind of content resonates most with professionals online?

Honest, personal content about real experiences tends to resonate more than polished thought leadership. Tatia found that her most engaging posts weren’t the carefully structured pieces with data and frameworks, but the ones where she shared what building a company actually feels like from the inside, such as being the bottleneck in her own company or navigating seasons of uncertainty.

Why do people connect more with vulnerability than perfection?

People don’t engage with perfection. They engage with truth. When someone names a challenge others are already feeling but haven’t put into words, it makes readers feel less alone. The most common response Tatia receives is some version of “I needed to read this today.”

What do professionals actually need most?

Not more information, frameworks, or step-by-step guides, but connection. People are looking for someone who understands where they’re standing and has something real to offer from having stood there themselves.

Why does specificity create stronger connection?

The more specifically someone describes their own experience, the more broadly it tends to resonate. Saying “I was scared when I stepped into my first real leadership role” helps more people feel seen than saying “leadership transitions are challenging.” The particular unlocks the universal.

Which topics generate the most engagement with professional audiences?

The topics closest to real human experience: career transitions, self-doubt, the gap between where you are and where you want to be, the loneliness of building something before it works, and the relief of finally finding the right person to talk to. These are universal experiences, not niche topics.

What is the difference between an audience and a community?

An audience is a number. A community is the people within it who are genuinely invested in each other’s growth and show up not just to consume, but to connect, share, and push each other further. It’s the same difference as knowing a lot of people versus being invested in where they’re going.

How does Upnotch help people find connection?

Upnotch was built for people looking for more than content. It connects professionals with mentors and others who understand the specific terrain they’re navigating, creating the kinds of relationships and conversations that can change how someone sees a problem.