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Prep School
How to pull the future forward
Jaime Solis
15 Aug
Presented by
⏰ 5-Second Summary
The Red Thread – Why the future belongs to those who know what problems are worth solving.
The Unlock – How soft skills, people management, and AI-powered leadership drive results.
Creative Edge – A vision without a story is just a wishlist.
Prompt Playground – Use AI to map your leadership story—and the future you’re preparing others for.
Industry Pulse — Taylor Swift, new podcast data, and the Oasis reunion.
Creator Tools — Tools to build podcasts, video scripts, and improve QA.
Open Opportunities — New roles at AudioStack, TouchTunes, and more.
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"The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller."
— Steve Jobs
The Red Thread This Week
Prep School
My kids went back to school this week.
Two middle schoolers and a senior in high school. Backpacks, class schedules, group chats buzzing again. It's a familiar ritual, but this year I couldn't shake a deeper question:
What are they being prepared for?
Because the world they're walking into isn't the one most of us were trained for.
They're not entering a future of predictable careers and stable industries.
They're stepping into a world of fast-moving AI, shape-shifting job markets, and problems that don't come with clear instructions.
And while school still emphasizes memorization, testing, and technical skills... the traits that will matter most are the ones we've historically dismissed as "soft."
Judgment. Clarity. Discernment. Empathy.
The ability to ask the right questions in the right order.
In an age of infinite tools, the advantage isn't what you can do.
It's what you choose to do—and why.
And this is the domain of storytelling.
This week's Red Thread is about preparing ourselves (and others) to lead—not just with skill, but with story.
Let's dive in.
~ Jaime
🔑 The Unlock
3 Skills That Matter
Whether you're leading a team, building a business, or raising a family—you're preparing people not just to complete tasks, but to decide what matters, connect the dots, and move others toward a better future.
Here’s where to focus:
1️⃣ "Soft" Skills Are Strategy Skills
They're not soft. They're absolutely essential.
Empathy helps you build trust.
A clear voice helps you cut through noise.
Judgment helps you choose what matters.
Think of it like navigation: AI can calculate the fastest route, but you decide where you're actually trying to go.
Takeaway: In a world of AI, our uniquely human traits are a feature—not a bug.
2️⃣ AI Is a Tool, You're a Compass
AI (right now) excels at executing tasks. But it can't define purpose, assign value, or set cultural priorities.
That's your job.
Real power isn't using AI to do tasks faster. It's using AI to build better maps, then deciding which route is worth taking.
Think of it this way: AI is like having a world-class assistant who can research anything, draft anything, analyze anything.
But they still need you to say, "Here's what we're trying to accomplish, and here's why it matters."
3️⃣ Leadership Is Storytelling
The best leaders don't just hand out instructions. They hand out belief.
Leadership is getting people to fall in love with a version of the future they hadn't considered possible.
And the only way to do that is through story. Not fiction—but vision wrapped in emotion.
A clear, compelling story turns a direction into a destination. It gives your work the gravity it needs to pull people into it.
📌 Remember: People follow leaders who can paint a picture of tomorrow that feels both possible and worth the work.
Learn from this investor’s $100m mistake
In 2010, a Grammy-winning artist passed on investing $200K in an emerging real estate disruptor. That stake could be worth $100+ million today.
One year later, another real estate disruptor, Zillow, went public. This time, everyday investors had regrets, missing pre-IPO gains.
Now, a new real estate innovator, Pacaso – founded by a former Zillow exec – is disrupting a $1.3T market. And unlike the others, you can invest in Pacaso as a private company.
Pacaso’s co-ownership model has generated $1B+ in luxury home sales and service fees, earned $110M+ in gross profits to date, and received backing from the same VCs behind Uber, Venmo, and eBay. They even reserved the Nasdaq ticker PCSO.
Paid advertisement for Pacaso’s Regulation A offering. Read the offering circular at invest.pacaso.com. Reserving a ticker symbol is not a guarantee that the company will go public. Listing on the NASDAQ is subject to approvals.
💡 Creative Edge
Great People Management is the Ultimate AI-proof skill.
AI can help you move faster. But the manager who can get 10 humans aligned, motivated, and delivering like 20? That's a force multiplier AI can't match.
Great managers:
Translate big ideas into clear next steps
Raise standards without crushing spirits
Spot problems before they become crises
Stay calm when everyone else is spinning
Show up consistently, especially when it's hard
Think of people management as emotional infrastructure: invisible when it works, painfully obvious when it breaks.
If AI can mimic tone and summarize data, your job is to make people feel something real. To create a vision people want to be part of.
So ask yourself:
What future am I describing?
What emotion does it create?
Does it give people hope or status? Affiliation? A sense of power?
📌 Mindset shift: A vision without a story is just a wishlist. You need a story in order to build the momentum needed to bring that vision to life.
🎲 Prompt Playground
Design Your Leadership Vision
Use this to clarify the future you want to lead others toward.
Copy + paste the prompt below into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Perplexity, fill in the blanks, and see what happens!
Prompt:
I want to get clearer about the future I'm trying to create as a leader and how to communicate it effectively.
Here's my context:
My role: [describe your leadership position or influence]
The people I lead/influence: [team, family, community, etc.]
The change I want to see: [what you're working toward]
Where I feel unclear: [specific areas where your vision feels fuzzy]
Help me work through this:
Help me articulate the specific future state I'm trying to create. What would success look like in concrete terms?
Identify what skills or mindset shifts that future will require from the people I lead.
Suggest a simple story or metaphor I could use to help others see and feel excited about this future.
Give me one specific action I can take this week to start modeling this vision.
✅ Bonus Prompt:
"What's one 'soft skill' I should prioritize developing to lead more effectively in a world where AI handles most of the technical work?"
📡 Industry Pulse
Oasis Reunion = Marketing Gold – Adidas, Spotify, and more are hitching onto Oasis’s reunion tour hype with major brand tie-ins. Read more
Podcast Ads Cut Through – Amid crowded ad channels, marketers continue to turn to podcasts for engaged, loyal audiences. Read more
AI Companies Now Want Retailer Data – As AI companies hunt for training data, retailers’ data could unlock new value. Read more
Taylor Swift’s Next Era – Swift teases her upcoming album The Life of a Showgirl on the New Heights podcast ahead of its October release. Read more
Podcast Listening on TV has Doubled – Nearly half of YouTube’s podcast listeners now tune in via connected TVs. Read more
🛠️ Creator Tools
MemeClip – Instantly transform text into shareable memes with AI-powered templates; perfect for social media managers.
StoryCraft – Build compelling video scripts 5x faster; ideal for creators and marketers.
TestDriver – The first AI agent specifically for QA engineering teams.
Wondercraft – Create podcasts, audio ads, and more without recording.
💼 Open Opportunities
Vice President of Music – TouchTunes (Hybrid/NYC) View Role →
Director, Business Development – AudioStack (Hybrid) View Role →
Your next move in Music
Explore the MBW Job Board →
Crack into Podcasting
Check out the Sounds Profitable Job Board →
📌 Know someone looking? Forward this to them!
⚡ Your Next Bold Move
I run JMedia, an advisory firm helping companies and creatives bring their ideas to life. Here are a few ways we can work together when you’re ready:
🗓️ Get 1:1 Support from Me: Need a thought partner to help shape what's next for your project or team? Let’s talk!
🎙️ Audit Your Podcast: Get pro-level eyes on your podcast without hiring a full-time producer.
🚀 Speaking Engagements & Workshops: Looking for a speaker for your next live (or virtual) event? Or someone to lead your next strategic workshop? Let’s talk!
Thanks for spending time with Red Threads this week.
I’m glad you’re here :)
~ Jaime
P.S. My weekly Red Threads newsletter goes out every Friday. Move my emails to your primary inbox so you see the next edition!
💌 Know someone who should be growing with us? Forward this their way.