- Red Threads
- Posts
- Rise And...
Rise And...
Why 'grind' doesn't mean progress.
Jaime Solis
27 Jun
Welcome to Red Threads
A community of 350+ thoughtful builders just like you, gaining an edge each week.
Our goal? Reach 1,000 by year-end, without ever dumbing it down.
💌 Know someone who should be growing with us? Forward this their way.
Was this forwarded to you?
Join our tribe of creators, builders, and entrepreneurs → Sign Up Free.
“The mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work unless it’s open.”
— Frank Zappa
NEW! The Red Threads Podcast: Insider strategy and insights from me, now in audio!
⏰ 5-Second Summary
The Red Thread — Why your next big move might come from stillness, not speed
The Unlock — A 4-part framework to reclaim whitespace and sharpen strategic focus
Creative Edge — The courage to pause and ask if your work is even pointed at the right outcome
Prompt Playground — Design a “Thinking Day” with AI that doesn’t feel like a to-do list
Industry Pulse — YouTube’s classroom play, TikTok fan clubs, Spotify’s creator pivot, and a landmark AI copyright ruling
Creator Tools — From instant podcast creation to AI-powered reverse image search
Open Opportunities — Senior roles in data, strategy, and marketing at BMG, Opus Clip & more.
⏳Estimated read time: ~5 minutes
The Red Thread This Week
Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There!
Ever notice how your best ideas come when you're not trying to have them? In the shower. On a walk. Right as you're drifting off to sleep.
This week, I found myself immersed in creator communities and workshops where everyone was hunting for the same thing: tactics, templates, AI prompts, shortcuts—anything promising quick results.
The subtext; “Please just tell me what works.”
And beneath those requests was something deeper.
A hunger for permission to slow down.
A need for space to think strategically.
A craving for what many call "whitespace."
We've built an entire ecosystem and mythology around "Rise and Grind" without asking what we're actually grinding toward.
We're optimizing workflows without purpose.
We're chasing followers without knowing why they matter.
We're collecting dots, not connecting dots.
And it's not entirely our fault.
We're wired for immediate gratification.
The dopamine hit of new shortcuts, followers, hacks, prompts, templates, etc., is far more seductive than the slow burn of strategic thinking.
Because this kind of deep thinking feels, well…slow. Inconvenient. Unproductive.
But what if the most valuable thing you could do today isn't adding another tool to your stack, but creating space to ask why you need those tools in the first place?
So this week's Red Thread is about reclaiming the whitespace.
It’s a reminder to every creator, builder, and leader feeling burned out or stuck:
The thing you’re missing might not be another tool.
It might be the silence required to use the ones you already have.
Let's dive in.
~ Jaime
🔑 The Unlock
Park Your To-Do List (for now)
Whitespace isn't just about time, it's about mental bandwidth. Here's how to create it when everything around you screams "do more, faster."
1️⃣ Slow down to speed up
Staring out the window thinking about your audience isn't being lazy. It's strategic work.
Start treating it that way. Block time for it. Defend it. Honor it.
The most successful creators I know schedule thinking time with the same rigor they schedule meetings.
2️⃣ Audit your ambition
Wanting “growth” is easy. But what kind? What’s enough?
100 new subscribers? A single partnership? Creative alignment with a few dream clients?
Define success before you chase it—or you’ll burn fuel heading nowhere.
3️⃣ Distinguish motion from progress
Publishing daily doesn’t equal traction. That new AI tool doesn’t guarantee leverage.
Strategic work means knowing when to pause, prune, and point your energy where it has opportunity to compound.
Hint: That’s rarely your notifications tab.
4️⃣ Protect your whitespace like it’s sacred
Because it is. The ideas that matter won’t arrive while you’re copy-pasting prompts into ChatGPT or scrolling your 87th growth-guru carousel.
They come during the walk. In the margin. Under the shower-head.
Make room.
Strategic Edge for Leaders & Creators.
I partner with creators, founders, and leaders like you to cut through the noise, build revenue-generating work that lasts, and achieve creative freedom
Leverage my 20+ years of executive media insight with a 1:1 strategy call, designed to help you deliver work that makes an impact.
💡 Creative Edge
The Courage to Stand Still
Here’s the real problem with “hustle culture”: It mistakes urgency for importance.
Standing still feels dangerous in a world obsessed with constant motion. It triggers our insecurities.
Makes us wonder if we're falling behind. Tempts us to fill the void with busy work.
But strategic thinking requires exactly this kind of stillness.
The most valuable creator today isn’t the one with the best editing software or a viral TikTok hook. It’s the one who knows how to use their mind—fully.
Think about it:
Your phone pings with notifications.
Your inbox overflows with opportunities.
Your social feeds showcase everyone else's productivity.
All of it designed to hunt your attention all day long.
But your next best move won’t come from swiping through another post.
It’ll come from asking: Is this work I’m doing even pointed at the right outcome?
The attention-eating industrial complex won’t reward you for thinking deeply.
But your future self will.
📌 Try this mindset shift: Whitespace isn't a luxury. It's a necessity.
It's not what's left over after you've done everything else. It's what powers everything else that’s worth doing.
🎲 Prompt Playground
Build a “Thinking Day” with AI
You don’t need another growth hack this week. You need a pause that points you in the right direction.
Try this prompt to build a day around strategic thinking, with AI as your partner, not your shortcut.
Copy + paste the prompt below into ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity, fill in the blanks, and see what happens!
Prompt:
You are my creative strategist and clarity coach. I want to create a “Thinking Day” to zoom out and make better decisions in my business/work/art. I don’t want a to-do list—I want a thinking agenda.
Here’s what I’m working on:
My core project: [brief description]
My biggest tension: [what’s foggy or frustrating right now]
Where I feel stuck: [what I can’t seem to solve]
My current distractions: [what’s pulling me off-course]
Based on this, help me design a one-day agenda that includes:
3 reflection questions to help me zoom out
2 frameworks or metaphors I can use to make sense of my challenge
1 long walk question I can chew on for 30 minutes
A 3-sentence affirmation that reminds me why this thinking matters
Make it honest, creative, and worth my time.
✅ Bonus Prompt:
“Remind me why thinking deeply—even when it feels unproductive—is actually one of the highest-leverage things I can do today.”
Because sometimes what we really need…is permission to pause.
📡 Industry Pulse
YouTube Expands Classroom Monetization Read more ›
Court Rules AI Training on Copyrighted Works is Fair Use Read more ›
TikTok Adds Fan Clubs for Live Creators Read more ›
How YouTube Recommends Content Read more ›
Spotify’s New Creator Strategy Leaked Read more ›
🛠️ Creator Tools
💼 Open Opportunities
Sr. Director, Data Analytics & Analytics Engineering – BMG (Nashville, US)
View Role →
Event & Campaign Marketing Manager – Opus Clip (Remote, US)
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!
⚡ Make Your Next Bold Move
As the architect of Red Threads, I distill 20+ years of executive insight across music, podcasting, marketing, and AI to help you build what’s next.
Launch Your Podcast: Transform your ideas into (audio) impact.
Grab my free 7-Day Podcast Challenge eBook to go from idea to launch in 1-week:
Get 1:1 Strategic Support: Need a thought partner to shape what's next for your project or team? Let’s talk!
NEW! The Red Threads Podcast: Get insider strategy and insights from me, now in audio!
And thank you 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.
Was today’s Red Threads useful?Before you go, we’d love to know what you thought of today's newsletter to help us improve the Red Threads experience for you. |