Aging in America

Say Her Name: Renee Good

🕊️ SAY HER NAME: RENEE GOOD 🕊️On January 7th, 2026, Renee Nicole Macklin Good a 37-year-old mother of three, a poet, a writer, and a beloved neighbor was killed in Minneapolis after stopping to support her community.Her family described her as "the beautiful light of our lives" with "an infinite capacity for love." She was relentlessly hopeful. Contagiously optimistic. A best friend to everyone who knew her.This song honors her memory, her legacy, and the movement her spirit has ignited across the nation."The good in you won't be forgotten / You stood on the frontline when fear had us boxed in / God saw your heart, saw it all / Now you're dancing with angels, beyond the wall…"To Becca, to her children, to her family: We see you. We stand with you. Her journey was not in vain.Say her name. Renee Good.🕯️ Rest in Power, Renee Nicole Macklin Good (April 2, 1988 – January 7, 2026) Thanks for reading Aging in America! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit synerkare.substack.com/subscribe [https://synerkare.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

When Hope Wears a Beard & Post Online

When Hope Wears a Beard & Post Online Bold truth. Soft gratitude. Loud applause. We’re living in a time that feels like a plot twist with no resolution. The headlines read like dystopian fiction: an administration that defies logic, untreated trauma bubbling post-pandemic, senseless killings, school shootings that steal breath and innocence, and a climate that’s clapping back with fury. Inflation is dancing with despair, and over 500,000 Black women have been shoved into unemployment lines many by companies that once pledged allegiance to DEI but quietly ghosted the movement. And yet, in the middle of this chaos, something beautiful happened. Kyle Cronk, a white man from Olympia, Washington, posted something online that made me pause. Not scroll. Not skim. Pause. His words weren’t performative. They were piercing. He said, “Shoutout to Black women just because.” And just like that, over 300 people chimed in. Because when someone outside your experience sees you not as a trend, not as a quota, but as a human, it hits different. Mr. Cronk didn’t just post. He showed up. As a strategist who helps leaders break toxic loops with people-first performance, he gave us a sneak peek of what allyship looks like when it’s not dressed in corporate jargon. It was raw. It was real. It was revolutionary. To every Black woman feeling like a shadow in the workplace, in society, in the algorithm Kyle Cronk reminded us: someone sees you. And not just anyone. Someone who didn’t have to. That’s the kind of leadership that doesn’t need a title. It needs a mic. So thank you, Mr. Cronk. For the post. For the pause. For the proof that empathy isn’t color-coded. You gave us a moment. And in this era, moments like that are everything. The Savant Society is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Thanks for reading The Savant Society! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit synerkare.substack.com/subscribe [https://synerkare.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

The Invitation You Can't Afford to Solo-Ignore

The Invitation You Can’t Afford to Sole-Ignore Forget everything you think you know about trade shows. The Footwear Show New York Expo isn’t an event; it’s a carefully curated ecosystem of desire, masterfully produced by Phyllis Rein. This is where commerce meets charisma, and the business of shoes becomes a breathtaking affair. Vibe Cue: This isn’t a convention center it’s a sanctuary for style. FSNYE has re-engineered the B2B experience, transforming the iconic Park Lane New York Hotel into a labyrinth of luxury pop-up showrooms. Imagine: instead of crowded, fluorescent-lit aisles, you’re moving through a series of private, custom-designed rooms and suites. Each door opens not to a mere booth, but to a world a complete vision of the season’s freshest looks. Vibe Cue: It’s the fashion equivalent of a speakeasy. Exclusive, intimate, and impossibly chic. Here, the art of the deal is wrapped in velvet. Wholesalers, manufacturers, and marketeers don’t just showcase their footwear, handbags, and small leather goods; they stage a seduction. This is where exceptional style and raw artistry are presented in their ideal state, away from the noise, allowing every stitch and silhouette to speak for itself. For retailers, it’s a dreamscape of efficiency and inspiration. This is your playground a safe, sophisticated, and remarkably efficient setting that makes doing business in New York City feel not just easy, but exhilarating. You’re not just shopping collections; you’re discovering the future of footwear, one luxurious encounter at a time. Vibe Cue: This is where trends are born and fortunes are made, all over a perfectly poured espresso. So, if you’re ready to step into a world where business feels like a privilege and every introduction holds the promise of your next best-seller, the answer is waiting at the Footwear Show New York Expo. Your next big obsession is behind one of those doors. The only question is, which one? Also, streaming across Roku, Amazon Fire Stick, Apple TV, Android TV along with iOs and Android mobile device. We’ve notified over 90,203 active subscribers See click here https://www.exposureplustv.tv/media/footwear-show-new-york-expo-fsnye-667767 The Savant Society is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Thanks for reading The Savant Society! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit synerkare.substack.com/subscribe [https://synerkare.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

You're invited: Wait! What's Your Vibe before you sit down?

Despite the rise of A.I., there’s one thing technology still can’t automate: human connection. Post-pandemic, so many people are walking around with emotional residue nobody warned us about isolation, depletion, anxiety, quiet sadness, and that “I’m here but I’m not really here” feeling. Not because something is wrong with them… but because so much of the world went back to “normal” while everyone else was still rebooting. Here’s the truth: People aren’t broken. They’re under-connected. And that’s exactly where opportunity lives. This is the moment to create experiences, programs, events, content, and communities that revive people, not drain them. Not pity parties people need a vibe. A spark. A room that feels like oxygen. A moment that says, “You’re safe to exhale here.” We don’t need more noise. We need frequency. The kind that restores humanity, elevates energy, and reconnects us to each other in ways algorithms can’t. This isn’t the era of pity. It’s the era of high-frequency, soul-hitting, human-centered vibes. And trust me… the world is absolutely ready for the right room. #TheSavant #HumanConnection #PostPandemicEra #Leadership #Psychology #Community #BrandCulture #Innovation #PurposeDrivenWork #Reinvention #MediaRelations #PublicRelations #TheSavantCollective Thanks for reading The Savant Society! This post is public so feel free to share it. The Savant Society is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit synerkare.substack.com/subscribe [https://synerkare.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

I inadvertently lied to my clients.

I Lied to My Clients. There. I said it. Let’s get that out of the way before we go any further. I looked them in the eye virtually and otherwise and promised them media coverage in top-tier outlets, brand visibility that would make them household names, and a return on investment that would make their accountants weep with joy. All for the low, low price of… practically nothing. It was the biggest lie I ever told. Not because I couldn’t deliver great work, but because I was charging $1,000 for what should have been a $10,000 retainer. I was selling magic beans and praying a beanstalk would grow, all while funding the “agricultural research” out of my own empty pockets. I was a “help-aholic.” My addiction was your bargain. And it was bankrupting me in every way imaginable. Let’s pull back the curtain on the s**t-show, shall we? Picture me, a supposedly savvy PR maven, juggling maxed-out credit cards to fund client campaigns I’d undercharged for. I was draining my savings to maintain the illusion of success for clients paying less than my monthly car note. Meanwhile, the actual cost of running a real agency was a five-alarm fire in my bank account: * An OTT app, burning $35,040 a month. * Cision and other PR tech, siphoning another $12,850 a year. * And staffing? Don’t even get me started on the beautiful, soul-crushing labyrinth of worker’s comp, state taxes, and federal taxes. I need a triple espresso and a therapy session just typing that sentence. I had an inability to let my “no” be my “no.” When clients bartered, I folded. I had an unrealistic, almost pathological need to help, even if it meant I couldn’t afford to help myself. I was funding their dreams by setting my own on fire. A word to the wise: Don’t do it. This isn’t humility; it’s self-sabotage. It doesn’t make you a good person; it makes you a soon-to-be-former business owner. It ruins your reputation, as clients assume the lack of results is your incompetence, not the reality that they bought a Kia budget and expected a Ferrari outcome. This unsustainable charade was my rock bottom. And it led to a 22-month deep dive into research, case studies, and raw consumer psychology. For the skeptics: yes, I have the receipts an undergrad in Psychology from Marquette University, a double major in Communications, a degree in Human Services, and a deep dive into social welfare and justice. Then, life, in its infinite cruelty, decided to really test the foundation. In the midst of this business implosion, I lost my mother, my grandmother, my uncle, and recently, my little brother. I grieved failed businesses, so-called friends, and my own shattered identity. With the resilience woven into my DNA by my ancestors and let’s be clear, with God’s will as the only logical explanation I didn’t become a statistic. I could have been a prime candidate for suicide, depression, or addiction. But I am Tam. And I was built to last. So, let’s get to the meat of why you’re here. The pain birthed a purpose. The failure forged a formula. I’ve cracked the code. I’ve completed the “Code Breaker” series, and today, I’m releasing the first workbook. It’s not based on theory; it’s built on bedrock research, current events, and brutal feedback from corporate event planners and A-List keynote speakers. This first release, “It’s a Vibe: The Speaking Industry,” is your blueprint. This is for you if you’re ready to stop lying to yourself and start building something real, profitable, and powerful. If not, no worries. Wait for the next book. But something tells me you’re as ready for a change as I was. “The discomfort I’m feeling is not evidence that I’m doing it wrong. It’s evidence that I’m doing something NEW. Old patterns die hard. New frequencies require cultivation. I am coachable. I am committed. I am becoming inevitable.” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit synerkare.substack.com/subscribe [https://synerkare.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]