Hey friend,

You chose remote work for freedom.
What no one warned you about? How easy it is to accidentally ghost the rest of humanity.

One minute you’re living your best life.
The next, your closest coworker is your laptop and your “social plan” is a podcast.

This issue isn’t about networking or forced small talk.
It’s about real friendships. The kind that protect your mental health, make work better, and turn a location-independent life into something that actually feels full.

Connection doesn’t just happen when you work remotely.
It has to be built… intentionally, imperfectly, and sometimes a little awkwardly.

Let’s make friends on purpose.

— Ric & Shellie

P.S. Know someone who works remotely and could use more real humans in their life? Share this with them. 🙌🏼

EXPAND FRIENDSHIPS

Designing a Remote Life You Love: How to Make Friends

By Darcy Marie Mayfield

Waiting for friends to magically appear in your remote life? That's the plan that fails.

Treating connection like essential infrastructure changes everything. Your brain literally needs it. But here's the thing: the strategy isn't complicated, it's just wildly intentional.

The secret to showing up first (and why overthinking kills friendship before it starts) might surprise you.

Stop waiting, start building friendships →

QUICK TAKES

Building Social Connections

✅ The Friendship Recession: The Lost Art of Connecting

✅ The Adult Friendship Experiments That Helped Me Build Community

✅ From Lonely to Connected: HR Solutions for Remote Teams

LAST WEEK’S POLL RESULTS

How do you approach making friends as a remote professional?

EXPAND FRIENDSHIPS

Making Friends, Without Making It Weird

By Bonnie Yunt

Comfort turned into isolation faster than Bonnie expected. Working remotely made postponing connection dangerously easy.

Her solution? A simple monthly commitment that changed everything. Connection is a muscle that gets stronger with use.

The twice-a-month rule she follows (and why being the one who sends the invite matters more than you think) might be exactly what you need.

Learn her friendship commitment system →

MEME OF THE WEEK

THE VIBE

News to Use

🔆 How Remote Work Exposed Weaknesses In Corporate Leadership. The future of work is not about where people sit. It is about being effective and supportive leaders, regardless of location.

🔆 Three Skills to Make Work More Meaningful in 2026. The surprising ingredients that keep motivation alive after resolutions fade.

🔆 Small Businesses Have the Real AI Advantage. Here’s How They Can Make the Most of It.

POLL – NEXT WEEKS TOPIC

Next week: Use 2026 to intentionally “design for travel” by baking trips into their calendar, workload, and budget instead of waiting for free time to appear.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

Your Friendship Lab Awaits

Remember that "friendship project" we mentioned? Here's your experiment schedule.

Taprooms in Wilmington. Ski slopes in Maggie Valley. AI nerds in Asheville. Coworking everywhere else.

Real humans. Real conversations. Real friends who actually understand why you're working from a coffee shop at noon on a Tuesday.

Pick one. Show up. Repeat.

Find your people here →

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