Howdy y’all,

This edition arrives as a result of the conversations from a mentor and through gathering.

These past two weeks I’ve appreciated the gift of mentorship around developing my coaching practice from Whitney Hess, a 15+ year coach who’s mission is to put humanity back into business. Her work’s dedicated towards developing a world:

• that values collective power over personal power;

• where companies take care o their communities;

• where leaders reflect and represent all identities, cultures, and needs of society.

This week, I joined the first after-conference meet-up from Throughline, collectively finding each of us are seeking spaces to gather and cultivate community together.

David Gray-Hammond and Helen Edgar shared Weird Pride in a Hostile World in preparation of Weird Pride Day on March 4th.

Weird pride emerges in the  in-between
It shows up when someone says, quietly, “I think I might be different”, and does not immediately apologise. It shows up when a person stops trying to explain themselves to those committed to misunderstanding them.

It shows up when survival becomes a creative act. Perhaps, more accurately, it is the act of saying “I think I can be different”.

In a hostile world, one structured around productivity, compliance, normality, and legibility, existing as weird is already a form of resistance. There is no glamorous resistance or organised revolt. We are not the cinematic dissidents of Hollywood dystopia. Weird pride is a messy resistance, often coming from tired people and an inconsistent resistance, but still a resistance to normativity.

What are my practices?

All of these things have been swishing around, mixing in my brain flask, and starting to compound.

In this newsletter, I’ve covered my digital garden practice—yet to explore the others. What are those other practices?

Writing

In mid-July 2024, 500 Words started as an intentional development of my writing practice. Towards the end of July, that changed, evolving into 500 Characters, adjusting the cadence to follow my energy. I shipped consistently(-ish) until November 2024 as I left Substack.

Design

My design practice has evolved as well, with Poet & Scribe, and its rebranding and 5.0 pivot in November 2025. We’ve had a few clients since then—just finished an engagement, helping polish a video game that’s launching this March—but, design systems aren’t whetting anymore. The mission, though, still stands:

Helping teams shape accessible web products, thoughtfully built to grow.

Neuroinclusive Leadership

This is something I’ve never given up on, and is more in the act of how I go about things. It’s not something I feel I’ve practiced much in the last few years, with intention.

It’s something that I’ve tried to do again, through job applications and the like, but haven’t had any bites on that front.

Twice, I was recognized for my organizational impact on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging at Booking.com through it’s Playmaker Award. It was given to 25 people of the 22,000 employees. That’s 0.11% of people recognized. I’m proud of that work and want to continue in it.

Coaching & Facilitation

This is what we hoped and had planned Poet & Scribe to be from the beginning—a practice of coaching & facilitation to help organizations design, develop, and operationalize processes to grow into something greater.

From the beginning, we were working on packages to co-create core values, missions & visions, purpose & beliefs, product strategy, and systems.

We asked for help from many others around growing a business and listened to the advice a bit too much, moving far away from its original intent.

Neuroqueering Organizations

Yesterday, as I finished the call with Whitney, her parting words were thus:

Follow your energy. Find what sparks.

While chewing on thoughts of energy & sparks, it came to me.

Neuroqueer is a term Dr. Nick Walker coined in a paper, that developed over time through conversations and practices. Ultimately, he published an introduction to it in 2015, then revised and expanded it in Summer 2021, then included it in his book Neuroqueer Heresies, at the end of November, 2021.

I was starting to actively seek and learn about the Neurodiversity Paradigm, Autistic History, and engaging with the broader community.

Neuroqueering was originaly a verb, “as the practice of queering (subverting, defying, disrupting, liberating oneself from) neuronormativity and heteronormativity simultaneously.” (Walker 2021)

I’ve actively tried to do this in almost every environment I’ve been in for the longest while. It’s been a practice that brings me energy—from discussing neurodiversity, defying performative normativity, and working towards breaking that side of things myself.

Now, I see this as a significant framing where my Writing, Design, Leadership, Coaching, and Facilitation practices collide.

As I deepen this realization, exploring its potential, I’m finding my path towards a business that entwines my skills, embodies my interests, and encapsulates how I want to impact organizations I work with.

In the coming weeks, it’ll be what I’m “putting on paper.”

• How does this practice translate into business?

• What would those services be, exactly?

• Who could I contact to stress-test this and soundboard with?

I’m excited about it.

If you have thoughts in response, would love to read and/or hear them.

As always, thank you for reading.

Be safe; take care,

Jonathan