Find the Communities That Challenge You, Not Just the Ones That Agree With You
Fresh off three days at NAMAD 2026 in Miami, Paul and Kyle came home with a theme that had nothing to do with tariffs, EVs, or affordability, and everything to do with who you're actually in the room with.
Big, industry-wide conversations, tariffs, affordability, AI, matter.
But Kyle's real takeaway from NAMAD was smaller and sharper: the actual progress happens inside micro-communities, twenty groups, regional networks, women's industry groups like WOKAN, startup circles, built around a specific type of person doing a specific kind of work.
You need to find those communities that make the most sense and challenge you, not just say, "oh, you're doing a great job."
Want the full conversation?
🎙️ Listen to today's Automotive State of the Union episode for the complete discussion.
It's Not About Being Around More People
It's about being around the right people.
A broad industry take tells you tariffs are coming. A micro-community tells you what dealers with your customer base, in your region, running your tech stack, are actually doing about it.
Affirmation feels good. Challenge is what actually moves you.
You can belong to more than one. Paul and Kyle pointed to watching WOKAN grow "from its infancy" as proof that these smaller, specific spaces compound in value over years, not months.
A Small Aside Worth Keeping
Paul's read on all the AI anxiety floating around right now: "All I see is AI driving people closer together. It's like a force multiplier on human connection."
Whether or not that holds up broadly, it's a fair description of what three days at NAMAD actually produced: more conversation, more connection, more people finding the specific room where they belonged, not less.
Take stock of which communities you're actually part of right now, and ask honestly whether any of them are challenging you or just agreeing with you.
If the answer is the latter, that's not a reason to leave, it's a reason to go find the smaller, sharper room built around exactly the thing you're trying to get better at.
