A Personal Update
Slightly nervous but here we go!!
Listen to the letter here. ⬆️ (Plus a little extra.)
Hello loves, how is everyone?
Today’s letter is straight up housekeeping: I’m excited to share that, after one year of making HELLO HAYES, I’m turning on paid subscriptions! (Don’t worry, 99% of the content you’re used to on Substack and everywhere else will remain free. More details in a sec.)
First: Thank you to everyone who “pledged” your financial support over the last year. Your encouragement gave me the courage to do this. And to everyone who signs up today, or at some point in the future, thank you for directly supporting the growth and evolution of this community.
Sooo, what’s happening?
Hello Hayes will remain primarily free for everyone who wants to be here! Seriously. No guilt or hard feelings if you can’t swing it. The paid subscription tier is for anyone who's able to support my work beyond liking, commenting, and sharing — which are still deeply appreciated forms of support, please continue doing these things!!!
Paid subs will also get access to some additional community & content perks, which I’ll mention momentarily.
Why now?
I’ve been thinking about launching a paid subscription for a while. I chose Substack as my newsletter platform last year specifically for its tiered subscription functionality. And yet, despite having many readers and listeners pledge their support with notes like “you support me, I want to support you,” I’ve been avoiding it.
Recently I started asking: Why?
My answer is unsurprising and boring so I’ll spare you the self-deprecation. All I’ll say is that it’s precisely the type of phantom, “holds-no-ground-in reality” fear that I try to charge through rather than cower beneath.
I also read something that validated this decision to accept financial support (rather than require it or waive it off). It’s from this beautifully chaotic interview about ADHD and neurodiversity, from Jeff Warren’s newsletter HOME BASE. (Highly recommend, btw. He writes and shares meditations for “fidgety skeptics.”)
When talking about the strengths and challenges of a neurodivergent brain, he writes:
“Sensitive creative healer types need support in order to be sensitive creative healer types. These kinds of brains need extra support. And for this, society needs to become more accommodating and collaborative. If it doesn’t, then the opposite happens. Those same brains are more vulnerable to suffering and mental illness. And that negatively affects the whole culture and environment.”
PHEW! So much to unpack here. But for one, it made me realize that I am definitely a “sensitive creative healer type,” and Jeff Warren is right, I require support so that I can keep sharing my sensitive ass self. Don’t we all? My support comes from my inner circle of friends, my family, my therapist, and my chosen colleagues.
And of course, support comes from all of you. Thank you. Your comments, shares, advice column submissions, and private “I see you” emails are the heartbeat of all of this. You are who I imagine on the other side of the screen when I sit down to write, record, and press publish.
And now, if you’re able to support this endeavor with a paid subscription, I appreciate that, too.
What do I get? (Free vs Paid)
All subscribers, free and paid, will continue to receive the content you’re used to: advice columns, essays, interviews, and other short thoughts and recommendations that I believe will be of value to you.
Paid subscribers (starting at $5/month) will also get the following perks:
Ability to ask questions in the Hello Hayes chat, and get advice and build relationships with others in our community. We already started the first one — jump in and say hello!!
Free subscribers can comment in chat threads, but they cannot start them.
Some chat threads, started by me, will be for paid subscribers only.
Pro tip: The chat is easiest to use in the app. You can turn on push notifications so you’re notified when I (or others) post something new for you to weigh in on.
Audio versions of all my posts
Other exclusive writing that I decide to put behind a paywall (my most personal pieces)
Priority pass for my advice column
This does not guarantee that your letter will be selected, but it does bump it to the top of the list.
When you submit your letter to hellohayesadvice@gmail.com, please include “PAID SUBSCRIBER” in the subject line
We have three different tiers for paid subscribers: $5/month, $50/year ($10 savings), or, for the extra generous, $150/year.
Thank you, all of you.
Hayes
Excited for you and all that Hello Hayes is and will become!!!