I believe even the hardest things, misunderstood tools, complex stories, or painful experiences, can be turned into a force for good. That’s what drew me to social media: a space that’s often written off as shallow or overwhelming, but when used well, can move people to act, connect deeply, and create real change.

After a decade working on hundreds of social media campaigns, I’ve seen both sides of it. The impact side and the frustrating side. I’ve watched leaders pour time and resources into social without results, feeling like they’re shouting into the void.

I often hear:
"Social isn't working for us."
 "This is so frustrating."
 "You're my last stop before I throw in the towel."

That’s exactly why I founded Cause Fokus—a social-first thought leadership agency that helps executives and founders step confidently into their story, build trust, and turn their influence into impact.

We use empathy-driven strategy, grounded in human psychology, to get you in the room with the people who matter most to your mission. I’ve had the privilege of leading social for U.S. policymakers, international NGOs, small businesses, professional athletes, artists, and global change-makers.

And yes, I’m very proud of my Swedish roots, so you might hear me talk a lot about quality over quantity, fika breaks ☕️, and clarity in everything I do. (That’s also why "fokus" is spelled with a k. 😉)

3 ways to work with me:

- Subscribe to my free newsletter
- Hire me as a fractional consultant
- Hire our team for LinkedIn content strategy & support

CASE STUDY: Turning Influence into Opportunity

A CEO of a patient advocacy foundation came to me with a big problem: no traction from their company’s LinkedIn ad campaigns. Cold outreach was falling flat. They were losing momentum with healthcare partners—and couldn’t afford to keep spinning their wheels.

Our solution:

We activated the Chief Development Officer’s personal LinkedIn presence.
In his own voice, we posted 3–4 times a week, spoke directly to the pain points of ideal partners, engaged in strategic conversations, and sent warm, personalized messages to his top-tier contact list.

In just 6 months:
- His content reached 100,000+ impressions
- Profile views from key decision-makers jumped 508%
- Connection acceptance rate hit 60%
- A major lapsed partner re-engaged and said: “I love what you’re doing on LinkedIn. I can tell the organization is taking a turn for the better. Let’s chat.”

Because when the right people trust you, the right doors start opening.
Trust is currency. Let’s spend it well!

Brynne Krispin

One year ago today, I received this email from LinkedIn inviting me into the Top Voices program.

It's been a journey!!

But here's what I want you to know:

The badge didn't change anything.

Not my credibility, influence, or ability to connect with the right people.

All of that was built in the years before the badge ever showed up.

Every single post I published was a tiny experiment.

An experiment to figure out who I am. What I actually believe. The message I want to clearly communicate.

And an experiment to see what resonates. What sticks. What makes people stop scrolling and say, "Yes, that."

Some posts flopped. Some I cringe at even now! Some got 3 likes and a comment from my dad. 🙃

But every single one gave me data.

Data about my voice.
Data about my audience.
Data about what it looks like to keep showing up, even when it feels like no one's watching.

If you're just starting out, remember this:

→ You don't need a badge to have influence.
→ You don't need permission to share your ideas.
→ You don't need to wait until you've "figured it out."

The figuring out happens in the posting.

Every time you hit publish, you learn something. About yourself. About your audience. About what you're actually here to say.

So if you've been sitting on the sidelines, waiting for some sign that you're ready...

This is it.

Start experimenting. Start failing. Start learning.

The badge is just a byproduct. The real win is becoming the kind of person who shows up anyway.

What's one thing you've learned from posting that surprised you? 👀

Your book: polished, well-researched, years in the making.
Your keynote: compelling, rehearsed, standing ovations.
Your decades of experience: undeniable.
Your LinkedIn presence... 

😬😬😬

If this hits a little too close to home, you're not alone!

So many brilliant leaders have built incredible bodies of work, but when it comes to showing up online, it feels awkward. Unnatural. Like you're suddenly forgetting how to do the thing you've done your whole career.

You don't need to become a content creator. You just need a strategy that actually fits how you think and work.

That's exactly what we're building together in the Thoughtful Leaders Cohort starting Feb. 4!

Small group. No fluff. Just a clear path from invisible to in-demand — on your terms.

We have a few spots left, and I'd love for you to join us!! 
📓 Sign up: https://lnkd.in/eza5za4r

I've seen one LinkedIn post lead to a multi-million dollar corporate grant for a nonprofit. Here's exactly how it happened:

A subject matter expert at a nonprofit posted a niche, data-driven piece about a new initiative they were rolling out. I remember her asking, "Do you think people will actually care about all these nerdy details?" 

I said: "Yes! The nerdier the better."

She walked through why they were investing in it, shared some of the candid conversations that led to the decision, and made a case for why it was the right move.

It wasn't viral content, but it was strategic content. The post got around 10 likes.

But then a World Economic Forum employee saw that post. Sent her a DM: "This aligns so well with our conference theme. Would you be open to submitting a proposal to speak at WEF?"

She said yes.

A few months later, she gave a powerful talk on exactly what her post laid out to a room full of global leaders and policy experts.

A major corporate foundation was in the room, and they asked to meet. 
After a series of conversations and proposals, they funded a comprehensive study. 

Then another grant to develop initiatives with a local government. 
Then a third grant to support practical interventions.

One post → One DM → Millions in funding.

Now, you might say: "That's just luck. You can't plan for that."

And you're right — you can't fully predict these moments.

But you can increase the odds.

You can stop posting randomly and start positioning strategically. You can ask yourself: Who are the game-changers who need to see my content? What do they care about? What would make them stop scrolling and say, "We need this person in the room"?

Connect with them. Engage with them. Post for them.

The more you post with intention, the more you turn random into predictable.

You can wait for the right moment to find you.

Or you can create the conditions for it to happen.

What's one opportunity that came from a post you didn't expect?

I'm extremely picky about who I connect with on LinkedIn. It's one of the top questions clients ask me: 

"Should I accept every connection request? What's your process?"

My take: There's no one-size-fits-all answer. Your strategy depends on your goals, your capacity, and who you're trying to reach.

But if it's helpful, here's exactly how I filter connection requests:

First, I look at their profile. I consider:

→ What their headline says about what they do.
→ If they've posted recently, and what they're sharing.
→ Whether their content makes me think.

Then I ask myself a few questions:

→ Could I realistically see myself having a strategic conversation with this person?
→ Are they sharing ideas that challenge me or teach me something?
→ Would I want to work with them someday — as a collaborator, client, or peer?
→ Or does their profile scream "I'm going to pitch you something in 30 seconds"?

If the answer to that last one is yes, I pass.

My feed is my learning environment. My network is my community. And I want both to feel like spaces where real conversations happen.

Your approach might be totally different, and that's okay.

Maybe you're in growth mode and want to cast a wide net.
Maybe you're more open to serendipity.
Maybe you have more bandwidth than I do.

The goal isn't to copy my process, but to develop one that truly serves you.

For me, a curated network is about intention.

What's your filtering process? I'm curious how others approach this. 👀

Excited to welcome these newest members of our team!! 🎉

We're growing! Meet the newest members of our team! 🎉

👋 Daren Colbert – Ghostwriter
Daren helps CEOs and senior leaders translate hard-earned leadership lessons, strategic insights, and culture-building beliefs into LinkedIn posts, newsletters, blogs, and email campaigns that build trust and drive real business outcomes. He blends narrative craft with direct-response discipline to make leaders sound unmistakably like themselves—only sharper. Off the clock, he’s a husband and proud dad who still believes stories can change outcomes when they’re told with honesty and heart.

👋 Alex Piscatelli – Content Strategist
Alex is a social media strategist and creator based in San Francisco. Her media and storytelling experience ranges from newsrooms such as E! News and San Diego’s public media station, to nonprofit clients Saga Education, It Gets Better, and more. She is currently a graduate student researching grief and representation in media and popular culture, and writes and podcasts at griefandmedia.com.

👋 Max Moclock – Outbound Specialist
Max is a brand strategist who helps organizations cut through the noise. He’s guided everyone from federal agencies launching mission-critical initiatives to consumer retailers building breakthrough digital experiences–all focused on one thing: crystallizing go-to-market strategies that deliver results. When he’s not sharpening brands, he's throwing punches in kickboxing, playing ice hockey, or practicing piano.

We are beyond thrilled to have Daren, Alex, and Max on board as we continue to help leaders turn their expertise into impact. Help us welcome them to the team!

I ended the year with 72 drafts sitting in my "to post" folder. 🙃 
Here's exactly what I'm doing to turn that pile of drafts into actual published posts this year:

1. Turn on my Olivia Dean playlist.
   
2. Open my custom AI agent (the same model we use for our Builder clients).
   
3. Drop all 72 drafts in.
   
4. Upload my 2026 priorities doc so my agent knows what I want to focus on this year.
   
5. Ask it to rate each draft based on two things (using a scoring sheet):
   → How aligned is it with my goals?
   → How close is it to being done?

6. Move the ranked drafts into my content calendar.
    
7. Block 1 hour each week to finalize and schedule.

That's it.

I don't have time to waste staring at a blank page. No more "what should I post today?" panic. No more letting good ideas collect dust.

The goal isn't to post more.

It's to post smarter with intention, aligned to where I'm headed.

If you've got a graveyard of drafts haunting your notes app, give this a try and start building on what you already have.

What's one draft you've been sitting on that deserves to finally see the light? 

p.s. We're accepting 2 more Builder clients Feb. 1. Message me if you need help with this!

In the late 1700s, a scientist discovered hydrogen, calculated the Earth's density, and laid the groundwork for Ohm's Law.

Almost no one knew.

His name was Henry Cavendish, and he hated being seen. He rarely published. When he did, it was quiet and incomplete. His genius stayed hidden in notebooks until after he died.

Compare that to Einstein — another introvert, but one who understood that for ideas to matter, they have to reach people.

Two brilliant minds. Two very different legacies.

When I first read about Cavendish, I got a pit in my stomach. Because for years, I was the same way. Content to stay behind the scenes, ghostwriting for others, believing the work should speak for itself.

It took me a long time to realize the quiet cost of remaining behind the scenes.

Full article below. ↴

In the late 1700s, there lived a man who changed science forever, and almost no one knew it. His name was Henry Cavendish, and he hated being seen. He

Open article: The Cost of Remaining Behind the Scenes by Brynne Krispin • 4 min read

One of our writers just turned a Slack message into a viral post.

A client sent over a rough idea: "I want a post about supply chain delays in my industry. I've been hearing the wait times are getting out of control."

He mentioned a few data points he wanted included. A case study he remembered hearing about. He knew the angle — these delays are holding up growth and threatening long-term stability.

Some writers would've taken that brief and started typing.

Ours didn't.

She built a deep research framework:

→ Current lead times across multiple product categories
→ Industry reports on what's causing the delays
→ How these bottlenecks impact downstream projects and infrastructure
→ The specific case study and what actually happened
→ The broader implications for the industry's future

14 pages of research later, she had a comprehensive deep dive.

Then she summarized it. Drafted the post. Revised it several times.

And here's the step most people skip:

She ran the final post back against the original research to check for content decay — making sure nothing got diluted, no context was lost, and every statement still aligned with the source material.

The client posted it with minimal edits, and it took off.

Why? Because it was SO specific.

Not "5 tips for better leadership."
Not "Here's how to scale your business."

It was the exact frustration his audience was already feeling, articulated in a way they hadn't seen before.

This is what we train our writers to do.

They're constantly looking for signals. 

Picking up on the things you mention in passing. Researching what your audience is saying when you're not in the room and what keeps them up at night.

They think like detectives, not order-takers.

And in a world drowning in generic AI content, that's the difference between getting scrolled past and stopping someone mid-scroll.

Depth is your differentiator. Lean into it!

Arthur Brooks is a happiness expert. He started with anxiety and depression.

I picked up his book at a used bookstore a few weeks ago ("Build the Life You Want"), and it completely reframed how I think about expertise. 

Brooks didn't write because he had all the answers. 
He wrote because he was desperate to find them. 
His expertise was born out of his own struggle.

This resonated deeply with me, because so many of the founders and executives I work with are waiting to share their ideas until they feel "ready." They're waiting until the framework is polished, the book is finished, or they finally feel like a real expert.

But here's what I've learned after working with 50+ experts: the ones who resonate most aren't the ones who've "arrived." They're the ones still in motion — still learning, still figuring it out, still willing to say "I don't have all the answers yet."

That honesty makes you more trustworthy, not less. Your audience doesn't need you to be perfect. They need you to be a few steps ahead, willing to share what you're learning along the way.

So if you've been sitting on the sidelines, waiting until you feel like an expert... you already are one. You just haven't started talking about it yet.

What's something you're still learning that you could also be teaching?

Becoming an Expert - Brynne Krispin

Niall Cleaver

Documenting the journey of crafting a timeless coffee cup brand | CEO & Founder of Cupsly

My story isn’t about a polished entrepreneur. My journey hasn’t been traditional. I left school without an English qualification, uncertain of what the future held. 

That failure shaped me, it forced me to think differently, fall into business, and ultimately embrace creativity, resilience, and the belief that change is possible, even when doubted. Fast forward to today, I’m growing and scaling businesses while sharing the real lessons that come from it.

Founder

Are you struggling to grow an engaging community for your business or personal brand.

Stop right there, I think I have you covered ⬇️

This is me (Niall), I'm a 22-year-old who is fascinated by growing communities in the online space. Actual communities that have meaning and purpose. 

The services we provide at Social Library 

➡️ Personal Branding (LinkedIn)

➡️ Guidance & support consulting


Drop me a message to discuss your social media strategy, review how well your current socials/posts are doing, and research how we can build your community and gain you more followers and leads.

or you can email us @

hello@sociallibrary.co.uk

For years... I thought starting small wasn’t even an option.

This year, I want to start small. You need to read this.

Everyone is so scared to start small and I was one of those people. I used to overthink about creating something big instead of worrying about starting small.

Turns out, starting small is how you build big.

It’s how you take the first step forward.
It’s how you stop overanalysing.
It’s how you actually start.

It almost feels wrong when you say it out loud.

But every successful founder and business you see today didn’t get where they are by massive moves. They got there by starting small and then scaling.

So if you’re starting a business, building a hobby, or whatever it may be… stop worrying about “scaling big” and focus on the small step that gets you going.

Growing @thistlescientific and sharing the lessons while I do

Building vs scaling a business. What's the difference?

A few years ago, I learned one of the most valuable lesson in business. I left school with qualifications that made it hard for me to get any sort of job.

Luckily, my family ran a business. I jumped in and started learning. And here’s what I learned: There’s a huge difference between building and scaling.

Building a business:

Proving the idea
Short-term survival
Doing everything yourself
Energy, speed & scrappiness

Scaling a business:

Letting go of control
Long-term decisions
Patience, systems & people
Making sure it works without you.
Alignment throughout the whole company.

Building feels exciting. Scaling feels uncomfortable. Both are essential. I didn’t realise how different they both were until I lived them.

But the one thing that never changes between both? 
The hard work that comes with it.

I just spent 2 hours yesterday in one of the best meetings of my life!!!

What about? How do we build further on our foundation?

Yesterday was a special day, do you know where you get the team together and you leave feeling excited for what's to come? That's what happened.

It's been a pretty wild couple of months for Thistle, but it always comes back to the same thing. How can we deepen the connection we can have with researchers?

The personal touch.
The real support they deserve.
The professionalism and trust they have in us.

This year, we’re looking at how we double down on that.

We’ve set some big objectives, and the whole team is ready for them. If yesterday was anything to go by, this next phase is going to be an exciting one.

We can't wait to share more on this very soon.

We’re excited to announce our new collaboration.

I'm genuinely proud of the impact we're creating in research at Thistle Scientific. It started with one clear objective to make research the best it can be, not only to impact our lives, but also to impact the lives of generations to come.

Last week was a big reminder of this as we announced our collaboration with arcorisbio AG, which will help accelerate the industrialisation and commercialisation of their breakthrough MUSE® platform.

A collaboration that will help keep the world safe.

One of the best mistakes I learned pretty quickly in business.

Thinking strategy comes first in business. But it doesn’t… 

Understanding who you’re building for is.

I’m nowhere near successful yet. But I’ve been lucky to spend time around people who definitely are. And one topic comes up over and over again: 

Strategy.

How did you come up with your strategy?
Why has your strategy been effective?
When do you adapt your strategy?

The answer usually sounds complicated.
But, it keeps coming back to one word: audience.

Before you can plan anything, you have to understand them. What do they care about? When do they need to hear from you? How do they feel when they see you show up?

This is where a lot of founders go wrong. No strategy is 100% correct. It’s custom‑made based on how well you understand the information your audience is giving you.

So copying what works in another company or industry rarely works. You’re playing a different game, with different people, at a different stage.

Strategy is an understanding game.

I used to panic hearing the word strategy in business.

It sounded complicated... but it wasn’t.

I would hear the word and be like that sounds proper technical. I'd just nod like I understood exactly what it meant, when I didn't but now I get it and it's simple.

It's just a plan.

What are the objectives?
What action will you take to hit them?
Which data tells you it's working or it isn't?

We love to make words sound more complicated than they are. 

It's easy to overcomplicate things when you hear all of the advice online but it's simpler than you think. If something isn't working don't wait, go and find the reason why.

Try something. Learn. Adapt. Evolve. Repeat.
Just enjoy the process of figuring out.

That's what business is!

When I was younger, I hesitated on the idea of working for my family business.

Today, I’m 3 years in, working alongside nearly 50 incredible people.

It’s crazy how life works. Some days you’re completely against something before you’ve even tried it…then you try it and realise it was exactly what you were meant to do.

I always had this doubt in the back of my head:
That I had to prove myself somewhere else first.

That’s why:

- I started posting on LinkedIn.
- I kept looking for “my own thing”.
- I started learning more about business.

Now it feels like all of that happened so I could come back better and help continue to grow a business I genuinely care about. But this growth has hardly been me. It’s been the team I get to work with every single day.

A few things this has taught me:

- Don’t write something off until you’ve actually tried it.
- You can prove yourself elsewhere, but always bring the knowledge back

So don't resist an opportunity just because it didn't fit your picture in that specific moment of your life. It might be worth taking a closer look.

Stop listening to too much advice.

Read that again... throughout my journey, I've fallen for many distractions. Stuff that didn't feel right personally, and so many of us are going through this.

There's advice here, there and everywhere.

And it's very hard to know which is the right or wrong advice, and you know what you'll never really know. The only way to find out is to...

Listen to your gut and try.

In a world full of advice after advice, trust yourself first. 
There's no right or wrong way to do anything.

If it works, it works!

P.S. Have a little day in the life vid

taplio

The Battle

Brynne Krispin

Niall Cleaver

Followers

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Performance ScoreBrynne Krispin's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreNiall Cleaver's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Brynne Krispin

Niall Cleaver

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Brynne Krispin's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreBrynne Krispin's LinkedIn Performance