Dear Permission to be Powerful reader,
Permission to be Powerful is changing.
Starting today, every new article on this publication will become available to members only.
I want to explain exactly why.
Because if you’ve been reading for a while, you deserve to know what is happening.
And honestly?
I think you’re going to love where this is going.
I’ve been watching something amazing happen with the Vacation Vault.
The membership keeps growing.
People are joining.
People are paying.
And after all the work I’ve put into building it, it feels incredible to see something I created finally becoming a real business.
But the biggest lesson I’ve learned is not about vacations.
It’s about commitment.
People value what they invest in.
A free subscriber is someone who enjoys something.
A member is someone who says:
“I want to be part of this.”
That tiny decision changes everything.
And I realized Permission to Be Powerful needed the same thing.
It needs to become a real publication.
A member-supported publication.
Let me explain why.
When Tony Robbins fired me, I made a decision.
I was done spending my life building other people’s dreams while ignoring my own.
For 15 years, I was a professional writer.
I wrote for companies.
I wrote for entrepreneurs.
I wrote behind the scenes.
I helped other people build their brands.
But I wasn’t building mine.
And eventually, I hit a point where I knew something had to change.
AI had disrupted my entire industry.
Freelancing no longer felt like the future I wanted.
I wanted ownership.
I wanted to become a publisher.
Not just a writer.
A publisher.
Someone who owned the audience.
The relationship.
The platform.
The entire ecosystem.
So I made the biggest bet of my life.
I spent almost two years building.
I lived off my savings.
I worked.
I wrote.
I learned technology.
I built systems.
I figured out email.
I figured out memberships.
I figured out how to create something that belonged to me.
And eventually, I came out the other side with:
A 100,000+ person audience.
A growing travel membership called Vacation Vault.
And Permission to Be Powerful.
The publication I had wanted to create for years.
The truth is…
This publication means more to me than almost anything I’ve ever created.
Because for most of my career, I was afraid to publish under my own name.
I spent 15 years helping other people find their voice while wondering whether anyone wanted to hear mine.
I had countless ideas.
Countless projects.
Countless things I wanted to create.
And I walked away from too many of them.
The deeper issue was not talent.
It was belief.
I didn’t believe people would care.
I didn’t believe people would take me seriously.
I didn’t believe my own voice mattered.
Then I finally decided to find out.
And something amazing happened.
People cared.
People responded.
People connected.
One reader told me my writing made her cry four times.
Comments like that changed something in me.
They showed me this wasn’t just something I was doing for myself.
This work mattered.
Some of my favorite things I’ve ever written came from this publication.
“Romeo Santos.”
“Blackballed.”
“The Upside Down.”
Stories where I got to explore ideas I actually cared about.
Stories that felt like me.
After 15 years of writing for other people, I finally became the writer I always wanted to be.
And now I want to take Permission to Be Powerful to the next level.
Starting [date], new articles will be available to members.
Membership will cost just $1 per month.
That’s it.
One dollar.
A buck.
Perhaps the cheapest subscription you’ll ever have.
This is NOT a donation.
You are becoming a member of the publication.
You’re saying:
“I want to support this work.”
“I want to be part of this community.”
“I want access to the complete Permission to Be Powerful experience.”
Members will receive access to every new article and the full archive of writing.
Free readers will still receive some content.
But the deepest work will be reserved for members.
I wanted to make this as easy as possible.
Substack normally starts paid subscriptions at $5/month.
That’s the BARE MINIMUM.
But I wanted the barrier to be almost nonexistent.
So founding members can join for just $1/month.
And once you join, you keep that special founding member price for as long as you remain a member.
I know a dollar doesn’t sound like much.
That’s the point.
I’m not asking you for a major commitment.
I’m asking you for a tiny decision.
A small vote of confidence.
Because thousands of small commitments add up.
That’s how publications survive.
That’s how communities are built.
That’s how independent writers keep creating.
I’ve put everything into building this.
The audience.
The technology.
The writing.
The systems.
I’m currently working another job while building this publication because I believe in what it can become.
My goal is simple:
I want to spend my days writing, creating, and building Permission to Be Powerful at the level it deserves.
And I can only do that if this publication becomes sustainable.
So now there is a choice.
You can remain a free reader.
And that’s completely fine.
Or you can become a founding member.
You can join the people who are helping build what comes next.
For $1/month, you can become part of Permission to Be Powerful.
I would love to have you with me.
Subscribe to Permission to Be Powerful.
Tony V.
Editor-in-Chief
Permission to be Powerful
