We're still putting the finishing touches on the complete community experience. Join early as a Founding Member and help us shape the future of Kindred — invites sent via email.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to the most common questions below.
Why did you start Kindred?
With 20 years experience in freelance creative services and running small businesses, we see a growing gap in educational resources and community specifically for artists and creative pros growing their own companies, agencies, or consultancies. The goal is constructive, yet considerate dialogue about the status quo, what needs to change in the world, and how we can help each other see a better, brighter future together.
Who can join Kindred?
For now, Kindred is invite-only, but open to many different groups of people. The initial focus is serving and supporting self-employed creative professionals and artists with experience starting and/or running their own companies. We're also targeting "creative-adjacent" industry pros and service providers (think: sales, marketing, legal, tech, etc.). We can all learn incredible things from each other.
Just out of school? Early career?
Congrats on the beginning of your new professional journey! To best provide an enriching and supportive experience for everyone, we're prioritizing membership for current self-employed individuals and/or those who hold senior-level in-house roles alongside their freelance work. We definitely want to ensure you're included in the community, so don't hesitate to reach out or apply for membership.
Who runs Kindred?
Kindred is the cumulative result of dozens of conversations between creative professionals. Nick Heller of ABLE Concepts is directing/managing, but the vision is that we all run it together. Kindred is a 'Members Only' club – the more support, effort, and engagement members put in, the longer we can keep the party going. Remember house parties? Nick (and ABLE Concepts) is hosting, but each of you needs to tell your friends to show up and join in the fun. Also, snacks never hurt.
Community-led Leadership?
The hope is that natural leaders step forward (especially within each individual community channel). Ideally, community leadership is happening in the communities – photographers, writers, design leads, etc. Once enough members join each community channel, we plan to open nominations for representative leadership to serve on the Member Advisory Board.
How much will this cost?
For the time being, Kindred is entirely free. The plan is to support the club and community with free or affordable systems and platforms for now (as the most pressing objective is onboarding a diverse set of voices and skill sets). If/when the group's future needs outpace current solutions, we may develop newer versions that require additional investment. One probable solution is to offer sponsorship opportunities to community-nominated service providers and vendors to subsidize operational costs that may arise (think: minimal ads and product or service placements you'd see anyway).
Is the member database public?
The member database will launch on the site in early 2026. It will remain private and be restricted to Kindred members only. We want to encourage transparency among members while also respecting their privacy. As such, what you see is what you get. We won't store or share any of your data unnecessarily. Don't worry – we will notify users of what information will be visible before launch in early 2026.
Why are some users "sponsored"?
We intend to accept sponsorships to help fund the club and subsidize its operating costs. Not only do we invite them to join as sponsors, but also as a support network to the rest of our membership. Sponsored users will be invited to join a specific set of community channels, discussions, and events as Kindred members. They may also host events, webinars, or discussions in their sponsorship capacities.
Long-term goals for Kindred?
Ideally, the community decides on the long-term plans for Kindred, but we have some fun ideas to pitch to the group! For example, once there's sufficient interest, we would love to develop an e-commerce platform for our Members to use to generate additional revenue through apparel, products, and course sales. Additionally, we hope to leverage the expertise of club members to develop one of the world's first remote university experiences, explicitly geared towards creative professionals and artists planning to launch their own businesses.
Is support available?
Yes, for support, please reach out via email: kindred@able-concepts.com or text: (404) 907-3555