Join as a Founding Member
Join as a Founding Member
a not-so-secret social club
a not-so-secret social club
Where experienced self-employed creative pros, entrepreneurs, and small business owners gather to share insights, network, and future-cast.
Where experienced self-employed creative pros, entrepreneurs, and small business owners gather to share insights, network, and future-cast.
It's time to build
It's time to build
a new paradigm
a new paradigm
Less trade-offs, more value. Kindred is a hope; a tiny spark. One invitation at a time, to a community of people just like you and me. People fanning the flames of progress through genuine connections, real opportunities, and a chance...
Less trade-offs, more value. Kindred is a hope; a tiny spark. One invitation at a time, to a community of people just like you and me. People fanning the flames of progress through genuine connections, real opportunities, and a chance...
Less trade-offs, more value. Kindred is a hope; a tiny spark. One invitation at a time, to a community of people just like you and me. People fanning the flames of progress through genuine connections, real opportunities, and a chance...
a chance to show the world—and each other—the fundamental values of self-employment, artistry, craftsmanship, and creative professionalism. An opportunity to build a future different from the dimming paths many of us find ourselves on today.
a chance to show the world—and each other—the fundamental values of self-employment, artistry, craftsmanship, and creative professionalism. An opportunity to build a future different from the dimming paths many of us find ourselves on today.
a chance to show the world—and each other—the fundamental values of self-employment, artistry, craftsmanship, and creative professionalism. An opportunity to build a future different from the dimming paths many of us find ourselves on today.
Authentic, intentional, and beneficial community shouldn't be counter-cultural — Join as a Founding Member and have a pivotal role in influencing how Kindred evolves to support a growing community. Become a beacon for others.
Authentic, intentional, and beneficial community shouldn't be counter-cultural — Join as a Founding Member and have a pivotal role in influencing how Kindred evolves to support a growing community. Become a beacon for others.
Authentic, intentional, and beneficial community shouldn't be counter-cultural — Join as a Founding Member and have a pivotal role in influencing how Kindred evolves to support a growing community. Become a beacon for others.
FULL EXPERIENCE LAUNCHING EARLY 2026
FULL EXPERIENCE LAUNCHING EARLY 2026
Get early access
Get early access
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.
Note: If you don't see an email within a few minutes, check your SPAM folder.
Your peers, clients, and collaborators are waiting
Proposed Features
&
Benefits
Request an Invite
Available Immediately
Slack Community
Zero cost for members. Join tailored spaces for different creative disciplines and find opportunities to connect with clients or collaborate with others. Kindred will begin on Slack and pivot to another platform as needed to serve the community best.
Office Hours
Co-working Opportunities
Events & Education
A thriving community promotes the growth and well-being of all members. Join us for a variety of events and education — Q&As (via Office Hours), Virtual Coffee, and Coworking Hangouts. Knowledge is power, and connection is medicine.
Custom Profiles
Member Database
Membership Site
Coming Early 2026 — Engage with fellow members on Slack now, and soon connect with them on the members-only Kindred website. Search for fellow creative pros and small business service providers. Sorry…no cool jackets at this time.
Work for Hire
Collaborations
Support Network
One of our goals? Include a diverse group of support providers who serve other independent contractors, entrepreneurs, and creatives through sales, marketing, legal, and other support services. Result? Mutually beneficial opportunities. Kindred spirits.
Internal Support
Client Introductions
Freelance Opportunities
Another ABLE Concept, The Brand Friendly, helps companies and brands with their creative asset licensing needs. As client brands' needs vary, opportunities to support The Brand Friendly and their clients will be available to vetted Kindred members.
Request an Invite
Available Immediately
Slack Community
Zero cost for members. Join tailored spaces for different creative disciplines and find opportunities to connect with clients or collaborate with others. Kindred will begin on Slack and pivot to another platform as needed to serve the community best.
Office Hours
Co-working Opportunities
Events & Education
A thriving community promotes the growth and well-being of all members. Join us for a variety of events and education — Q&As (via Office Hours), Virtual Coffee, and Coworking Hangouts. Knowledge is power, and connection is medicine.
Custom Profiles
Member Database
Membership Site
Coming Early 2026 — Engage with fellow members on Slack now, and soon connect with them on the members-only Kindred website. Search for fellow creative pros and small business service providers. Sorry…no cool jackets at this time.
Work for Hire
Collaborations
Support Network
One of our goals? Include a diverse group of support providers who serve other independent contractors, entrepreneurs, and creatives through sales, marketing, legal, and other support services. Result? Mutually beneficial opportunities. Kindred spirits.
Internal Support
Client Introductions
Freelance Opportunities
Another ABLE Concept, The Brand Friendly, helps companies and brands with their creative asset licensing needs. As client brands' needs vary, opportunities to support The Brand Friendly and their clients will be available to vetted Kindred members.
Note:
Note:
The highlighted community features and benefits may evolve to meet the community's needs better. Your input as a club member is crucial to Kindred's ongoing development.
The highlighted community features and benefits may evolve to meet the community's needs better. Your input as a club member is crucial to Kindred's ongoing development.
Proposed Features
&
Benefits
Slack Community
Zero cost for members. Join tailored spaces for different creative disciplines and find opportunities to connect with clients or collaborate with others. Kindred will begin on Slack and pivot to another platform as needed to serve the community best.
Slack Community
Zero cost for members. Join tailored spaces for different creative disciplines and find opportunities to connect with clients or collaborate with others. Kindred will begin on Slack and pivot to another platform as needed to serve the community best.
Events & Education
A thriving community promotes the growth and well-being of all members. Join us for a variety of events and education — Q&As (via Office Hours), Virtual Coffee, and Coworking Hangouts. Knowledge is power, and connection is medicine.
Events & Education
A thriving community promotes the growth and well-being of all members. Join us for a variety of events and education — Q&As (via Office Hours), Virtual Coffee, and Coworking Hangouts. Knowledge is power, and connection is medicine.
Membership Site
Coming Early 2026 — Engage with fellow members on Slack now, and soon connect with them on the members-only Kindred website. Search for fellow creative pros and small business service providers. Sorry…no cool jackets at this time.
Membership Site
Coming Early 2026 — Engage with fellow members on Slack now, and soon connect with them on the members-only Kindred website. Search for fellow creative pros and small business service providers. Sorry…no cool jackets at this time.
Support Network
One of our goals? Include a diverse group of support providers who serve other independent contractors, entrepreneurs, and creatives through sales, marketing, legal, and other support services. Result? Mutually beneficial opportunities. Kindred spirits.
Support Network
One of our goals? Include a diverse group of support providers who serve other independent contractors, entrepreneurs, and creatives through sales, marketing, legal, and other support services. Result? Mutually beneficial opportunities. Kindred spirits.
Freelance Opportunities
Another ABLE Concept, The Brand Friendly, helps companies and brands with their creative asset licensing needs. As client brands' needs vary, opportunities to support The Brand Friendly and their clients will be available to vetted Kindred members.
Freelance Opportunities
Another ABLE Concept, The Brand Friendly, helps companies and brands with their creative asset licensing needs. As client brands' needs vary, opportunities to support The Brand Friendly and their clients will be available to vetted Kindred members.
Note:
The highlighted community features and benefits may evolve to meet the community's needs better. Your input as a club member is crucial to Kindred's ongoing development.
Even a small bit of light can show the way
Even a small bit of light can show the way
Core Values. North Stars. Guiding Principles.
Core Values. North Stars. Guiding Principles.
Whatever you may call them (or have heard them called before), the ethos of the Kindred community is critical to the success of every member.
Whatever you may call them (or have heard them called before), the ethos of the Kindred community is critical to the success of every member.
Kindred starts with 'Kind'
Radical candor is necessary, but must be earned. Kindness creates space, space creates trust, and trust creates opportunities for constructive, yet considerate, dialogue and dreaming.
01
Proposed Guiding Principle
Kindred starts with 'Kind'
Radical candor is necessary, but must be earned. Kindness creates space, space creates trust, and trust creates opportunities for constructive, yet considerate, dialogue and dreaming.
Proposed Guiding Principle
01
Kindred starts with 'Kind'
Radical candor is necessary, but must be earned. Kindness creates space, space creates trust, and trust creates opportunities for constructive, yet considerate, dialogue and dreaming.
01
Proposed Guiding Principle
Education, Empowerment, Exploration
We maintain a posture of curiosity and wonder – learning new things leads to context and experience. Our latest experiences empower us and ready us to explore the unknown.
02
Proposed Guiding Principle
Education, Empowerment, Exploration
We maintain a posture of curiosity and wonder – learning new things leads to context and experience. Our latest experiences empower us and ready us to explore the unknown.
Proposed Guiding Principle
02
Education, Empowerment, Exploration
We maintain a posture of curiosity and wonder – learning new things leads to context and experience. Our latest experiences empower us and ready us to explore the unknown.
02
Proposed Guiding Principle
Abundance mindset, not scarcity
Conventional wisdom says that to win, we must focus on ourselves. Instead, we choose to focus on each other – knowledge, opportunities, support. Everyone can win together if we're unafraid to give.
03
Proposed Guiding Principle
Abundance mindset, not scarcity
Conventional wisdom says that to win, we must focus on ourselves. Instead, we choose to focus on each other – knowledge, opportunities, support. Everyone can win together if we're unafraid to give.
Proposed Guiding Principle
03
Abundance mindset, not scarcity
Conventional wisdom says that to win, we must focus on ourselves. Instead, we choose to focus on each other – knowledge, opportunities, support. Everyone can win together if we're unafraid to give.
03
Proposed Guiding Principle
Humanness > Technology
We create as a reflection of being creations ourselves – a wonderfully complex network of diverse backgrounds, cultures, and lived experiences. Our most precious resource is each other.
04
Proposed Guiding Principle
Humanness > Technology
We create as a reflection of being creations ourselves – a wonderfully complex network of diverse backgrounds, cultures, and lived experiences. Our most precious resource is each other.
Proposed Guiding Principle
04
Humanness > Technology
We create as a reflection of being creations ourselves – a wonderfully complex network of diverse backgrounds, cultures, and lived experiences. Our most precious resource is each other.
04
Proposed Guiding Principle
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
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
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