Discover how one solopreneur turned his passion for community-building into a thriving business. Learn how he is creating impactful connections and fostering growth for others.
Xolopreneur Mihai Dragomirescu is a freelancer from Romania. If his name sounds familiar it's because he recently submitted an entry to our, now retired, Xolo Pledge–his freelance hurdle surrounded the transition from hourly wages. Check out the Xolo Pledge contribution here.
Mihai, it’s great to chat with you. Could you briefly introduce yourself?
“My name is Mihai Dragomirescu, and thanks for the conversation!
I was born and lived up to age 35 in Bucharest, Romania. 8 years ago we moved to the mountains near Brașov, Romania. I prefer to be more than just my career, so let me start by saying that I’m the father of two incredible little humans, a husband, and friend to my highschool love. After 43 years I’ve worked through many of life’s ups-n-downs, learned some techniques to ride these waves easier, and co-created life with my teachers through personal inner-working and techniques.
The only time I’ve not worked in tech, internet or communities was in my first year of highschool. I’d taken a role handing out flyers for my deskmate’s sister, who was working in a local Ad Agency.
I’ve recently realized all of my positions have had a community component. I started to wonder why, and also accepted that it is part of who I am. With that mindset I started seeing ways of how community can be woven into various scenarios.
Now my work as a freelancer involves partnerships with multiple clients. This job involves listening to their needs, and offering them guidance and tools. My clients discover what strategic clarity can bring to the table, and then it’s my mission to tinker with online platforms so that their vision is supported by the most suitable tech stack. I’m not a teacher, developer, writer or designer but sometimes my work involves all these traits".
You’ve been building communities since high school––When did you get hooked?
"Yes, that’s correct. Early in highschool, together with an older colleague, we started a Bulletin Board System (BBS): a system that other people were connecting to using their dial-up connections where they could exchange messages and files. We had no mp3/mp4 back then so the files were mostly books and various software & games.
I was fascinated by Romania’s most famous rock band Phoenix and was looking to connect with them and other people who loved their music. Knowing my way around computers and the web, I created an online forum .
To give you a bit of context, Phoenix did the hard work of digging up old pre-christian Romanian folklore and reinterpreted it in such a brilliant way that it contributed tremendously to national identity. Romanians resonated deeply with these ancestral sounds.
I ended up meeting the leader of the band Nicu Covaci (who recently passed away) and the other members of the band. They had a backdoor through me to their most devoted fans, sometimes sending me unreleased tracks to upload on the forum, or giving us their precious time and attention by organizing weekly community calls with fans on Yahoo Messenger. I remember writing a 20+ page document with screenshots as a training guide for Nicu to learn to use Yahoo Messenger. I felt like the coolest kid on the block.
Recently I learned that a forum member met his now wife in that community and it warmed my heart".
What are some communities you manage today? And how have you turned this passion into a business?
"You can call it passion. There’s a need inside me of belonging, and that’s rooted in losing both my parents. And there’s a desire I have, to bring my contribution to a world that is less disconnected, for the little humans that chose us as parents.
I believe in bringing micro-communities together into one large community.
In 2023, I started SUUNA community together with 4 women and it was meant to be a women’s community in Romanian, a place where individuals come together to connect more deeply with themselves and with the Earth. It also provides a space for participating in activities and events that foster balance, harmony and personal development. SUUNA brought together the communities of its co-founders and is now pivoting towards a multi-platform solution for communities. It’s an alternative to social media, where algorithms and ads hijack one of your most important assets: your attention.
I was lucky enough to contribute for more than 1 year in the PAUA community that is currently on review break. PAUA is a gathering of entrepreneurs, explorers of consciousness, and conscious business leaders. PAUA’s mission is to explore uncharted territories, both rediscovering ancient and unveiling new technologies that offer a broader, richer perception of reality.
I’m in the process of bringing together the communities of my private clients that currently sit on Substack, each with their own individual content and monetisation strategy. Even though community platforms are great, there is a big resistance to change, and building an engaged community is definitely difficult. But sometimes, an engaged community is not necessary. An underestimated benefit of communities is that it allows you to actually own the relationship with your audience. When I say community I include multi-media newsletters (Substack) in that category.
I wrote more about this recently here".
How did you find Xolo and why was Xolo the right choice for you?
"I am not educated in international fiscal law, nor do I want to deal with bureaucracy more than it’s needed. I was not able to find a fiscal formation that represents the solopreneur in its native form––being able to account for living expenses with the revenue that I created working for myself. While searching for that, I found Xolo and am happy with how easy it is to do everything.
I think everyone is a solopreneur, even people working on a full-time contract. Their best client is their employer, and they have to serve that client in multiple ways.
There’ve always been things that naturally draw me in, no matter what project I was involved with. And when I started seeing and appreciating that, it cultivated inside me. I’ve started to see many synergies and opportunities between the things I was doing, and doing similar things in multiple projects has its advantages: if I learn something from a project, I can apply that learning elsewhere".
You mentioned “belonging” was a driving force. Why is that important to you personally?
"Essentially, I think being seen and listened to is a powerful changing force that all humans deserve to experience. Everytime I listen to someone, my subconscious starts to relate what I am hearing to my personal experience. Do you know anybody else who is having this experience?
But when I truly listen, I start seeing the person talking, like really seeing them. That unlocks something in that person, allowing them to get deeper, even finding comfort and solutions that come to the surface naturally from this deeper layer.
Who can listen to us? Who can see us? People that we belong with, that resonate with us on various levels, share common interests or live nearby. Communities.
I believe social media algorithms (please watch the Social Dilemma and AI Dilemma documentaries) have killed the follower. Having thousands of followers is a vanity metric that usually fails to show positive business results. Ultimately nobody should need more than 1000 True Fans, as laid out by Kevin Kelly in his iconic piece for Wired magazine".
What’s the secret sauce for growing a newsletter, and should businesses look towards newsletters for more growth?
"I don’t think there is a secret sauce. When I start a new project, I ask a lot of “Why” questions to get as close as possible to my client’s layer of authenticity. Nurturing your audience and respecting it by delivering your content in a neat format is something everybody needs".
If the reader was to leave remembering only one thing, what one thing do you want that to be?
"Question everything. Ask yourself WHY many times over".
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