when's the last time you asked for something and got more than you asked for? i'll go first!

"she's tiny, but she's a spitfire!"

that's what Linda Nell Cooper, the chairman of our theater department and the director of the show i was in, said about me after that day. here's what she was talking about. we were doing Parade at Liberty University, and felt like nobody knew about it. our department had been having the same frustrating conversation for a while: convocation announcements didn't really make room for theater shows. my professor brought it up in class. i sat in those complicated conversations. everyone agreed it was a problem, and nobody had a way in. then i ended up in a meeting with David Nassar, our campus pastor, about something completely unrelated. when we finished, i had a window to ask one question, so i asked it: who's the right person to talk to about getting our show into the convocation announcements? he didn't give me a name. he said, "you can come up and do the announcement yourself."

i said, "huh?" he said, "come tomorrow. you'll be backstage, have breakfast with us, do the announcement, and then stay on stage with us for convocation." the guest that day was Tasha Cobbs! (i was & am i fan of her music so WHAT a treat to meet her like huh? 😭) so the next...

Static or video? The hero section decides in three seconds. Same layout, same headline, same colors. Only the background changes.

01 Static. Loads instantly. Keeps the focus on typography. Nothing competes with the message.

02 Video. Sells the atmosphere before a single word is read. You don't read about the retreat, you're already there.

The trade-off is real: video costs loading time and can pull attention away from the CTA. Static is safer, but safer isn't always stronger.

For a wellness brand built on atmosphere, which one would you pick: 01 or 02?👇

I feel more focused on landing page rather than just scrolling to the next section