The power of community in action

After nearly 50 episodes of thought-provoking conversation, the duo behind Know For Sure took their podcast to Atlanta, Georgia for their first-ever live show in February 2023. The VIP section quickly sold out to their Patreon members before tickets went on sale to the general public. Avid listeners traveled from across the country to attend, some even sparking new friendships while waiting in line to get in. And when hosts B. Simone and Megan Ashley burst into the venue, mics in hand, to kick off the event, the whole room erupted with palpable energy and excitement.

Conceptualized as a "virtual diary," Know For Sure offers space for women, specifically Black women, to share in vulnerability, growth, and evolution together. Hosts B. Simone, a comedian and actress, and her business partner and best friend Megan Ashley discuss everything from romantic and platonic relationships to balancing parenthood and career, all while maintaining their genuine riff that stems from 20 years of friendship.

In this video, find out how the Know For Sure team has built a tight-knit community that stretches beyond the podcast and creates a space for connection across the country.

Transcript

B. Simone:
Everybody take your seat. If you have a ticket, go to your seats. Please move expeditiously.

Megan Ashley:
We put the tickets out for our first live show in Atlanta and we knew we were going to sell pretty well, but we literally thought that something had happened to the site, because all the floor seats were gone within an hour.

B. Simone & Megan Ashley:
We're baaaaaaack.

Megan Ashley:
I was like, "Oh my gosh, something's wrong. Something's wrong. We got to call Ticketmaster."

B. Simone:
We were pissed.

Megan Ashley:
But really our Patreon community sold out the floor seats in an hour.

B. Simone:
When you tell your story, the people that relate to it will gravitate towards you and it'll be a community of people that can just relate to each other. I think that's exactly how we did it.

What's up you guys? I am B. Simone.

Megan Ashley:
And I'm Megan Ashley.

B. Simone:
And we are...

B. Simone & Megan Ashley:
Know For Sure!

Megan Ashley:
Our podcast is a virtual kind of diary, documenting our journey with healing, growing, and evolving our relationship.

B. Simone:
We've been best friends for over 20 years now.

Megan Ashley:
The idea for the podcast really came from B. We've had these crazy conversations that get really deep and she's like, "Yo, people should hear this. We would be able to help people if they heard some of these conversations."

B. Simone:
What do you need to fix? "Well, she's so..." "And he's so..." What are you so? Because I know you are so something.

Megan Ashley:
Ooh, you are so something. As Black women, it's not the easiest thing to be vulnerable. Are you about to cry? Don't. I feel like I held mine in pretty well. That's not an easy thing to do for any woman, but especially for Black women. You don't see it, so we're just kind of taking you guys on that journey.

[sings] This is crazy. To finally get into the room, that's just a feeling and an energy you can't express. It was excitement. We were really excited.

Speaker #1:
Let's take it from the top. Let's try it one more time.

B. Simone:
People flew in from different cities. They want to be a part of tangible in-person moments.

Member #1:
It's about to be up and stuck. The Know For Sure podcast first live show. After an hour drive, a four-hour plane ride, a 30-minute train ride. I have finally checked into my hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. My room.

Member #2:
I flew in from Brooklyn, New York to come see the Know For Sure podcast live.

Member #3:
We came from Greenville, South Carolina.

Member #4:
Orlando, Florida.

Member #5:
I flew from Jersey already. I'm willing to fly wherever.

Member #6:
Wherever my girls at, that's where we going.

Member #5:
100%.

Megan Ashley:
The community helps, because they pull up.

B. Simone:
They come in person supporting our creative endeavors, and it allows us to be able to do things like the live show.

Crowd:
Know For Sure!

Megan Ashley:
Our Patreon community was probably 90% of the people in that audience

B. Simone:
And they promoted it, like pushed it to bring awareness to the show.

Megan Ashley:
Our community is very, very honest with their feedback. If they don't like something, they will be like, "Hey, I love you guys, and I know you didn't mean it that way, but this is how it came across."

For creators, especially in the culture and society that we live in right now. It doesn't always feel safe to just express yourself. There's so many opportunities to offend people nowadays, so it's hard to just be creative. You feel like, "I want to give my supporters more," but I want to do it in a place where, if you're paying for it, you probably are a little bit more invested into me than just the average Instagram —

B. Simone:
That comes across a post.

Megan Ashley:
Person that comes. Yeah. You're just limiting the access for people to see your creativity that don't really mess with you.

B. Simone:
And it's a safe space for them to disagree. I've seen comments on Patreon where they don't necessarily agree, but they say it in a respectful way and we have conversations.

Megan Ashley:
Productive. It's a productive conversation. It's not —

B. Simone:
"I don't agree with you."

Megan Ashley:
"You're wrong."

B. Simone:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Jay, how's it coming?

Speaker #2:
Okay, y'all. I'll be in VIP. Let me know if you need anything else.

B. Simone:
We're about to come up. It's almost showtime.

Megan Ashley:
Do you see that little wand? Yep. Grab that and the wand right there.

B. Simone:
VIP will be here in an hour.

The fact that I get to do this with my best friend and we have a community of people that believe in us, that are rooting for us. I'm just so grateful. I can't stop getting emotional. I have to stop thinking about it because I'm like, "I'm about to do my makeup and I don't want to cry."

Megan Ashley:
It's a blessing. It really is a blessing. We see our audience and our community slightly different. We love all of our supporters, but there's something special about someone who subscribes to you specifically and pays to see more of you.

B. Simone:
A little deeper love.

Megan Ashley:
And you want to give them more.

B. Simone:
Oh, my gosh. Chain gang. Literally, Chain Gang is all our Patreon subscribers. We gave them that name because we're a chain. We're linked in. We're locked in forever. The hat is specifically for patrons. When y'all get here, the first — I think it's 100.

Speaker #3:
500.

B. Simone:
The first 500? Jesus. 500 people get a hat. That's lit. We're trying to get people to sign up and join the community.

Member #7:
How I got the hat? Because I'm a Patreon member, you know what I mean? I'm Chain Gang.

Megan Ashley:
We also drop merch first only on our community. Anything that we put on sale, they get access to it first.

B. Simone:
And a lot of promo marketing, leaving them on the edge of their seat, dropping clips, and telling them to go to Patreon to get the rest of the videos, showing them what they're missing without showing them the whole thing.

Megan Ashley:
Nine times out of 10, your audience will tell you what they want. If they want vlogs, put those out there. If they want written blogs, then we put that out there. If they want a Q&A with me and B, then we put it out there. And we connect with the fans. We comment. We have a text community that we connect with them on that. We have our Patreon community. We connect with them on that. It continues the connection that we have with them.

Member #5:
It's just such a healthy relationship online that you wouldn't even expect to have. It's important to support those who are trying to uplift you.

Member #6:
Oh, we not giving up Patreon.

Member #5:
I would give up my phone.

Member #6:
I'd give up liquor.

Member #5:
Woo.

Member #6:
And we all need a shot or two sometimes. I'm with them all the way.

Member #8:
I will cancel Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, all of it. All TV shows.

Member #4:
All TV shows for sure.

Member #8:
Yeah. For sure.

Megan Ashley:
Helping our community and supporters find each other, encouraging them to meet up, and reach out to each other, if you're coming to a live show. We try to encourage that.

Member #6:
We just met standing in line.

Member #5:
In the beginning of the line, we just met.

Member #6:
The chemistry with all of the supporters and stuff is so genuine.

Member #5:
Being able to connect with other people that you have no idea about, but still being able to feel, it's amazing, honestly.

Member #6:
And I came by myself.

Member #5:
It's okay. You're here with me.

B. Simone:
We love it. People are like, "I don't have my Megan or I don't have my B." And we want you to find that there, because if you're on Patreon or in the community, you're a like-minded person. They could be your missing link, your next business partner, your friend, your accountability partner. I think that's a really good feeling for us. It gets us excited when we see them connecting outside of the podcast.

I'm a little nervous.

We need to get it together. We need focus. We want this to be an experience. We want you guys to love it. We want you to get your money's worth. We want you guys to walk in and be like, "Wow."

Megan Ashley:
The mission is to grow healthy relationships, and when you have healthy relationships, you have healthy communities. Our relationship is a gift and it's not a gift if you don't give it, and so we have to show them that this is possible so that they can cultivate it for themselves.

B. Simone:
All right. Everybody take their seat. If you have a ticket, go to your seat. Please move expeditiously.
There's too many people outside. We need our mics.

Megan, you ready?

B. Simone & Megan Ashley:
We're baaaaaaack.

B. Simone:
I've been performing for five years doing standup, but our crowd was probably one I've never experienced.

Megan Ashley:
It was just the volume.

B. Simone:
The energy. This is our first live show. Thank y'all for coming out. I'm B. Simone.

Megan Ashley:
That type of energy was very, very unique and I believe it's because we've been able to build this community on Patreon. Just as much as they're invested in us, we're invested into them too.

B. Simone:
There you go. Thank you.

Megan Ashley:
We love you.

B. Simone:
We love you, love you, love you.

Credits:

Video Producer – Danush Parvaneh

Associate Producer – Lauren Stevenson

Executive Producer – Joe Smith

Production Manager – Kate Torres

Camera – Kiko Suura, J. Nelson Visuals

Editor – Josh Deisler

Animation – Adam Dix

Sound – Devin O’ Bannon

Special Thanks – B. Simone, Megan Ashley, Shekinah Leakey, Diona DaCosta, Hewan Abebe, Amanda Bernstein, JNF Creatives