Tempo Notes: Week #1

Hi, I’m excited you’re here.

This idea has been living in my mind for many, many, many months.

Tempo Notes is a short weekly note for athletes who want help finding their point of view, generating ideas, and showing up consistently online.

Each week you’ll get a short perspective, a prompt to think about, and one idea you can try.

Alright, here’s this week’s note.

Perspective

You don’t need an elaborate content strategy to build your brand.

But there are a few things you do need.

Of the 100+ athletes I worked with last year, I heard the same tension again and again:

You know showing up online matters. But you don’t want it to become your whole life. Or worse… your whole identity.

If this is a tension you’ve felt before, then you’re exactly the athlete who needs to hear this: that tension is a signal, so please don’t ignore it.

This signal usually means that you’re the kind of athlete who wants to build something that feels like an extension of you. Something that fits alongside your training, not something that takes time away from it.

If that is true for you, I hear you and I’ve got some good news.

After all these conversations and workshops I’ve had with athletes, one thing has become very clear to me.

If you want to build something meaningful online (whether that’s on Instagram, LinkedIn, Substack, Strava, or anywhere else) there are really just three things every athlete needs consistently:

• A point of view,

• a rhythm of showing up,

• and ideas

Even when athletes know what they believe, and do genuinely want to show up online in a meaningful way… the moment you run out of ideas, everything stops.

That’s exactly what Tempo Notes is here to support.

I’m writing this note each week to offer you perspective, prompts, and ideas that help you show up on purpose.

So that brings us to the next section.

Something to think about

Where do you already have your own point of view, but haven’t shared it yet?

It might be something small, like:

• a part of training people outside your sport would never notice

• a tiny habit that makes your training day better

• a moment recently that reminded you why you love what you do

Or something about where you’re from, the way you train, or the path you took to get here.

The options are (quite literally) endless.

Chose one. Write it down. And I do mean, write it (like pen & paper type thing). Privately, just for yourself first. Don’t polish or edit.

Start with just this sentence:

“Something I care about more than people realize is…”

This is for you, not necessarily content.

If you try one thing this week

Pick one of these and see what happens.

1. A quiet training moment

Film 3–5 seconds of something that’s very ordinary to you like tying shoes, stretching, walking to training.

Caption idea:

“Something people don’t see much in this sport is…”

2. A camera roll post

Scroll back through your photos and share an unglamorous moment from the past week.

Caption idea:

“This isn’t something I talk about often, but…”

No need hashtags or calls to action. Gosh, you don’t even need to fully explain yourself.

You’re out there building for the long run.

A Reminder

You are not building a brand to feed the algorithm.

You’re allowed to:

• Be seasonal

• Be quiet

• Change your mind

• Delete posts later

Showing up online is a tool. Remember, you’re here because you want to build a presence that still fits you in five years.

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Until next week

x, Natalie

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