Atlanta: The Start I Didn’t Expect

Jess Bielman

When we first gathered in Atlanta, I think we were all pretty excited. Some of us were hesitant about the cohort we had joined, the time-cost of leaving our family and jobs, and we were really not told what the three days would be or even much about what the cohort would be.

Many of us weren’t exactly sure why we had been chosen, but I think we were all glad to be there. For most, it was rare to find colleagues who cared about the intersection of spirituality and technology. Just being in the same room felt like it had potential. Many of us felt a buzz

And yet, even with nearly all of us in the “soul business,” something strange happened: we were caught off guard when it became clear this first session was going to be more about soul then tech.

It seems obvious in hindsight, but in the moment, it created tension. We had come under the banner of technology, and our instincts pushed us toward questions about the latest tools and toys, platforms and algorithms, artificial intelligence and large language models. We came with an expectation to learn about the “doing” part of our lives. Even though most of us regularly cultivate spaces of depth and reflection, we didn’t expect to start the cohort the way we did.

That was the disorientation: not that the question was foreign, but that it was so familiar I had almost assumed we could skip it. Sure, a get-to-know-you exercise or centering-moments was expected. But I thought we would get into the work. And I was eager to do so. It was as if the presence of technology meant we should fast-forward past the thing we all knew mattered most.

But beginning with soul changed the dynamic in the room and set the experience up the right way. The tension stayed but was joined by honesty. We moved from talking to one another about the projects or platforms and started opening up about ourselves. We were forced to shift the conversation from “what are you working on?” to “who are you becoming?”

By the time Atlanta was over, it was clear what had happened. Starting with soul not only grounded each of us, it connected us. It set the tone that our group was more than individual technologists but an emerging community that values the work as well as one another’s stories behind the work. We needed to understand that what we would build together would be shaped first by who we are, not just by what we make.

Looking back, I realize Atlanta gave us the start we didn’t expect—but absolutely the one we needed.