H2B2 State of the Year 2025

Today I’ll be talking about:

• How did 2024 go?
• Spotting a global movement
• Serving ~⅓ Billion People (every year)
• How to be Second’s place in that
• State of the Vision and Mission
• What’s up for 2025

I write these yearly and quarterly updates for a bunch of reasons, but namely as the “First in Command” of How to be Second (still feels weird) I’m holding myself accountable in public to those investing themselves into what H2B2 is doing, and to the Second community overall.

Cause part of what is good for Seconds is knowing the plan.

There are a lot of places now to get involved with How to be Second, and if after you read this you’re inspired to, reach out and we’ll get you plugged in to the right place with the right person.

The State of the year and Quarterly updates from 2024 are here:

• In January, I wrote about the state of the year for 2024 and the Vision overall.
• In April I wrote the 1st Quarterly update for the year, and the Flywheel.
• In July I wrote about How to be Second as a movement, and The Second’s Journey
• In October, I wrote about the 2027 targets and what makes a good community

“I” set some targets for 2024 and “We” crushed most of those. 

Crushing those targets is not why the year was awesome.

I accented “I/We” for a reason – I set the targets alone, sitting at my dining room table, reflecting on what it meant to answer the call of work that felt like it needed to be done, and saying out loud “Yeah, I’ll throw myself into that.”

A year later, there’s a BIG list of people who actually moved those targets across the finish line.

Last year I said “There’s nothing to convince me that we were made for a singular as-yet-undiscovered-purpose, rather we were built to be able to find meaning in many things – a SENSE of purpose, a sense of wonder and fascination and worth.”

I stand by this idea MORE strongly this year. 

I found myself curious about dozens of things throughout 2024, all of which could have taken me hard left into other pursuits that I probably would have been able to find meaning and value in…

But not like this. 

I find meaning and joy investing myself into this work in a way I struggle to explain.

And I’ve discovered that I am not alone in this. Not by a LONG shot.

Let me make an aside that I hope will make sense: Let’s be frank: this work is not purely altruistic for any of the people investing into the work at How to be Second. I AM a Second myself, and I recognize that improving the “lot” of Seconds in the world supports ME, personally. Do I feel purpose and meaning and joy in investing myself into the work of supporting Seconds? Totally. Am I ALSO investing in my own job security? Stuff can be two things. If more people in the world recognize and value Seconds, that means I too am more likely to be recognized and valued.

I partly perceive How to be Second overall as an engine on behalf of Seconds, a flywheel that turns on behalf of YOU, increasing how much the world values you overall (how much it knows that you exist to BE valued).

And it’s a way to help Seconds recognize the people who need to own that value is US, OURSELVES.

And in 2024 we did a bunch of both – educating people about the value of Seconds, and also learning to own our own value AS Seconds.

And THAT is why the year was awesome.

(Y’know, and we got like a couple hundred thousand LNKD impressions and we helped like a dozen+ Seconds find jobs and hundreds of Seconds all over the world find community and sanity, which is pretty great)

We think there are ~320 Million Seconds in the world and it’s the mission of How to be Second to serve ALL of them along their “Second’s Journeys”. (what the actual…)

Around October of 24, something that touched each part of the hierarchy was basically “built”, and it was time to stop building and launching new things, and it was time to focus on getting it into the hands of all the Seconds who needed it.

So in Q4, the H2B2 Board of Advisors and I reflected on what the implications were of saying that “H2B2 helped Seconds”, full stop. One of the obvious implications was that we served ALL Seconds… which begged the question, “how many, and where, are we all?”

By the time we started thinking about the answer, I could already name over a dozen Seconds on the email list from countries that weren’t part of North America. Secondness isn’t local, or national… It’s global.

In a moment of feeling like an absolute child, I did a quick search for “global population” and multiplied that by our theory of 4% of ALL people being Seconds.

8.2 Billion * 4% = 328 Million.

Today. Right now. One third of a Billion Seconds.

In that moment of shining CLARITY paired with wild uncertainty, I remembered that How to be Second had not CREATED anything, rather it had given language to people who already were, and it had been inspired by things that were already happening in the world.

How to be Second is an agency that serves Seconds, but it is PART OF a global movement of “Secondness” that is happening anyway.

The recognition of a global movement, rather than an organizational one, meant that the mission of H2B2 needed an update to reflect this organization’s place in that – not different, just expanded.

Here is today’s version of the How to be Second mission statement:

Secondness is a movement of a people with a specific identity becoming more aware of themselves, and the value they bring, alongside a global increase in awareness and demands for their particular traits and abilities.

How to be Second(H2B2) is a for profit organization serving as the personal marketing and development agency of all Seconds in the world, guided by the question, “What is good for Seconds?”

Because Second’s care about the How.

H2B2 serves by:

• Deeply understanding the identity of Secondness
• Help Seconds to own for themselves who they are and how that’s valuable
• Fostering ways Seconds can find community (and sanity) with each other
• Gathering, Vetting, and Connecting Seconds to the Relationships, Resources, and Tools they need
• Increasing awareness, Market Value, and Opportunities for Seconds in the global marketplace

While H2B2 focuses on being a connection hub to resources and tools built by others, it also develops offerings that are particularly enhanced through deep familiarity with the core identity, like Second’s Nature or Matchmaking.

All of this in turn, means a refined 2030 Vision

H2B2 Still Happening, Supporting Seconds, and Expanding (~320 Million Seconds to Support)

Second book published (Third?)

Effective Assessment Deployed for guiding people towards, or away from, “Secondness”

The #1 Place (in the world) people who are Seconds, or those around them, think to go (and should go) for taking their next step personally and professionally.

H2B2 has a working solution for the “Instigating Event”

A global Community Presence, with a centralized set of core agreements for how the H2B2 community behaves

At least 1 Core Weekly Email containing thoughts for Seconds and Communication about the state of the Agency and Movement

The Core Meetup is still running

H2B2 is fully supported financially (including everyone who works on its behalf) through products and services it has built, or referral income from collaboration partners, and does not require volunteer hours to function

H2B2 and the community, sanity, and opportunities it provides at the core, are never held exclusively behind a pay wall (including being respective of Global currency disparity)

H2B2 has secured Preferred Placement arrangements with many companies throughout the world

Broaden speaking capability – all on brand, not all Nathan (Not all English!)

2025 is all about “Finding the Right People, and Making OUR Plan.”

One of the biggest changes to the “Secondness” situation is how many people MUST be involved, in order to actually serve all of whom we intend to serve – let alone to do that WELL. 

In fact, it necessitates an adjustment and maturity overall to the structure, and exponentially pushing towards “Not Nathan” as part of the answer to most things.

Including shifting from “My Plan” to “Our Plan” in a radical way.

That means aside from any tactical adjustment, the biggest thing for 2025 will be to recognize what might get in the way, and get the right people on the team to deal with that, in ways that are good for Seconds.

What might get in the way?

• Focusing Locally, not Globally
• Lack of Clarity in Messaging
• Lack of Shared Messaging
• Lack of Help
• Lack of Money

And what do we need to deal with that?

A Board of Advisors – Which needs expanded to include New Board Members with more POC, 1iC, and National/Global representation, at least

A set of “Heads of” all the Branches of H2B2, including:

• Head of Professional Development
• Head of Personal Development
• Head of Awareness
• Head of Opportunity Development
• Head of Community
• Head of Workshops
• Head of Matchmaking
• Head of Second’s Nature (Head Coach)
• Head of Equity Opportunities
• Head of Internship Pathways
• Head of Corporate Partnerships
• Head of Speaking
• Head of Research

And a TON of Supporters and Partners

Yes.

And, there is no way that this will get done if I am attempting to do it myself.

But, if there is a person to serve, and meaning and value and purpose in doing that work, and transparently a value in it for myself because I AM THIS PERSON TOO, then you can bet your ass that I’m going to keep at it.

If any or all of this inspires YOU to invest in your own Secondness, or the movement of it in the world, get in touch.

There’s plenty that we can do for you, and there’s plenty that needs done for us all.

Finding a Job as a Second

At any point, you may find yourself in need of new work. If you do, here are some tactical resources to get you accelerated in doing that.

• Agreements with Self
• Finding the right job postings
• Seconds, Roles, Expectations, Issues
• Building relationships with recruiting firms
• Knowing WHO you are
• Networking