The Forest is an ever-expanding body of writing and exploration by me, Rob Hardy. It centers around how we can practice business and marketing in a way that nourishes the human spirit and revitalizes the world around us. This work is particularly relevant for those pursuing 1,000 true fans.
It contains all of my best writing on the topics of joyful business, non-coercive marketing, oasis building, and creative individuation—along with dozens of practical exercises and experiments for you to try—all woven into a non-linear educational experience.
The goal of The Forest is simple. Help creative people and solopreneurs break away from the "best practices" of the online marketing world, do the work that brings them alive, and build a business that enriches life instead of draining it.
Eventually, I'm going to write a proper product page for this thing. But for today here are a couple of bullet points so you know what you're getting!
- The Forest isn't a traditional course, but a digital world that, through exploration, helps you build an online business that brings you more fully to life.
- The Forest is not just writing and essays, but loads of practical, hands-on experiments and inquiries. In order to build the The Forest, I pulled many of the best exercises from my old paid courses.
- I plan on adding new stuff to The Forest for years to come, but it's not a subscription. Purchase it once, and you get access for a lifetime.
- The Forest costs $200, but you can also choose to pay half price, or more if you'd like to fund a scholarship for people who can't afford it.
- If you'd like a scholarship to The Forest, the process is detailed at the bottom of this page!
- If you have any questions, just hit me up at rob[at]ungated[dot]media, or DM me on twitter.
Why isn't this material structured linearly, like a normal online course?
For the last few years, I've wanted to break away from the prescriptive, expert-driven learning paradigm that runs through both traditional and online education. The Forest, at its core, is about regenerating self-trust. I'm fighting for a future that's less about Experts telling us What To Think, but more about self-directed, adventurous, and experiential learning. I want to live in a world where our educational experiences lead to us trusting ourselves, and our direct experience of life, more and more.
So much needless suffering stems from industrialized, top down education. It strips away our autonomy and curiosity, conditions us to only trust Experts and Authority but not ourselves, and pushes us into standardized goals and life paths that are not our own. We are not machines or cogs in a larger machine. We are humans. And if that's not at the heart of our future educational paradigm, then I don't know what the fuck we're even doing as a species.
Do you offer scholarships for The Forest?
Yep, I offer unlimited scholarships to anyone who needs one! Seriously, if you vibe with the philosophy of Ungated, and you want to be more courageous with your creative work and marketing, I don't want money to stand in the way of you being a member.
To get a scholarship, just send an email to rob@ungated.media with "forest scholarship" in the subject line. Then in the body, tell me a little bit about yourself, and write a haiku that summarizes your creative journey so far. That's it. I will promptly send you a coupon code to join the membership at no cost.
A haiku is a simple, short poem, with five syllables on the first line, seven on the second, and five on the third. Here's an example!
my courageous friend
life in the forest awaits
embrace the unknown
And here's another.
send rob a haiku
i promise it will be fun
then you'll get free shit
What if I purchase The Forest and don't like it?
That's cool. My work is pretty weird, and definitely not for everyone. That's why I have a super chill refund policy.
If you're not happy with The Forest, just tell me and I'll refund you without asking you invasive questions or making you prove anything.
There's not even a time cap on this policy. You could ask me tomorrow, or in a year, and I'll happily return your money and we'll part ways as friends.