How Black Podcasters Built a 2000-Member Community

Corey Gumbs used to live on Facebook. Not scrolling memes. Managing a group that exploded from 200 members to nearly 2,000 in a year and a half. He loved it. He also hated it.

“I was literally on Facebook 24/7, just managing everything,” he says. “It was taking its toll.”

He wanted to monetize. He wanted to build something sustainable. So he jumped to Mighty Networks. Then, after more headaches, he landed on GroupApp. Along the way, he made spectacular pricing mistakes, created too many channels, lost members, felt the sky falling, and learned lessons that every community builder needs to hear.

Today, the Black Podcasters Association is a vibrant, engaged community where members celebrate wins, share resources, and even moderate themselves. Corey barely lifts a finger. And he finally sleeps.

This is his story and the playbook you can steal.

The Facebook Fever Dream (or, How 2,000 Members Nearly Broke Him)

The Black Podcasters Association started as a Facebook group right when the pandemic hit New York City. Corey lived there. He had time. He had passion. And he had a deep desire to create a space where Black podcasters could network, collaborate, and learn.

The group grew fast. People loved the workshops, the debates, the sense of community. Corey was there for all of it, responding to every post, organizing events, and answering DMs.

But running a Facebook group at that scale is like trying to herd cats while riding a unicycle. The platform has no proper way to organize resources. Search is a joke. And members get distracted by the endless scroll of everything else.

“I was obsessed,” Corey admits. “It was taking its toll.”

He knew he needed a dedicated home for his community. But he also knew that moving people off Facebook would mean losing a lot of them.

That’s when Afros & Audio, a conference for Black podcasters, came knocking. They wanted a community element for their attendees. Corey saw an opportunity to join forces. They decided to launch together on Mighty Networks.

The $50 Regret (or, “Damn, We Could’ve Charged More”)

Corey did what most first‑time community builders do: he guessed. He figured a $50 lifetime membership sounded right. Afros & Audio was charging $50 for something, so he matched it.

Then came the fateful Zoom call.

He presented his vision for the new community. He laid out all the workshops, the trainings, the resources. People were excited. Then someone asked: “What’s the price?”

“$50 for life,” Corey said.

Silence. Then a voice spoke up: “The workshops you’ve been doing alone are worth $200.”

Corey’s heart sank. “I was sitting there like, ‘Oh my God, we made a mistake.'”

But he stuck with the price. About 50 or 60 core members signed up as founders. They’re still the backbone of the community today.

Those founders paid a fraction of what they should have. But in return, they gave Corey something priceless: a loyal tribe that would carry the culture through every platform change.

“You’re going to lose people when you migrate,” Corey says. “The core members are the ones who keep the community alive.”

The Mighty Networks Meltdown (or, “Too Confusing, Too Overwhelming”)

The Black Podcasters Association lived on Mighty Networks for a while. But the complaints started rolling in.

“It was too confusing,” Corey says. “Too overwhelming. People couldn’t find what they needed.”

He also had his own frustrations. Questions went unanswered. Features he wanted never materialized. And he realized he’d made another mistake: he was building without a clear plan.

“I was just throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what stuck,” he says. “I didn’t know what I was doing.”

But he learned. He watched his members struggle. He listened to their feedback. And he kept heat‑checking, constantly asking what they needed, what they wanted, what was missing.

That practice of listening would become his superpower.

The GroupApp Aha Moment (or, “This Looks Like Old School Facebook”)

An associate showed Corey GroupApp. He clicked around, and something inside him clicked.

“It kind of gives me that old school Facebook feel,” he says. “The left‑side navigation, the feed. It’s almost intuitive.”

He saw that the platform had everything he needed: courses, library, events, discussion channels, and access controls. And it was simple enough that his members wouldn’t get lost.

But the biggest selling point? “It’s Black‑founded,” he told his members. “Co‑founded, with you being a part of it.”

That mattered. A lot.

He started prepping his community months in advance. He sent emails, made announcements, and set a deadline for himself. October 1. Shut down Mighty Networks and move everyone over.

The Migration Shuffle (or, “I Discovered the CSV Thing Later”)

Moving people from one platform to another is never easy. Corey learned that the hard way.

He had members on different payment cycles, some monthly, some yearly, some with custom dates from the $50 lifetime deal. He had to create individual emails for each group, explaining their new free-trial period or additional months.

About 80% of his active members made the jump. Some didn’t. Some lost the emails. He’s still following up.

“I discovered the whole CSV import thing later,” he says, laughing. “Now I know how to do it next time.”

But the core members came. And they brought the culture with them.

The Mad Scientist at Work (or, “I Put Up Too Many Channels”)

Corey is the first to admit he goes overboard.

“I’m a mad scientist,” he says. “My brain just goes crazy, and I put up all these channels.”

He created channels for introductions, membership perks, collaborations, book club, leadership, gigs, job board, Toastmasters, and even a channel for people to share their wins. (That one is called BPA Celebrates, and it’s a joy to watch.)

But he also knew he had to edit. He brought in a few members to give feedback. They told him what they didn’t need right now. He started consolidating.

He also realized that some channels could become library items. GroupApp had recently added more asset types, PDFs, articles, and videos, so he could move static content out of channels and into the library, where it was easier to find.

“The library is a living, breathing document,” he says. “It’s constantly being updated.”

Today, his community is organized, not chaotic. And when a member asks, “Hey, what was that perk you mentioned?” Corey just says, “It’s in the community.”

The Secret Sauce: Listen, Don’t Assume

Corey’s community thrives because he doesn’t guess what people want. He asks.

His onboarding form includes questions like:

• How long have you been podcasting?
• A year from now, where do you want to be in your podcasting journey?
• What skills or knowledge are you hoping to gain?
• What’s your main reason for joining?
• What would you like to see in the community?
• How can we best support you?

That last question revealed a need Corey hadn’t expected: mental wellness. Content creation is stressful. So he started bringing in wellness content. And because he had members who already did wellness podcasts, he turned it into community‑driven content.

“Don’t wait for me to post,” he tells his members. “This is your community. Ask your questions. Put up your content.”

He rarely moderates anymore. The members do it themselves. The culture is so strong that they’ll step in before he even sees a problem.

The Playbook: Corey’s Lessons for Anyone Starting a Community

After three platforms and three years, Corey has distilled his experience into a handful of lessons.

1. You’re going to lose people. That’s okay. Not everyone will migrate. Not everyone will engage. Focus on the ones who do.
2. Core members are everything. They carry the culture. They become your evangelists. At conferences, Corey points people to his members, not himself. “Don’t talk to me. Talk to them. They’ll tell you what it’s really like.”
3. You can’t do it alone. Corey admits he has time blindness and tries to do everything. “You need a team,” he says. “Even if it’s volunteers. Even if it’s $50 a month. Compensate people for their time, and bring in people whose strengths cover your weaknesses.”
4. Do heat checks constantly. You don’t have to get on a call with every member. But watch the conversations. Read the comments. When you see a question that keeps coming up, that’s your next workshop or course.
5. Onboarding is more than a form. It’s your first chance to understand your members. Ask what they need, where they want to go, and how you can help. Use that data to shape your content.
6. Simplicity wins. Corey’s members loved GroupApp because it looked like old Facebook. They didn’t need to learn a new interface. They just jumped in.
7. Use the features. Corey uses everything: library, events, channels, onboarding, and segments. He’s constantly thinking about new ways to add value. But he also edits ruthlessly. If a channel isn’t working, he kills it.
8. Your community can sell itself. Corey doesn’t sell memberships. His members do. They tell their friends, they post about their wins, and they bring people in. All he has to do is keep the space worth being in.

The Part Where Everything Clicks (Finally)

Corey started with a Facebook group and a dream. He made mistakes. He priced too low. He built too much. He lost members. He learned.

Today, the Black Podcasters Association is a place where Black podcasters find community, support, and opportunities. They celebrate each other’s wins. They hire each other. They share resources. And they do it all in a space that finally feels like home.

“People love the networking,” Corey says. “They’ve been jumping on board.”

And Corey? He’s no longer a slave to his phone. He’s not answering DMs at 2 a.m. He’s not drowning in notifications. He’s just enjoying the dings of new messages from a community that’s finally running itself.

Build Your Community Around Your Expertise Today

If you’re running a community on Facebook or a platform that confuses your members, take a page from Corey’s book. Stop guessing. Start listening. Build for your core tribe. And when you’re ready to put it all in one place, courses, library, events, discussions, and a way to manage it without going crazy, see what GroupApp can do for you.