No surprises. You can stop or pause at any step. Nothing is locked in until you sign the MOU at step five.
Read the materials.
You've received an invitation. Before you do anything else, look at the public Yemaya page, the What It Looks Like page, the FAQ, and the Invitation Pitch we sent you.
Most questions are answered there. If something's still unclear, write us. We'd rather answer a real question now than have you onboard with a misunderstanding.
A rough sense of which tier fits and one or two areas of clinical or editorial focus you'd want to work in. Nothing locked in — just enough to have a real conversation.
Submit the application.
Ten fields. Name, email, what you do, why you're a fit, where to find your work. This is not the gate — it's the heads-up. The form lets us route your file to the right person on our side and prep for the conversation.
If you want, drop links to two or three pieces of your work that you'd want us to see — or that you'd want to talk about as starting points for a column.
Read it within five business days. Tag a tier candidate. Pull whatever's publicly available about your work. Schedule the conversation in step three.
Have the conversation.
One thirty-minute call with Dr. Connor and (sometimes) one of the editorial team. Not an interview. An alignment call.
What we cover:
- What you'd want to write about, on what cadence
- What format suits your day — written column, dictated story, both
- Which tier matches your bandwidth — we'll propose, you can adjust
- Conflicts of interest, if any — nothing dramatic, just disclosure
- Anything you want to push back on in how the program is structured
You leave the call knowing whether to move forward. We do too.
We send the tier proposal.
A short email with: the tier we'd recommend, why, what your first piece could look like, and the contracts to review.
- The Exchange MOU — the partnership terms. One page.
- The Co-Creation Revenue Share Agreement — only relevant if and when we co-author a premium product. Per-product, not blanket.
You read them. Ask anything. Negotiate anything. We don't expect a lawyered redline; we do expect honest questions.
Sign on.
Once the MOU's good with you, sign electronically. This is the only point at which you commit. Until now, everything's been a conversation.
The MOU is annual rolling. Either side can step back at any time, with no penalties or clawback.
Welcome email with onboarding kit access, voice library link, partner Slack invite, calendar link to schedule your onboarding session, and a personal email from Dr. Connor.
Onboard.
Six pieces, in this order:
- Orientation — one hour. Why Yemaya. What the program does. Where you fit.
- Voice guide review — the language we use, the language we don't, examples.
- Editorial calendar — you propose your first piece. We slot it.
- Marketplace setup — if you have services to list. If not, skip.
- Slack introduction — we introduce you to the active cohort with a short bio.
- First quarterly salon — if there's one in your first thirty days, you're in. If not, the next one.
None of this is gating. You can publish your first piece before all of this finishes. The onboarding is a series of conversations, not a checklist.
Settle into the quarterly cadence.
Four contributions a year. Quarterly salons. Annual review.
- Q1: First piece — written or dictated — published with byline. First salon. First marketplace bookings (if applicable).
- Q2: Second piece. Maybe a co-created product begins. Salon.
- Q3: Third piece. Possibly stepping into a series or a domain lead role. Salon.
- Q4: Fourth piece. Annual review — honest conversation about tier fit, what worked, what didn't, what's next.
Each year either side can re-up, change tier, take a sabbatical, or step back. The point is sustainability, not extraction. If the partnership isn't serving you, we'd rather know than have you grind through another piece.