August 2026
Happy 8th! Here are our fresh tracks for August:
Oldham & Worth Mural by Taylor White
5 Brands That Made Me Stop Scrolling
The Liftie List: Favorite Books
Snow Report: Influencer Market Report, Brands Who Won World Cup Gold, How to Build a Brand Presence on Reddit, & more
Y Guides: Make The Most of Father Time
VIDEO
Oldham & Worth Mural by Taylor White
For Taylor White, every mural begins with finding an emotional anchor—something worth holding onto before the first brushstroke ever hits the wall. It’s a great reminder that the best public art doesn’t just make a place look better. It gives people another reason to stop, look around, and feel connected to where they are.
The mural at Oldham & Worth is rooted in a piece of Raleigh’s history—taking a forgotten moment from the West End and turning it into something people experience every day.
SOCIAL
5 Brands That Made Me Stop Scrolling
Scrolling social media is part of the job. While it's easy to get caught up in the latest trend or viral audio, I'm always paying attention to the brands that consistently make me stop and think, "Why did that work?" The best marketing doesn't just look good, it has intention and strategy behind it. Every post, product launch, partnership, and caption serves a purpose.
Here are five brands I've found myself studying this summer and the lessons I'm taking away from each....
THE LIFTIE LIST
Favorite Books
A new series featuring the things we're loving on and off the mountain. This month: the recent reads we can’t stop recommending.
LK: Dear Debbie by Freida McFadden. If Real Housewives was a murder mystery it would be this book! I loved the female lead, and the three POVs made every twist even better. The storyline has the ideal mix of suspense, humor, and heart.
Andrea: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. A quick but deeply soulful read, the novel unfolds entirely through letters to friends, family, neighbors, and one elusive recipient whose identity is revealed over time. I laughed, I cried—what more could you ask for? The perfect summer read, with themes of connection, grief, forgiveness, and the quiet beauty of everyday life.
Cam: Theo of Golden by Allen Levi. Perhaps the biggest WTF moment I’ve ever experienced in a storyline.
Josie: None of This is True by Lisa Jewell. Two women meet at a restaurant while celebrating their shared birthday. One is a podcaster, and the other is a mysterious woman eager to tell her story. They launch a podcast series together, but it quickly becomes clear that everything may not be as it seems. It’s suspenseful, unpredictable and impossible to put down!
TRENDS & NEWS
Here's your snow report to stay up-to-speed on trends & news in the rapidly changing digital world:
The 2026 Influencer Marketing Report by Sprout Social
This site spells out your name using real images from nature.
Spin the wheel to land on a random website from the 1990s or 2000s.
How 5 brands won World Cup gold through marketing investments
Beeswax is a free daily game that asks you to spell five words, spelling-bee style.
VIDEO
Y Guides: Make The Most of Father Time
Father Time can be a difficult concept to grasp – especially as a parent. The years move whether you’re in them or not. Your kid goes from holding your hand on a trail to not needing you to hold it anymore — and the gap between those two moments is shorter than you think.
But there’s another kind of Father Time. The kind you make on purpose. Saturday mornings with nowhere to be but here with your kid. Campfires that run too late. Raft races and muddy trails and inside jokes that only your crew understands.
You’ve got to embrace Father Time. Because once you’ve made it, it’s yours. It lives in your kid long after the weekend ends. Y Guides is how you make it — through fun adventures, shared memories, and genuine connections built one weekend at a time.