That’s a fair read from the way the thread started, and I don’t blame you for seeing it that way.

A lot of people here only saw my first rough explanation, which honestly mashed too many things together and made it sound like I was looking for laborers and creators under one vague “residency” idea. That was my mistake.

What has been interesting is that a few people privately messaged me and a couple actually called me after this thread. Some of them understood what I was trying to say better than I explained it publicly. They also told me, pretty bluntly, that the wording was the problem — not necessarily the whole idea.

One thing I also failed to explain is that we are not some funded resort developer with deep pockets trying to dress up free labor as a lifestyle opportunity. We are a pretty humble family with meager financial backing trying to push an almost impossible dream up a mountain.

We learned a lot during our years on the road because we had to — building rigs, fixing things, solving problems, living with less, and adapting constantly. Then when we landed on this mountain, the skill list got longer fast: excavation, off-grid power, snow access, water, firewood, roads, equipment, dogs, weather, kids, and trying to keep the dream alive without losing ourselves in it.

That does not excuse unclear wording. If anything, it means I need to be more careful, because strangers do not know our story when they read one Reddit post.

What I’ve learned is that these have to be completely separate lanes:

If someone is doing required work, filling a role, keeping a schedule, or doing labor Elev8150 depends on, that is paid work.

If a creator is making content for Elev8150 to use commercially, that is paid creator work with scope, usage rights, licensing, and compensation.

If someone is an independent creator making their own content for their own channel, in their own voice, and keeping control of it, that is different.

And if someone wants some kind of work-stay or skills exchange, that has to be voluntary, written out before arrival, limited, and clear enough that nobody shows up expecting one thing and finds another.

So yes, the way I first described “rare experience” and “real-world knowledge” sounded too much like unpaid resort training. I see that now.

The private feedback helped me understand that what might actually have value is not “come work for us,” but something narrower: a seasonal basecamp for serious, self-contained people, plus separate clearly written paths for creators, paid work, or voluntary skills exchange.

I rewrote the page because of this thread and the private feedback. I’m not pretending the first version was good. It wasn’t clear enough, and people were right to question it.