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Even If You Hate People, You Still Need a Community

How shy introverts can cultivate a trusted professional wolf pack.

Felicia C. Sullivan
8 min readFeb 13, 2025
Photo by Jan Kopřiva on Unsplash

I can watch wolves hunt for days. Cameras pan as the pack stalks and tests the herd, searching for signs of weakness. An opening. The pack weighs the conditions of the hunt — the weather and terrain, the size, speed, and strength of their prey — to determine tactics. They want their target to succumb to shock and go quietly because an errant kick could crack a jaw. Hooves hurt. Antlers cut deep.

The alpha identifies the prey or signals a change of tactics. Then the wolves give chase. The herd fans out, leaving the weak and young vulnerable. Picture Times Square teeming with caribou and buffalo — a mixture of natives and wide-eyed tourists — while wolves weave through the crowd. Natives dart into stores and down subway tunnels while the tourists freeze. Camera click. Selfie.

Female wolves are swift, light — they create a fortress of confusion and terror while the stronger, slower males advance for the take-down. Observe the alpha in the thick of it. Biting a nose and tearing at flesh. They’ll go in for the tackle, the last bit of brutality before the feast.

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Felicia C. Sullivan
Felicia C. Sullivan

Written by Felicia C. Sullivan

Storyteller/Author. Marketing Exec in a former life. Hire me: t.ly/bEnd7 My Substack: https://feliciacsullivan.substack.com

Responses (46)

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Felicia, your wolfpack philosophy is both brutal and beautiful. Lean, strategic, and fiercely loyal, like nature intended. Social media may sell us the illusion of connection, but real bonds are built in the wild, one genuine relationship at a time.

Make stuff you love and talk about stuff you love and you’ll attract people who love that kind of stuff. It’s that simple.

Wow, did I need to read those lines above. They say it all yet it’s something we easily forget. I forget.
This is such an excellent essay, Felicia. Reminders and practical points that if and when applied, foster music in our minds rather than…

It’s about self-service and being of service.

These are the people I keep close to me as well. We laugh AND cry together. It makes all the difference having the right people around us, I agree.