BelongingFirst: Rethink Culture

Custom Terms of Service
Effective date: August 22, 2025

These Terms of Service govern your access to and use of the BelongingFirst: Rethink Culture publication (the “Publication”), including posts, emails, podcasts, comments, and community features (together, the “Services”). By subscribing, accessing, or using the Services, you agree to these Terms.

Important: Substack is the platform that hosts this Publication. Substack’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy also apply to your account, billing, data, and platform-level features. If these Terms ever conflict with Substack’s platform terms on a platform matter, Substack’s terms control for those platform matters. Substack Terms & Policies

1) Who we are

BelongingFirst: Rethink Culture is created and published by Andrea D. Carter and team (“we,” “us,” “our”). Andrea Carter, CEO of Andrea Carter Consulting and the creator of the neuroscience based Belonging First Methodology™. Andrea is an Organizational Scientist with a Master of Arts in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and serves as an Adjunct Professor at Adler University. She is also an award-winning consultant and strategist recognized for helping organizations build cultures where people and performance thrive. We provide research-informed content on leadership, organizational psychology, and belonging for executives, People and Culture leaders, ERG and Inclusion leaders, coaches, consultants, and academics.

2) Eligibility and account

You must be at least 18 years old to use the Services. You are responsible for protecting your login and for all activity under your account.

3) Subscription options and billing

We will be offering Free, Paid, and Founding Member subscriptions. Subscriptions will auto-renew unless you cancel in your Substack account settings. Payments and receipts are managed by Substack and its payment processor. For subscriptions purchased in the iOS app, Apple’s policies apply. SubstackSubstack Support

4) Refunds and chargebacks

Refunds
Substack will honour a refund request submitted within 7 days of payment. Substack may also issue a refund if a publication is dormant as defined by Substack or for certain payment processing errors. Outside of those cases, refunds are at our discretion and can be requested by contacting us first. Processing times are set by the payment provider. Substack Support

Chargebacks
On Substack, the publisher is the merchant of record, which means we are responsible for refunds and any chargeback processes or related fees. If you have a billing issue, please contact us before initiating a dispute so we can help resolve it quickly. Substack Support

5) Consent based subscriptions

We only email people who have opted in. Substack prohibits adding people to mailing lists without their consent. If you receive an email in error, unsubscribe or contact us to remove your address.

6) Intellectual property and permitted use

All content shared on this platform by Andrea D. Carter, Andrea Carter Consulting and Belonging First Methodology™ is owned by us. You are granted a personal, non transferable, non commercial license to read and use the content for your own work and study. You may not copy, republish, resell, systematically archive, scrape, or create derivative works without written permission.

AI and automated use
You may not use the content to train AI systems, create datasets, or build competing products or services without express written permission.

If you wish to quote or reference our content in academic or professional work, cite the source and link back to the original post.

7) Your content in comments and community spaces

If you post comments or other user content, you grant us a worldwide, non exclusive, royalty free license to display, moderate, and republish your content in the context of the Publication, including in compilations and promotions. You are responsible for what you post and warrant you have the right to post it.

8) Community standards and moderation

We welcome discussion that is respectful, on topic, and additive. We do not permit harassment, hate, threats, doxxing, spam, or illegal content. We may remove content, restrict features, or suspend accounts that violate these rules. Substack allows publications to set and enforce their own house rules in their community spaces. Substack Community Rules

9) No professional advice

The Services are for educational purposes. They are not legal advice, medical advice, therapeutic advice, or a substitute for professional consulting. If you use ideas here in your organization, you are responsible for local compliance, change management, and outcomes.

10) Availability and changes

We may change, pause, or discontinue parts of the Services at any time. We aim for accuracy and continuity, but content may change or become outdated. We may update these Terms and will post the effective date above. Continued use after an update means you accept the revised Terms.

11) Third party links and tools

The Services may link to third party sites, products, or tools. We are not responsible for third party content, policies, or practices.

12) Data and privacy

Substack controls platform level data and processing. See Substack’s Privacy Policy to understand how your data is handled across the platform, including emails, payments, and analytics. We receive your email and subscription status to deliver the Services and manage your access. We do not sell your personal data. Substack Data & Privacy

13) Contact and notices

Questions, billing issues, or IP requests: info@belongingfirst.com.
For refunds or cancellations, you can also manage your subscription in your Substack account settings. Substack Support

14) Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada, without regard to conflict of law rules. The courts located in Toronto, Ontario will have exclusive jurisdiction, unless applicable law requires otherwise.

15) Liability limits

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary damages, or for loss of profits, data, or goodwill, arising from or related to your use of the Services.

16) Termination

You may unsubscribe at any time. We may suspend or terminate access to the Services if you violate these Terms or applicable laws. Sections that by their nature should survive termination will survive.

Platform references used to align these Terms

• Substack Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Substack+1

• Substack Refund Policy, including 7 day refund window and dormancy definition. Substack Support

• Substack guidance that communities can set their own rules. On Substack

• Chargebacks and merchant of record explanation for publishers. Substack Support

• Substack content guidelines on consent based subscriber imports. SubstackSubstack Support