Fireside

Today is a coaching episode with Rosie Harriott, a textile designer who has worked across fashion and homewares both in-house and as a freelancer, and who is now shifting from being freelance to a business. Rosie has also had a personal journey of wellness and awakening over the last few years which is the reason for the business shift - but she’s worried about how to communicate this in her content without looking like she’s jumped on the bandwagon. In this episode we talk about starting to talk about your business across your channels, maintaining community when you start talking about what you do, making sure your why reads as authentic and approaching a personal tone of voice.

This month, on my blog and on Instagram, I’ve been sharing the experience of transitioning and simplifying my business model in response to my values and I how I want my business to support the life I want to live. I know that this is a perennial problem for many - the moment where you have out grown the old skin of your business but don’t know quite how to shed into and evolve into a new skin. It is a natural part of business, of life, but it is also one that is messy and feels, at times, insurmountable. I know that particularly this year many of you have been reflecting on how your business and life interact, so I felt that it was apt to share more of the step by step of my process here.

Today I’m talking with Nesha Woolery, an educator who started her online design business aged 18 and has evolved and developed over the last 8 years in business. This year, Nesha cancelled a huge launch the night before the cart was going to open because she realised that the whole thing was out of alignment and disconnected, and instead spent weeks reconnecting with her why and redefining what she really wanted. In this episode we chat about this journey, from how to know if you’re out of alignment, reconnecting to your why, niching and finding success in a feeling.

Today I’m going to share more detail about my approach to content creation, how I think about it and how I try to make it valuable and inspiring. My approach to content has changed over the last couple of years, both because content trends have changed, and because I’ve developed as a writer and learned more about what makes people tick, and click, when it comes to my content. So in this episode I’m going to share more about the story of my content progression, and the major change I’ve made.

Today is a coaching episode with Giulia Mazzola, who you may know online as Giulia Writes. Over the last four years Giulia has been on a personal journey of deconstructing her version of success after leaving corporate finance, and exploring and getting confident with sharing her writing online. She wants to be supported by her writing, but doesn’t know what that is going to look like - and is going round and round with ideas and what does and doesn’t feel right. I loved having this meandering conversation with Giulia about the nature of clarity, listening to and trusting your inner voice, deciphering ideas and knowing what you want.

Today I wanted to go into everything content, because content is everything. Often we hear the word ‘content’ and think it’s just blogging, but it’s not. In marketing we tend to break channels up into silos because it’s easier to think and talk about them all separately - so you have your blog over here, your Instagram over there, your email list in the back room, Pinterest, perhaps a podcast or video channel in your back pocket. While they all link up, we tend to treat them as separate entities. We might have a different strategy or different pile of ideas for our Instagram to our blog and all the other things. But really this is an over-complication because it’s all content.

Today the coaching episodes are back, and I’m talking with Cate Terry, a yoga teacher and holistic health therapist . Cate has been toying with the idea of starting a podcast, but keeps talking herself out of it - because it might not be the right thing to do or she might not be able to stick with it. We talk about how to know if an idea is the right option for you, how to differentiate your content channels, how to stand out as a new podcast and making the space for a new marketing channel in your day to day.

I was going to dive right back in after this break with a “normal” episode, but something was stopping me. It didn’t feel quite right to barrel back in and not take a minute. I know for many this is a reflective time. A time that is sharpening priorities both for your future, and the future of society. In this episode I'm sharing what I've reflected on over the weeks since we last spoke, some breakthroughs, and the changes they've sparked.

Today is the last in the Staying The Course series of episodes, and having spent time looking at your goals, your routine and your mindset, I thought we’d look practically at focus. Focus is something that ebbs and flows at the best of times, but particularly during times of stress it can be even more fleeting than usual. Particularly during this pandemic, apathy is rife - that feeling of not wanting to really do anything, but also feeling like you should, or need to do everything. In this episode, I’m going to talk you through the practical ways in which I cultivate more focus to give you a few tricks and strategies to get your bare minimum done, and have a few moments of feeling like you can still do this.

So far in this Staying The Course series, we’ve looked at letting go of the old plans and goals and creating a daily routine, and this week I thought we’d look at mindset. During times of uncertainty, mindset can be something that holds you, an anchor point to keep coming back to when you feel worried or stressed or lost. It is a way to care for and support oneself. In this episode, I’m going to talk about how I perceive and use mindset and some ways to start cultivating your own mindset during a stressful time.