Most people go through some sort of personal crisis at least once in their lives. In the time Franky’s been running her business, she’s experienced a few. Most recently, she’s had to navigate the sudden, unexpected death of her step-father.

In this episode, we’re chatting about what happened and what she learned. Why is preparing for a personal crisis something all business owners need to consider? And where do we start?

We cover building a strong foundation before disaster hits, what to do during a personal crisis, and what to do next. It’s advice we hope you never need to use, but we think you’ll be grateful for it if you do.

Links and Further Reading

What I’ve Learned From Running My Business During a Personal Crisis

How I Run My Copywriting Business with a Chronic Illness

Some Thoughts on Dropping Balls

Have you ever had to navigate a personal crisis while running your small business? Do you feel prepared to face one in the future? Join us on Substack to share your thoughts. We’d love to hear from you!

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We’re back following an unplanned, emergency hiatus. Find out what happened and listen as we belatedly reflect on Quarter 1 and look ahead to what’s left of Quarter 2 in our respective businesses. We share what felt good, what didn’t, and what we’ve learned in the process.

We also talk about our words of the year and how they’ve been showing up for us since we last spoke. Spoiler alert: Charlie didn’t choose one for 2026!

Finally, we share a few sources of creative inspiration and dig into our plans for the next three months.

Links and Further Reading

Carolyn Yoo

See You

Xanthe Appleyard

Join us on Substack where you can share your thoughts on this episode in the comments. Come and tell us your own intentions for Q2… we’d love to cheer you on!

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Larking About

Content Creatives with Charlie Swift

It’s been two years since we last chatted about how we’re using Substack in our respective businesses. A lot has changed for both of us since then, so we decided it was time to share an update.

Listen as we discuss moving the podcast to Substack, growing our mailing lists, turning on paid subscriptions, and in Charlie’s case, turning them off again. As well as sharing what has and hasn’t been working for us on the platform, we chat about our plans for 2026 and what we hope to achieve through our publications.

Links and Further Reading

Are You Going to Start a Substack?

How Are We Showing Up on Substack this Year?

Glennon Doyle, Mean Girls, and the Evolution of Substack

Should I Start a Substack for My Small Business?

Are you using Substack in your small business? Join us over there to share your thoughts. We’d love to hear from you!

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We’ve been noticing a rise of some poor manners online of late. Copy-cat content, big brands using photos without permission or giving proper credit, people presenting other creators ideas as their own. SO, in this episode we’re wondering ‘what happened to the Online Etiquette of the early internet’?

Listen to hear us share some examples of the types of poor etiquette we’ve noticed recently, chat through the difference between being inspired and copying, consider the role the rise of AI is playing and rant about Pinterest being sited as an image source.

Links and Further Reading

Siece Campbell

Shana Blakley

Our Thoughts on the Analogue Trend

Join the conversation on Substack to share your thoughts on online etiquette. We’d love to hear from you!

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How do you currently showcase and share your work with prospective clients? Do you have a portfolio or gallery on your website? Maybe you treat Instagram like a portfolio or have some kind of PDF you send out?

In today’s episode, we’re exploring all these options and more. We cover the purpose of a portfolio, where it should live, and share a range of creative ideas to help you present your work to the world. Alongside digital options, we discuss some unique analogue concepts.

As well as chatting about our own portfolios, Franky shares insights from working with clients, offering copywriting tips and pointing out a few pitfalls to avoid.

Links and Further Reading

Grace Yencer

Design By Emilia

Becky Lord Design

Cyber Areej

Carolyn Yoo

Chaotic Creatives - Curating Your Creative Work Like a Pro

Our Thoughts on the Analogue Trend

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2026 has officially been deemed ‘the year of analogue living’. The internet is going crazy for pen and paper, crafty hobbies, and physical media.

In this week’s episode, we discuss the rapid rise of this trend, explore how it’s being interpreted online, and what this might mean for us as small business owners.

We also chat about our own analogue habits and hobbies, and ponder why GenZ seem to love poor quality, ‘vintage’ digital cameras so much!

Links and Further Reading

Are You ‘Team Analogue’ or ‘Team Digital’?

Wildflower Illustration Co.

The Sunday Letter Project

Join the conversation on Substack to share your thoughts on going analogue {or not} in 2026. We’d love to hear from you!

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We’re kicking off the new year with our annual cosy conversation filled with reflections and intentions.

Find out what went well for us last year and what we learned from the things that didn’t. We also chat about our words of the year, share a few goals for 2026, and make some solid(ish) plans for Q1.

Links and Further Reading

Get Wildly Free

Join the conversation on Substack to tell us all about your plans for the year ahead. We’d love to hear from you!

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In our final episode of the year, join us as we run through some of our non-business related faves. As well as our favourite films, TV shows, music and books, we chat about the habits and experiences we’ve enjoyed the most. It’s an episode filled with recommendations, just for you!

Thank you for listening throughout 2025 and happy new year!

Fancy filling us in on your own favourites? Join the conversation on Substack. We’d love to hear from you!

Links and Further Reading

Isabel Paige

Shelby’s Cottage

Horticulturalish

Java Ceridwen Bere

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You’ve heard of doom scrolling, but what about bloom scrolling? Instead of mindlessly consuming content, bloom scrolling encourages you to interact with the digital world more thoughtfully.

In this week’s episode, we’re exploring the concept from a few different angles and offering practical tips to make your time online more nourishing. We cover everything from managing screentime and curating your feed to creating bloom-scroll-appropriate content of your own.

Links and Further Reading

Bloom Scrolling explained

Realfunwow

Ulyandernesto

Monalogue

Abbeysy

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‘Tis the season for a work Christmas do! But what happens when you’re self-employed and the office party is no more?!

In this episode, we’re reminiscing about corporate Christmas parties of the past and sharing ideas and encouragement to help you mark the end of another year in your creative business. We cover who to celebrate with when you work alone, and how, from dinner and drinks to craft parties and more.

Links and Further Reading

Transform Your Business with Co-Mentoring

Being Freelance Community

DIFTK Community

How will you be celebrating the end of another year in your creative business? Join the conversation on Substack to share your thoughts. We’d love to hear from you!

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