Off The Hamster Wheel

Have you heard online business gurus tell you to "be the niche" and "get paid to talk about whatever you want?"

In this episode I break down why that isn't working: expensive courses that sell ‘vibes’ instead of real, tested strategy are losing traction FAST. I compare creators whose businesses are crumbling with those who have scaled by turning one-on-one work into courses.

Sorrynotsorry to everyone who thought I was going to tell you that it's ok to "be the niche"

Highlights include why relevance comes from working with real clients, the power of clear processes over self-focused marketing, and practical advice for creative entrepreneurs (especially creators moving from Etsy to having their own website!).

Freebies/work with me: www.amylollis.com

Connect on Insta: www.instagram.com/amylolliscreative

Regenerative Business: www.thedirtyalchemy.com

In this episode (recorded from the car during football practice) I explain why I'm staying rooted in the quilting industry while branching into business coaching, and why coaches need to keep doing the work they teach to stay relevant.

I share the story of building my first course, how moving from patterns to courses transformed my business, my focus on coaching solo creative entrepreneurs, and upcoming web design training to help makers launch and grow without burning out.

My Instagram: www.instagram.com/amylolliscreative

Grab my freebies: www.amylollis.com/freebies

Ever felt like your creative passion is smothering you instead of fueling you?

Yeah, me too.

Between quilting, web design, and a to-do list longer than a Walgreen's receipt, my business became one giant, exhausting toddler. Spoiler alert: the fix wasn’t adding more, it was stripping it all back. Yep, I eliminated all of my products and started selling ONE course, and my income tripled.

In this episode, I share:

🎙 The ridiculous saga of my podcast mic (and why expensive doesn’t always mean better).

🧵 Why I ditched selling individual quilt patterns and created Scrap Academy instead

🌐 How helping Jen from Dizzy Quilter move from Wordpress to Squarespace without losing her traffic

💡 The surprising truth: simplifying gave me breathing room, tripled my income, and actually made me fall in love with my business again.

If your creative grind feels more like chaos than joy, this episode is your permission slip to scale back. Less really is more.

✨ Connect with me:

Instagram: @amylolliscreative

Website: www.amylollis.com

I used to run my business with Flodesk, a full website, complicated email funnels, and a pile of half-finished platforms that looked good on paper but drained me in reality.

Then I stripped everything back.

Now I run my entire funnel using just Substack for connection and community—and Stan for marketing and sales. That’s it.

In this episode, I share:

Why I ditched Flodesk and stopped forcing myself to write newsletters

The difference between selling and connecting in a world that's dominated by AI

How Substack became my new blog, journal, and thought hub (and gave me back my voice)

Why Stan is the perfect “anti-tech” storefront for creative entrepreneurs

How I soft-launched my course with zero stress (and got 5 sales instantly)

This is for you if you’re craving a simpler way to show up, share your voice, and actually enjoy being a human in your business again.

Links Mentioned:

In this episode, I discuss how I came out of an autoimmune flare with a whole new perspective on running a creative business.

After four months of MCAS/PMDD/Fibromyalgia flares that left me unable to run my business, I realized that that answer to staying consistent isn't in doing more, but doing less.

I'm radically simplifying my business to the bare bones that it needs to be sustainable, and making nervous system regulation the absolute highest priority in my business.

Join me as I process the lessons I learned from pivoting a business while living with autoimmunity, and don't forget to hit subscribe!

Why Creatives Are So Sensitive:

1. How childhood trauma affects our creativity

2. Building a business as an overwhelmed mother (and the lessons I've learned)

3. Why people criticize, and what to do about it

Overcoming the visibility wound by recalibrating your nervous system, garbage posting challenge, mompreneur tips, how to build an authentic creative business

Links:

www.amylollis.com

www.instagram.com/amylolliscreative

www.amylollis.com

https://www.instagram.com/amylolliscreative

Creatives tend to have a lot in common: we have trauma, we are sensitive, and we aren't cut out for 9-5 life. But also? The chemical balance that creates that drive to succeed is the same one that causes us to have mental health issues and autoimmunity. 

In this episode, I talk about running a creative business while living with PMDD, POTS, and MCAS. Success is going to look WILDLY different for me than it does for others, and that's FINE! 

This one is deeply personal! I've been slowly making some hard decisions, and I think I've finally landed on the next step.

Listen to the episode to find out what's working, what I'm letting go of, and what's next for Amy Lollis Design.