Some conversations make you want to unleash your inner artist. This one will.

Lu started ToodlePip in lockdown as a hobby that was only ever supposed to pay for her nails and eyebrows. What it became is something else entirely, and her vision for the future gave me actual goosebumps.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• How ToodlePip started, what it's named after, and the moment Lu decided to go all in under circumstances most people would consider terrible timing
• Why she runs two businesses that feed each other rather than choosing between them, and how she's made that work
• A story about wooden lanyards that perfectly captures what doing things differently actually looks like in practice
• And a big vision for the future that you'll be thinking about long after this episode ends

The big takeaway? If your gut and your heart are where it's at, your head will follow, and sometimes the best thing you can do is stop trying to go at everyone else's speed and just do one thing a little bit differently.

Until next time, stay quietly disruptive.

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Discover Lu's world:
Lu is the founder of ToodlePip, a brand designer and artist bringing joy, ink, and analogue creativity to everything she touches.
ToodlePip Designs (art shop): https://www.toodle-pip-designs.com/
ToodlePip Does Design (branding): https://toodlepip-does-design.co.uk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toodlepip.does.design/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-underwood-design/

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Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else.
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact

Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo).
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com

If you've ever sent a message, had a brilliant conversation, and genuinely believed something good was coming from it.....and then heard absolutely nothing back, this episode is for you, because I've been there more times than I can count. What I've learned from getting it wrong is honestly some of the most useful feedback I've ever had.

Following on from our last episode about why most outreach doesn't work, today I'm answering the question I know every founder is sitting with: how do I actually know whether I'm being patient or just avoiding the fact that something isn't working?

In this episode, you'll hear:

• A confession about my first proper ghosting, and what shifted somewhere around the fourth and fifth time that changed how I see rejection entirely
• Why "I don't want to bother people" sounds considerate but is actually something else wearing a very convincing costume
• The three questions to ask yourself when you genuinely can't tell whether to trust the timing or change the approach
• And why the signals most founders are tracking to measure whether their outreach is working are almost entirely the wrong ones

The big takeaway? Curious outreach, given enough time and done in a way that's genuinely yours, will always find its people BUT the hard part is learning to tell the difference between continuing and hiding, and that's exactly what this episode helps you figure out.

Until next time, stay quietly disruptive.

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Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds.

Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else.
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact

Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo).
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com

If the word outreach makes you flinch or you've been avoiding it because it feels pushy, salesy, or like you'd have to become someone you're not to do it, this episode might change how you think about it entirely.

Outreach doesn't have to look like the spammy LinkedIn message that arrives 30 seconds after a connection is accepted. There is another way.

In this episode, I share something that happened this week that shows exactly what outreach looks like when it's done with curiosity and patience rather than pressure, and why the results of that approach sometimes take months to show up but when they do, they're worth every moment of the wait.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Why content and outreach are two arms of the same thing and why most founders are only using one
• What curious outreach actually looks and feels like in practice, and why the people on the receiving end are genuinely glad to hear from you
• The most common reason outreach fails, and it's got nothing to do with the platform, the message, or the volume
• And why separating the method from the reputation changes everything

The big takeaway? When you swap the pitch for curiosity and the pressure for patience, outreach stops being the thing you dread and starts being the thing that actually builds your business.

Until next time, stay Quietly Disruptive.

###

Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds.

Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else.
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact

Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo).
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com

If you've ever had the idea of writing a book tucked away somewhere in the back of your mind, filed under someday, waiting for the right time, then this conversation might be the nudge you need to dust it off.

My guest Amy Warren is the founder of The Writing House and TWH Press, and her journey from solicitor to self-published author to landing a book deal with Penguin is one of those stories that reminds you how much can change when you take that first leap.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Amy's journey and the sequence of events that would never have happened if she hadn't taken one small risk
• The three things that hold most founders back from writing their book, and a brilliantly simple solution to the biggest one
• A new approach to publishing that's quietly disrupting the traditional route and solving a problem no one else has
• The unexpected realisation we landed on mid-conversation that changed how we both think about writing and business
• And a closing question that might just spark your next idea

The big takeaway? You learn how to write a book by writing it, not by waiting until you feel ready, and certainly not by waiting for someday to arrive.

Until next time, stay quietly disruptive.

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Connect with Amy Warren:

Amy is the founder of The Writing House and TWH Press, helping founders write, finish, and publish the book they've always wanted to write.

Website: https://www.thewritinghouse.co.uk/
TWH Press: https://twhpress.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-writing-house/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_thewritinghouse_

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Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds.

Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else.
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact

Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo).
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com

Wanting to work differently is one thing but actually holding it is another, and that's where most founders come unstuck.

It's not the big dramatic moments that pull you off course, but the small ones — the perfectly reasonable request that falls just outside your hours, the single yes that feels harmless, the instinct to fix something for someone at your own expense. Each one is a small negotiation with a boundary that was there for a reason.

In this episode, I share my five non-negotiables and the specific decisions I've already made so I don't have to make them over and over again every time something comes along and asks me to move them.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Why I'm sharing mine not because yours should look the same, but because hearing someone name theirs specifically might be exactly what helps you start naming yours
• The one that surprises people every time I mention it
• The one that took me the longest to hold, and the hard lesson that finally made it stick
• Where to look in your own business to find the non-negotiables you might already be protecting without ever having named them
• And why making the decision once and then holding it changes absolutely everything

The big takeaway? Non-negotiables aren't rules someone told you to follow but are decisions you've already made, and when you hold them, everything gets simpler.

Until next time, stay quietly disruptive.

###

Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds.

Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else.
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact

Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo).
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com

The eight-hour workday traces back to the second industrial revolution, so why are so many of us still working that way in the 21st century, in businesses we started specifically to do things differently?

I did it for years. I worked eight hours, then ten, then twelve, and the days blurred into one long line that I didn't consciously choose. I was exhausted, depleted, and convinced that more hours meant more progress. It didn't.

In this episode, I share what happened when I flipped everything and moved to a six-hour working day, covering what I expected, what actually happened, and why what I discovered surprised me completely.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• The fear I had going in, and why neither of the things I was worried about actually happened
• What changed about the quality of my work, my decisions, and my energy when the window got smaller
• The thing that fills a full working day that isn't actually work at all
• And what the hours either side of my working day taught me about what makes the middle possible

The big takeaway: Working less didn't make me achieve less . It made me achieve more, and it changed my understanding of what productivity actually means.

Until next time, stay Quietly Disruptive.

###

Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds.

Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else.
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact

Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo).
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com

You know exactly what you want to build, so what's actually stopping you?

In almost every conversation I have with a founder who is ready to build the real version of their business, the same four things come up, and today I'm naming them out loud, because sometimes just hearing them is enough to take away their power.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• The four most common things I see holding founders back, and why they're not what you think they are
• A reframe for each one that changes how you see it completely
• Why these four things show up in nearly every founder conversation I have, and why you are absolutely not alone in experiencing them
• And why I now see them as old friends who remind me I'm human and doing something brave, rather than reasons not to build the thing

The big takeaway? None of these are reasons to stop. They're signs that you care, that you're building something that matters, and the first step to overcoming them is simply to see them for what they are.

And if you would like to book your Onwards and Upwards Experience, book your session here: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/book-your-call

Until next time, stay Quietly Disruptive.

###

Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds.

Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else.
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact

Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo).
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com

Is there a version of your business that you already know about, one that you can see, feel, and describe in detail to anyone who asks... but you haven't built it yet?

That's what today's episode is about and why so many founders keep the business they actually want tucked away in a someday folder.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Why I spent years building the safe version of my business while the real one waited patiently, and what that actually cost me in energy, momentum, and time
• Why building the wrong thing is exhausting in a very specific way, and why no matter how hard you work at it, it never quite feels like enough
• Why building the business you actually want isn't selfish but is the most honest thing you can do as a founder
• And the question I'd love you to sit with: what would it actually take to move your someday business out of someday and into now?

The big takeaway: The business you actually want to build doesn't get easier the longer you leave it. It gets heavier, and every year you spend building the safe version is a year the real one waits.

Until next time, stay quietly disruptive.

###

Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds.

Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else.
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact

Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo).
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com

The alternative of hustle is  one word: specific.

Not doing less, but doing the right things for the right people with the right intention behind every decision. Hustle says do more of everything and see what sticks, but building specifically says know exactly who you're building for and what actions actually move you forward.

In this episode, I walk through four things that genuinely move the needle for founders who want to build differently, and they all share one thread in common.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Why nothing else works until you know exactly what you're building, and how one clear sentence makes every decision simpler
• Why specific relationships with the right people in the right rooms matter more than broad networking and collecting business cards, and what I discovered after experimenting with 20 networking events in one month
• What happens when you create content for one specific person rather than trying to appeal to everyone, and why that specificity is what makes people stop, not the algorithm
• The most powerful of all four: why word of mouth from right-fit clients only happens when the first three are working, and why every wrong-fit client costs you the referral you actually needed

The big takeaway: Loud is broad, quiet is narrow, and narrow is where the right people, the right clients, and the right results actually live. Building specifically might feel slower, but it compounds, and it gets you exactly where you're meant to go.

Until next time, stay quietly disruptive.

###

Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds.

Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else.
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact

Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo).
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com

Working hard isn't the problem but working hard on the wrong thing or in the wrong way is where it gets expensive.

And not just in energy, but in time spent going in the wrong direction, and decisions made from exhaustion rather than clarity.

This episode is about why hustle culture feels like progress from the inside but works more like a hamster wheel, and why the same action done differently can produce completely different results.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Why there is logic in hustle culture, and why that logic is exactly what makes it so sneaky
• The cold outreach example that shows how the same action done the hustle way versus your way produces completely different outcomes
• Why hustle feels like momentum but rarely gets you anywhere you actually want to go
• The unseen costs of buying into it: energy, time, direction, and the quality of every decision you make while you're exhausted
• And the two questions to ask before taking any action: is this right for me, and is this the way I want to do it?

The big takeaway: Before you do more, stop and ask whether it's the right thing to do more of, because the effort only works when it's going in the right direction, and hustle culture never asks you that question.

Until next time, stay Quietly Disruptive.

###

Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds.

Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else.
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact

Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo).
Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com