If your workdays are constrained by school hours, health, or simply how you want to live, a four-hour workday isn't indulgent — it's a smart business strategy. In this episode, Anna shares how to protect your best thinking time, simplify what doesn't matter, and design a business model that works inside real life.

• A four-hour workday forces clarity: you protect deep work and stop low-value tasks getting to hide in "busy".

• If your business only works when you overwork, it's a business model issue — not a discipline issue.

• Time caps reveal what's unviable fast: pricing, scope, and over-custom delivery need to change.

• The goal isn't rigidity — it's designing around your peak hours so the rest of the day is lower-stakes by choice.

If this hit home, join the Four-hour Workday workshop on 12 February at onestepoutside.com/4hourday.

If the start of the year is already showing you what feels easy — and what feels heavy or out of step — this episode will help you make sense of what you're seeing. Anna explores why the landscape feels noisier, why capacity matters more than ever, and how a simpler, more coherent business structure can create clarity, stronger boundaries, and easier demand.

• A noisy market and more discerning buyers make coherence more valuable than ever.

• Capacity is a key constraint — piling on productivity (or AI content) often adds complexity.

• The friction you feel is usually architectural, not personal.

• Simplicity and depth can be a stronger strategy than "bigger goals" and constant scaling.

• When design, demand and delivery align, work feels lighter and decisions get clearer.

Explore next steps at intentionalexpert.com.

If you've been optimising for months but the day-to-day still feels heavy, this episode will help you spot when you need business redesign — not more effort. Anna unpacks optimisation vs redesign and shares how to step back and rethink the architecture of your business, with an invitation to her Solopreneur OS workshop on Tuesday 13 January 2026.

• Optimisation is useful — but only when the underlying business architecture still fits.

• Repeating the same problems (positioning, offers, capacity) is often a redesign signal, not a discipline problem.

• Redesign starts with deeper questions about identity, boundaries, capacity and the life you want now.

• You don't need to burn everything down — you need a thoughtful recalibration of the structure you're working within.

Register for the Solopreneur OS workshop at intentionalexpert.com.

If your business looks successful on paper but feels heavier than it should, this episode is for you. Anna shares a high-level way to think about business model alignment so you can identify what's out of sync and rebuild for the next season.

• Friction in a "working" business is often structural misalignment, not a motivation problem.

• As you evolve, your offers, messaging and delivery can stay stuck in an earlier version of you.

• Values and capacity aren't nice-to-haves — they're practical design constraints that protect quality and wellbeing.

• A coherent structure reduces the need to overcompensate with effort and makes growth feel lighter.

Join the live workshop on Tuesday 13 January and explore how to redesign your business structure at intentionalexpert.com.

If your business is working objectively but feels tighter or heavier on the inside, you may be operating inside a model that's past its natural life cycle. Anna unpacks why "optimising the old" won't solve deeper friction, and shares a practical 4Rs framework to recognise the signals, review the scripts keeping you stuck, redesign the blueprint, and rebuild in a way that fits who you are now.

Key takeaways:

• Outgrowing your business model is a normal stage: business structures have life cycles, and misalignment is often a signal of growth.

• If the business only works when you overextend, the issue is structural resilience — not your motivation, discipline, or capability.

• Small tweaks can become a "Frankenstein model": complexity that patches today's problem while compounding tomorrow's.

• The shift is from optimising the old to redesigning the blueprint: who you are now, what you want to deliver, and what container fits.

• Rebuilding isn't starting over: it's evolving boundaries, offers, delivery, pricing, systems and visibility so the business supports your life.

Join the waitlist at intentionalexpert.com if you're ready to explore a more intentional structure for your next chapter.

If the holiday season highlights what feels heavy or unsustainable in your work, this episode will help you use seasonal business rhythm to design rest into your business — not as a reward, but as a foundation.

Key takeaways

• Seasonal business rhythm helps you stop fighting your energy and start designing around it — so your business can support you year-round.

• Rest becomes a powerful diagnostic: when you slow down, you can finally see what's demanding, resistant, or no longer sustainable.

• "Being busy" isn't the same as moving forward — and filling every gap with doing keeps you disconnected from clarity.

• Hustling to "earn" rest often backfires, making it harder to switch off and recover (and sometimes crashing your body when you finally stop).

• A compassionate January plan beats an intense January plan — consistent, incremental action wins in the long haul.

Join the waitlist at intentionalexpert.com to explore a more intentional, human-first way of building your business.

If you want 2026 to feel more intentional, spacious, and aligned with how you actually want to work, this episode is for you. Anna shares ten powerful solopreneur resolutions designed to help you build a calmer, more strategic business that fits the season you're in—without the pressure, hustle, or hype.

Key Takeaways

• Intentional over automatic: These resolutions help you choose what truly matters rather than defaulting to old habits or outdated strategies.

• Simplicity wins: From offers to content to pricing, simplifying creates clarity, traction, and ease.

• Prioritise resonance: Your business grows more from relationships and meaningful messages than from chasing reach.

• Build supportive rhythms: A sustainable business needs structure, processes, and weekly rhythms that protect your time and energy.

• Self-leadership is the foundation: Boundaries, self-compassion, and treating your energy like an asset are essential for long-term success.

Join the waitlist for the Solopreneur Operating System at intentionalexpert.com to get support redesigning how your business actually works.

If you're craving a more intentional, streamlined and sustainable way to run your business next year, this episode is for you. Anna introduces a new way of thinking about how your business works behind the scenes - and what it takes to design your business operating system for 2026.

Key Takeaways

• Your early business setup wasn't designed to support where you are now—your operating system must evolve.

• Someone else's blueprint can't account for your life, energy, responsibilities or goals.

• A solid business operating system has three parts: an intentional business model, authentic marketing and resonant sales, and simple systems.

• Reducing complexity and decision fatigue is essential for consistency and calm in 2026.

• Small strategic tweaks create more clarity and space than big dramatic overhauls.

Join the free January workshop to design your Solopreneur Operating System at intentionalexpert.com.

If your content has stopped landing, leads feel slower, or business just feels heavier than it used to, you're not alone. In this episode, Anna unpacks the major solopreneur trends of 2025 - and what they mean for how you work, sell, and show up as you prepare for 2026.

Key Takeaways

• Visibility is changing: Even strong, thoughtful content underperformed on LinkedIn this year—and it's not about your quality, but the context.

• AI raised the bar: With content creation easier than ever, your differentiation now comes from clarity of message and point of view.

• Sales cycles slowed: Corporate budgets shrank, hesitations increased, and "maybe next quarter" became the norm.

• Trust takes more time: Warm leads, referrals, and real relationships outperform cold funnels and algorithm-chasing.

• Solopreneurs want sustainability: Many don't need bigger businesses—just clearer, simpler, more spacious ones.

Call to Action Join the waitlist for the Solopreneur Operating System at intentionalexpert.com to build a clearer, calmer way of working in 2026.

What if the biggest barrier to thriving at work isn't performance - but the way we lead? In this episode, Anna speaks with Nigel Kilpatrick, co-founder of The Compassion Exchange, about his dramatic journey from toxic leadership habits to human-centred, compassionate leadership. It's an honest, hard-hitting look at why old models of authority are failing - and what truly creates change.

Key Takeaways:

• The cost of old leadership models: Nigel shares how fear-driven, authoritarian cultures harm both companies and people - and why compassion is now essential for performance.

• From toxic habits to wise compassion: Hear how Nigel went from being "too empathetic," to adopting unhealthy behaviours, to finally finding grounded, human leadership.

• Why leaders resist change: A candid look at the identity crisis behind "I'm an SVP, don't you know?" attitudes - and what can shift them.

• Human at home, human at work: Learn how blending personal and professional wellbeing became the foundation of The Compassion Exchange.

If you're on a mission to create a business - and a life - rooted in compassion rather than pressure, subscribe and share this episode with someone who needs it.