This week on the podcast, Carmen and David from Red Platypus look back on their 5+ years of long-term travel and reflect on what life skills it taught them for running a business.

In this episode, we chat about:

• How things are often out of your control and you need to be flexible. 
• Plans can change in an instant and you need to adapt. 
• You’ll have hard days when you feel completely out of your comfort zone, but you need to keep moving forward. )
• You need to learn how to manage your finances if you want to travel for longer / be in business for longer! 
• The friends you make in business (and travel) totally get you instantly. And often remain friends for life.
• You enjoy the ride more when you go slowly. Travelling is better done slowly and truly getting to know a place. Growing your business bit by bit is more enjoyable when you take it slow and understand it’s a journey, not an overnight success.

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Or book in a free call and let's discuss we might be able to help you.

This week on the podcast, Carmen and David from Red Platypus dive into the challenges they've been facing in business lately and how they've overcome them.

In this episode, we chat about:

• How we went hard on a social media campaign so David's workshops weren't cancelled.
• How we continue to be consistent in what we do, and not give up, even when life gives us lemons.
• Why sometimes when things are too easy in business, it's hard to learn lessons and experience growth.
• How throwing yourself in the deep end when you're uncertain can be challenging but often pays off.
• Why you should be repurposing ALL your content to save time.
• Why you should outsource in your business before you're at capacity.
• How you open yourself up to opportunities when you do hard things.

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If you love this episode, please drop us a DM on Instagram @redplatypuscreative

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Want to find out more about what we do?

(Heads up - We're content writers who help businesses tell their stories clearly and consistently to make more conversions.)

You can check us out at www.redplatypuscreative.com

Or book in a free call and let's discuss we might be able to help you.

This week on the podcast, Carmen speaks to Benjamyn Gardner, founder of the skincare brand AntiBeauty.

Benjamyn is an absolute trailblazer in the beauty industry and is doing things other beauty brands have never done before.

They are an advocate for the trans community, and their skincare was initially developed for people who were undergoing a transition - because the hormonal treatment affects their skin in certain ways.

After discovering a lot of beauty brands were simply lip-service for the trans community - without actually developing skincare products to help them - Benjamyn was determined to change this.

AntiBeauty has seen phenomenal success since its inception just under two years ago - winning multiple awards and being stocked by major brands including Woolworths and Westfield.

In this episode, we chat about:

• How AntiBeauty goes above and beyond to provide the absolute best in customer service - and why this is so rare in the beauty industry.
• Why the beauty industry has a lot to answer for, and why Benjamyn wants to make sure their brand is 100% honest in everything it does.
• Why it's important to ignore the naysayers and stay true to your vision at all times.
• How it's important to be extremely bold and different in order to stand out in a saturated market such as beauty.
• Why marginalised communities are often forgotten about when it comes to beauty and why it's important to change this.
• How AntiBeauty was stocked by major retailers.
• The biggest struggles Benjamyn's come up against while growing their business.
• How they overcame self-doubt to stay on track, working hard to achieve their goals.
• How AntiBeauty is one of the few beauty brands to offer an exceptional refund policy if a customer isn't happy with their product (and this has only ever happened once!)

You can find AntiBeauty on their website and Instagram and Facebook.

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If you love this episode, please drop us a DM on Instagram @redplatypuscreative

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Want to find out more about what we do?

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Or book in a free call and let's discuss we might be able to help you.

Daniel Swanton is our guest on the Committed Creative Podcast today. He’s a web design entrepreneur who confesses that while he isn’t necessarily creative, he is good at business, and that’s what’s helped him build the highly successful EMD Design studio in Melbourne with a tight team and a core of loyal customers.

His journey from being bored and frustrated at a marketing agency to going it alone and creating his own thing is an inspiring story, which he shares with us warts and all.

But what really stands out with Daniel is his determination to find the right customers - in effect, the right audience - for his services, and then only work with them.

He did it the old-fashioned way at first, cold calling businesses who he deemed likely to need his services. And now, with good work under his belt, Daniel is the one who gets the calls!

In this podcast, we talk about:

- How cold calling is a smart tactic for creatives 

- Why connection with the customer is paramount for creating quality work

- How Daniel and EMD approach winning work and then delivering it

- Why there is no right time to start a business - only the opportunity

- How looking back, everything makes sense, even if it doesn’t at the time

- Why patience and hard work go together to create something meaningful

- How Daniel evolved his business and creative practises to keep growing

You can see Daniel's work with EMD Digital on Linkedin, Facebook, and Instagram.

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If you love this episode, please drop us a DM on Instagram @redplatypuscreative
Feel free to take a screenshot of the episode and share it, along with why you loved it.

Want to find out more about what we do?
(Heads up - We're content writers who help businesses tell their stories.)
You can check us out at www.redplatypuscreative.com
Or book in a free call and let's discuss we might be able to help you.

Want to learn more on how you can quit your 9-to-5 and follow your creative pursuit full-time? Then sign up to the Committed Creative waitlist as we have a course that'll help you out dropping very soon! 

Stephanie White is a self-taught photographer who turned her hand to brand photography after taking some photos of Tupperware for her first ever client.

Since then, she's grown her business to annual six-figures, and it's clear she's amazing at what she does - the evidence is in her epic photos.

Stef really understands how to make a woman feel comfortable in her own skin, which is why she manages to take stunning photos of female entrepreneurs with ease.

In all her photos, the women exude radiance and confidence.

Stef is super switched on, and it's easy to see how she's grown her business so significantly in such a short amount of time.

On The Committed Creative podcast, she chats to Carmen about how:

• she gets the best out of women by making them feel relaxed in front of the camera.
• she works with both her husband and her sister - and how they make it happen.
• automated systems have made running her business a breeze.
• to ask the right questions when hiring a photographer for your branding shoot.
• a devastating accident when she was just 22 shaped the trajectory of her life.
• she sometimes battles self-doubt and what she does to overcome it.
• she doesn't think she could ever go back to the 9-to-5, not that she's ever worked a day in a corporate role - ever!

You can find Stef over on her website and on Instagram.

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If you love this episode, please drop us a DM on Instagram @redplatypuscreative
Feel free to take a screenshot of the episode and share it, along with why you loved it.

Want to find out more about what we do?
(Heads up - We're content writers who help businesses tell their stories.)
You can check us out at www.redplatypuscreative.com
Or book in a free call and let's discuss we might be able to help you.

Want to learn more on how you can quit your 9-to-5 and follow your creative pursuit full-time? Then sign up to the Committed Creative waitlist as we have a course that'll help you out dropping very soon! 

Joh Kohler from Compelling Copy is my guest on the Committed Creative podcast today. She is a fellow copywriter, SEO specialist and loves everything to do with customer and keyword research.

Joh is another friend from my accountability group and she's brilliant at what she does. You might think - why the hell are you hosting another copywriter on your podcast, isn't she a competitor?! But I don't believe in competition - I certainly think she has other advice to share that I might not otherwise have thought of.

This podcast is SUPER helpful if you want to improve the SEO and traffic to your website and learn how to market your creative business more effectively.

In this podcast, we talk about:

• Why doing customer research helps you write better copy.
• What you need on your website and why.
• How to build backlinks.
• Why we sometimes forget to practise what we preach and how to set time aside each week to work on your business.
• Tips for getting your business into the media.
• How getting into the media can skyrocket your marketing.
• Brilliant SEO and keyword research tools to use for your business.
• Understanding keyword research and what to look at when choosing keywords.
• How Joh juggles mum life with running her business and how she tackles the mum guilt head on.

You can find Joh on her website, Instagram and Facebook. 

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If you love this episode, please drop us a DM on Instagram @redplatypuscreative

Feel free to take a screenshot of the episode and share it, along with why you loved it.

Want to find out more about what we do?

(Heads up - We're content writers who help businesses tell their stories.)

You can check us out at www.redplatypuscreative.com

Or book in a free call and let's discuss we might be able to help you.

Want to learn more on how you can quit your 9-to-5 and follow your creative pursuit full-time? Then sign up to the Committed Creative waitlist as we have a course that'll help you out dropping very soon! 

Today I’m sharing an interview with my friend and peer Martina Donkers, who I met online through a Facebook group called Freelance Jungle.

Martina is an evaluator and grant writer who has worked on some major impactful projects all around Australia, and has won tens of millions of dollars for her clients through her epic grant writing.

I can speak from experience because Martina has also worked on our own grants in the past, so I know how good her work is firsthand.

In this podcast, we talk about:

• How Martina found her zone of genius as a grant writer and how she’s recently added to her expertise by doing a Masters in Evaluation
• How Martina runs her business from the road - she’s currently travelling around Australia, sleeping in her car, while making an impressive salary!
• What Martina did when she had a year of global travel planned and then the pandemic hit.
• How Martina connects with her clients and how they support and encourage her lifestyle.
• Amazing tips for creatives wanting to apply for their own grants and win funding.
• How Martina works hard to get her work/life balance right so she can do the things she loves while working a job that lights her up.
• ADHD and how Martina’s diagnosis late last year has changed the way she treats herself.
• How Martina manages her ADHD while running a super successful freelance career.

You can find Martina on LinkedIn and Instagram.

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If you love this episode, please drop us a DM on Instagram @redplatypuscreative

Feel free to take a screenshot of the episode and share it, along with why you loved it.

Want to find out more about what we do?

(Heads up - We're content writers who help businesses tell their stories.)

You can check us out at www.redplatypuscreative.com

Or book in a free call and let's discuss we might be able to help you.

Want to learn more on how you can quit your 9-to-5 and follow your creative pursuit full-time? Then sign up to the Committed Creative waitlist as we have a course that'll help you out dropping very soon! 

This week on the podcast, Carmen speaks to Erin Madeley, founder of the Perth Makers Market and recent owner of Perth's Upmarket.

Erin founded a locally-made market after she struggled to find that type of market to sell her own handmade products at.

Without any background experience in event management, Erin dived in head first and seven years later, her hard work is certainly paying off.

Erin's business knowledge and company insights were so interesting and she was an absolute delight to host on the Committed Creative podcast.

In this episode, we chat about how:

• How Erin grew a massive market business without an events background.
• Why she’s so passionate about locally made products.
• How Erin runs a highly successful business while at times suffering from depression and anxiety.
• How Erin dealt with COVID and what she offered her clients when she had to cancel events.
• What creatives are the most scared of.
• Why it helps to have an in-person and online presence.
• How markets help gather data on customer experiences and how you can improve your business. 
• Top tips for marketing your products face-to-face.
• How to best display your products at a market.
• Why she focuses at what she wants to do in her business and outsources the rest.
• How she looks after her team and makes sure she recruits employees who align with her business.

You can find Perth Makers Market on Instagram and Facebook.

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If you love this episode, please drop us a DM on Instagram @redplatypuscreative

Feel free to take a screenshot of the episode and share it, along with why you loved it.

Want to find out more about what we do?

(Heads up - We're content writers who help businesses tell their stories.)

You can check us out at www.redplatypuscreative.com

Or book in a free call and let's discuss we might be able to help you.

Want to learn more on how you can quit your 9-to-5 and follow your creative pursuit full-time? Then sign up to the Committed Creative waitlist as we have a course that'll help you out dropping very soon! 

This week on the podcast, Carmen speaks to Rebecca Kelly, business coach and founder of the epic Ladies HQ in the northern suburbs of Perth.

Bec quit her job as a high school teacher to launch Ladies HQ at the beginning of COVID, after one of her students committed suicide and she realised how important community is for mental health.

Since then, Bec's business has grown astronomically and she's well surpassed the income she was making as a teacher PLUS she's created a beautiful community of like-minded women who like to have fun.

Bec's passion and joy for life is infectious and it was SO inspiring to have her on the podcast.

In this episode, we chat about how:

• Bec's grown her Facebook group to 10,000 members in less than two years.
• You can create an engaged community.
• Bec taps into her own creativity by only doing the things that are a 'fuck yes'.
• The joy she gets from helping women in her community is next level and what motivates her to keep going.
• Creating a safe space for women to confidently share what's going on in their lives is what drives her.
• The only things she does are the things she's passionate about... and when she's decided to do something, nothing will stop her.

You can find Ladies HQ on Facebook and Instagram.

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If you love this episode, please drop us a DM on Instagram @redplatypuscreative

Feel free to take a screenshot of the episode and share it, along with why you loved it.

Want to find out more about what we do?

(Heads up - We're content writers who help businesses tell their stories.)

You can check us out at www.redplatypuscreative.com

Or book in a free call and let's discuss we might be able to help you.

Want to learn more on how you can quit your 9-to-5 and follow your creative pursuit full-time? Then sign up to the Committed Creative waitlist as we have a course that'll help you out dropping very soon! 

This week on the podcast, Carmen speaks to Emilia Musgrave, who founded her promotional merchandising business, Think Promotional, when she was in her mid-20s.

Emilia realised working from someone else just wasn’t for her, and seeing an opportunity in the market, decided to go out on her own.

Since then, Emilia has launched three successful businesses and gained a strong and engaged following on Instagram, through which she finds most of her customers. 

Emilia is nothing if not persistent, and when COVID threw her a curveball, she completely pivoted her business and made the most out of a bad situation.

In fact, she didn’t just turn an unfortunate situation on its head, she captured a new market for her business that saw her sales boom. 

In this episode, we chat about how:

• Emilia feels she could only ever run her own business.
• travel prepared her for running her own business.
• Emilia follows her intuition and it's never wrong.
• she pivoted her business in COVID and not just made the best of a difficult time, but caused her business to thrive.
• Emilia juggles motherhood and entrepreneurship.
• Instagram has been a boom for business and where she gets most of her clients from.

You can find Emilia and her business Oh Sweet Merch on Instagram.

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If you love this episode, please drop us a DM on Instagram @redplatypuscreative

Feel free to take a screenshot of the episode and share it, along with why you loved it.

Want to find out more about what we do?

(Heads up - We're content writers who help businesses tell their stories.)

You can check us out at www.redplatypuscreative.com

Or book in a free call and let's discuss we might be able to help you.

Want to learn more on how you can quit your 9-to-5 and follow your creative pursuit full-time? Then sign up to the Committed Creative waitlist as we have a course that'll help you out dropping very soon!