In this episode of The Lifestyle Business Show, Lucy is joined by Mel Stephenson, founder of The Lifestyle VA - a boutique agency that gives busy CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs their time back by handling both the business admin and the life admin that quietly eats up their days.

Mel shares her journey from the music industry to a health crisis, a sabbatical in Bali, and accidentally starting a business that’s now been running for nearly eight years. She talks honestly about the mistakes she made along the way - including hiring a friend, taking on the wrong mentor, and trying to run two businesses at once - and what eventually made her stop, simplify, and focus on what she actually loved.

You’ll learn:

* what a lifestyle VA actually does - and why it’s about so much more than admin

* how to work out which tasks you should stop doing yourself

* why you might need automations before you need a hire

* the simple time-tracking exercise that reveals exactly where your time is going

* why your best clients will trust you - and how to spot the ones who won’t

To hear more, visit lucygordonco.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lucygordonco.substack.com

In this episode of The Lifestyle Business Show, Lucy Gordon answers one of the questions she gets asked most: how do you actually run a business in less than five hours a week?

She pulls back the curtain on exactly how she took her real estate business from over 50 hours a week down to around 25 hours a month - what she stopped doing, what she kept, how long it really took, and what she does in those hours now.

You’ll learn:

* why she walked away from her highest-revenue work - and what she replaced it with

* the exact split of how 25 hours a month gets used across the business

* why conversion rates matter more than revenue - and which numbers to watch instead

* the one-tweak-a-week optimisation method that keeps the business growing without adding hours

* how a VA, a focus tracker, and a Monday morning ritual hold the whole thing together

Grab the Focus Tracker at lucygordon.com/focus - use code PODCAST for 50% off.

To hear more, visit lucygordonco.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lucygordonco.substack.com

In this episode of The Lifestyle Business Show, Lucy is joined by Beatrice Ronchetti, a personal branding coach who helps business leaders in the real estate and construction industry attract better clients, bigger projects, and build a business that actually works for them.

Beatrice shares her journey from qualifying as an architect in Italy to building a specialist personal branding practice in London - and the honest truth about what happened when her business became successful but started to consume her completely. She opens up about the hustle culture trap, the moment she had to let go of the steering wheel, and why doing less actually made her business grow faster.

You’ll learn:

* why visibility matters more than ever - especially in traditional industries like real estate

* how saying yes to everything is quietly killing your business

* why delegating feels terrifying and why you need to do it anyway

* how streamlining your offers can get you better results in less time

* what to do when something feels off but you can’t quite put your finger on why

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lucygordonco.substack.com

Lucy Gordon is back after a week off - and she’s not apologising for it. In this episode she talks honestly about why she skipped a week, why she probably won’t release an episode every single week going forward, and why that’s actually the whole point.

She also gets into something a lot of business owners struggle with in the summer: how to go on holiday and actually be on holiday. Lucy shares the practical steps she’s put in place to properly switch off - no laptop, no emails, no guilty scrolling — and why building a business that can survive without you for a week is one of the most important things you can do.

You’ll learn:

* why it’s okay to skip a week (or take a break from anything) without over-explaining yourself

* when to set your out of office - and why most people do it wrong

* how to leave work in a state where nothing falls apart while you’re gone

* why deleting your work apps is more effective than just muting them

* how to actually justify switching off when you’re the only person in your business

Download the free guide - 25 ways to save time in your business - at lucygordon.com/time

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lucygordonco.substack.com

As a self-confessed introvert, walking into a room full of confident networkers is genuinely intimidating. Lucy talks honestly about that - how she prepared, what felt hard, and the slightly unglamorous trick that ended up giving her the best conversations of the whole conference.

She also gets into something she wasn’t expecting to feel - what it’s like to be an experienced business owner, but a total beginner in a newer business. Plus the talks that changed how she thinks about sales and webinars, a talk of her own that went sideways, and a pricing decision she’s been going back and forth on for weeks.

You’ll learn:

* how to network when crowds and small talk genuinely drain you

* why feeling like a beginner again isn’t something to worry about

* the coffee-station trick that beats walking up to strangers

* what to do when a talk doesn’t go to plan

* why protecting your energy is part of running a sustainable business

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lucygordonco.substack.com

Sarah shares how getting clearer on who she wanted to help transformed both her business and her relationship with work.

We talk about purpose, authenticity, confidence, and the pressure to follow someone else’s version of success. Sarah explains how focusing on meaningful impact helped her build a successful business without compromising who she is.

If you’ve ever felt like you need to fit a certain mould to grow your business, this conversation is a reminder that staying true to yourself can be a strength, not a weakness.

Connect with Sarah:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahjbryer/Website: https://www.sarahbryer.co.uk/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lucygordonco.substack.com

In this episode of The Lifestyle Business Show, Lucy Gordon shares the full story of how she went from a corporate real estate career and a six-figure consultancy - that was quietly making her miserable - to building a business that generates consistent income in a fraction of the hours.

She opens up about the mental health struggles, the demanding clients, the failed attempts to scale, and the moment she finally decided something had to change. This is the honest, unfiltered version of how a lifestyle business actually gets built - not overnight, and not without difficulty.

You’ll learn:

* why visible success and genuine happiness are not the same thing

* what finally pushed Lucy to stop doing work she didn’t enjoy

* how she turned a neglected side project into her main income stream

* why hiring and outsourcing didn’t solve the problem - and what did

* what it actually looks like to define what you want and build towards it

Reach out to Lucy on LinkedIn if you want to discuss working together: https://linkedin.com/in/iamlucygordon/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lucygordonco.substack.com

In this episode of The Lifestyle Business Show, Lucy Gordon introduces one of the most powerful - and most overlooked - exercises any business owner can do: working out their “enough” number.

Most of us are chasing arbitrary income targets that have nothing to do with our actual lives. Lucy shares why the goalpost keeps moving, why hitting the big number never feels as good as you think it will, and what happened when she finally sat down and worked out what she actually needed - and realised it was a lot less than she’d been chasing.

Download the free Enough Calculator at lucygordon.com/enough

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lucygordonco.substack.com

In this episode of The Lifestyle Business Show, Lucy Gordon shares the practical systems and habits she uses to protect her time, reduce unnecessary work, and create more freedom in her business. From time blocking and prioritising your own tasks, to replacing meetings with Loom videos and creating SOPs that save hours every week, this episode is packed with simple ways to make your business run more efficiently.

You’ll learn:

* how to stop working reactively

* why protecting your time matters so much

* simple systems that save hours every week

* how to reduce meetings and unnecessary admin

* and the mindset shifts that help you build a business that supports your life instead of consuming it

Plus, Lucy shares the exact strategies she used to free up more of her own time while still growing a profitable business.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lucygordonco.substack.com

In this episode of The Lifestyle Business Show, Lucy Gordon breaks down how to plan your next quarter in a way that actually supports both your income goals and your lifestyle goals. From setting realistic revenue targets and reviewing your offers, to mapping out launches, tracking conversions, and improving your sales funnel, this episode will help you create a simple, intentional strategy for the months ahead.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lucygordonco.substack.com