The Rebellious Leader™

Have you ever received an email, a piece of client feedback or even a simple “I can’t afford it” and felt your whole body react before your brain has had a chance to catch up?

Your chest goes prickly. Your stomach drops. You replay the conversation. You start questioning your pricing, your offer, your decisions, maybe your entire bloody business.

But does the size of your reaction actually tell you the size of the problem?

In this episode of The Rebellious Leader, I’m exploring what happens when someone else’s reaction becomes evidence about us, and what happens when our emotional response starts making business decisions.

I share a personal story about receiving a refund request from a former client 18 months after we'd finished working together, despite having ended on good terms and achieved strong results together.

My immediate response wasn't calm, strategic consideration.

It was:

“Oh my God. What have I done wrong?”

And that distinction matters.

Because there was a business situation to deal with.

And there was my emotional reaction to it.

They weren't the same problem.

We’ll look at why a client saying “I can't afford it” can lead us to add more to an already good offer, why one no can suddenly have us questioning our entire business, and how our attempts to avoid rejection, criticism or disappointment can quietly start shaping our strategy.

I also share a recent client example where being challenged created a huge physical and emotional response, even though once we'd examined what had happened, she still stood by the decision she'd made.

The goal wasn't to make her stop caring.

It was to help her find a more neutral place where she could check the feedback, take responsibility for anything that genuinely belonged to her, and leave the rest.

Because taking someone seriously doesn't require you to agree with them.

1. Why someone else’s reaction is information, not proof that you’ve done something wrong
2. How criticism, rejection and client feedback can trigger disproportionate emotional reactions
3. Why “I can’t afford it” doesn’t automatically mean your pricing is wrong
4. How feelings can quietly start shaping your offers, messaging and strategy
5. Taking feedback without automatically adopting someone else’s version of events
6. A five-question Rebellious Leader Audit to help you decide from evidence rather than reaction

Come say hi on Instagram: @mills_gray

Website: https://www.millsgray.com

The Rebellious Leader Book: https://www.millsgray.com/book/

Lucy Legal: Contract templates for business owners

What if you've correctly identified the problem in your business… but you're trying to solve it in completely the wrong place?

You know sales are inconsistent, content isn't happening, your team relies on you too much or your boundaries aren't working. So you try another strategy, a better system or stronger boundaries.

And yet somehow, the problem is still bloody there.

In this episode of The Rebellious Leader, I'm exploring a different question: Where does this problem actually live?

Using the NLP model of Neurological Levels, I look at six places a business problem can exist: environment, behaviour, capability, beliefs and values, identity, and purpose.

Being inconsistent with content could mean you don't have time, you don't know how to create it, or you believe talking about your success makes you look boastful. Same problem on the surface. Very different problem underneath.

We'll explore why another content strategy won't fix a visibility belief, how a boundary problem can actually be structural, and why deeper mindset work isn't automatically better.

You can't choose the right intervention until you've diagnosed the problem.

Come say hi on Instagram: @mills_gray

Website: https://www.millsgray.com

The Rebellious Leader Book: https://www.millsgray.com/book/

If Instagram feels like a beast you can't control, this episode is going to change that. I'm joined by Claire, founder of Studio 5 Social, who's spent years helping business owners get seen and get sales on Instagram without the overwhelm. We get into the four biggest mistakes she sees over and over, why chasing virality can actually wreck your business, the trend she was doing before anyone else, and the one thing about your Instagram audience that most people don't realise until it's too late.

In this conversation with Instagram strategist Claire from Studio 5 Social, we cover:

1. The four biggest Instagram mistakes business owners make and how to fix them
2. Why the algorithm isn't a beast, it just needs to be taught
3. How to know if your content strategy is actually working, beyond likes and followers
4. Why going viral can be the worst thing that happens to your business
5. How to get comfortable on camera when you hate being on camera
6. Why you don't actually own your Instagram audience, and what to do about it
7. A breakdown of her offers, including the one she'd "marry" and the one she'd ditch

1. Instagram: @studio5social (DMs are her happy place)
2. Email: [email protected], also available for enquiries
3. Website: studio5social.co.uk

1. Come say hi on Instagram: @mills_gray
2. Website: https://www.millsgray.com
3. The Rebellious Leader Book: https://www.millsgray.com/book/

You know you need to be more visible. You know you need to market your business, sell, follow up or finally build the thing you keep talking about.

There’s just one small problem: you genuinely don’t have the bloody time.

But is lack of time actually the problem?

In this episode of The Rebellious Leader, I’m sharing a conversation with a client whose diary was so full that the obvious answer seemed to be better time management, stronger boundaries and saying no to more work.

Except when I asked her whether saying no would become easier if she had more than enough money coming in, she said no.

And that changed the conversation.

Because sometimes busyness isn’t just a capacity problem. Sometimes it’s also doing a very useful job of keeping us away from the bits of business that feel uncomfortable visibility, self-promotion, selling, being judged or questioning whether we’re credible enough.

We’ll explore why the presenting problem is rarely the governing problem, how your business can start mirroring what’s happening underneath your behaviour, and why creating more space won’t necessarily change anything if you haven’t looked at what you’ll do once that space exists.

I also talk about why this isn’t about turning every legitimate business problem into a mindset problem. Sometimes your diary really is ridiculous. Sometimes your strategy needs fixing. Sometimes you need more leads, better conversion, higher prices or fewer offers.

The interesting work is knowing which problem you’re actually solving.

If this episode gave you one of those slightly uncomfortable oh shit moments, come and tell me on Instagram: @mills_gray

And if you want to look at your business differently, grab a copy of my book, The Rebellious Leader — a business book for women done playing by the rules.

Explore working with me: https://www.millsgray.com

If you're constantly telling yourself don't check, don't reply, don't get involved, don't rescue… I don't think you necessarily need better boundaries.

You might need better business design.

In this episode of The Rebellious Leader, I'm questioning one of the most overused pieces of advice given to successful women in business: “You need better boundaries.”

Because there's a massive difference between a personal boundary and a structural boundary.

One requires you to keep resisting the thing.

The other changes the business so you don't have to.

I share a client example that made me ask, “Why the fuck are your clients in your WhatsApp?”, as well as how I've had to rethink my own relationship with Voxer, client access and availability as my business has evolved.

Because being accessible to your clients doesn't mean being constantly available to them.

And sometimes we're getting pissed off because people aren't respecting boundaries we've never consistently taught them in the first place.

Come say hi on Instagram: @mills_gray

Website: https://www.millsgray.com

The Rebellious Leader Book: https://www.millsgray.com/book/

One quiet sales week and suddenly the offer's wrong, your messaging isn't landing, Instagram is dead and you're 36 hours away from rebuilding your entire funnel.

Sound familiar?

In this episode of The Rebellious Leader, I'm talking about something I see all the bloody time with successful business owners and am very capable of doing myself:

Reacting to discomfort as though it's evidence that something in the business needs fixing.

Because a disappointing result is data. It isn't automatically a problem.

There's a big difference between responding strategically to what your business is telling you and emotionally reacting because you don't like what just happened.

And when you're a high-achieving founder who's very good at solving problems, doing something can feel far safer than sitting still long enough to work out whether there is actually a problem to solve.

In this episode, I talk about:

1. Why one bad sales week isn't necessarily a sales problem
2. The difference between an event and a genuine pattern
3. Why successful founders can become addicted to fixing things
4. How emotional reactions to business data create questionable strategy
5. Why boredom can make you want to unnecessarily reinvent a successful business
6. How to tell when your business genuinely does need changing
7. Why observation is an active part of good business strategy
8. The questions to ask before you fuck with your funnel

If you like the way I think about business, leadership and the invisible problems underneath what's happening on the surface, you'll love my book, The Rebellious Leader A Business Book for Women Done Playing by the Rules.

Buy The Rebellious Leader: LINK HERE

Or come and find me on Instagram: @mills_gray

Ever feel like your branding is "fine" but something still doesn't sit right? This week I'm joined by Vanessa Jennings, founder of Bake Brands, who spent a year building a "neutral" personal brand before realising it was the exact opposite of who she actually is. We talk about ditching the coach label for strategist, why bold branding attracts the right clients, the AI slop ruining content right now, and what actually makes a brand magnetic online. If you've been quietly rebranding in your head for months but haven't pulled the trigger, this one's for you.

In this conversation with brand marketing strategist Vanessa Jennings, we get into:

• How to know when your branding isn't aligned with who you are
• Why she moved from "neutral" branding to bold, colourful, and unapologetically her
• The difference between positioning yourself as a coach versus a consultant or strategist
• How five redundancies in the fashion industry built the resilience to run her own business
• What actually makes a brand feel magnetic to the right clients
• Her honest take on using AI in business, including why AI-written content is killing trust
• The stat on personal branding and employee advocacy most business owners are sleeping on
• How human design and gut instinct shaped her rebrand

• Come say hi on Instagram @mills_gray — I love sending voice note responses to your questions. Share this episode to your stories and tag me for a happy dance.
• Website: https://www.millsgray.com
• The Rebellious Leader Book: https://www.millsgray.com/book/

• Instagram: @VanessaEves
• Business Instagram: @bake.brands
• Website: bake-brands.com

After 220 episodes, Soul Leaders is coming to an end, and Mills is telling you exactly why. This isn't a goodbye though. It's a rebrand. In this personal, unscripted episode, Mills talks through the signs you've outgrown your business, why the podcast that started as a lockdown project no longer represents who she's become as a business owner, and how to know when it's time to rebrand your business, even the parts that are technically still working. If your business feels stuck even though nothing is really wrong with it, or you've been quietly wondering whether you've outgrown your own niche, this episode is for you.

• Why Soul Leaders is ending after 220 episodes and becoming The Rebellious Leader
• Why business owners outgrow their niche, identity and offers even when everything is "working"
• The difference between the presenting problem and the real problem in business
• Why Mills believes better questions create better strategy, not the other way round
• How 18 years in business shaped Mills's philosophy on mindset, identity and change
• What's actually changing (and what isn't) about the podcast going forward

• Come say hi on Instagram: @mills_gray
• Website: https://www.millsgray.com
• The Rebellious Leader Book: https://www.millsgray.com/book/

Welcome to The Rebellious Leader the business podcast for smart, successful women whose businesses work, but still feel harder than they should.

I’m Mills Gray, business coach, strategist and author of The Rebellious Leader. After 18 years in business and transforming over 200+ businesses, I’ve learned that the problem you think you have is very rarely the actual problem and another strategy isn’t always the answer.

Every Thursday, we’ll go underneath the obvious stuff: business strategy, sales, leadership, identity, psychology, positioning and the invisible rules shaping how you run your business. Expect real client stories, brilliant guests, behind-the-scenes conversations and plenty of questions that might change how you see your business.

Because better questions create better thinking. Better thinking creates better strategy.

Formerly the Soul Leaders podcast. Find me on Instagram @mills_gray or at www.millsgray.com.

If you've ever felt stuck rewriting your offer, your messaging, or your entire business model, this episode is for you. Mills unpacks the coaching principle that's quietly underpinning all of her client work: better questions create better thinking, and better thinking creates better strategy. Using real client examples around imposter syndrome, health scares, and offer doubt, Mills shows how the "obvious" problem is almost never the real one, and shares the exact questions she asks to get to what's actually going on. The episode closes with a five-question audit you can run on your own business right now.

• Why Better Questions Create Better Business Strategy
• The Coaching Questions That Change Everything
• Better Question Business Audit

Come say hi in the DMs on Instagram @mills_gray , especially if any of this resonated with you. You can also join the conversation over in the Facebook group Mind Your Mindset, or head to www.millsgray.com to find out more about working with Mills. And if you want more on the thinking behind all of this, check out Mills's book, The Rebellious Leader.