Thank you so much for joining me this week to celebrate 50 episodes. It's a very special milestone for me, and to celebrate, I am thrilled to welcome Jasmine Dowling back on the show for this surprise bonus episode!

For those of you who don’t know Jasmine, she’s a designer from Brisbane, Australia. She kick started her career in 2012 by creating personal design projects and commissioned work for clients. Fast forward to today, and she has made her passion into a full time gig and has worked with the likes of Nike Australia, Hallmark, David Jones, Nespresso, Mecca Brands and lots more. She also has an online store, which she launched in 2014 as a place for her to sell her art print collections. Now her days consist of shooting, styling, coffee, postal runs, ink covered hands, and editing away in her home studio. 

If you've been listening along since the start, then you'll know Jasmine was my very first guest on the show. I will always remember nervously emailing Jasmine, about two years ago, to see if she would be interested in being on the show. And when she said yes, I couldn't believe it. Especially because my podcast hadn't officially launched. Her support gave me a huge burst in confidence that maybe, just maybe what I wanted to create, would provide an engaging and encouraging platform to help other creatives in their own businesses and lives.

And it seems only fitting to have her back on the YCS Podcast to celebrate 50 episodes and to chat about the pressures to be a girl boss. She actually wrote a blog post about this, and it really resonated with me. With social media playing such a prevalent role in how we feel, it's important that we all know we are in this together - no matter what someone’s success is, or "looks like". I think this episode, albeit recorded a couple of months ago, couldn't have come at a better time with Instagram removing like count from the app recently. And as a quick side note: As this episode goes live, you can actually still see like counts on any desktop computer. But enough about that for now.

Ever since reading Jasmine's blog post, I’ve had so many thoughts whirling around in my mind so I asked her to come back on the show so we can discuss and debate the pressures of being successful and having a successful business. On today’s episode Jasmine and I chat about social media and being the next big thing, "authenticity" becoming a trend, what happens when being a Girl Boss makes the rest of us feel like failures, building a successful business and the stereotypes that come with this, defining your own success, learning to feel and know that what you’re doing is enough, things that don’t make us feel successful, why we love working for ourselves, the pressures of success and becoming of age, and as always - lots, lots more

I really hope you guys enjoy this episode, because it holds a very special place in my heart. As always, you can except lots of wisdom bombs, actionable tips and practical advice, so I advise you get your pen and notebook at the ready. 

FIND JASMINE DOWLING

1. Jasmine Dowling www.jasminedowling.com
2. Instagram www.instagram.com/jasminedowling

FIND YOUR CREATIVE START

1. Your Creative Start www.yourcreativestart.com
2. Instagram www.instagram.com/yourcreativestart
3. Pinterest www.pinterest.com/yourcreativestart
4. Soundcloud www

I can’t believe this is the 50th episode of the YCS Podcast! Firstly, I want to say a huge thank you for listening and supporting my podcast, and guests. As you know, it truly means the world to me. To celebrate 50 episodes, I am coming back next week with a surprise episode. So, make sure you stick around because I’ve got someone very special on the show. 

Now, back to this week’s YCS Podcast episode. I am so excited to introduce you to Claire Deane, from Deane and Co. For those of you who don’t know Claire – she is a marketing gun who is all for working smarter, not harder. And she is the founder of her own marketing business, Deane & Co, which is based in Brisbane Australia.

I’ve been lucky to cross paths with Claire on Instagram and in the last few months, I’ve attended two of her workshops. I am a huge fan of constantly learning and skilling up, and when I went to her workshop about growing eCommerce stores – I knew I had to get her on the podcast. I am really excited about this episode because we get stuck into the nitty gritty about selling products and services online. And I know this is going to be relevant to so many of you guys. Me too with the launch of my own business, Smør Store. 

On this week’s episode we chat about the importance of designing a website that actually sells including designing for mobile, which platform to use, and DIY templates and website designers. Claire reveals her must have eCommerce tools for business websites, and shares her tips for attracting, and most importantly, retaining customers. 

Claire also shares her tips and tricks for growing your email database, and we discuss in detail packaging trends, shipping strategies that attract and retain customers, and why every business needs trust cue’s. We also chat in detail about the check-out experience, measuring and reporting, and lots, lots more. 

And as an added bonus, Claire has generously shared her “10 Step Checklist” to help you launch your own business, which you can download and print for free from the YCS website. This checklist provides the perfect overview of exactly what you need to do to get your business up and running. With tips for choosing your platform, to how to get your customers to hand over their cash – this checklist will help you on your way to making your very own sale. Head over yourcreativestart.com to download it for free. You’ll find it in the Podcast section of our website, under Claire’s episode.

Now, back to the show.

FIND CLAIRE DEANE

1. Deane & Co www.deaneand.co
2. Instagram www.instagram.com/deaneandco

FIND YOUR CREATIVE START

1. Your Creative Start www.yourcreativestart.com 
2. Instagram www.instagram.com/yourcreativestart
3. Pinterest www.pinterest.com/yourcreativestart
4. Soundcloud www.soundcloud.com/yourcreativestart

I am thrilled to have Stevie Dillion from Stevie Says Social on the YCS Podcast today. A former lawyer turned social media marketer, Stevie has had an incredible career that has seen her work in London and Australia. She’s worked with some of the biggest brands in Australia, including Red Bull, and has experienced the power of good socials and a strong content marketing strategy, that completely transformed the big businesses she worked with. 

But on the other hand, she saw small businesses spending their time on the wrong things – obsessing over the tools and followers, but ignoring the strategy side of social whilst struggling to stand out. It became her mission to change that, and Stevie Says Social was born. 

Now, we all know social media is obviously a great platform to grow a brand, connect with a desired audience, and sell services and products. But how do we exactly do that? This is why I’ve got Stevie on the show this week. Her specialty is educating passionate small business owners to lift their social media game with thoughtful strategies so they can build a profitable business they love. She says, “if you’re not having fun – you’re doing it wrong”.

On today’s episode Stevie and I chat about whether or not Instagram is a great space to launch a brand, the most important thing you need to launch a business on social media, how you find and create the best community for your business, tips for building a great newsletter database, strategically using a blog to grow your community, how you actually launch a brand on Instagram, how many followers you should have before you launch, what things should we do to build a genuine following who will buy from you, tips for creating really, really good content, Instagram stories and how we should use them, working with Influencers (and no they will not solve all of your marketing problems), and lots, lots more

Remember to sign up to the Your Creative Start Podcast newsletter for more actionable advice and wisdom bombs, as well as secret episodes! When you sign up, you’ll also receive a Getting Started Checklist - for FREE! Sign up here.

FIND STEVIE DILLON

1. Stevie Says Social www.steviesayssocial.com
2. Instagram www.instagram.com/steviesayssocial
3. Talk To Me Social Podcast www.instagram.com/steviesayssocialpodcast

FIND YOUR CREATIVE START

1. Your Creative Start www.yourcreativestart.com
2. Instagram www.instagram.com/yourcreativestart
3. Pinterest www.pinterest.com/yourcreativestart
4. Soundcloud www.soundcloud.com/yourcreativestart

Sometimes you need help expressing who you are and what you do, and that’s why I am so excited to have this week’s guest on the Your Creative Start Podcast this week. Her name is Anita Siek and she is the founder of Wordfetti, a copywriting haus  who don’t do normal write. Yes, if that last bit didn’t sound exactly right, then head over to Anita’s witty website and you’ll see why. 

An ex-corporate ex-lawyer turned professional copywriting wordsmith, Anita just has this clever yet super relatable way of grabbing your attention that’s warm, honest and sometimes quirky, and that’s why she’s in top demand from her clients, and has a waitlist for those wanting to work with her and her creative team. What stands out most for me is that Anita is passionate about the phycology of writing, and how it shapes our behaviours. I have always loved how writing creates an emotional reaction in people, so I am excited to dive into this episode and divulge all of the wisdom bombs, actionable advice and practical tips Anita shares about copywriting and how it can make, or break, your business. 

But don’t worry, with Anita around, she’ll make sure copywriting only makes your business better for you, and your clients and customers. On this week’s episode, Anita and I chat about nontraditional career paths, exploring what you love through side gigs, the importance of good copywriting for business when you are trying to sell something, understanding the importance of language, creative copywriting and strategic copywriting, where you may need copywriting assistance (and it may not be where you expect), brand voice, cutting through a sea of similarities, brand bibles, budgeting for a copywriter, investing up your own copywriting skills, tips for crafting great copywriting, writers block and lots more.


FIND WORDFETTI

1. Wordfetti www.wordfetti.com
2. Instagram www.instagram.com/wordfetti

FIND YOUR CREATIVE START

1. Your Creative Start www.yourcreativestart.com
2. Instagram www.instagram.com/yourcreativestart
3. Pinterest www.pinterest.com/yourcreativestart
4. Soundcloud www.soundcloud.com/yourcreativestart

Realising a vision, and turning it into a brand new business, with no customers or social media followers is quite daunting. It’s certainly no walk in the park. It takes a good story, persistence, a strong vision, attention to detail, resilience, consistency, useful content, perseverance, attracting the right audience, a little social media knowhow and a sprinkle of magic, which in my opinion is doing what you love. 

So that’s why I’m completely over the moon to have my friend and interiors expert Chelsea Bennie from Hello Trader on the show today. She was one of the first people I connected with when I moved to the Sunshine Coast, and she had a big part in making our wedding look stunning last year! Just over a year ago Chelsea launched her dream and her vision, a true extension of herself - Hello Trader. Fast forward to today she has amassed a cult following of 60,000 likeminded fans and customers on Instagram. Her retail store is thriving and her online store is going nuts. In fact, I don’t have any friends who haven’t made a purchase from Hello Trader. 

On today’s episode Chelsea and I chat about realising your vision, turning your vision into a business, developing the vision for your business on Pinterest, steps to opening a physical retail space, sourcing products, managing inventory with Shopify, POS, and TruckIt,  building a product website for future expansion, tips for opening an online store, collections and working ahead, setting up a business with no capital, staying true to your vision, creating hype, launching with an event, managing the juggle, learning not to overcommit, and lots more.

FIND HELLO TRADER

1. Hello Trader  www.hellotrader.com
2. Instagram www.instagram.com/hellotrader

FIND YOUR CREATIVE START

1. Your Creative Start www.yourcreativestart.com
2. Instagram www.instagram.com/yourcreativestart
3. Pinterest www.pinterest.com/yourcreativestart
4. Soundcloud www.soundcloud.com/yourcreativestart

This episode is dedicated to my friend, Jayne Pappin.

Welcome back to Part Two of my inspiring conversation with Fabienne Costa, the founder and CEO of YCL Jewels.  

The response to Part One of our conversation has been completely overwhelming in the most positive sense of the word. It's so inspiring to see many of you resonate with Fabienne’s honest journey and revelations about the truths of running her own business. I also want to say a huge thanks to all of you who reach out on social media to let me know about your own struggles and how this episode has helped you. This is the very reason why I started this podcast, and it warms my heart knowing it's doing social good. Now if you haven’t already listened to Part One, go back and do so now. 

And as a little reminder for those tuning in for Part Two, six years ago, Fabienne left the comforts of her job as a nurse to pursue her dream of jewellery designing, and along the way, she has ridden many deep lows and beautiful highs, is unashamed to admit she was actively failing in the first two of years of her business. Yet, Fabienne has learned to steady her emotions and because of this, she has come out on top. 

On today’s episode, Part Two, we chat about the beautiful highs and beautiful lows of running a business, learning to build emotional steadiness over time, mental health in business, changing the way we communicate with ourselves, tips for building resilience, changing the language we use, dealing the mental load, surrounding yourself with the right people, storytelling for success on social media, a good website and photography is the most important asset of a business, knowing the right time to advertise on Instagram, learning how not to get swept up in the social media numbers, working with influencers the right way, books we’ve recently read, and lots more.

- - 

Now just quickly, before we dive into this week's episode I wanted to let you know there won't be an episode coming out next Tuesday. I am taking a little holiday and the YCS Podcast will be back with a new episode on Tuesday 18th June.


FIND FABIENNE COSTA

1. YCL Jewels  www.ycljewels.com 
2. Instagram www.instagram.com/ycljewels
3. Fabienne Costa Instagram www.instagram.com/fabienne.ycl

FIND YOUR CREATIVE START

1. Your Creative Start www.yourcreativestart.com
2. Instagram www.instagram.com/yourcreativestart
3. Pinterest www.pinterest.com/yourcreativestart
4. Soundcloud www.soundcloud.com/yourcreativestart

This is by far, one of my favourite episodes I have recorded on this podcast, and I am so excited to share this honest, raw and revealing conversation with you about the truths of running your own business. This week I chat with Fabienne Costa, the founder and CEO of YCL Jewels. This woman has been in business for six years; leaving the comforts of her job as a nurse to pursue her dream of jewellery designing, she has ridden many deep lows and is unashamed to admit she was actively failed in the first two of years of her business. Yet, in face of all this adversity, Fabienne has come out on top. She is a strong, passionate, and deeply profound woman filled with vision, creativity and wisdom. I fell head over heels in love with Fabienne throughout this conversation and I will forever honour this woman for all that she is. I actually got goosebumps listening to this conversation again. 

Because we ended up speaking for over an hour and a half, I have decided to split this episode into two parts. On today’s episode, Part One, we chat about switching careers and making the transition into pursuing your passion full time with confidence, actively failing, living our most profound and purposeful life, maintaining newness in a product business, marketing a creative business, building hype for a new collection, investing in your brand with intention, creating content that touches the lives of people, the importance of business mentorship, managing to “do it all” when you first start out, dealing with self doubt in all phases of business, failures and success, and lots more.

FIND FABIENNE COSTA

1. YCL Jewels  www.ycljewels.com 
2. Instagram www.instagram.com/ycljewels
3. Fabienne Costa Instagram www.instagram.com/fabienne.ycl

FIND YOUR CREATIVE START

1. Your Creative Start www.yourcreativestart.com
2. Instagram www.instagram.com/yourcreativestart
3. Pinterest www.pinterest.com/yourcreativestart
4. Soundcloud www.soundcloud.com/yourcreativestart

Welcome to Episode 43! I am super happy to have one of my favourite humans, and our resident nutritionist,  back on the Your Creative Start Podcast this week, Bec Miller from Health With Bec. For those of you who don’t have the pleasure of knowing Bec just yet, she has a Bachelor of Science Nutrition, is a Clinical Nutritionist, is obsessed with picking apart the science of food and health, and de-bunking common health and diet myths. She specialises in weight loss, food and lifestyle practices that are totally up to date and unique to what you may have tried before. 

I worked alongside Bec during my own weight loss journey after having Dusty, and I lost a staggering 20 plus kilos in the lead up to my wedding last year thanks to her ongoing support. She’s continued to help me stay healthy with her personalised meal plans and reset plans. I also know a lot of listeners have since worked with Bec on their own personal journeys after listening to her on the podcast, and are thrilled with their change in lifestyle, the way they experience food and their results. She truly is an incredible human. 

Now for those of you who may not be familiar with  Bec, head back to Episode 30 where we talk about Managing Stress and Episode 26 where we talk about Fuelling your creativity with nutrition. Her episodes are some of the most listened to, so I know you are going to get stacks out them. 

I wanted to get Bec back on the show to chat about energy because it’s my word for 2019 and I want to arm all of us with the tools we need to ensure we are optimising our creative thinking and producing great work, without overdoing it or burning out. So on today’s episode, Bec and I chat about why energy is so important, how we can positively and negatively impact our energy levels, how energy affects our thinking, optimising creative thinking, tips for dealing with the mental load, foods that can increase and decrease our energy, exercise, habits and routines, the afternoon slump, sleep and sleep deprivation (especially for parents), and she also reveals a few exciting things she is working on this year. Enjoy!

www.yourcreativestart.com/podcast
www.yourcreativestart.com/donate
www.instagram.com/yourcreativestart

www.healthwithbec.com
www.instagram.com/health_with_bec

Welcome to Episode 42 and Part Two of my conversation with Mel Carrero. For those of you who don’t know Mel, she is the PR and Marketing Manager at Spell & The Gypsy Collective. She has the dream job, and it feeds her passion for creativity, photography, travel, music and fashion. But don’t let her dream job fool you – she is the hardest working woman I know.  If you haven’t listened to Part One, otherwise Part Two might not make sense! 

Working for one of the most successful fashion brands in Australia is no easy feat; it requires a lot of creativity, energy and strategic thinking. And after I saw her speak at a League of Extraordinary Women event in Brisbane a few months ago, I was very keen to get her on the show to find out more about this amazing woman.

On today’s episode, Part Two, Mel and I chat about working with influencers and how that landscape is forever evolving, how Spell embraces influencers as part of their exclusive Spell family, sustainability and shaping the fashion industry for the better, the evolution of Byron’s culture, and lots lots more.

www.yourcreativestart.com/podcast
www.yourcreativestart.com/donate
www.instagram.com/yourcreativestart

www.spelldesigns.com
www.instagram.com/melcarrero_
www.instagram.com/spell

This week I am kicking off Season 5 with a woman who inspires me in many, many ways. Her name is Mel Carrero and she is the PR and Marketing Manager at Spell & The Gypsy Collective. I also drop a BIG announcement in the first five minutes of this episode so get ready...! Yes, she has the dream job. It feeds her passion for creativity, photography, travel, music and fashion. But don't let this dream job fool you - she is the hardest working woman I know.

If you've been listening to the podcast for a while now, it'll come as no surprise that Mel and I spoke for almost two hours. Everything she had to say was just so damn insightful, inspiring and interesting. We chatted in depth about content creation, PR, design and marketing at Spell. We also spoke about influencers for brands and how that landscape is forever evolving, as well as Spell embracing influencers as part of their Spell family. We also dove into sustainability, as well as the evolution of Byron's culture.

Because we had so much to talk about, I will be splitting this episode into a two part series. One today's episode, Mel and I chat about creating content that sells a brand as well as beautiful, useful content that tells a story, user generated content and getting featured on Spell's Instagram platform, strategic content mixes and collection drops throughout the year, marketing and social media planning, and lots lots more.

As always you can this to the YCS Podcast on the Apple Podcast app, Stitcher, Soundcloud or wherever else you tune into podcasts. For the show notes, simply click the link in our bio. I can't wait to hear what you think about this episode - I happen to think it's electric! #YCSPodcast

www.yourcreativestart.com/podcast
www.instagram.com/yourcreativestart
www.instagram.com/melcarrero_
www.instagram.com/spell