CREATIVE STRENGTHS

There's a moment I see again and again: a creative starts talking about their work, and they simply light up, the passion pours out, and the person listening is quietly won over without a single thing being pitched. And then that same person looks you up online, and somehow all that warmth has gone a little quiet. The lovely part is that this is one of the best problems to have, because the very t...

There's a quiet two-minute test I'd love you to run on your business today: on your own, no tools, just said out loud. It shows you two things at once: how clear your business really is, and how much it actually sounds like you, rather than like everyone else doing something similar.  By the end, you'll have a much clearer sense of what's already working, and what perhaps needs a little more of yo...

Part 1 of a new series. You've built something real, you're good at what you do, and yet somehow it all feels heavier than it should, and every new thing you add only seems to add to the weight. I used to believe that meant I wasn't doing enough. It turns out the opposite is true, and it's where this new summer series of podcasts begins: with the one idea that sits underneath all the others to com...

This is an episode I'd love you to save. For the morning after a 'No' you didn't see coming, For the week your inbox goes quiet and your mind rushes to fill the silence.  After all these years, those weeks still find me too. But there's one quiet idea I come back to whenever they do, not a strategy, not a tactic... And once you've really taken it on, the hard days stop knocking you over in quite t...

There's a quiet pressure almost every creative business owner carries, The sense that everyone else has worked out the right way to do this, and that you're somehow behind. Post more. Show up more. Be more visible. I spent a week going right to the source of one of those "shoulds", fully expecting to come back convinced. Instead I came back with something far more freeing: and a question I think c...

A woman in my audience wrote to me this week, ready to take her website down and walk away from it all. Worn out, and quietly wondering whether any of it had ever really been a proper business at all. I've been turning her message over ever since, because I don't think that question was ever truly hers and I suspect you might recognise the voice behind it more than you'd like. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'...

There are three things I'm properly studying at the moment and being a beginner at all of them at once has given me a particular view on something I think is worth sharing. One of the course teachers opened with something I really didn't expect. What she said wasn't really about the subject I'd signed up to learn but it's the thing that's stayed with me longest. And I suspect it might be exactly w...

Most people think persistence is a personality trait. Fifteen years of running creative businesses has quietly convinced me otherwise and I'd like to share why. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL DISCOVER: Why the real reason some people keep going has little to do with willpower or grit My Selfridges story: two years of no and what actually got me through and into store Why some no's take a little piece of y...

Most creative business owners already have more evidence about what makes their work exceptional than they realise. Many taking their strengths for granted and missing the signs, and more importantly, how to use them to their advantage. There are things about your work so natural to you, so automatic, that you can't see them as exceptional. But the people who choose you, pay for your services or p...

There's a pattern I've been watching for years. And the last few months have made it clearer than ever. Why do some creative business owners stay so calm when things shift and others don't? I think I finally know what the difference is. Key Moments: [00:00] What prompted this episode, and the pattern I have been watching for years [03:37] The story behind a major industry wobble, and the very reve...

There's a question I've been hearing from many creative business owners lately, and I don't think most of the voices out there are answering it well. Once you accept that AI has a place in your business, the real question becomes, w here . What do you hand over, and what do you absolutely hold onto? In this episode, I share a framework built on the same thinking that underpins everything I teach a...

I spent two days inside an AI bootcamp this week and the thing I most want to share isn't what AI can do. It's where you, as a creative business owner, already fit in all of this. Because the key skills that matter most as AI advances, critical thinking, creativity and problem solving are exactly what you already have. This episode is for every creative entrepreneur who's been quietly wondering if...

I was asked a question in a recent live session that I think applies to every creative business owner. Whether you're service-based or selling products through stockists, does focusing on a specific ideal client actually matter if you don't control who buys from you? The answer might surprise you. It's not about demographics. It's about values. And once you understand that, everything can shift. K...

I had a conversation this week with a florist who spent 20 years in banking before starting her flower business. And she mentioned this phrase they used to use at JP Morgan. "What's the so what?" And it's a really interesting question, Listen in to find out more as it very much applies directly to how we manage our creative businesses.  Resources Mentioned: Read: This Week's Full Journal Post Link...

If you've ever caught yourself apologising after quoting a price or felt that quiet discomfort when someone asks what you charge, this episode is for you. I talk about why that feeling of discomfort is so common amongst creative business owners, why the work that feels most natural to you is very often your most valuable and how to reframe this to price with confidence. Key Moments: [01:24] Why pr...

The question I've been asked so many times recently. How do I get the right clients to find me? And it's funny, because the answer is almost never what people expect. It's not about marketing. It's not about Instagram. It's not even about being more visible. There's something else going on, and I think it's the missing piece that nobody's really talking about. This episode has the potential to cha...

Let's talk about newsletters. Specifically, what makes a really good one for your creative business. And more importantly, why so many of them don't work. In this episode I share what i've been noticing from the newsletters I love the most right now, what's working in my own, and exactly what separates the ones people genuinely look forward to from the ones that quietly get ignored. Key Moments: [...

Renowned chef Marco Pierre White once told me my flowers were terrible. Actually, he didn't say that, he said they were "shit"! This was one of the best pieces of business advice I've ever received, because as a creative business owner there's something really important about understanding your own processes and systems, and not being swayed by clients or other people when you know how you work be...

I've been having some really interesting conversations about AI for creative businesses lately, and I think we need to talk about this. Because some of us are using it brilliantly and it's genuinely helping our businesses, some are curious but haven't quite figured out where to start and some have tried it and found it more confusing than helpful. So today, I want to share what I'm finding actuall...

What if the reason previous courses and business advice haven't worked for your creative business isn't because of you but because they were never designed for the way creative minds actually work? This episode introduces something I've been quietly building for a while: The Bright Line, a six-month programme that takes your exceptional strengths and builds a complete business strategy around them...

As creatives you possess one of the rarest business skills there is, and you've had it all along... While visiting the breathtaking mountains of Glencoe on Scotland's west coast and the snowdrop gardens of Cambo on the east, I realised something profound about how we as creative business owners naturally see the world. We have this extraordinary ability to take in enormous scale while simultaneous...

What if the modest goals keeping you "safe" are actually holding you back? This episode explores why thinking bigger, in a way that's deeply aligned with your strengths often feels easier and more fulfilling than playing small. Through real stories from creative entrepreneurs who've made the leap, we examine the difference between incremental tweaking and visionary thinking, and why your impossibl...

You're talented. Your clients love your work. So why does business still feel so hard? This episode explores the disconnect many creative entrepreneurs experience between being genuinely skilled at their craft and struggling to build a sustainable business. What I've discovered is that the very abilities that make you brilliant at your creative work are exactly the same skills that make the busine...

When people ask about growing their creative business, the questions typically centre around online marketing: Which platform, how often to post, what's working right now... But what if the answer isn't about marketing at all? This week, while refining modules for the upcoming six-month programme, I've been thinking about what genuinely accelerates business growth for creative entrepreneurs. It's...

There's something so much more important than frameworks, strategies and tactics. You can read every business book, take every business course, study every successful business, but if you don't understand what makes you unique, have clear positioning, and the confidence to keep moving forward when things get tricky... none of that other stuff matters. This week, I'm sharing what happened with my P...