Building your Brand

One of the best things about having my own podcast is having an excuse to talk to my design and illustration heroes. Remember that rejection challenge that I've been wanging on about Well, Jessica Hish has been at the top of my dream guest list ever since I started the podcast three years ago, and last year I plucked up the courage to ask her. Jessica has always been so open and transparent about...

It's the return of friend of the podcast and newly published aurthor Hannah Isted!  As her friend, I am so proud and as a podcast host I can't wait to talk about the process of writing a book because it's something I know lots of you want to do too. In this episode we talk all about how Hannah applied her inimitable style of breaking big things into small, manageable chunks and how she used that t...

Today on the podcast, my guest is the Senior Director of Creative for EMEA at Getty Images and iStock Jacqueline Bourke. Alongside her team of researchers, art directors and curators Jacqueline is responsible for producing visual insights and imagery and video creation that's been used in award winning, advertising, design, and editorial.  We chatted all about how small business owners can make th...

You might remember that back in January on Building Your Brand I shared my 2024 goals, one of which was to be able work with my close friend Lois more, as outsourcing a part of my business to her in 2023 worked so well for us both. Well, today you can hear from  multi-disciplinary artist and designer Lois Seco about how she thinks it's all going! Outsourcing is something a lot of small business ow...

Something I'm guilty of neglecting is my website copy, even though I know it's such an integral part of my branding. So I was thrilled to pick Website Messaging Strategist + Copywriter Alice Brown's brains on how to improve my website copy (and all of yours too!)  In today's episode Alice shares the reason why your website copy might feel 'off' and what to do about it in simple, practical terms. W...

A theme of this podcast is how to build a brand in a way that feels good to you and true to your personality, and that always encapsulates more than just designing a great logo. Today I'm excited to chat to client experience expert Fran Smith about how to elevate your client experience to grow a community of loyal fans (who'll ultimately do your marketing for you!) We had such a great chat and I w...

I have a complicated relationship with AI. On the one hand I see the time saving benefits of it, and on the other, I worry about the problematic outcomes with tools like generative AI. So I was so happy to chat with the founder and CEO of IncluedAI, Joyann Boyce. IncluedAI is software designed to help marketing teams reduce bias, protect brand reputation and reach wider audiences so, as you can im...

So many of my clients small businesses come about in the most interesting way so today I want to share how Rebecca Aning-Brown went from medicine to running her own successful flower farming business, Silver Grey Foliage. I've worked with Rebecca for two years now, collaborating on a wide range of branding projects and we've developed a really great working relationship so I wanted to pick her bra...

Every so often an episode comes up that's harder to categorise, usually because the conversation is so rich and full of twists and turns and this episode is one of them! In today's episode I interview Kieron Lewis , a freelance graphic designer, speaker, and Adobe Live host about his transition to freelance work during the pandemic and his ongoing efforts towards community building and advocacy in...

In this episode, we discuss the role of social media in our businessese and talk about how we really feel about using it all.....including X (which Liz still hates saying!) We share our tips for how to improve engagement by making content fun, informative, and approachable and dig into why having a  'hero' platform is great for marketing. If you've fallen out of flow with social media (particularl...

In this episode, Hannah and I share the things we've learned the hard way while running our businesses. From inefficient manual tasks that could have been automated, to the importance of setting clear boundaries with clients and learning to trust your gut. This is an honest and funny episode from two imperfect business owners!  Episode highlights : 02:31 Importance of Communication in Business 04:...

You all know I LOVE a challenge and so does Hannah, so in this episode of our mini series we discuss why. We chat about the various challenges we've tried and how they've impacted our businesses, even when we've given up! From boosting creativity, growing a skill and making habits stick we want to show you how fun setting a challenge can be for your business (or yourself!) If you want to join us i...

Every so often I like to mix things up with the podcast, which is why I decided to kick off 2024 with a fun Building Your Brand mini series where I chat to my pal Hannah Isted about the things work wives chat about!  We decided to start off by talking about how we go about setting goals for the year (without getting overwhelmed!) With a particular focus on the  processes of goal setting, we're sup...

I often seek out guests who are doing things a little differently because I think it's so important to show there's not just one way to do things. Today's guest is an award winning content creator, speaker, accountant and founder of accountancy firm Accountant She Rachel Harris.  Rachel shares her journey of taking social media by storm, building her successful personal brand and co-running the f...

I can't quite believe it, but after over two years of podcasting we've made it to episode 100 of the Building Your Brand podcast! Thank you so much to all of you for joining me for this journey; it's been one of the BEST things I've ever done for my business and in today's episode I tell you why.  In today's episode I invited my podcast producer Lucy Lucraft on, and in a twist of events, she is in...

As we're nearing the very last Building Your Brand episode of the year I've squeezed in a solo episode! This one is a little bit more personal as I reflect on 2023 and how it's been both exhausting AND my busiest year yet.  It's really easy for us all to constantly look forward to our goals and feel frustrated we haven't yet reached them so I hope this episode helps you look back to see just how f...

How to deal with burnout as a small business owner might not be what you'd typically expect when you think about building your brand but it's something I felt so inspired to explore. Which is why I loved chatting to today's guest, Marloes, all about how she experienced burnout, tackled it head on and how she's rebuilding her career as a small business owner while in recovery.  Whether you've exper...

This week, I'm chatting to amazing Instagram and TikTok sensation, designer and founder of Pink Pony Creative Kristy Campbell who grew her business from a one-woman band to a thriving agency in three years! In the episode I picked Kristy's brains about how she's transitioned from working solo to leading a team, what struggles she's navigated and how her processes have evolved.  Whether you are int...

Something I've been pondering recently is how, as content becomes more bland and generic due to the increased usage of AI, personal branding is going to become more important than ever before. Today on the podcast I am chatting to Christine Gritmon all about personal branding. Who should have one? How to get started? And how to make your personal brand work for you. We even cover the age-old dilem...

I love finding new ways to talk about branding and different aspects of it that I haven't covered before so in today's episode I'm chatting to Katie Elliott, an HR consultant who loves working with startup, micro and indie businesses. We chat about the culture of your business and how caring for your staff (or yourself if you're a solopreneur!) is part of building a strong and successful brand. Ho...

Earlier in the year, I attended the Doing It For The Kids Meetup in London, and I started chatting about imposter syndrome and context collapse with someone I'd never met before. That person was my guest on today's episode, Leila Ainge, a psychologist, coach and management consultant.  We discussed imposter syndrome (or phenomenon), why it happens and Leila shares advice on how to manage and work...

Public speaking was never something I tied to my branding but after my experience working with today's guest, public speaking coach Charlotte Lewis, I'm now a total convert.  I got in touch with Charlotte to help me prepare for a closing keynote and, while she gave me a huge confidence boost and helped make my talk much better, I also left with a deep understanding of how our voice and physical pr...

Today, I am welcoming creative director, designer and bestselling author Radim Malinic back to the podcast! With two new books out on topics very close to my heart, it was great to chat to him about the struggles of running your own creative business. As always, Radim is very honest and open and we chatted about the ups and downs and struggles that he's faced in his decades long creative career. F...

One of the things I feel super passionately about as someone who works with small business owners is that you can build a business that works for you and how your brain and your body work and not just do things cuz you see everyone else around you doing those things. In today's episode, I had an absolutely brilliant chat with Sara Tasker, who you might know online by her business name, Me and Orla...

This episode is SO exciting because it happened entirely due to my rejection challenge!  I pitched renowned US based fine artist, illustrator and author Lisa Congdon earlier in the year and was so suprised when she said yes. Lisa is someone I've followed for almost a decade and have admired her approach to business so much I was desperate to talk to her about it.  Lisa started her business in her...