Dare To Be Brave with Joy Foster

Your thoughts are powerful. No, not the kind of thoughts you have in the shower about what's on your (never-ending) to-do list! We’re talking the kind of thoughts you have right at the beginning of every TechPixie journey – the ones we ask you to pop onto your vision board. When Julie Garner joined TechPixies in January to pivot her outdoor and women’s clothing businesses online, we doubt eve...

You return to work after maternity leave, get settled into the inevitable juggling act, and then you’re faced with the prospect of redundancy. You decide it’s the perfect time to take a career break to raise your child, and then, boom! Before you know it, the years have crept by, and you’re sat there with a big fat case of imposter syndrome, wondering if your skills are even relevant in today’s wo...

You know Christmas has come early when we give you not one but two podcast episodes to enjoy in a week! And our bonus episode is an absolute Christmas cracker.  In a matter of months, TechPixie Carol Ibbetson from Cool Wool Designs has set up a website, added craft kits to her online shop, and she’s even found the time to pop on TV to do some demonstrations (phew!). How’s that for some awesome #WI...

If you need one reason to tune in to this week’s episode, it’s this: Joy Foster, our fearless leader, says this episode is one of her favourites of the year 🤯. And, ladies, Joy’s right on the money – this episode is a corker.  Christine Palmer’s story will sound familiar, we’re sure. Having got comfortable in a career that was no longer challenging her, she did what many are too scared to contemp...

We love the festive season here at TechPixies, and, this year, we feel a bit of sparkle is needed more than ever 🎄. So, big up to all those who’ve put up their Christmas decorations, tucked into a mince pie (or two – we won’t judge), and are ready to don a Christmas jumper for Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day.  But if your gift list is looking as forlorn as a Christmas tree on New Year’s...

Pinterest. We’re not going to lie; for years, we just used this visual search engine as ‘pinspiration’ to help create mood boards for home decorating projects (or, in the case of our founder, choose carpets!). But according to one TechPixie here at HQ, Pinterest is about so much more than lusting after stylish interiors. Yep, sit up and pay attention, tribe, because Philippa Iles, our very own Pin...

Well, what do you know! Joy, our fabulous founder, can still surprise us. It turns out not only was Joy a member of the US Olympic archery team, but she’s also appeared in a commercial for the Asian Games (that’s one to see if you can find online!). And it seems screen time is something Joy shares in common with this week’s special guest on the Sparkle and Thrive podcast. Jane Sanger is an award-w...

When was the last time you felt queasy? Not the sick feeling you get when you’ve tried to cheer yourself up in lockdown, decided a fancy dress Zoom sesh was a good idea, and then got a little over-friendly with the boxed wine you thought you’d be sharing 😁. No, the kind of queasy you feel when you’re running on adrenaline and get butterflies in your stomach – that kind of queasy. Well, you might...

‘You’re hiding your bananas.’ This simple statement was enough to really shift the gears of  Hannah Martin’s business (well, that and Hannah changing her mindset. But back to the bananas for a minute). Having started the Talented Ladies Club to inspire and empower mothers and encourage them not to give up on their professional dreams, Hannah soon realised that running a business fuelled by passion...

Here’s the funny thing about being self-employed, particularly if you’re a freelancer. You finally don your brave pants and wave ‘ta-ta’ to full-time employment, your eyes firmly set on the prize of following your dream, only to find yourself at the mercy of a whole new set of necessary evils. Pitching for work and doing estimates, contracts, invoicing, accounting, sales, marketing, and tax return...

‘Come on down!’ ‘The price is right.’ Or is it? Knowing what to charge your customers and how to price your products or services correctly is often one of the biggest hurdles facing many a TechPixie. It’s a struggle made worse by the fact that many of us sit down to talk about money, and just like a fickle cast member on Love Island, we immediately get ‘The Ick’ 😰.  But money shouldn’t be a dirty...

We have a saying at TechPixies that we like to use as a reminder whenever someone in our tribe is veering down that dark tunnel of self-doubt: ‘What you focus on grows’. Ok, we’ll admit that focusing on a packet of biscuits doesn’t suddenly magic more into the pack (man, that would be such a good trick 😂), but we do know that your brain chooses to magnify whatever you allow it to focus on. So, yo...

‘A lawyer once said to me, I’ll offer a woman a promotion and she’ll thank me and a man will negotiate. What on earth is that all about?’ What on earth, indeed! This corker of a quote comes from Tamsin Napier-Munn, a guest on the Sparkle and Thrive Podcast during our Be Brave & Sparkle series (it's episode 50. Go and check it out and, while you’re there, tune in to episode 21 on the truth...

If you’ve got a sweet tooth, boy, have we got a treat for you. Michal Kahn’s Instagram feed is like a page out of Willy Wonka’s playbook; it’s full of magical floral cakes and picture-perfect pies that’ll have you running to raid your cookie jar for a sugar fix. With bakes this good it’s perhaps easy to see why Michal Kahn, our ‘multi-passionate’ guest on this week’s Sparkle & Thrive podcast,...

Here’s the wonderful thing about TechPixies: whatever you’re going through, you can bet your sparkly notebook that someone in our tribe has gone through it too. From the serious to the not so serious (like dogs ‘flobbing’ on CPD certificates 😂), TechPixies is a safe space where like-minded women can share their highs (we cheer those) and lows (we dish out virtual hugs for those). For Gloria Wilki...

Now, you might want to sit down in case this comes as a bit of a shock: TechPixies isn’t just about social media management (!!!). ‘But it’s a course about social media,’ we hear you cry. Well, yes it is, but our wonderful sparkly world full of stars and cat GIFs is about SO MUCH MORE than learning how to create an Insta grid to be proud of. It goes without saying that what we do know about social...

If you’ve ever thought what I need in my life right now is a talking star, well, my friend, you’re in luck. Because our latest episode of the Sparkle and Thrive Podcast is a sweet ride through a world where anything is possible; where stars talk (ok, so the star is a puppet voiced by our fab founder Joy Foster – it’s hilarious FYI), lives are transformed, and we all finally get our head around Ree...

Transformation. What does that word mean to you? No, we’re not talking robots in disguise (Bumblebee was our favourite Transformer, FYI), nor are we thinking of the slightly dodgy paint jobs on Changing Rooms (we’re showing our age now, but there are rumours of this show making a comeback 😆!). We’re talking about the transformation that’s possible when you invest in yourself and get into the righ...

If you need a confidence boost right now, you should hit play on this episode. Think of it as your superhero cape,  ready and waiting for you to pop it on so you can step into your power. Because once you’re done listening to this 40-minute gift, you’ll wonder if there’s anything you can’t conquer. 🦸   Tamsin Napier-Munn joins our chief TechPixie Joy to chat about confidence, taking action, being...

How much more would we achieve if we could turn down the dial on our inner critic? Or better, just switch off that annoying little voice altogether? It might be silent but, my word, it’s destructive patterns can be deadly. It feeds us with a constant stream of ‘I can’t’, ‘What if’, ‘I’m too old’, ‘I’m not good enough’, ‘I’m not worthy’ – and, argh, it’s exhausting. In fact, the cacophony of self-d...

When was the last time you felt brave? If it was signing up to our 90-Day transformational programme, we’re giving you a massive virtual high five (and a very warm welcome). If it was having that difficult conversation with your partner about the division of labour to achieve your dream, props to you. And if it was moving your business to the next level after years of plotting your master plan for...

BHAG…don’t worry, we haven’t lost the plot. We’re not asking you to channel your inner witch, it isn’t an acronym for a big, hairy, angry, gorilla, nor does it stand for brave-hearted awesome gals (although, this would make a great tagline for the speakers in this month’s Be Brave and Sparkle podcast series – so brave, so awesome!). No, according to award-winning business and executive coach Jess...

Can we let you in on a little secret (we’ll whisper this one quietly)? Our founder, the woman TechPixies up and down the land recognise as the master of social media marketing and owner of her own successful company, never wanted to be a businesswoman (we know, right?! She’s won business awards and everything, so feel free to insert as many exclamation marks as you see fit here).  Unbelievably, wh...

Quick question for you: what does your life at work have in common with the design of Apple's first PowerBook? Incredibly, it's way more than you may realise according to this week's esteemed guest on our Sparkle and Thrive podcast. The brilliant Bill Burnett, alongside his friend and colleague Dave Evans, founded Stanford University's hugely popular Designing Your Life class,...

Does the thought of starting your own podcast paralyse you with fear? Do you worry you’re a tech dinosaur? Well, TechPixie LaShelle Marlow was convinced she was exactly this person. But, with a little sprinkling of TechPixies’ magic, she felt the fear, waved it goodbye and launched her dream: a podcast that allowed her to connect with women just like her; women looking for nuggets of inspiration a...