Letters From A Hopeful Creative

In today's episode Sara and Jen respond to a letter writer who is hoping to build her creative business during her upcoming maternity leave. Sara shares her own experience of starting her business while on maternity leave, and Jen shares the lessons she's learned from seeing many of her clients go on this journey too. Together they explore why showing yourself a whole lot of patience, compassion,...

In this episode Sara and Jen respond to a letter writer who is feeling anxious about becoming self employed because of the financial uncertainty that comes with this path. Sara and Jen share their own experiences of navigating financial uncertainty in their business, why we need to talk more about the financial reality of being self employed, and their advice for today’s letter writer moving forwa...

In today's episode Sara and Jen are celebrating the launch of Sara's first book, Hashtag Authentic , by diving into listener questions all about Instagram. Together they explore topics such as losing followers, the new rules for sharing ads and gifted products, whether a consistent style and grid is actually important, having clearer boundaries online and more. Hashtag Authentic will be available...

In today's episode Sara and Jen respond to a letter writer who is struggling to build their dream business because they're so busy doing the work that currently pays the bills and provides for their family. Sara and Jen explore why we need to stop believing the lie that building a business is quick and easy, why we need more advice that recognises that not everyone starts this journey from the sam...

In today’s episode Sara and Jen respond to a letter writer who is asking whether or not they have to be authentic and deep on Instagram if they want to grow their community and achieve their goals online. They share whether or not they believe that you have to share intimate and vulnerable stories to succeed on Instagram (spoiler alert: you don’t), how to uncover what it is you really want to shar...

In today's episode Sara and Jen respond to a letter writer who is feeling burned out with blogging and is unsure of what they want to next. Together they explore how to deal with losing followers when you start to make a change, why we have to give ourselves permission to evolve and change, and their advice for how to uncover what it is you truly want next. They also share why it's okay if you don...

In today's episode Sara and Jen respond to a letter writer who is struggling to decide whether or not their business should be more niche. Together they explore why they don't believe in forcing yourself to find a niche, and instead why they believe in leaning into what makes you and your work special and unique. They share their own approach to niching in their business and their encouragement fo...

In today's episode Sara and Jen respond to a letter writer who is afraid that they'll never actually make their business happen. Sara and Jen explore why so many of us can get stuck in that fear, why embracing being a beginner is the key to moving forward, and why they don't recommend falling into the trap of buying all of the courses and books and not actually doing any of the work yourself. They...

In today’s episode Sara and Jen respond to a letter writer who isn’t enjoying working from home as much as they first thought that they would. Sara and Jen share what they’ve learned over the years about how to make working from home truly work for you, why they believe giving yourself permission to work from home in whatever way works best for you is so important, and their advice and encourageme...

In today's episode Sara and Jen respond to a letter writer who is struggling with comparing herself to other people in her industry, even though her business is thriving. Sara and Jen share their own relationship with comparison, why they don't believe it can ever serve us as business owners, and their advice and encouragement for moving past it too. You can write us a letter at our website More f...

In today's episode Sara and Jen respond to a letter writer who has been offered an exciting in-house role and now has to decide between that and her thriving business. Sara and Jen share their thoughts on how they would navigate this choice, their suggestions for how today's letter writer can make an intentional decision, and why there is never a right or wrong answer but just the one that works b...

In today’s episode Sara and Jen respond to a letter writer who has dreams of starting a podcast but fears that there is no place for her in the podcasting world anymore. Sara and Jen explore why there is always space for you and your creative work, what they’ve learned from creating their own podcasts, and their advice for anyone who wants to bring their own show to life too. You can write us a le...

In today’s episode Sara and Jen respond to a letter writer who is feeling disappointed after launching their first e-course and making less than 10 sales. Sara and Jen break down the myths around creating courses, what they’ve learned from launching their own, and their encouragement and advice for anyone who wants to create courses to sell in their business. You can write us a letter at our websi...

In today’s episode Sara and Jen respond to a letter writer who asks, once we have established a business how do we stay devoted to it? Sara and Jen explore their own experience with reaching their business goals and discovering what’s next, how they continue to stay devoted to their businesses, and their encouragement for today’s letter writer moving forward. You can write us a letter at our websi...

In today's episode Sara and Jen respond to two letter writers who are struggling with their money mindset in their business. Sara and Jen dive into their own relationship with money and how it has evolved over the years, their encouragement for anyone who battles with fear, guilt, and imposter syndrome when it comes to money, and their advice for today's letters writer too. You can write us a lett...

In today's episode Sara and Jen respond to two letter writers who are struggling to find the time for their side hustle alongside their day job. Sara shares her own experience of building her business alongside a day job, and Jen shares the lessons she's learned from seeing many of her clients do this too. They share their encouragement and advice for today's letter writers, and why they believe t...

In today's episode Sara and Jen respond to a letter writer who is considering starting a side hustle mentoring other artists to support her thriving ceramics business which she is struggling to make ends meet with. Sara and Jen dive into the tough decisions you have to make if your business isn't financial sustainable, how a side hustle can be an awesome option to support your business, and their...

In today's episode Sara and Jen respond to a letter writer who is struggling to see any audience growth for her blog and her Instagram feed. Together they explore the ways we may need to shift our mindset around growing an audience, why they believe creating unique, valuable, and engaging content is the most important part of the process, and their advice and encouragement for anyone hoping to org...

In today’s episode Sara and Jen respond to a letter writer who is struggling to decide whether or not to leave their day job in the social justice sector to pursue their creative dreams instead. The letter writer asks, how can I give myself to choose this when the work I do now is more meaningful and impactful? Sara and Jen dive into their own decisions to leave behind careers in the social care s...

In this episode Sara and Jen respond to a letter writer is struggling to find a balance between being strategic on Instagram while also staying true to themselves too. Sara and Jen dive into the pros and cons of being super strategic on Instagram, why they believe that the most important thing is to know what the purpose of your Instagram is and to develop your own approach and style, and their ad...

In this episode Sara and Jen respond to two letter writers who both ask, how can I find the courage to share my creative work in the face of possible judgement, criticism, and rejection? Sara and Jen share their own experiences and thoughts on receiving criticism of their work, how they find the courage to share so much online, and why they believe that the fear of being judged and criticised is n...

In this week's episode Sara and Jen respond to a letter writer who is struggling to decide what to give away for free through their content and what to keep as a paid for product or service. Sara and Jen share why they both believe in being of value for free through their content, their advice for how to decide what is free content and what is paid for, and why you shouldn't be afraid to give some...

In this week’s episode Sara and Jen respond to a letter writer whose business is doing well but they’re still struggling to make it work financially because they’re not charging enough. They dive into how to price your products and services in a way that is financially viable, the lessons they’ve learned about pricing in their own businesses, and how to give yourself permission to charge what you’...

In this episode Sara and Jen respond to a letter writer who is struggling with how to turn their blog into a full time business. Sara and Jen explore what it takes to turn a blog into a business, how to shift your mindset to think more like a business owner, and how to uncover what the work is that you really want to be doing and monetising in the world too. Jen’s mini-book Uncover Your Big-Hearte...

In this episode Sara and Jen respond to a letter writer who is struggling to decide whether or not they're ready to take the leap and work for themselves full time. Sara and Jen explore their own relationship with risk, their advice for this week's letter writer for how best to make this decision, and how to navigate the anxiety that comes with taking the leap into self-employed life too. 10 Thing...