Starting the Conversation

It's been a long couple of years for us business owners, the elf-employed if you will! Sorry, I couldn't resist!  We're SO proud of everything you've achieved and with that in mind, we've decided to throw a party for small business owners who want a chance to relax and unwind with the people who well and truly GET it. So join me, Alice Benham, along with the brilliant Rachel Waring & Ellie Kime my...

A few months ago I shared 3 of the top challenges I was facing in growing and scaling my service-based business, and it really resonated with a lot of you!   We're surrounded by everyone's highlights reel and I know I love it when I hear people speak openly about the less shiny side of running a business, I think it's really important to share the challenges as well as all the good stuff.  So in t...

Today I'd want to talk to you about 3 of the most common mistakes I see people make in their marketing strategy.  Now, I'm not here to shame anyone, and these are all mistakes that I've made myself. This doesn't make us bad business owners, we just need to normalise making mistakes and know how to move forward.  Marketing strategy is like building an eco-system, so in this episode, I want to encou...

It's been a heavy few weeks on the podcast so this week I wanted to have some fun! After 2.5 years of making this podcast, I was intrigued to listen to some old episodes and see how my opinions, my outlook and my voice has changed.  Join me and my teammate, Emily, as we listen back to some snippets of past episodes to see if I still stand by my advice and take a look at how far the business and po...

The idea of having a sustainable business, a sustainable online presence and sustainable marketing is becoming a more mainstream conversation and I am so here for it!  A few weeks ago we all got a taste of what life and business would be like without a number of digital platforms, highlighting the need for a more sustainable strategy. So today I want to walk you through 4 elements that make sustai...

In this second episode on the topic of trolling or being bullied online, I wanted to share and discuss 5 things that helped me and continue to help me with what I experienced.  My hope for this episode is that if you've experienced bullying yourself that this can bring you some extra support or comfort and if not, to give you a few tips to keep in your toolkit if this does ever arise.  I'd love to...

Do not panic, it's not Monday morning, I have in fact swapped to uploading new episodes on a Tuesday and I'm here with not one, but two new podcast episodes for you today.  It's a big topic we're tackling this week, so I wanted to bring you double the helping to firstly share my experience with you and secondly to offer some advice and encouragement if you're going through a similar thing.  So thi...

My latest launch had the lowest uptake since I started offering group programmes back in 2019, and for the first time ever, I didn't get a single sign up on the first day - BUT it was the best I've ever felt launching a programme. Join me and my teammate Emily to discuss how we approached this launch, what we've learnt from taking a new approach and why prioritising impact over sales is so key.  S...

Well, hello!   After nearly 5 weeks off, I'm back! So I thought it only right to bring you a bonus podcast episode so we can have a catch-up and share some of my highs and lows of stepping away from my business in August.   Coming back to the business this week feels like an opportunity to press reset and I'm looking forward to getting back into a routine, with lots of exciting things coming up! ...

As business owners, it's easy to fall into the trap of seeing busyness as a measure of success, but being busy doesn't always mean you're being productive.  Joining me today is Sarah Boyle - A positive productivity mentor to chat all about how to do the focused work that moves you forward, not just filling the hours.  As Sarah so wisely shares in this episode, productivity is a skill we can learn...

It's been a while since my teammate Emily and I did a BTS episode, so for the final episode of this season we wanted to have a quick sit down to have a chat about how we're both feeling coming out of lockdown, and how this looks when you run a business.  In the last 18 months, we've thrown ourselves into work but now as we look to our "new normal" we want to establish some new habits to put work b...

Confidence is so key when you run a business because as we know, you can have all your plans and strategies in place but if you don't have the confidence to consistently implement it, you don't get very far.   My guest today is Kira Matthews, AKA Kira The Bold, an incredible coach who helps creatives build unshakable confidence. In this episode, we sit down to chat about all things confidence, how...

You know I'm all about sharing the challenges in running a business, especially as we're in a space that glorifies the shiny stuff and the highlights reel, but there is always so much behind the scenes that you don't see.   I typically share challenges in hindsight, for many reasons, but today I wanted to give you a look at some of the challenges I'm working through in my business right now.  I wa...

In today's episode, I am sitting down with someone who I've wanted to get on the podcast forever - and that is the brilliant Emma from BeauTie who I'm sure you're familiar with as our resident scrunchie cult leader.  Emma is an amazing business owner and a walking example of how success doesn't come to any business overnight, and how challenges and failures can actually be an opportunity to change...

Having your business featured can be a great way to bring more people to your offerings and services. It's also a really fun way of meeting new people and collaborating.   So in today's episode, I'm going to be talking all about how to generate features in your business - that could be going on someone's podcast, getting involved with the press, or collaborating with brands and other businesses.  ...

Whilst having a chronic health condition is not something I have personal lived experience with, I've found that a number of my clients, students, and friends in the business space do and I really wanted to understand their experience further. So joining me for this conversation is Rachel Shillcock - you may know her as Rachilli, to share her experience of starting and running a business that supp...

Taking time off when you run a business, is not easy.  This is something I've struggled with in the past, and still do, but this year I am planning to take the whole of August off from my business.  I did this last year, and want this to be something I do every year, but practically, mentally, emotionally it does have its challenges.  So I wanted to share a bit of what I've learnt and a few tips t...

I really believe that self-awareness is key to running a business, if you're a long-time listener you may remember I had a brilliant chat with my life coach, Helen Cottee, about this back in episode 82.  So, I was really keen to have Helen back on the podcast to dive deeper into self-awareness, and also to explore a topic that came up in our recent coaching calls. And that was how our businesses a...

I really believe that pivoting and scaling your business go hand in hand because if you want to scale, you'll most likely be slightly pivoting something and vice versa.  I'd say my business has been in this pivoting and scaling stage since the end of 2019, and although there isn't that defining moment where you know you're starting a new phase in your business I realised my priorities had changed....

Today I want to bring you not one, but two podcast episodes and this isn't just to create more work for myself, although I've been guilty of that in the past, but to deliver some really specific tips for whatever stage your business is at.  So this first episode is all about starting and growing your business and I want to share with you my 5 tips that I wish I had known when I started my business...

Getting stuck in a rut with your content or struggling to show up is totally normal.  I experienced this myself about a month ago, where I felt really stuck and frustrated, and then I realised like most things in business, creating content and showing up also ebbs and flows.  Today I want to take you through 5 things you can do to start to walk yourself out of that rut by getting clear on your why...

As we enter a new quarter, and a new financial year, I wanted to share with you some encouragements that can help make this new quarter as productive and impactful for your business as possible.  This year so far has already been a LOT, with a lot of learning curves, so I want to walk you through how you can reflect on Q1, how to set some goals for Q2 that will stretch, but not stress you, and 3 p...

Today I want to ask you a question - are you using Instagram as a tool or a measure of success? The latter is a mindset I find myself falling into oh so easily and I know I'm not the only one. Tune into this episode to hear why this mindset is so easy to fall into, how it stops us from building businesses with impact and sustainability at their core and what you can do to put Instagram in its plac...

When I first head the quote "culture eats strategy for breakfast" it brought the language to something I'd been exploring and processing for months. Strategy is brilliant. It's key in helping you up-level your business with ease... or as much ease as possible. It's what my whole business revolves around.  But it's not the only important thing! In this episode I start the conversation around cultur...

After almost 3 years of this podcast and 18 months of conversation starters, it feels right to take a step back and allow the new format to come to life. I'll be back in the next couple of months but until then, be sure to check out my new podcast - Wish We Knew... Accidental 'entrepreneurs' Alice Benham and Vix Meldrew sit down to share what they wish they knew about founding and scaling their on...