Style and Substance

Let's be real. None of us have limitless budgets that allow us to do  everything  we'd like on our brand: we all have to make choices. But we do think there is a big difference between a bootstrapping  mentality  (saving money at all costs and compromising on quality as you go) and the  reality  of bootstrapping your brand (making smart choices that will move your bra...

This special episode, created in honour of International Women's Day is a pulling together of just a glimmer of the wisdom held in our wonderful community of inspiring and empowered entrepreneurs. Rather than hearing from us, in this episode, we hear from you. Thank you to everyone who sent in a submission to be included we have tried to feature as many of you as we can, and whilst it hasn't been...

International Womens Day is coming up this week so it feels timely to explore this topic of Claiming Our Rightful Place as Women in Business and what we can do to step fully and confidently into our authority. We talk about the superpowers we uniquely have as women in business what might hinder our ability to take our rightful place and leave you with some profound words of wisdom from a much love...

Phew...what a whirlwind the last few weeks has been and a hot topic for us both of late has been energy, how much do we have, how do we keep it high and how do we get it all done? So today to kick off the new season we've got a short and punchy episode where we catch up with our out-of-the-norm escapades over half term and some quick tips for managing your energy. Back to business as usual next we...

International Womens Day is coming up on 8th March and we want to create a celebratory showcase of all the wonderful female entrepreneurs in our incredible community. We want to hear your stories, your successes, your pearls of wisdom and we will do our best to share as many as we can. To join the action just send us a short insta ready video or image and story to podcast@fionahumberstone.com or D...

Creativity is the lifeblood of both of our businesses and we have both experienced the game changing impact for ourselves and our clients when we really feel the strong sense of identity as a creative in our bones. When you can really own your creativity and it is woven through the fabric of your life and work it is transformative and not just for the jobbing artists amongst us. For every business...

These days you can barely move for someone promising you a '7 figure income' while you sleep. But is it really the panacea it promises to be? Passive income is something so many ambitious entrepreneurs are chasing, but what does it really take? We are about to get deep, opinionated and personal in this episode where we explore Fi's passive income success story that paid the mortgage. How the pursu...

Do you run a creative business? Are you reaping the benefits of trading off your creative style? If not, we're here to convince you that its a great idea and a total game changer for the creative entrepreneur. In this episode we dig into the commercial and creative benefits of finding and trading off your creative style. We'll be sharing success stories of entrepreneurs who've really leaned into t...

Welcome back lovely listeners, in this episode we are talking all things branding and what becomes possible when you get your branding really working for you. Fi shares her insights from over 20 years in the world of branding to uncover the essentials of what entrepreneurs need to know to empower themselves to make the most of their brand. So if you're branding something new, rebranding or have bi...

Just before Christmas Fi sound herself on the receiving end of an outrageous comment. With commercial and ethical decision to make and plenty of self gaslighting and doubt in the mix, it wasn't an easy time. In this in depth exploration, hear how we navigated this sticky situation and resolved things amicably all round. A must listen for anyone who struggles with post decision dissonance, gaslight...

Happy New Year Lovely Listeners, Were coming out of the gates in 2025 with what we hope will be a thoroughly uplifting and encouraging episode where we are waxing lyrical about the benefits of a having a Hype Squad for your business. Hear where our support comes from, how we design for it in work and life and how to avoid becoming too transactional and loosing the magic of reciprocal championing....

Welcome to the final episode of 2024 and in typical Style and Substance form we are reviewing our year. In this conversation we share our highs, lows, learnings and hopes and what we've made of a pretty challenging 2024. Thank you for listening and all your support of the podcast this year, we are excited and inspired to be back in 2025. Wishing you a joyful and abundant festive season Elizabeth &...

We are very excited to bring you todays episode as it coincides with the Launch of Fiona's new brand consultancy Studio Theia. The creation of Studio Theia has been a labour of love, a creative unfolding and a strategic commercial proposition that is, even if we do say so ourselves the epitome of authentic and aligned work. In this episode we share the story behind the brand and insights and inspi...

Winter is here and in this episode we are exploring the benefits and the potentially scary territory of wintering in our businesses. What does it look like, is it realistic, should we be doing it and what do we risk if we don't? This conversation is a walk through the seasons and cycles of business and ways we can capitalise on the energy of the seasons and make the most of winter. Hosted on Acast...

Is your brand puling it's weight? How do you know, what are you missing out on and what should you do about it? In this episode I'm picking Fi's brains on realising the potential in our brands and the crucial role of clarity in realising our full potential. Discover the benefits to the business and the entrepreneur of a brand that is packing it's full punch and where to start in getting real strat...

The pursuit of truly meaningful and fulfilling work that puts our skills and talents at the heart might seem an indulgence that we don't always have time for but for us it's a commercial business imperative. Hear why in this episode on finding your authentic work where we dig into the value, not only for you and your business but the wider society and the world. We dig into some of the most common...

A luxury brand can be an utterly aspirational prospect for many, but is it the magic bullet it promises to be? If you want move into this space, there is a whole load you absolutely need to be considering up front. In this episode we dig into the why's and the wherefores of what it takes to create a luxury brand. Fi talks us through some of the visual signifiers and the critical importance of gett...

Lovely listeners, we're dropping in between episodes this week because both of us are incredibly excited about Fi's new Brand Catalyst Programme and I wanted to give her the opportunity to share that excitement and take the chance to celebrate. In our conversation we talk about how the programme came about and some of the strategic considerations we have had to make with regard to how it sits with...

Welcome back to season 12 and, after a post half term catch up sharing Fi's adventures in Rome and my recent challenge with mental health, we dig into todays topic; The Dynamics of Successful Collaboration. If you've ever had your fingers burnt after a disastrous collab, have struggled to make things equitable in partnership or are simply curious about how to get your self in the best possible pos...

How to Keep things Moving and Avoid Getting Stuck in a Rut. Welcome back lovely listeners to our last episode of the season before we head into the half term break. As we look forward to the last quarter of the year we are all about keeping the mojo going, maintaining momentum and avoiding that joy sapping, energy draining business limiting experience of being stuck in a rut. We cover a whole load...

Renegotiating Boundaries Part 2 Handling Scope Creep, Pricing and When Partnerships Come to an End We're picking up where we left off form last week and digging back into renegotiating boundaries. This week we'll be talking about how to manage endings - what do you do when collaborations close, relationships and working partnerships need redefining or when you simply can't be at someones beck and...

Setting expectations and managing yourself and your clients when things need to shift. Boundaries are tricky to set and hold for many of us, but absolutely essential when you want to do business on your own terms. This episode is split into two parts and this week we are talking about ways to establish boundaries and manage expectations up front, to avoid things having to get sticky. We are refram...

Welcome back lovely listeners, today we are back and talking about one of our absolute favourite and essential topics CLARITY. We all need clarity, but at what level? Brand clarity is one thing, but in order for brand clarity to really have the impact and realise it's true potential, it is ideally underpinned by solid business clarity and, for those of us interested in running business on our own...

Welcome back lovely listeners, in this episode we are keeping it real and tackling the very present question for so many of us at our stage of midlife, whether we are still relevant. We dig into the realities of how menopause, peri menopause and ageing generally affects our capacity to run our businesses and show up in the world with purpose, meaning and relevance. It's an intimate, no holes barre...

Welcome back lovely listeners to Season 11 and we are coming out of the gates today with an episode to tackle the steps to take to set yourself up for end of year success. We explore four pillars: Aspirations, Values, Boundaries and Habits and our non-negotiables for a thriving last quarter. Hear about our morning routines, the values that drive us and how we are setting ourself up to achieve as w...