Explore every episode of the podcast Hashtag Authentic - for creatives, dreamers & business owners online
Dive into the complete episode list for Hashtag Authentic - for creatives, dreamers & business owners online. Each episode is cataloged with detailed descriptions, making it easy to find and explore specific topics. Keep track of all episodes from your favorite podcast and never miss a moment of insightful content.
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Migrating your audience online, with Laura Pashby
01 May 2025
01:00:05
In this episode I’m chatting with my longtime friend Laura Pashby ( Small Stories with Laura Pashby) - an author, photographer, and creative, who you might also know online as Circle of Pines. Laura shares her journey from a craft blog in 2010 to becoming a published author, and how building an online audience helped her leverage opportunities like brand work, teaching courses, and ultimately, writing her wonderful books.
Things we talk about:
• Instagram Then vs. Now• Working through ‘platform fatigue’• Maintaining authenticity online• Migrating an audience from one platform to another - or from online to offline• The discipline of a weekly creative writing practice• Prioritising meaningful engagement over viral reach• Charging for your writing, and how Laura built confidence in this
This week, I talked with author/photographer/YouTuber/knitwear designer Veronika ‘Kika’ Lindberg about her fluid and inspiring journey to success online, and how she’s evolved her work along the way. Kika’s open-minded and playful approach is so inspiring to me, and I’ve found myself returning to this conversation in my mind so much since we recorded it.I hope you love hearing from her too!
Things we talk about in this episode:
* Getting started on Instagram, and how it has changed
* Growing a YouTube audience, and how to make video
* Why Kika doesn’t use Reels or YouTube shorts very much (and why this is ok!)
* Pivoting your focus and work, and letting your audience evolve with you
* Changing path, and dealing with disappointment when things don’t go as planned
* The loneliness and challenges of having to run a creative business by yourself
* Getting a publishing deal, and the process of writing and sharing knitting patterns
* The different revenue streams in Kika’s business
* Running a business while caring for a baby
* Establishing your expertise with your audience
* Going with the creative flow in business and in life
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This week, I’m chatting to Dr Anita Goraya from ADHD Wellness & Wisdom , GP-turned Psychotherapist who specialises in helping people with ADHD. Both Anita and I have diagnoses of ADHD, so this is a topic close to our hearts, and I hope this warm and compassionate conversation will be helpful whether you’re neuro-diverse, awaiting a diagnosis or just interested to know more!
Things we talk about in this episode:
* Being diagnosed with ADHD later in life
* The neuro-developmental nature of ADHD, its hereditary aspects, and some of the common misconceptions people might have
* Anita’s transition from GP to therapist, and her own diagnosis process
* The importance of self-acceptance, leveraging strengths, and scaffolding weaknesses
* Practical strategies for managing ADHD symptoms, such as mindfulness, problem-solving, and making use of tools and resources
* The emotional impact of ADHD, the potential for neuro-plasticity, and the importance of seeking formal diagnoses and support.
Self Love through Sewing, with Sarahbeth Larrimore
26 Sep 2024
01:03:39
This week, I’m chatting to my friend Sarahbeth Larrimore, the wonder-woman behind Unabashed Apparel. The mantra for her work says it all: “Empowering women to design & sew. Our bodies are worthy of our finest frocks, just as they are.” Um, yes please!Sarahbeth and I had a juicy conversation about personal style and the benefits of sewing for self-expression, creativity and body acceptance. I know next to nothing about sewing, but by the end of this episode Sarahbeth had me completely convinced I should start stitching my own wardrobe - and I bet you’ll feel the same!
Things we talk about in this episode:
* How sewing and clothing design can be empowering in unexpected ways
* Sarahbeth’s Queen Robe Project (enrolling now!), and how anyone can learn to sew
* The differences between historical garments and modern made clothes
* How clothes impact our body image and self worth
* The role of sewing and mending for sustainability and customisation
* My collection of vintage French under-dresses, and my upcoming collection of them for sale
* The stories our clothes can tell about us as they age and change
In today’s episode we dive into listener questions all about Instagram - from building engagement up, feeling hopeful and excited about the platform again, coming back after a long break, adapting to creating more video content, whether to use hashtags anymore and lots more.
I first met Sarah D Rees through my class, The Insta Retreat, quite a few years ago, and we’ve worked together ever since. Sarah is a mental health nurse and CBT therapist with over 10 years of experience in private practice. Through her mentoring and coaching services, she supports other therapists in setting up and growing their private practices. Sarah struggled with the lack of a business plan and structure in her private practice, leading to dissatisfaction and confusion, and wanted to help others so they don’t have to feel the same way.
Instagram Summer School is my new 4-week refresher and revive-r for your instagram mojo! The whole of my bestselling Instagram Masterclass, The Insta Retreat, but condensed into 4 weekly highlight reels to get you straight to the good bits and set to work! With daily challenges, free templates, planners and guides, plus weekly AMA (ask me anything) calls with me, and mindset coaching calls with Katie Pulsifer, this is your sun-filled, breezy vacation from all the Insta drama! Check out all the details by clicking here ⬇️
PS. If you have done The Insta Retreat before, look out for emails about how to take part
A Beginner's Mindset to Instagram, with Katie Pulsifer
13 Feb 2024
00:52:18
I first met deep-dive master coach Katie Pulsifer when she was my instructor for certification at The Life Coach School. I recall being pretty intimidated. I’ve never been sky-diving or tried a bungee jump, but I’m pretty sure the adrenaline rush is comparable to coaching in front of Katie for immediate feedback in front of a group. 🪂
Katie’s recently gone solo, after many years working for a large coaching school, and as we caught up over Zoom I was struck by how her open, beginner’s mindset to social media is bringing so much ease and fun to her work. Wouldn’t it be great if we could all recapture a little bit of that early magic when we’re showing up on the internet?I asked Katie to come on the podcast to tell us more.
Things we talk about in this episode:
* How Katie found her niche and why it resonates with her deeply
* Building a values-led business, and being ok with not doing things like everybody else
* The mindset shift and learning curve in switching from employee to entrepreneur
* Using Instagram, Facebook, newsletters and Substack to grow an audience in 2024
* The evolution of coaching techniques, including the self-coaching model, and how Katie adapts them to best serve her clients
* The importance of trusting the process, being present, and allowing growth to unfold naturally
I’m sharing something a little different today… the results of my ‘podcast affair’ with my Aussie bestie, the gorgeous Ms Keeley Rees . Bonded over our love of storytelling and creativity, Keeley and I and came together to create The Substack Soirée - a gathering of resources, classes and a shiny new podcast, in the hope of passing some of that passion along.I chose this very first episode to share here with you on Hashtag Authentic because I really think the fundamentals we talk through - which we’re jokingly calling our ‘commandments’ - are applicable to every and any platform out there online.
So, whether you’re Substack-curious, have no intention of ever joining Substack or are a self-confessed Substa-holic, I hope this episode can offer you support, strength and encouragement for showing your creative side online.If you want to hear more from me and Keeley, be sure to Subscribe to The Substack Soirée and to the SSS podcast in your favourite podcast app.
PS - Our special Winter Substack class is now enrolling, until Monday November 27th! Check out all the details on how you can join us here.
Staying true to your unique identity, with Katie Leamon
23 Nov 2023
00:58:58
This week I talk to Katie Leamon, who turned her love of paper and pattern into her eponymous family-run stationery studio. Her notebooks have been a daily companion to me for many years, so it was really fun to chat with her about her designs, her process and the realities behind running a product-lead business with the family on board!
Things we talk about:
* Building from a home studio to printing and selling at scale
* Designing products based on creative instinct
* The rise of independent stationery makers and designers online
* Selling wholesale vs. direct
* Family business, and drawing the the lines between work and home life.
Being afraid of NOT doing it, with Lisa Francesca Nand
12 Dec 2022
01:06:39
Things we talked about:
The way multi-faceted careers can feel piecemeal (especially if parenting is added into the mix), or “like I’m doing five different jobs at once”
Factoring in time to play as well as work
Exploring your home town like a holiday destination
Taking things home from real holidays that you might not expect (like appreciating the simple things, family meals, all your possessions in one suitcase)
Avoiding habits of consuming everything and creating nothing
Making connections on Twitter (Lisa says, “I engage with people because I love it”)
Pondering the idea that the Internet means we don’t get bored any more, and what that means
On making things happen (Lisa was waiting for a radio job offer but it didn’t come, so she started a podcast)
“People say you’re brave putting yourself out there, but I’m more afraid of not doing it”
The importance of perseverance, and regularly doing the thing you fear (until you don’t fear it any more)
We had a frank conversation about money. Despite living an outwardly glamorous life, Lisa says, “I don’t earn enough”
Becoming an “accidental landlady”: her unexpected foray into property investment to build financial security
We talked about the way women often hide our realities, keeping everything from messy kitchens to miscarriage behind closed doors
Everything has to start with just two views. Even the most viral video of all time had only two views at some point.
And finally, the possibly-surprising-but-then-probably-not location that Lisa chose when I asked her about her favourite place in the whole world
The Power of Story in the Creative Process with Susan Mar
11 Nov 2022
00:49:50
Things We Talk About In This Episode:
Working with clients in the creative process and their reactions.
How as humans we respond to visuals in a human way. Narratives that make it seem shallow to care about how things look. Like it’s superficial to care too much about the way you look and that this might mean you don’t have depth.
Aesthetics are a luxury that comes after the essentials of survival and how you can still care about aesthetics, even if the first priority is survival.
Creating worlds on Instagram for an escape, or for an imaginary world to exist in.
Growing up in a third-world country and living without running water. Living and growing up in a country where safety isn’t guaranteed and that these things stay with you.
That where we start is not always a reflection of where we’re going to end up.
The importance of the client’s story, understanding and connecting with them.
Taking lessons from pain. Looking for good and having empathy.
Struggling with seeing our own magic and the stories we tell ourselves.
Behind the scenes of Sell Your Sh*t, and how the coaching and lessons had an impact on Susan.
Learning that our experiences of life are not always everyone else's experiences. That our normal isn’t everyone’s experience.
How Susan joined Instagram as a way to communicate her journey. That starting to share and mingle with people helped her to feel it’s safe to share online.
That Instagram gives us chance to take small baby steps into being seen or into vulnerability.
How being in the spotlight can mean you lose the sense of freedom with your account.
That Instagram can be like therapy, that the discoveries that come as a result of being in the spotlight can help you to understand what you want. It makes you confront a lot of the stuff that’s hiding under the surface.
How people can reject your work but not reject you, and how we can get this confused, something that’s covered in Sell Your Sh*t.
Starting a business on Instagram and running a product business.
How preparing and getting ready is more about feeling ready, and how this is a process.
Learning about yourself and how your messages connect with other people is something you can’t rush.
Designing your brand from the inside out, so you can finally stop tweaking your brand. Challenging the there's one right way theory.
Links mentioned in this episode (and where to find Susan):
When Social Video meets Journalism , with Sophia Smith Galer
01 Aug 2022
00:55:46
Things We Talk About In This Episode:
The importance that established news organisations find ways to use social media if they want to engage a young audience
TikTok has redefined the experience of social media, with short video content, and Instagram Reels and Youtube Shorts have followed suit
How Sophia found an audience on TikTok (and later on Instagram Reels) by talking to camera about her media stories
The way we can gain insights into what makes a successful social media post by being a user of the platform
The importance of constant engagement on social media, both creating and consuming content
Acknowledging the fear and vulnerability that can come with being authentic and genuine online
Sophia’s tips for successful TikTok/Reel content: action or engaging content in every second, and lead with your most powerful image/shot/quote)
Comparing the strengths and drawbacks of the different platforms, especially Reels and TikTok
When creating Reels content or TikTok content, share that content on both platforms so you’ll meet both audiences
When it comes to sharing your opinions online, having a sense of purpose goes a long way towards building your confidence
How Sophia has been promoting her book: reposting user content from her book launch on Instagram, a big thread on Twitter, traditional media appearances, and weekly TikTok videos (interspersed with other content so she doesn’t “spam” her audience)
The challenges of Internet (and especially social media) censorship with any content relating to sex or sexual health
Links mentioned in this episode (and where to find Sophia):
Editing apps that help you create Reels or TikToks:
Building a brand for yourself around the work you’re doing
The growing online hunger for content by real people and the forging of real connections
We seem to be entering an era that Farrah calls, rather poetically, "the Time of the Writer": the world has passed the period of devouring all the content on the Internet, now we are more discerning, and only want to consume content that we genuinely enjoy
The continued return of demand for long-form content
The return of community: the value of hearing from and engaging with your audience
Giving your best work away from free (yes!)
The limitations of the stories that can be told in traditional media
And related, the limitations of creating content when you're in competition for followers or clicks
When you try to appeal to the masses, you bland out
Farrah's tips for what works well on Substack:
Niching works well. The more you niche, the more dedicated (as opposed to big) an audience you'll get
Publishing twice a week tends to grow a "stickier" audience
Use social media to point people to your Substack content
Use your "About" page to set expectations and declare a manifesto
The magic found in true community, with Gina Bianchini
17 Mar 2022
00:56:42
Things We Talk About In This Episode:
Recognising the power of what’s possible when people come together with a common goal
The value of creating your own, distraction-free destination for group learning and support
Empowering creators to place higher value on the important business, community and content they are making - rather than being driven solely by the pursuit of money and influence
The importance of community, particularly when we are forging new paths (or making things up as we go along). Gina says, “the single best place to make things up as you go along is in a small, trusted community of people who are there on the same journey”
The important difference between “community” as opposed to audience, following or marketplace
The great value of having diversity within a likeminded group is in the different and interesting ways that community members apply the common concepts
The “fluff paradox” (the theory that content that is easy to judge - such as kittens or outrage - rises to the surface)
How content and course creators can now market themselves less on formal qualifications or years of experience, and more on how they make ideas and skills accessible to people who can’t yet do the thing we’re teaching
That networking is increasingly moving towards safe, trusted, creator-led online communities, which in turn is transforming in-person conferences and events less into “networking meet-ups” and more into reunions, with the capacity for deeper connections
How I use Mighty Networks to create community and support the members of my own 15 Minute Magic program
Pricing your services and wares, and in particular understanding that people value and pay attention to the things they pay for (a difficult concept to remember when our own self-doubt tells us to keep our prices low or give things away for free)
Gina’s top tips for building and facilitating a new community: 1. Fear of failure is the biggest challenge most people face, something we all need to recognise and overcome2. Go for quality rather than quantity in numbers of members3. Don’t get bogged down creating content: focus on creating results for your community4. Remember that community is about all members adding value to one another, not you preaching to an audience (“I’m not a sage on the stage, I’m on the side as a guide”)
Minimalism and Simplifying Life with Jessica Rose Williams
19 Jan 2022
01:10:45
Things we talked about:
Trusting that you have enough, you are enough and that there'll be enough in the future and how that applies to you as a human
Decluttering and finding your own style, starting with the external and slowly moving in
Being diagnosed with cancer at 25 and having an existential crisis that kick-started a big lifestyle change
Jess's realisation that if the worst happened she would have had so many regrets, that the situation shone a light on ways she was living her life
The fundamentals of doing stuff well online don't really change depending on the platform, it's about having something worth saying, being a human and connecting
We have access to all these amazing people online and we can feel like, finally, there's somewhere where we do belong, that you can share actual feelings and emotions with people over the internet
Building relationships with people that you wouldn't otherwise and connecting with like-minded souls that typically
We are what we consume, so having a huge de-clutter of social media is a good thing
Minimalism and simplifying life comes down to learning how to use the word no and how that can be really hard
Intentional use of social media through asking yourself how you feel about it and taking action to make it work for you
People's perception that we have to be perfect online and that showing any sign of weakness or difficulties is going to turn people off or mean they are no longer be interested in us
When it comes to sharing online people don't connect with perfectionism like they do with pain or being broken because that's real, that we're all broken and we're all in pain and that being honest and open leads to deeper connections
Showing up online as you is the key to a consistent online presence, the energy that we put into something transfers to the other person, they can feel it in your work,
That we have so much to learn about vulnerability, fear of not being liked can lead to us not showing up as ourselves
How it's all an experiment, that taking small steps makes being more us easier
That you end up being so bland if you try to please everyone and how it's so dishonest to yourself as a human to deny you likes and dislikes - don't be like white rice!
How validation can be good especially if you haven't received much in your life, as it helps build confidence
Learning to use the word no, that it's about choice and that both paths are available to you
That we're told we're not enough by media and society, and that we can stop, ask a few questions, try be a bit braver, try be a bit more intentional
Sustainability, that the planet can't sustain our need to buy things to make us feel better, that it's not happiness but fulfilment that's important and it's about asking ourselves the difficult questions to reach it
The freedom to explore and experience the good and the bad of life and how we miss out on the full experience if we are living by the rules we have been told
That we are working too hard, that people are struggling with the expectations and are going to the doctor to get medication to keep up, that it's broken, the fact that people are working themself sick
Enough is a decision, it's a choice we get to make
How it still doesn't feel quite normal to call herself a full-time artist and how that's something a lot of us struggle with
Growing up with a parent who's an artist, the expectations that brings and how that comparison can make creating art feel overwhelming
Finding your own path, however varied and wherever it takes you
The feeling of not being good enough, how it can hold you back and the judgements we make of our own work
How posting on Instagram helped Maria to believe in her work and grow in confidence, that sometimes we need the outside world to tell us we're doing a good job
That throwing yourself into your passions can lead to burnout, especially when making career changes and having other responsibilities and that recovery can be slow and frustrating
How burnout shows up and that working with your body can be hard especially in our brains and the guilt that comes with it
That naps are part of the creative process, taking time away from your creative process feeds it
Maria's watercolour course, which has run twice and is open for enrolment at the moment, it covers the technical side of things as well as your mindset when producing work
How people have art supplies they are saving because they are afraid to use them and how people expect to be either creative or not, when actually it's a skill that can be developed
That we can feel not worthy of using the fancy art supplies or that we're waiting, but what are we waiting for?
The journeys we go on to become good at the things we do, the hours we spend practising and the impact
How Maria's audience likes unexpected pieces of her work, that what you want to create and post and what your audience wants are two different things and how easy it would be to only create what people love but how that can be a trap
That maybe Maria's art would be different if she was paid for painting and not for a piece of art, how if it didn't have to be marketable it might be different? And how that's hard to know
How people can feel like an imposter, usually if they have had a different job and found or come back to the thing they're doing now, they want to take it seriously but they don't think they're allowed to and that technical skill can be the route of this
Some people self-sabotage by talking quietly about their work, how we shouldn't be afraid to share about yourself because people want to know the person behind the post
What's the big deal? If an Instagram post doesn't work then no one will see it so what's the problem with sharing it?
How art changes over a lifetime, how it transforms into something new and that that's a good thing as you may do this for the rest of your life so if it stayed the same it would be terrible
And that life can give you the perfect training, even if at the time you don't realise it.
The difference between writing as a journalist and writing a book (it’s just so long!)
But: you only get to publish your first book once! Accept the nerves, and appreciate the moment
The ever-present contention and push-back received when one writes about race
Natalie’s very wise words that reaction is the point of writing - and those reactions don’t have to be positive every time
The value of the interviews in her book, and how she found and chose the right people to talk to
Some of the stories and themes that came out of the interviews that surprised her
The unique experiences that people of mixed race have when they walk through the world, and the impact this has on identity, parenting, privilege, and the experience of racism
Parenting mixed race children (avoiding “colour-blindness” and those fetishised hashtags on social media)
How white parents can open dialogues that empower their mixed race children to talk about racism
The value of social media in creating connections, sharing ideas, and giving voice to minorities who are not always heard on mainstream platforms
But on the flip side, the deeply disturbing fetishisation of mixed race people - particularly mixed babies - and “blackfishing” trends (changing your appearance through make-up and hair to appear as though you have black heritage)
And Natalie’s rallying call to allies: “We need you to still care. We need that energy you had in the summer.”
A life that feeds what you need, with Rebecca Schiller
15 Oct 2021
00:57:22
Things we talked about:
The trials and tribulations of being a “goat doula”
Her new book Earthed, and its journey from concept, through to the transformation it underwent while she was writing, due to pressures from within (mental health) and without (a pandemic)
How she actually managed to get it written, with all this going on
The challenges and joys of writing autobiographically
We dug into the need to be honest with ourselves about how we want our lives to look… and to recognise the good stuff in there, even if reality doesn’t match the fantasy
And about lessons learned about life in pandemic times: acknowledge the difficult stuff, but don’t give up on your dreams
We talked about the process of being diagnosed with ADHD (both of us), and how those diagnoses changed our lives – in many cases for the better
The fear of not being taken seriously by your GP
The way the lifestyles we choose can be – subconsciously – self-medication
Rebecca talked about following the things that interested her, even if that meant changing careers, and finding herself subconsciously being drawn to a life that fed what she needed
And (this is a big one, I think), we talked about loving your brain! Loving the way it works, and the things it can do, regardless of whether or not it conforms with the way society says “all” brains should work
The importance of nature – and simple connections with animals – in keeping us grounded and helping us both give and receive unconditional love
Where to find Rebecca online:
Rebecca’s book Earthed, which came out in May this year
Each week in the insta retreat we have 2 calls - one with a business/IG focus, and one like this, for mindset issues. Find out more and join in the fun at The Insta Retreat
Why so many of us feel suspicious about new technologies, and how we can change the narrative
The way artificial intelligence (AI) reads and interprets our interests and activities in order to deliver content to us… and the impact that content can have on us
Approaching social media mindfully, by noticing the impact certain content has on our moods and behaviours, and carefully curating what we choose to consume
The difference between active and passive behaviour on social media
Technologies (other than social media) that Becca is loving… and thinking outside the box for ways in which technologies can improve our lives
The often-fraught topic of addictions, in relation to using our devices and social media
Thoughts about influencers and unhealthy comparisons
Becca shared her top tips for healthy ways to live with technology
And finally, I asked Becca to share what she would like the landscape of technology to look like in 10 years
The Insta Retreat - My tell all, best selling course for Instagram creatives and business owners.
Allowing ourselves to feel good when things actually go well
The synchronicity of things happening when they’re supposed to (and when you’re ready)
Defining success for ourselves (and it’s not always what we assume it might be)
How lockdown taught Katherine to create her own “sense of safety” following the success of her book, by creating courses to shore up her income
Finding ways to own your own story, message and brand
How Katherine’s approach to Instagram evolved from “sharing pictures” to “telling stories”
Katherine’s experience of coming back from “an anxious pattern of behaviour” around social media
The quiet activism in the premise of Katherine’s book, Wintering, which is all about periods of life in which we feel cut off from the rest of the world
Not always having to be “on” and “up.” As Katherine says, “The vision of us being always up discounts useful wonderful things like thinking, reflecting…”
How we’ve all learned things about ourselves during lockdown, and the way our priorities (and what we are willing to accept) have changed
Being diagnosed as autistic, quite late in life, allowed Katherine to make the personal changes she needed: “How to meet my own needs, rather than how to solve me”
The experience of living life as a neurodivergent person
Finding your right people online (if you lose followers after sharing your true self, then you’ve lost the right followers - you don’t want them)
And this piece of wisdom from Katherine, for anyone who identifies with our “neurodivergent” conversation: "Your identification is yours. It doesn’t need the approval of a doctor or your mum.”
The Insta Retreat - My tell all, best selling course for Instagram creatives and business owners.
Being a multi-hatted freelancer, with Anna Codrea-Rado
10 Jun 2021
01:01:21
WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT
Anna and I discuss the difference between the business of writing, and the writing of writing
The fear that so many of us feel of showing up, and putting ourselves out there or “being seen to try”. Anna says this is “straight-up embarrassment,” and we feel this way whenever we step outside the norm (even if we are embarrassed for positive reasons, like receiving a compliment)
But in addition to this, she says that what holds us back, post-pandemic, is “very low emotional reserves.” All of us have a lower baseline of resilience which makes pitching scarier, and rejection harder to take
Recognising when you’re in burnout (and remembering that you don’t have to have all the answers before you’re allowed to help anyone else!)
Defining freelancing and the many roles that freelancers need to play. Learning to be both boss and employee, and knowing when to shift between these modes
Seeking a balance between working ON the business versus IN the business. Anna says she spends 20 percent of her time actually writing… but she’s working on increasing this!
The bonkers (Anna’s word but I wholeheartedly agree!) system that rewards creative people for doing a good job by making them managers - a completely different skill-set and a role that a lot of creative people don’t actually aspire to take on
Working with people in your business from a place of collaboration, rather than management
Getting comfortable with sales (and moving on from the door-to-door salesman stereotype)
“Dirty capitalism” versus “clean capitalism” (in other words, the conflict-that-shouldn’t-be-a-conflict of doing the right thing while also making money)
The book Anna mentions, “A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload” by Cal Newport
The quote I was trying to remember is attributed to Ellevest co-founder and former Citigroup CFO Sallie Krawcheck, who said, “About the most powerful thing you can do to help a society and economy is get more money in the hands of women.” Hear hear!
WHERE TO FIND ANNA ONLINE
Anna’s podcast, Is this working? Which she co-hosts with Tiffany Philippou
Investing in yourself with food stylist Kimberly Espinel
27 Apr 2021
00:52:24
WHAT WE TALK ABOUT
* The often-underestimated importance of being “politely persistent”
* Starting a blog and Instagram before you become an expert (practising in public), as a way to find clients after you graduate
* The way Kimberly used Instagram not only as a photography portfolio but also as a way to train her writing voice ahead of writing her book, alongside her blog writing
* The value of receiving immediate feedback on Instagram to hone our marketing skills: we immediately learn what works and what doesn’t, based on people’s responses
* A burgeoning shift of women taking up space and creating businesses, that is reshaping our ideas of what it is to be a leader, what a CEO is, and what “sales and marketing” should look like
* The historic under-valuing of creativity in the mainstream, and particularly in business (creativity is not perceived as productivity, and productivity is how we measure our worth), and how creative people (often women) are forging important changes to that attitude
* Kimberly’s fabulous words, like a rallying cry, which someone needs to put on Pinterest! “Creativity is joy. Creativity is being alive.”
* The highs and lows of pitching a book to publishers and agents (and recovering from rejection)
* Using our public platforms to hold ourself accountable to pursuing our creative dreams
* The awful summer of 2020, and Kimberly’s personal and professional turning point after reading the rather grim statistics around the number of women of colour who get book deals, and what they get paid…
* The importance of investing in ourselves (even to putting our money where our mouths are!)
* The nuts and bolts of self-publishing… beautifully (and being the CEO of your book)
* Kimberly’s advice for anyone who is seeking the courage to follow their dreams
Multi-layered, multi-hyphenated careers and what to call yourself if you’re asked at a party
Being led by curiosity, the value of deep-dive research, and the joy of starting something new
Mel’s early career in the not-for-profit charity sector, and the turning point she reached that led her to galvanise a group of volunteers and ultimately, to co-create Freedom Acts, a not-for-profit group aimed at ending modern slavery
How pregnancy can be an impetus for both creativity and personal rebellion
Doing something new, how to “be a learner at every stage,” and how to get things done despite feeling totally unqualified
Pivoting careers, self-doubt and self-worth wobbles when it comes to moving from charitable work to for-profit work, the desire to “do good,” and the realisation that roles, and work, can be “both-and” rather than “either-or”
Finding your ‘ideal community’ on Instagram, and building space to make that community part of your offline life
Starting an “accidental business”
Allowing your values to drive your business, or the work you do in the world
The inner work that goes into making peace with charging for your services, skills and time
That women need to have more stakes and autonomy in economics, finance and making money… and that we are to be trusted
Navigating the world of online influence
The concept of being influential as an improvement (what it means to be “improvingly influential”)
Mel’s research into what people consistently find “influential” in both social and personal contexts (three core pillars of intuition, integrity, and impact)
The value of finding and maintaining our own personal boundaries when sharing online
The very human desire to “be seen” - and giving ourselves permission to admit this and pursue it
The world changed between the time Skye wrote this book and when it was published. We talk about how she faced the challenge of publishing a book about feeding the people you love, when you’re not allowed to be with them. (Spoiler alert: being apart from the people we love makes us value those times we do have together, even more)
The creative ways we have responded to lockdown, finding unique (safe) ways to gather, and cooking with limited ingredients
How lockdown is impacting our children, but not necessarily in the same way that it is affecting us
The positive ways in which lockdown encourages us to pause for meals and enjoy eating together
Ready-chopped onions!
The difference between simply cooking to one recipe, versus pulling an entire meal together
How truly universal food can be (“everyone eats - if we don’t, we die!”) and the myriad cultural, historical and aspirational elements we bring to our cooking that make it so very personal
How to set up two kitchens in two different countries
Our guilty food confessions
And the market for someone to invent a ready-made choux pastry!
Connecting to Your Creative Courage, with Maressa Fernandez
20 Oct 2020
00:43:07
Things We Talk About In This Episode:
The business idea that grew out of Maressa’s own creative slump
How important it is to value creativity (Maressa says it’s the uniqueness that makes us human) even if the people around us - and society in general - don’t recognise the value
The challenge of finding the balance on Instagram (and elsewhere) between “what I want to share” and “what people want”
Developing an Instagram account that creates space for you to be a whole person, and that can evolve alongside your interests
How talking to camera on video became a way for Maressa to make her content more accessible to people with visual and hearing disabilities
The way in which Maressa uses her platform to talk about anti-racism, in a way that started out from a need to share and evolved into a process of very personal and vulnerable education
Talking to our children about racism (“we need to see colour in order to see privilege”)
Maressa’s Patreon space: why she started it, how she structures it, and how creating a paid space enabled Maressa to start valuing herself, and helped members of her community likewise value themselves
The difference between consciously selling, versus sharing with genuine excitement about what we are doing
Parenting and creativity, and how Maressa models the creative life to her children
Why you don't need a huge audience online to be successful
How to get organic reach on Instagram without having to pay for ads
Photography for Instagram, and how it differs from conventional photography
Pivoting your business, and why it pays to put yourself at the heart of your brand
The difference between being a freelancer and an entrepreneur/business owner
Promoting a book during lockdown, and the unexpected benefits of “marketing for introverts” when almost everything has to happen online
How the workplace might look on the other side of COVID
Caring for your mental health as a freelancer, and recognising that mental health goes beyond mindset
Relaxing the idea of rigid timetables, and embracing routines that work for our health and happiness
The value of having a person outside our situation, such as a coach, help us recognise and overcome our limiting beliefs
Managing your finances, including building a financial buffer, pricing yourself, planning for holidays, and avoiding the limitations of exchanging time for money
Fiona’s experience delivering a donation-based course, giving away content, and the balance of making support and content accessible to all, while still running a profitable business
Why you're not lazy, and procrastination is much more common than we think
Why 'willpower' is never enough
How resistance is always here for a reason, and how to unpick it
"You can't change your mind with your own mind"
Headings for worksheet: 1. The thing you want to be doing. 2. What's the feeling? (check the graphic). 3. What's the thought? 4. What would you advise to somebody else?
Feelings and thoughts disguised as facts
Why too much flexible time is bad for productivity
Why scheduling automatically increases action
How fear is responsible for a lot of our procrastination
Weaponising self doubt and using action to disprove our fears