Letters From A Hopeful Creative – Details, episodes & analysis

Do you currently feel overstretched, burned out, or like there’s not enough space for your needs and your humanness in your business? If so, today’s episode is for you.

We’re doing things a little differently today and sharing an interview Jen did on one of her favourite business podcasts, Off The Grid, where the wonderful host Amelia asks Jen some really insightful questions around reshaping her business to truly work best for her, how to stop building burnout into your business, plus why fluctuating income in business is so normal and Jen’s approach to gentle and human marketing too.

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In today’s episode we’re switching things up a little and sharing a recap and debrief from Sara’s recent launch, the biggest lessons she learned, and our thoughts and experience on launching in our business and some encouragement for you if you have a launch you’re bringing to life soon too.

Would you love some encouragement and support in your business? Submit your letter for an upcoming episode here.

Find out more about Sara’s summer school

Watch Jen’s behind the scenes planning video for her upcoming launch

Jen’s 100 Hell Yes People toolkit (100% free for you to dive into!)

Escaping the Attention Economy: Resonance Over Reach with Jay Acunzo on Off The Grid

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In today’s episode Jen dives into twelve questions covering topics such as buiding your business in a way that honours your energetic needs, prioritising your goals with intention, routines and habits to work less and still get your important work done, simplifying marketing, recovering from burnout and more.

If you’d prefer to watch a video with timestamps of each question you can find that here.

And if you’d love to have guidance, encouragement, and support every step of the way in bringing more freedom, ease, and intentional growth into your business and never feel stuck or alone again in your journey you can join Jen inside her program Your Simple & Spacious Business before doors close soon on Friday 9th February and there’s also an awesome 1:1 coaching bonus if you join by Friday 2nd.

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Letters From A Hopeful Creative is produced by Sonics Podcasts

To kickstart 2024 together we sat down for a business bestie chat where we asked each other:

What are your goals and desires for your business and creative life this year?

And where would you love to be five years from now and how do you want to work towards that vision in 2024?

We talk about how it feels to be a decade into our business journey, the growth we’re prioritising this year, new projects that we want to work on and so much more. If you’d love to tune into a really honest chat between two business besties, we recorded this episode for you.

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Would you love some encouragement and support in your business? Submit your letter for an upcoming episode here.

More from Sara

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And Jen’s group program, Your Simple & Spacious Business, is opening for enrolment again very soon on Wednesday 31st January and this will be the last time to join before the price increases too. If you’re ready to never do business alone again you can find out more this way.

Letters From A Hopeful Creative is produced by Sonics Podcasts

In today’s episode, for our last episode of 2023, we’re diving into four listener questions covering stepping into a new arena in our work, feeling lonely in our business, structuring our days with intention, and the main challenges we’ve seen others and ourselves overcome in our business journey too.

And today is the last day to join The Substack Soirée for the Christmas class!

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Letters From A Hopeful Creative is produced by Sonics Podcasts

Is selling something that you feel overwhelmed by and often shy away from in your business? If so this episode is for you.

In today’s episode Jen is sharing with you a sneak peak of one of the coaching sessions inside her group program, Your Simple & Spacious Business on Gentle & Joyful Sales Experiments To Generate Cashflow In Your Business.

I’ll be walking you through the five gentle guideposts for intentional selling, ten gentle and joyful sales experiments, and how to make a gentle plan for generating cashflow too.

My hope is that this coaching session can support you to take intentional action to generate sales in your business without burning out and without compromising your magic and your values in the process too.

You can also dive into the video and workbook of this coaching session this way.

And if you’d love to have guidance, encouragement, and support every step of the way in bringing more freedom, ease, and intentional growth into your business and never feel stuck or alone again in your journey you can join Jen inside her program Your Simple & Spacious Business before doors close soon on Monday 23rd October.

* Letters From A Hopeful Creative Substack

* Submit your letter

Letters From A Hopeful Creative is produced by Sonics Podcasts

In today’s episode we dive into this letter from a listener:

Despite having a chronic illness, I show up fully to my clients - so how can I explain that I am 100% there for my clients at the times I make for them - but also be real about the reality of days where I can't even muster to have a shower? How can I share, in my communications - that I can be both of these things, all at once?

- Bo

In today’s episode we dive into this question, share the lessons we’ve learned about putting our needs on the table in our business, and our encouragement for anyone who fears their humanness is an inconvenience in their work.

And Jen’s group coaching program to support you to bring more freedom, ease, and intentional growth into your work and life, Your Simple & Spacious Business, is now open for enrolment if you’d love to never do business alone again.

And there’s also an awesome 1:1 coaching bonus available if you join by Wednesday 11th October - you can find out more this way.

And Sara’s The Substack Soirée will be opening again very soon too.

* Letters From A Hopeful Creative Substack

* Submit your letter

* More from Sara

* Sara’s Substack

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* Get Jen’s Deep Dive Kit

Letters From A Hopeful Creative is produced by Sonics Podcasts

As I gear up for the next enrolment of my flagship group program, Your Simple & Spacious Business, I’m sharing a behind the scenes launch diary over on my solo podcast so that I can bring you along the journey with me and share all of the messy middle that comes with embarking on a launch in our business.

I’m sharing the first episode of this launch diary with you today on the LFAHC feed if it can be supportive and encouraging for you in your business journey right now too.

In this episode I share:

* Why I’m doing this launch diary

* Some behind the scenes on what I’m launching, how I’ve launched it in the past, and how it usually sells too

* The gap between traditional launch advice and our capacity for that workload

* How a 5th launch of a program feels very different to the first

* How and why this is going to be a very simple and low-key launch

* How I’m feeling as I’m about to embark on this launch

* The things I will be prioritising most

* What you can expect from this launch diary

A new episode of this launch diary will go live every week over on my solo podcast for the next six weeks where I’ll take you with me as I prepare for this launch and then real-time behind the scenes and updates as I navigate this enrolment too.

You can find out more about YS&SB this way.

And you can subscribe on Spotify and Apple Podcasts to have new episodes sent straight to your podcast feed too!

In today’s episode we dive into this letter from a listener:

I am writing you from probably the lowest point I have encountered in my creative journey.

This year has been hard for me. I feel a bit lost in my business and so so tired. I have been making pottery for over a decade, selling for about 6 years and working full time as an artist for 2. And the struggle just never ends. I feel like I am pushing a rock up a hill and I keep waiting for the incline to level out so I can coast a little. I keep waiting for that break: for that post or feature that brings thousands of new people to my page, for the grant to be approved, for the gallery show to happen, for my community to establish… I am just desperately needing some ease from the grind. I am so grateful for the growth I have had. I am grateful to be selling my work after years and years of building that confidence, I so grateful for the kind words and support from my customers. I am also very privileged that I am partnered with a wonderful supportive husband who has a secure job and salary that we can rely on when sales have been dropping the past year due to inflation and economic anxiety. I am so lucky… but I am also starting to really lose confidence in myself.

I am simply running out of stamina.

As I see other businesses and accounts pop up around me and grow with such ease (of course I know I am only seeing the surface of these experiences) I can’t help but wonder if I just am not good enough as an artist… or if I am just too idealist. Or really I am just complete s**t at the marketing? My vision isn’t what sells quickly and I don’t want to stray from my aesthetic. I don’t want to play the trending social media games, I am too tired and those honestly aren’t the least bit inspiring to me. I know I need to shift what I am doing because social media based sales just aren’t working for me anymore, Instagram is no longer a place I feel inspired by and want to be spending my time. I just feel so lost and am not sure what my next steps should be.

There is an other aspect to this too I need to throw in and would love to get your advice on: last year I was diagnosed with ADHD. I started using a light medical dose to help with this condition and it did wonders for my executive function. I felt like for the first time I was really getting my business, finances, schedule, all the little pieces that slip through the cracks under control! As I am writing this I am newly pregnant and desperately struggling with fatigue. Because I can no longer take medication it has thrown me for a loop and I feel more disoriented than ever before. I catch myself wasting hours of the day distracted from tasks. I am trying to study more information on ADHD and develop new strategies for coping. The more I study, the more “ah-ha” moments I have. I believe my ADHD has been a much bigger barrier in operating a business and managing a social media account than I was aware of.

I apologize this is a lot of different elements (and I realize this letter is probably now long enough to be disqualified from being answered!) but I know Sara has been so open with her ADHD and you both experience chronic conditions that make you experts in running a business with varying levels of energy. You seem like the perfect people ask for guidance in this time. How can I right this ship and get back on track while this pregnancy is wrecking havoc on my emotions and energy? Are there any resources for creatives with ADHD you recommend Sarah? I would love to know more about your experiences transitioning into motherhood especially as my transition is coming at a time where I was already struggling with so much self doubt in my identity as an artist. I am a bit frightened right now to be honest.

Thank you so so much for considering this letter.

- Insecure, distracted, AND expecting

In today’s episode we dive into this question, share our encouragement for when you find yourself running out of stamina in your business, why we believe honouring our humanness first is so important, and how we’ve both navigated seasons like this in our own business journey too.

* Letters From A Hopeful Creative Substack

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* More from Sara

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Letters From A Hopeful Creative is produced by Sonics Podcasts

In today’s episode we dive into this letter from a listener:

I am hanging on your every word about Substack. I just can't seem to shake this question: Is Substack really right for my business? And if so, am I doing it right? How should I think about it and prioritize it among the many other things I could be doing with my limited time and energy?

But I keep getting tangled up in this question: is substack _marketing_ for my business, a _product_ for my business, or simply an on-the-side creative outlet?

If I'm being honest, I want it to be all three! I love the simplicity of it being everything at once. But let's get real. It seems like there's not much hope of Substack becoming a meaningful source of revenue, unless you've got a massive audience to begin with that you are transferring over from somewhere else. The typical price point is just too low to make the numbers make a real difference with a small audience.

I wonder if you could help put Substack into perspective, in the context of a service-based business that already includes regular writing and podcasting. A business that's ready to pivot into one-to-many offerings. For a person who's sort of hooked, but also worried the promise of Substack is too good to be true.

- Lisa

In today’s episode we dive into Lisa’s question and share how we’re using Substack in our business and why the platform is really just a playground to shape and use in whatever way feels aligned for us. If you’re curious about experimenting with Substack in your business this episode is here to help you explore what that could look like for you.

* Letters From A Hopeful Creative Substack

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* More from Sara

* Sara’s Substack

* More from Jen

* Jen’s Substack

* Dive into Sara’s The Substack Soirée

Letters From A Hopeful Creative is produced by Sonics Podcasts

And our next monthly private behind the scenes episode is now live if you’d love to become a paying subscriber. Join us this way!