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Patchwork Perspective

New Business Shower: How to Confidently Ask For What You Want

by Ellie Kime
written by Ellie Kime

Our ethos at Patchwork is about getting the things you really crave – and a major part of this is actually being able to ask for what you want. That’s why we’re so thrilled to be talking to Tiwalowla Ogunlesi, life coach and founder of Confident and Killing It, on the blog today, as part of our series interviewing women in business to celebrate our new business shower templates.

Who are you and what do you do?

I’m Tiwalola Ogunlesi, I’m a life coach specialising in positive psychology, international speaker, podcast host and the founder of Confident and Killing It. After struggling with self-doubt and a very negative mind as a teenager, I’m now on a mission to help women and girls love and believe in themselves. Making a positive impact in the world, showing up as my true authentic self and prioritising my wellbeing are things that I really value in life. When it comes to my personality, I like to say if Oprah and Beyoncé got together and had a baby, I would be the result of that powerful combination.

My business Confident and Killing It is a purpose driven organisation that wakes women up to their worth so they can be confident, unstoppable and dare to live the life they truly desire. Through engaging workshops, coaching sessions, podcasts and community meet ups, I equip women with the tools they need to overcome fear and self-doubt, programme their minds for success and take action in life. Since starting in 2017 I’ve upskilled thousands of women all over the world and delivered engaging experiences for brands/organisations such as Google, Facebook, The Times, Deloitte, Morgan Stanley, UN Women UK, and The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy.

Tell us about the start of your business journey.

In 2015, months into that first job after university, I felt a bit lost and unfulfilled. I was working in an industry I was not passionate about and it began to affect my mental health. There was deep unfulfillment that came from being stuck in a job I hated. In the back of my mind, I knew there had to be more to my life than living on autopilot.

In a search for a more fulfilling life, I began volunteering as a Youth Leader with a group of twenty 15 year old girls. As I was mentoring these girls, I realised they all had the same issues I had as a teen. And then it struck me – there’s this generational cycle of low self esteem in women and girls and something had to be done about it.

I started my self-love journey at 21 and I saw the immediate impact it had in my life. I got access to so much love, peace, joy and CONFIDENCE that I wanted every woman and girl to have access to that same power that comes from believing in yourself and owning your story. I started off making inspirational videos on instagram for about a year and when I saw how valuable people found it, I started putting on community events in different countries and then a movement was born.

Tiwa is stood in front of a projector screen delivering a presentation.

Fast forward to December 2019, I made the big decision to quit my day job to run Confident and Killing It full-time. My original business plan was to run in person workshops with organisations and personal coaching for women in my community. When I left my job, I had no bookings or clients lined up but I gave myself 3 months to build my reputation and secure the bag. Things were going well until March happened, lockdown happened, and everything got cancelled.

I started getting cancellation email after cancellation email after cancellation email. People were just nervous and scared. No one knew how this was gonna play out. And so every single thing I had booked got cancelled. I had quit my full time job with three months worth of savings and I was quickly coming to the end of my savings. March was meant to be one of my busiest months ever, with International Women’s Day coming up, but everything got cancelled. And I really hit rock bottom. At that point I was like, “What am I supposed to do now? Do I get another job? Is this the end? Am I a failure?”

But because of all the work I have been doing on my mindset when I hit rock bottom I knew the only way out was up. So I said “People can cancel my opportunities but they can’t cancel my creativity and my hard work.” In the midst of all that uncertainty I said 2020 was the year I’m going to see the most growth in my business and that’s exactly what happened. I put a note on my vision board that said “Whatever goes down, must come back up, I am unstoppable.” So I decided to put on a free webinar series called Killing It As An Entrepreneur where every Sunday in lockdown I held panel discussions with entrepreneurs to talk about everything from wellness to money to personal brand. I started it because I was an entrepreneur and I was freaking out, so I knew there would be others out there feeling the same and I wanted to support them.

Killing It As An Entrepreneur exploded the brand. I had thousands of women join from all over the world. Someone in the Philippines even stayed up to attend at 3am. I’d never had numbers like that before at an event. Some of these women then started recommending me to their companies which led to corporate bookings. So in 2020 I gained about 10k new followers and worked with the world’s biggest companies and brands like Google, Facebook, Deloitte, Tiktok, Depop, UN Women and others simply because I refused to let my circumstances dictate my future and decided to bet on myself and create my own opportunities.

What do you wish you’d known when you started out?

I’ve learnt it’s so important to reset and ask yourself: am I living at my own pace? Or am I just trying to keep up with the rest of society? The work does not stop and burnout is real. I didn’t think you could burn out doing work you love but you absolutely can. So I wish I had known that it’s ok to go slower and decide for yourself how you want to live your life, what rules you want to live by, what pace you go at and then be unapologetic about it. I also wish I had defined success on my own terms a little earlier. For the longest time I was obsessing over numbers and comparing my growth to similar brands. That made me miserable. But now I know success isn’t about numbers, it’s about liking who you are, liking what you do and liking how you do it, as Maya Angelou once said.

Tiwa, a black lady in a pink blazer and jeans, stands smiling in front of a group of women.

What’s the one physical thing you wish you’d had when you started out?

I wish I had a cuter work space. I’m someone who is really inspired by an aesthetically pleasing environment and so beautiful offices and workspaces really motivate me to dream bigger.

What’s the one thing you wished you’d asked for help with?

I wish I had asked for help with the admin and logistics side of my business. I’m a very organised person so I tend to just do things myself because it’s quicker than teaching and explaining it to someone else but before I knew it I was doing finances, email creation and scheduling, social media content creation, running workshops, coaching clients, hosting events ALL by myself. That came with an immense amount of pressure and burnout. Ever since I hired Ruth, my amazing virtual assistant, it’s taken so much pressure off me and I’m getting better at delegating tasks and going at a more comfortable pace.

A group of event attendees are sat clapping.

Why are we scared to celebrate ourselves?

There’s 3 main things that come to mind, firstly I think society has created negative connotations around celebrating ourselves. We’re often sold a lie that we should be humble and put our heads down and let our work do the talking. So we grow up seeing celebration as arrogant or boastful when it really isn’t.

Another reason why people are scared to celebrate themselves is due to the deeply ingrained self-doubt where they believe they are not good enough or they don’t measure up to the people around them. When you feel like everyone else is better than you, you often feel you aren’t worthy of a celebration because there’s nothing significant about what you’ve done.

And finally many people don’t actually know how to celebrate themselves. We live in a society that celebrates hustle culture and so people don’t actually know how to pause, reflect and appreciate the journey that they’ve been on. They are constantly striving for one goal or the other and forget to take a moment to appreciate themselves.

Why is it important we celebrate ourselves?

It’s actually scientifically proven that when you own your accomplishments, and you celebrate yourself, you actually programme your mind to be more positive. It makes you feel more confident and optimistic about the future. You remember all the times you’ve been killing it more than the times where you’ve made mistakes, or you failed at something and that motivates you to keep going. Also when comparison and imposter syndrome creeps in it’s important to remember all your key achievements so you can challenge that voice that tells you you’re a fraud.

I love celebrating myself and I use my Monthly Wins Tracker which is a free tool on my website to keep track of both my small wins and big wins. If I do something good that I’m proud of, I will celebrate myself because I am always worthy of a celebration. Period. People always tell me that my joy and confidence are infectious and that’s because I am unapologetic about shining my light and celebrating myself. When I show up in that way it inspires another person to also celebrate themselves. So celebration doesn’t always have to be arrogant. When I win another woman also wins because she can look at me and go if Tiwalola can do it, I can do it too. It’s not bragging if it’s based on facts so if you did it…OWN IT!

Tiwa and 4 other women are sat on stairs in silky slip dresses.

What’s your next business milestone coming up and how will you be celebrating?

I usually don’t need a milestone to celebrate myself, I’ll celebrate for absolutely any reason. Signed on a new client? I’m off to brunch, hosted a successful event? I’m booking a massage haha. But my next big milestone is launching The Confident and Killing It Academy which will be a private club for members to learn, get coaching and build community. I will most definitely be celebrating that by booking a very relaxing holiday for myself.

Thank you Tiwalowla for taking the time to chat, for all the amazing work you do, and also, for the most brilliant sentence we think we’ve ever read (about being Beyoncé and Oprah’s baby.) Make sure you’re following Tiwalowla here and Confident and Killing It here. And if you’ve been inspired to create a patchwork of your own to celebrate your new business, you can check out our collection of templates here.

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Patchwork Perspective

New Business Shower: Setting up as a photographer

by Ellie Kime
written by Ellie Kime

Sometimes, you’re not starting a new business from scratch. Sometimes, you’re starting a new business with one already under your wing. This is what the uber-talented Leesha Williams (from Onyx Branding Company) did this January, when she set up a sister brand to her wedding photography business. As part of our series celebrating our new business shower templates (which help you throw – you guessed it – new business showers to celebrate setting up a – you guessed it again – new business), we asked Leesha about the highs and lows of setting up a new business; what she’s done differently this time, and what she’d perhaps do differently again.

Who are you and what do you do?

Hi I’m Leesha, I’m a portrait and product photographer based in the midlands! I own Onyx Branding Co. a female owned branding and product photography business helping small indie businesses elevate their photography content. As a black owned business, I have a special focus on helping other black/brown owned businesses.

Tell us about the start of your business journey.

Onyx really started in lockdown. I usually work as a wedding and event photographer but because of COVID-19 we weren’t able to photograph any weddings. After the events last June and the rise in the Black Lives Matter movement, I began to realise that like me, other Black/Brown owned businesses didn’t feel as if they had a safe space to create and be their true authentic selves, especially in the creative industry. I’ve worked as a wedding photographer for the past few years, but lockdown meant that both my business and income disappeared almost overnight.

a flatlay of a patterned eye pillow next too a corn husk and a book.

What do you wish you’d known when you started out?

So one thing I really wished I’d known before starting out is that running your own photography business or any creative business for that matter is that you really only spend about 30% of your time doing your actual job. The rest is spent wearing all of the other hats! I never planned on working in the photography industry in the way that I do now so I wish I’d done more research in the beginning because for businesses to be successful, you do have to run them like a business so that includes all of the admin, marketing and everything else that goes along with it!

What’s the one (physical) thing you wish you’d had when you were starting out?

One physical thing I wish I had when starting out would definitely have been a good working laptop for editing! When I started out photographing weddings and events, I never dreamed that it would’ve been my full time career. This meant I didn’t necessarily invest in anything early on, so now having a computer solely for editing has increased my productivity so much!

What I would say to anyone wanting to start a photography business is to get to know your equipment and what you have first though and get good at using that. Having the right equipment does help but you don’t need fancy equipment to make you better at your job, your equipment should grow with your business.

What’s the one thing you wished you’d asked for help with?

If there was one thing I really wish I’d asked for help when starting my business it probably would have been help from someone with admin, time management and prioritising tasks. Running the two businesses simultaneously can get quite overwhelming so I find that I can often get burnt out easily!

Being a creative person also means that I can get distracted very easily so I find that having someone like a virtual assistant or even just coworking with a friend or a really good organiser system like Trello super helpful for my business and for staying on track with tasks.

A flatlay of two lilac-covered tins reading EBONI.

Who are the people that helped you most in the early days?

My friends and family were so helpful in the beginning, I’ve been lucky in that everyone has always been really supportive, sometime working in a creative industry or opening a small business, you don’t always get the support you need or people think that it’s “just a side hustle” or it’s not a “real job” so if you’re ever feeling that way, my advice would be to try and find online groups or communities for other like minded businesses or networking events. Being around other people who are in your industry is such an amazing thing because they understand what you’re going through.

What’s your next business milestone coming up and how will you be celebrating?

I’m very goal orientated so every year I like to write down a set of goals for each business and how I can achieve them, I like to set myself some goals that I definitely must do and then also a set that would be amazing to achieve with a little action plan on how I can go about doing it. If you’re like me and you like to work towards specific goals, I find that way works really well and you can print them off and put them in your office/workspace.

Onyx was only launched in January and it’s been crazy since then so my next milestone for Onyx is to gain five repeat clients before the end of the summer. It doesn’t sound like a lot but because I have such a niche ideal client that I want to work with, I think it’s achievable and will still allow me to focus on my other business goals as well.

Thank you so much Leesha! To check out Leesha’s branding work head to Onyx Branding Co.; to see her wedding photography you can head here. And if you’ve been inspired to throw a new business shower, firstly: congratulations! and secondly: you can find loads of templates and inspiration here.

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Patchwork Perspective

New Business Shower: Setting up a craft business from home

by Ellie Kime
written by Ellie Kime

Without romanticising the past year whatsoever, the pandemic has forced a lot of us to slow down, and explore different hobbies and creative endeavours that we might not have had time or inclination to ever explore before. And then, true to form, we might have found a hobby we really liked, and made it into a business! That’s what the wonderful Aiza did with By Coya: she started out making polymer clay earrings as a creative outlet in summer 2020, but the popularity of her super cute designs quickly meant she set up shop. To celebrate the launch of our new business shower templates, we reached out to Aiza to chat about setting up a product based business, and what kind of things it requires.

Who are you and what do you do?

I’m Aiza, a creative based in East London and I run By Coya, a handmade jewellery business from a corner of my living room. I make earrings you can almost eat! Specifically, I make food inspired statement earrings by hand using polymer clay.

Tell us about the start of your business journey.

I started making earrings during the summer of 2020. I needed a creative outlet and had come across a polymer clay earring tutorial. Once I touched the medium, I was hooked. I couldn’t stop making earrings! I gave away things I made, and after a while, my friends had too many. Since I have experience running creative businesses, and am surrounded by amazing maker friends, I decided to start By Coya.

What do you wish you’d known when you started out?

When I started out, I really wished I knew how to manage my time better. I would start making, and the next time I looked up, it was 3am! I’m a bit better now, and being able to manage my time means I can accurately cost and price things accurately, while paying myself a decent working wage.

candy-coloured dangly earrings on a white plate

What’s the one (physical) thing you wish you’d had when you started out?

I wish, and still wish for a nice jewellery/working bench. I have a small, slightly wobbly round table in the corner of my living room and it’s not ideal.

What’s the one thing you wish you’d asked for help with?

The help that I would’ve asked for when starting out was to understand how to take photos of earrings in my ear. I’m still not great at it but I’ll keep practising!

Who are the people that helped you most in the early days?

Definitely my friends who also run small businesses. They’ve been my biggest fans, and encouraged me every step of the way.

Who did you tell about your business when it started?

Mostly my friends in the small creative business world. My family but they don’t really get it, so I talk to my friends about it mostly.

Aerial shot of Aiza making earrings, with tools spread out on the table

What’s your next business milestone coming up and how will you be celebrating?

My first business birthday is coming up! I’m not 100% sure how I’m going to celebrate yet, but I will definitely have fun earrings and probably CAKE.

If you fancy bagging a pair of good-enough-to-eat earrings from Aiza, you can get them at By Coya – make sure you follow her on instagram @by.coya too. And if you’re looking for a way to celebrate your new business, product-based or otherwise, you acn see our new business shower templates here (but follow Aiza’s lead: cake is a must!)

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Patchwork Perspective

New Business Showers: A Guide To Living Audaciously

by Ellie Kime
written by Ellie Kime

Sometimes, the internet helps you find wonderful people that you otherwise might never have come across – and that’s what’s happened with Keri Jarvis, The Audacity Coach. Keri’s reclaiming ‘Who Does She Think She Is?!’ – err, yes please – and so we knew she’d be the PERFECT person to chat to about our new business shower templates. They’re all about setting up your own business, celebrating your decision to do so, and having the confidence to ask for what you need help with: things Keri is all about too.

Who are you and what do you do?

I’m Keri Jarvis and I’m The Audacity Coach, leading a reclamation of ‘Who Does She Think She Is?!’. I work mostly with women with young businesses, seeking to do some good in the world whilst carving out vibrant lives for themselves.

Audacity has 4 key facets for me…
– Acknowledge and ask for what you want
– Availability for abundance
– Appearance ambivalence
– Alliance with others

…and I believe that when more women embody these ideas, which go against everything they’ve been taught, the world will get better.

My style is a blend of coaching, mentoring and consulting, and I am informal AF. I’m a feminist, socialist, mother of 2, and a Northerner, living by the sea in Essex.

Tell us about the start of your business journey.

Well. Before all this, I was in store management with a major high street retailer- sprouts and knickers were my life. When my eldest son was born 8 years ago, we used hypnobirthing techniques, and this was the beginning of both my business, and my feminist adventures.

I decided not to go back to employment, and trained to teach hypnobirthing myself. The first incarnation of my business was called HypnoBirthdays (cringe), and involved me teaching people in their living rooms, then small groups in mine, and eventually hiring spaces.

By 2018, I’d opened a studio space, under the revised brand, Do It Like A Mother (much better, right?), and had begun mentoring other women through some of the mindset and marketing elements of their small businesses.

I sold Do It Like A Mother at the start of 2020, and after such a tricky year, it’s a fricking pleasure and a half to see it being reinvigorated by its new owner, at the start of a whole new journey for the business.

Keri, a pink-haired white woman, grins with an armful of books

What do you wish you’d known when you started out?

That the failures/ mistakes/ screw ups that feel monumental and all consuming at the time will usually form the funniest, and most affirming parts of your story in the end. The money, time and energy I’ve poured into projects and connections that have been fruitless are beyond measure (because I’ve blocked it out, haaaa). But, cliché though it is, I wouldn’t have the life and biz I have now without those experiences.

What’s the one physical thing you wish you’d had when you started out?

A decent printer (and a lifetime supply of ink and paper and clips)! Oh my gosh, I can’t tell you how many hours were spent stressing over paper jams, ink issues and the rest whilst I was teaching people in person. And I still love to print things off if there’s a lot to read – anything to get the screentime down a shade.

What’s the one thing you wished you’d asked for help with?

Whilst I don’t really do regrets, I wish I’d asked for more help to get my head around email marketing sooner. I have shed many tears over a major email marketing provider over the years, and resisted committing to emailing my community because every moment I spent on there reinforced my sense that I was incompetent! These days I have a different system, plenty of help from my business manager, Dawn, and I look forward to connecting with my audience in their inboxes.

Keri is leaning her legs against a wall, reading on her back, her head supported with a pile of books

Why are we scared to celebrate ourselves?

Heaven help a woman who deems herself worthy of praise or recognition! Woe betide her. Seriously – our entire lives we’ve been shown that being self deprecating is the way of a good woman. If we should become FULL OF OURSELVES… well, it’s a sin. But babes, what else would we be full of?! Know this- when you acknowledge your brilliance, you give other women permission to do the same. Normalise women loving themselves. “She
proper loves herself, and I like it.”

What’s your next business milestone coming up and how will you be celebrating?

Ooooo this is such a good question! I’m gonna say the survival of my business through the Panny D. Because of my company structure, I’ve not been entitled to any financial grants or furlough, etc. I had 2 residential retreats to cancel, countless episodes of anticipated work falling through because of other people’s businesses being impacted, not to mention 2 children at home for an eternity. But I am still here, gaining momentum again. I can’t help but feel this is a BIG FRICKING DEAL.

I am celebrating by integrating what I’ve learnt – that I don’t have to be BUSY with my business for it to be successful. I’m allowing myself much more space for rest, hobbies and community care.

Also, new journals. Loads of ‘em… And redecorating my hall, stairs and landing with pink paintwork- babes, I work ALL OVER THE HOUSE, so it’s basically an office upgrade. I’ve also put a disco ball up in my main workspace. And I’m gradually gifting myself an indoor jungle. Oh, and some more feminist books. And I got new photography done. Ok I am very good at this…

THANK you Keri – for your wisdom, of course, but also for the idea of putting a disco ball in our offices…If you’re similarly inspired to set up a business on your own terms, you can find a new business shower template inspired by Keri here. You can find out more about Keri here, and find her on instagram @keri_l_jarvis

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Patchwork Perspective

New Business Shower: Kimberley Williamson of Birkim Bags

by Ismay Ozga
written by Ismay Ozga

All new businesses start with a good idea – but what comes after that? To launch our brand new business shower templates (the perfect way to start and celebrate a new business, we think, though we are a bit biased) we’re doing a series of interviews with brilliant entrepeneurial women, finding out more about how their journeys began. You’ll have no doubt seen a Birkim Bag on your social media feed or, if you’ve been lucky enough, in a friend’s house in a fleeting visit in-between lockdown periods perhaps – and today we’re talking to the brilliant brain behind the cult ceramics, Kim Williamson, about how it began!

Who are you and what do you do?

I’m Kimberley Williamson, I’m a ceramicist and the founder of Birkim Bags. I design and make ceramics styled around plastic bags and tote bags. I occasionally throw in other bags to mix it up.

Tell us about the start of your business journey!

My business started as air dry products. I came up with my name and doodled my logo pretty early on. I would work out of a tiny space in our bedroom as it was the only place I had. It was a friend (shoutout to Nicola Fernandes) that saw my bags at home and asked where I got them. She very quickly told me to start a business with it. I’d flirted with several side hustles, waiting for a solid idea, so this felt like it was falling into place. I released in small batches so that it would work around my own schedule and other jobs that I had at the time.

What do you wish you’d known when you started out?

I wish I’d known more about the financial side of things. Stuff like getting a business account, what support is out there. Setting up the tax side of the business and keeping records of everything. I managed to get a BBL just before the deadlines thanks to the advice of a friend, I wouldn’t have had a clue otherwise.

What’s the one (physical) thing you wish you’d had when you started out?

A good worktop. My desk is great but the main thing I use as the studio I’m currently part of, is a huge wooden worktop. It’s great to have the space but also something that’s made well and supports the work I do. I still use the same basic materials that I used with air dry clay, that I do with my earthstone clay. A sewing needle, a cuticle pusher and a rubber tipped paint brush thing.

What’s the one thing you wished you’d asked for help with?

I could’ve asked for help earlier with production. It’s always hard to let someone into your world, especially when you’ve been doing it alone for a few years. It’s a huge trust factor and it can be really hard to find good help. Fortunately, I’ve a wonderful woman named TJ from our studio that is currently my personal hero. She just gets me, which makes it a million times easier. It blows my mind with how much easier it’s been and it’s only been a few shifts so far!

What’s helped you run a successful business? What’s hindered you?

I’ve been hugely supported with my business, especially from other businesses and it’s a big part of its success. The creative community is a wonderful world to be a part of as everyone tends to lift each other up and also offer advice. I try to pay it forward and help when other small businesses approach me.

I’m mainly hindered by myself. Whether it’s the inability to schedule myself properly, putting myself out there and getting slapped in the face by imposter syndrome. It’s a constant effort but totally rewarding, I just need to get out of my own way. I also need to get better at asking for help with the technical side of things, such as my website and merging my email systems.

What’s your next business milestone coming up and how will you be celebrating?

I’ve had a couple of things recently that have been great and I need to set aside time to celebrate and appreciate that they happened. One was being selected and exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy. I’ve also had some great collaborations happen which I need to take a moment with.

My next milestone that’s upcoming will be my first big business investment, my own kiln. It’s a big deal and I’m getting two for my new home studio that I’m setting up when we move in the next 6 weeks.

If you’d like to grab your own BirKim, then head to Kim’s website here. Make sure you’re following her on instagram @birkimbags too, where she updates her launch dates. And if you fancy making a new business shower patchwork, you can either start with our new ceramics business template especially inspired by Kim, one of our other templates – or create your own from scratch here!

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Patchwork Perspective

New Business Shower: Fiona Thomas’ new business journey

by Ismay Ozga
written by Ismay Ozga

To celebrate the launch of our brand new new business shower templates on Patchwork, we’ve asked some of our favourite women in business about what starting self-employment was like for them. First up in our series is the wonderful writer and podcaster Fiona Thomas! As the author of Out of Office: Ditch the 9-5 and Be Your Own Boss, which is a guide to side hustling and freelancing, she was the perfect person for us to ask: what was your new business journey like? And if you could do it over again, what would you want at the start of your new business journey now?

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Fiona Thomas and I’m a freelance writer. I’ve written two books, the most recent is called Out of Office: Ditch the 9-5 and Be Your Own Boss and it’s a guide to side hustling and getting into freelancing. I also host virtual workshops and courses to inspire people to follow their writerly dreams!

Tell us about the start of your business journey.

I fell into a career in catering management when I left university and over time, it just became too much to handle. I had a mental breakdown in my mid-twenties and knew that to manage the ongoing symptoms of depression and anxiety that I would need a job that supported my mental health. I didn’t really consider setting up as self-employed, but after starting a blog to talk about my mental health struggles it reignited a passion for writing, and I found that people were actively seeking me out to write for them on a freelance basis. It all took off from there really, and I gradually moved down to part-time in my waitressing job to make time for the paid work that was coming in. In 2018 I got my first book deal and made the leap into full-time freelancing and haven’t looked back since!

What do you wish you’d known when you started out?

I wish I’d known about the importance of scheduling in time to work on moving the business forward. I thought that freelancing was all about having every day filled with client work and that being ‘fully booked’ was a sign of success. But I did that for so long and realised I was stagnating, growth was impossible because I was only ever thinking a few days ahead, never thinking strategically about building my audience and attracting future clients. Now I have a better sense of how I want my business to look in a year or so and how I want to spend my time, and I have lots of ‘hands off’ days where I focus on planning and marketing and it’s been a real game-changer for me. It can feel scary to step away from paid work in the beginning but the longterm results have been great for me.

What’s the one physical thing you wish you’d had when you started out?

A podcasting mic and stand would have been great. It took me a while to figure out which one was right and I’ve gone through a few now to get the best one, but now that I have it my podcast content is really good quality and needs minimal editing which is such a time-saver! I have to say, a coffee machine would have been great too. Purely because I spent a lot of time swanning around coffee shops in the early days when I should have been working…

(If you also dream of a swanky coffee machine, we’ve got a template for one here…)

What’s the one thing you wish you’d asked for help with?

I think having a clearer strategy, in the beginning, would have helped, so having a business coach in the early days would have been amazing! It’s so hard to find the money to invest in your business when you’re struggling to get clients in the beginning, so having that guidance would have been incredibly valuable to me. More specifically, I think having some help with building my offerings and setting my rates would have had a huge impact on my income.

What’s helped you run a successful business? What’s held you back?

Social media has been a core part of my business success. Having the ability to connect with potential clients directly on Instagram is such a godsend, even if it can feel a bit overwhelming at times! Being able to work from the comfort of my own home and do all my work online is the thing that helps me manage my depression and anxiety symptoms, so having that flexibility means that I show up to work feeling my best which has been the key to business success for me. The thing that has held me back the most is probably my own insecurities! I go through terrible bouts of anxiety where I just compare myself to everyone else instead of focusing on my own stuff. Thankfully I’m getting better at it now, and having a close group of freelance pals has really helped with that.

Who are the people that helped you most in the early days?

People on the internet were my absolute saviours in the beginning. I got my first newspaper byeline thanks to a fellow blogger who tagged me on Twitter. Metro Online was a huge supporter of my mental health writing too, and my publisher Trigger believed in me from the get-go which was a massive seal of approval. Having people engage with my writing and want to publish it has been a big motivator for me because ultimately I want to share my writing with as many people as possible!

What’s your next business milestone and how will you be celebrating?

Such a good question!! I think learning to celebrate your business wins is so important and something that a lot of us avoid completely. I’m working on my next book at the moment, so I’m looking forward to celebrating if/when that gets picked up by a publisher and I can start the writing process. I’ve just moved house and finally have my own office, so I’m going to buy a new piece of art to congratulate myself!

Thank you so much Fiona for your wisdom! If you’ve been inspired to make a new business shower patchwork, you can see our template for freelance writers inspired by Fiona here – you can also find Fiona’s website here, and if you want to grab a copy of Out Of Office, you can get it from Bookshop.org here!

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