Today, my feed is awash with mums with school age kids celebrating the end of one school year, the start of the 6 week summer hols here in the UK.

The end of eras, the passage of time.

Growth - both personal and in height, depth of experience, feelings of relief.

Being heart achingly proud and grateful to class teachers, head teachers and TAs, caretakers and school cooks.

I’m 7 years into this cycle now.

We are watching children are finished nursery or primary school. Some impossibly tall and cool.

Emotional social media posts pour through remembering their four year olds starting reception during covid lockdown. I’ve been deep in empathy in those conversations - my youngest was born at the end of 2020.

Parents promenade and carry chocolates, flowers, big boxes of cakes.

Others peacock and talk of summers to be spent with young hip Grandmas or in faraway second homes with a nanny.

✨

Some of our babies are finishing their first year of reception or getting ready to transition into middle or high school. (we have both routes here in Northumberland.)

Some of the kids at my daughter’s school are moving on to go to Private schools. (Both options we have are a 45 minute drive away in either direction). This hadn’t happened before but teachers have taken redundancy, birth rates have declined so the school is shrinking although not in spirit just in numbers and budget.

The school has pretty much halved since my son started 7 years back.

✨

It feels like one of the biggest changes I’ve seen and felt… and the kids will feel it too although of course it will become their normal.

Meanwhile government projects waste millions in incompetent systems and embezzle thousands in ridiculous private projects with their Oxford University mates. Embarrassing.

We’ll celebrate like we always do and lean into a new summery normal for 6 weeks then gears will shift again.

I won’t miss the drive or the extra executive function needed to manage what’s needed for two schools, processing the emails and holding my breath with teacher/ friendship dynamics.

We’ve gotten through this year relatively unscathed.

My 11 year old son has had one physical fight provoked by the haircut slapping trend and two detentions. He’s forgotten cookery ingredients twice and he has grown a gorgeous friendship group. His friends sent class photos to my whatsapp (he doesn’t have a phone) - they all look so big like teenagers compared to him.

Maybe I’m not looking at him properly.

My 5 year old daughter has been reported to a teacher (by a parent) for exploring her curiosity around the topic of death. Ever inquisitive - all because after the why, why, whys - I told her the old lady next door to us died because she’d had all her birthdays.

Boundaries, worlds colliding, values clashing, brand new shiny private reg cars that look like space ships, lost, smashed and re-found water bottles. Sneaky holidays, hair cuts, new shoes, forgotten PE kits, endless admin, school lunch money, packed lunch mix ups and we’ve managed it all.

I will miss the routine in some ways.

I’ll definitely miss an extra set of caregiver being involved in my children’s lives. I could never home educate - I’m literally in awe of people who do.

Sometimes it blows my mind that parents do this juggle every single school holiday for 18 years.

Honestly, it’s one of the main reasons Dave and I have stayed self employed.

Without any family support it would be impossible to be employed and live rurally so we designed something else instead - the young ones call it a flex.

And of course it is…

Downtime maxxing, literally…

I started taking Fridays off work last summer - to catch up on stuff at home (cleaning, gardening, being).

I feel like I finally had a day for life admin, the gym, the spa, a date with my husband.

I sometimes feel sad on Fridays.

I should be happy to spend a day doing as I please (I know) - my mentor calls it sparkle time but sometimes all that happens is..

…everything sort of catches up with me and I get caught in a sort of inertia…

a feeling that lingers like a grey cloud and tries to force me to be productive…

I look at the clock, force myself to do more of the things or to sit still and read my book.

Then it’s time to go again…

If you stop, there’s a lot to process…

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It’s nearly time…

I’ll go again for the last time this term in 90 minutes so before I do I’m going to have a long shower with my favourite things, wash my hair, spritz some homemade essential oil, put on some warmer clothes (it’s freezing today) and have a couple of hours at the park with some mum friends to celebrate…

… another year of juggling kids who are young, vibrant and exploring a version of a world that includes 30 hours a week at school and a business that lets me be there for them in between times.

I feel like the luckiest mum in the world.

It was always supposed to look like this.

Here’s to the change of pace if you’re experiencing one too, may there be pockets of quiet, calm, delight and joy however you are spending your summer.

I’m going to steer my writing time to my book and take a break from being online.

I’ll be back mid September with more weekly emails about business, life and all that is in between in gratitude to you my audience and this wonderful tech we have right here and now in 2026.

The archive is always open,

Claire

♥️

P.S - one of my goals over summer is to print more pictures and set up more albums so I’ll have fun with that… if you missed my Digital Detox it’s free & open for another 3 weeks - all free. Making the analogue box is the most fun I’ve had when it comes to my phone use and bringing more conscious awareness to it. I’ve given my kids scrapbooks and my daughter’s is already half full. (It’s been a day) lol - Join us!?

Over £2k in income.

£2k is the freelance fee I used to get monthly in one of my freelance jobs that spanned the years before I had kids. It was a salary of £24k and I remember at the time thinking WOW that is so much money. (for a freelance arts job). Yes it was a long time ago but it’s the first time I’ve earnt ‘enough’ and I always remember it deep in my body.

Yes the cost of living has increased significantly.

Feeding a family of four is expensive but our bills other than those haven’t changed so much. We’ve always kept our mortgage low and plan to pay it off in the next 10 years. £2k just feels like a great baseline to start the month.

To be transparent - I haven’t ‘sold’ anything yet this month but recurring payments have come in and payment plans have cleared.

So what next…

Two things I’m selling, three things I’m investing in and two things I’m spending on in my business over Summer…

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Welcome if you’re new here. This is my regular set of reflections on running an online business from my little office with a view of the sea as a 44 year old mum of two. I’m an introvert who LOVES working online - it’s literally made all my dreams come true and I’m not stopping yet!

I’m a passionate multi-hyphenate and so running a creative online business felt like a natural next step after a career in festivals and events that burnt me out and left me cold, abandoned and questioning my life choices a fair few times…

If you missed my earlier update with income reflections, it’s here…

I like to hold the months as a whole and the quarters like chapters in a book. My 2026 goals haven’t shifted…

Working on…

• holding the vision

• embracing technology and change

• growth both personal, spiritual, emotional and with the ole numbers!

• my book!

My intention this year is serenity and self compassion which was definitely needed when I arrived a sweaty mess at my hotel in London only to discover I’d booked the wrong night…

Working online means you embrace change - A LOT. You master one thing and an algorithm changes. You get something working over there and it stops working over here - I feel like I’m in a period where NOTHING works for growth but yet my income still grows. (Go figure)… 1

This year I’ve focussed on the discomfort of visibility and the depth of connection. Online ‘life’ can tell you lies every other hour if you let it - you’re fine - you are bold enough, pretty enough, young enough, tech savvy enough to do this work - you’re absolutely smashing it - don’t let the internalised patriarchy or your sisterhood wounds get you down babe!

Turning over heavy stones…

I turned over a tonne of stones this quarter - interrogated why is this like this, why is that like that? This really helps you to get a handle on…

• which online products bring in the most money

• which funnels work

• what happens when you write like this, that, the other

• what ACTUALLY converts more paid members for …

• what SEO/ GEO works

You got to be in it to win it!

I brought in another SEO specialist because I’ve made myself geeky about SEO and GEO - I used to rank really high for Substack education and I’m like 8th on google now - no one is scrolling that far and I feel it - new leads from that direction have pretty much dried up.

I also set up a project in claude ai to interrogate the articles that were bringing new subs and re-employed my virtual assistant to joosh up all my SEO page descriptions. I know have two new degrees - one in Claude and one in SEO - go me! (Just kidding I don’t but I’ve spent HOURS, DAYS, WEEKS honing, understanding and shooting up those page impressions). My Substack brings 8 times more views than my website so I’ve tried to feed the tortoise and give him a chance… I’ll report back…

Membership Promo

I reported in the last update how my coupons were working and lots of you liked that so here’s another peak behind the scenes.

My running list of every trial, gift, and discount I have offered inside Sparkle on Substack is so helpful. It reads like a trigger I can pull if I think churn is high or I want new members in the mix… I look at the numbers each quarter and make myself a traffic light system to check that doing (paid) workshops is still worth it. 2

74 redemptions, across fourteen different offers.

• My 14 day free trial for new members has brought in nineteen people, more than any other offer - this one runs through my website funnel.

• My ninety day summer trial pulled in 13 new folks - this was offered to folks who didn’t get picked in the lottery for my signature course as a consolation ‘prize’.

• The best workshop conversion was with ’s gang - probably because they are all writers already writing here on Substack so they are keen to use the trial.

If you are building your own offers, you do not need ten clever ideas. You need one or two generous, honest ones, offered consistently in the right places.

The ones with zero are either bad fit workshops - i.e people don’t want to actually start Substacks or for podcasts that aren’t out yet. I’m continuing this approach all year. At the end of the year I’ll report on the number of people who stayed on the free trial although not everything in measured in conversion - it’s a joy to do this work and support creative women on their journey of self expression.

The elephant in the room

As a Substack educator, I find Substack Notes deeply triggering

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Join us for - I’d love to support your phone and screen free strategy for your most creative summer! It’s free to join us.

When I worked at a presenting house theatre in my 20s, we used to run a programme called ‘A Day in the Life’ where we would interview the visiting actors for our over 55’s engagement programme.

11am each Thursday, the auditorium would fill up with a buzz of folks catching up and then we’d roll out the actors and listen to them tell stories for an hour.

We had Nigel Havers a couple of times which was a particular highlight for my boss.

I thought I’d share what this week has looked like for me as an online business owner. I always find it interested reading other people’s routines….sometimes I find it wild that this life couldn’t have existed back then… it really helps me reframe with gratitude on the hard days.

Good Morning!

Every early morning is the same, come downstairs, make coffee, soak up some sun outside, write. Then I’ll check email and social notifications, get into some work if I have time before waking the kids.

I was invited to talk about my mornings with for her new podcast if you fancy listening. I have loved all the episodes so far especially and episodes.

I love the mornings so much - the quiet time, the blank page of possibility. When I get back from the school run, I usually hang out the laundry, make some late breakfast and then update my income. I’ve learnt keeping a daily eye on my numbers helps me better understand what my business is doing with recurring revenue (memberships & course payments) and what I need to do in terms of growing my audience and selling my lovely things…

Before the Work Begins

How To Hold Space For Yourself Without Burning Out With Claire Venus | Before the Works Begins Podcast

Substack expert and engagement consultant Claire Venus joins Jo Hutton for an honest conversation about burnout in creative spaces and her memories of morning routines, from paper rounds to walks by the beach. She shares the reality of moving from a city to the countryside and why travelling solo changed how she sees connection and community. From her c…

Listen now

3 months ago · 7 likes · 2 comments

A summery week in the life of an online business owner… that’s me!

Mon - two podcast interviews for incredible writers with new books out in the world - these will be posted right away on YouTube; Listen/ watch to my convos with Katie Clapham and Anna McNuff here. Most of the rest of the day was spent writing in the garden from the outdoor sofa then it was off to the park with my youngest for iced water and ice cream.

Tues - my Audience Alchemy ⚡️ day - I started a secret second membership - it’s SO nice. Inside we focus on how the long form SEO infused content feeds the shorter form ideas without burning out being everywhere. It’s closed at the moment but I might open for more participants after summer… My intention was to reward the participants who joined my course cohort of the same name, whilst understanding the community element of my website. Oh and have some colleagues to work with who I got to know on a deeper level. so grateful to you all for jumping into this vision with me. I LOVE working with you.

Wed - Substack Notes Engagement Thread for the Sparklers over at , Beautiful Digital Magazine course participants meet up - hot seats, Substack sorting, we pulled in our self portraiture this week and examined how that felt - I love being in circle with these creative women I’m so proud of the steps they are taking in self expression and invitation… After school there was time for the paddling pool and the slip n slide.

Thurs - I went to meet a friend I’d met here on Substack for lunch - she’s over from America and has picked a great week to visit. Of course she can’t understand why we don’t have air con here but we’re still wrapping our head round climate change swallowing down the guilt.

Later it was my Diamond Member meet up day - hot seat mentoring for female founders using Substack as part of their marketing and business ecosystem. Lots of chat of paid strategies and paywalls. Diamond membership is open if you want to join.

Fri - my day off - I’m off to meet a friend for coffee to discuss high school stuff and life then I’ll be in the garden or at the spa. I then need to get packed as on Saturday I’ll London bound for The Bright Agency annual picnic and a few days in the capital!! I also want to make sure things run smoothly for my husband so I’ll get on top of laundry, some meal prep and write everything down the kids are doing so I can unplug.

🌞✨

How’s your week been this week?

Hope you are staying cool.

Claire

This week I missed in concert as I was in London at the Bestsellers fête.1

It was a beautiful evening in a secret London garden with tall trees, home made cakes by incredibly talented bakers on the platform. There were delightful canapes, bbq treats, a tombolo, a book swap and a fabulous atmosphere - Substack really know how to plan and execute a relaxed but very special party.

I chatted to loads of lush people including , Brian Cox’s talent agent, , , , and her husband Paul. I chatted with colleagues and his partner and Absolute faves and and hung out with my real and online friends , , , and .

I also chatted to Substack staff I know and got some intel so I’ll share more in this week’s live. took the stage in a short moment to encourage us all to celebrate and it became SUCH a permission slip for us all to relax and treat this like the “office party” we all deserve.

is amazing at intros and introduced me to which was an absolute delight too - she’s such a graceful person - I can’t wait to get to know more about her comedy work and plans for Substack.

I would have said hello to because I love her work on so many levels but just didn’t get chance and I also thought she’ll have people she wants to speak to.

I’m sorry you didn’t get the invite but listen to the noise of wanting to be there - that’s a beacon for you.

I’ve noticed the day after the photos get shared, there’s a whiff of distaste from folks who didn’t get an invite on Substack Notes (our inbuilt twitter feed here).

I remember feeling SO inspired when I first saw pics of Substack get togethers back in 2022 - I was so excited about the platform and how it was moving. I didn’t feel jealous - I just thought wow it would be SO nice to be in the room - I’m so inspired by these writers.

For anyone who doesn’t know, there was a time I was ALWAYS in the room; first nights, wrap parties, festival launches - I went to so many (in my local city) that I started consciously opting out and going to the gym and cinema!

I also created my own rooms - loads of them - online rooms of free classes, the first Substack UK meet up , wrote the first Substack book to make all the education accessible and EASY to digest. I’ve hosted 100s of classes, encouraged attendees to share their urls in the chat, connect and collab with each other.

Lots of them have become friends - the type of friends you wait lifetimes to find. 💔

I shared this pic in the end because I didn’t want to add to the noise (and the disdain)2 plus I think it’s my favourite. and I just podcasted together if you fancy a listen as part of her series.

Social Media Blackout - Not in the room

Me and my friends downloaded the official photos excited to look back on the evening - we’re not in a single one of them. Who knows what the brief was but we were all in all of them last year so a different brief this year. I honestly would have to google most of the names because my life and work is so full of the people already there. I’m also terrible at recognising people from their avatars.

And that’s ok - things change, platforms change, people change, we all evolve. Celebrity photos bring clout - other celebrities, sophisticated thinkers, creative people want a part of that. The platform gets to reinvest in itself - we’ve seen it again and again. , and the gang want GOOD things for people who write on Substack. They care about grass roots AND sustainability - there are so many ways to nurture both and I think they get the balance right (most of the time.)

We took our own photos and had our own party within a party - it was SO great…

Make your own rules, throw your own party, beware the hungry ghosts 🎈

I spent well over £550 attending this party - a new outfit, London travel and accommodation, food etc. I don’t regret spending the money but I’m in the room because of the work I do and I already give Substack 10% of everything I earn to the tune of multiple thousands of pounds each year.

From the outside looking in you only ever see things through your own lens of often unhealed stuff. Even people who on paper ‘have it all’ talk about navigating jealously, comparison and turning in on themselves.

🦚 The parasocial is the deepest and most complex thing we have right now as humans to navigate. It makes people parade their egos like peacocks, show megalomaniac sides to themselves, fixate on the angle of a selfie and probably shrink into shame caves after it all?

The real work is always remembering and connecting to who is here showing up for you in their hundreds if not thousands.

It’s all SO beautiful, part of a rich human experience AND you get to unplug from it all.

You give people a chance to connect with you and they look over your shoulder at who else is in the room - you now know EXACTLY who they are - congratulations.

You make a party within a party, host your own, celebrate the beautiful creative things women are doing every damn day. Cheerlead them as they share their voices, continue to remember, heal, strategise and make bold congruent moves.

Oh and don’t turn into a megalomaniac - I doubt it’s a satisfying place to live. 🤣

It’s a WONDERFUL time to be at the online party and look you already pulled up a chair.

Claire

✨

P.S - More is not better, more is just more. Last 1-2-1 mentoring sessions of the year available here if you want to work with me on your Substack and Social Media Congruence or online business strategy this year. After these sessions, I’m booking into 2027. Hit reply if you want to chat.

For paid supporters - come on behind the scenes of my live programme launch for -

Your Beautiful Digital Magazine on Substack, The Live Build. Numbers, feelings, ideas - the whole thing.

I want to tell you about a Friday afternoon in June when I accidentally sold out my own course.

Not in a good way.

I was adding people to a bundle tag in Podia1; routine admin, the kind of thing you do on autopilot and without realising it, the tag was linked to the course. It triggered the enrolment cap. And just like that, mid-launch, anyone clicking my sales link was hitting a sold-out page.

I didn’t know straight away - I was at the park with my kids living my best chilled life chatting with my mum friends.

Which means for a window of time, real people who wanted to join were being turned away without me even knowing. In your mind you think people will reach out but they don’t tend do they just crack on with the next shiny thing…

When I found out, I was back home - my kids were noisy in the background, my husband was in the fridge asking about what I thought we should have for dinner - I wanted to close the laptop and start my weekend - pretend I have a 9-5, give up.

I was embarrassed - I genuinely considered just leaving it and calling it done. We had good numbers already - the community was gathering - I could feel it was going to be totally magical.

I told myself maybe this was the universe tidying things up and keeping me contained and safe. (There are a lot of internal thoughts inside of launches).

I fixed it, wrote a recovery email and left it, made a cuppa - let it go - I sent it out the next day after I’d slept on it - I still got my chilled Friday evening.

It’s all energy… ✨

I threw out old flowers and tidied all my vases with fresh peonies and allium from the garden, I tidied up, decluttered the house, did laundry, hung out with my family.

Then…

OVER 20 MORE people enrolled over the weekend and into Monday when the doors closed.

Even though I’d worked hard to unsubscribe from the negative voices - ‘why Q2 is slow, why your audience aren’t buying, online business isn’t what it used to be etc etc’ - I feel like it crept in and I made it all true a couple of times before I’d even finished my launch.

NOTE - unsubscribe to ALL negativity especially in a launch!

Like an angel singing to me and combing my hair to soothe my system, I could hear my mentor’s voice in my head - 2

Claire MOST people come in just before the doors close… don’t stop now…

The actual numbers, feelings, things I did to get there…

Keep reading if you’re a paid supporter - I share more intimately behind the paywall and will answer all and any questions you have…

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I hope you’ve had a great and sunny week.

I took myself on a little wander a couple of Fridays back - the sun was shining bright in the sky, the tourists were in town - it always looks so pretty, shimmery, possible.

It’s a complete contrast to winter here in Northumberland where everyone is treading carefully over cobbles to dash into coffee shops and around for errands.

I bought an iced coffee and a brand new vibrant blue bag from Oxfam.

I drank my coffee through a paper straw and posted on instagram about Substack myths. I took deep breaths in prep for the demands of half term and a heat wave ahead. ✨

Surprise has always delighted me.

I’m not one of those people that say they don’t like surprises - I love them - they totally delight my spirit. If I’ve started carrying too much weight of things they enchant me back into romanticizing my life. I also love planning surprises for others too. TOTALLY love it. I often bring ‘just because’ gifts when I meet up with friends or send or pick flowers for no reason.

Wonderland is a real place…

I’ve created a whole fairy wonderland for our five year old daughter in our front garden under a blossom tree - she writes letters and leaves them at the roots or hung in branches. The fairy (or fairies) leave her gifts, cards, letters, signs. She’s been waiting four months for her “bone to come true”. She found it on the beach and wanted to bring it home so we told her to plant it and wait to see what happened.

When she finished school for the holidays, I left a book (about fairies) I’d picked up for free and some new neon gymnastics gear.

After Easter it was a tiny tin with more chocolate eggs. We’ve also got a very generous tooth fairy who is excited about the next tooth because there’s a USD $1 and some glitter in a drawer.

My daughter of course is totally enchanted by all of this. She makes wishes and dreams in technicolour… she checks the tree often. I am the universe that surprises and delights her - I get to be that for her and I just think it’s the best, best thing.

Dance… and delight…

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When I met my friend to go see Lady Gaga in concert in Manchester last year, he presented me with a gift when we went out to dinner. It was a blind box - a Labubu.

We did the whole ‘film it for content’ thing - it was such a laugh. AND THEN another gift - a tiny lady gaga inspired outfit for her.

My little powder blue Labubu is attached to my bag (now my new blue bag)…

I love it! It reminds me of one of the best nights of my life, a friend who cares about me. It also reminds me that having fun isn’t just for everyone without responsibilities… is it ‘on brand’ - who knows but I’m here for it…

✨

A place to hold it all

Your inner child, teen and the parts of you who stay…

Life can get serious as you grow up. Gosh, it can be serious when you’re younger too.

I’ve always been connected to my inner child at different ages and my inner teen. I did some deep work with my first yoga teacher around this and found some parts that got lost along the way in place of fierce societal conditioning. The thing is about conditioning is everyone repeats what they’ve been taught - you get to be the one cocking your heat and saying Mmmm but running FAR away from any of the B.S - thanks to my pal who always inspires me to have more of these convos…

So yes surprise - it’s easy to access…

Wearing a fun outfit, buying myself an iced coffee and a new bag is something my inner teen would have LOVED.

I worked two jobs as a teenager so I did have money but I don’t remember feeling carefree around spending it EVER.1 Sure the sum total was £23 (this time) but the sentiment is the same. My teenage boyfriend had a full time job so gifts were always things I loved but never would have bought myself (remember the Paul Frank Brushed Cotton PJS circa 2000 - had a pair!)

Later in life, I made some choices to feel into what it would be like to re-enchant a new version of myself… when I bought a designer bag (by Vivienne Westwood) for £600 in my 30s I remember the feelings so well.

It wasn’t like I was going to start buying designer bags as markers of success (although no judgement if you love them).

It was a particular moment in my career I felt proud of and wanted to mark.

I remember, I wanted the cashier to be more excited about my investment but it was just a normal day for her - I remember she was quite edgy and cool. I wondered how much discount she got for her outfits. I used to get 50% when I worked in retail. I don’t have any of the things I bought back then.

This is the main thing that stops me impulse spending; you learn that you only love the things you love.

I was also curious about keeping it to pass onto my future kids - I like legacy pieces… it’s the storyteller in me.

I didn’t save the bag for best.

I took it to work every day.

I popped it in the front basket of my white and orange bike and rode along the Quayside to a tall office block where I worked on the 9th Floor.

I dumped it on desks, floors, kitchen tables, hooks. Then I stopped using it.

I got it out again last month and took it a few places with me. It felt great!

🎙️ Karaoke and songs for the soul

I went out for a friend’s birthday. I was struggling with crippling anxiety and bringing myself back to centre again and again throughout the day. I could have cancelled of course but I wanted to push myself. To be around celebrating people - bank holiday heat waves and the excitement of a long weekend.

The karaoke was ABSOLUTELY EPIC… I wasn’t drinking alcohol but we were up dancing and being impulsive backing dancers from song 3!

And it turns out my friend has an epic singing voice (and so did most people in the pub.) I was like how did that voice come out, where did it come from…

…it made me realise you don’t really hear people sing very often…

There’s a lot of miming on IG reels, funny dancing, there’s a lot of singing to ourselves in the car, in the shower but then get a few drinks into a bank holiday crowd and the bar is reduced to either tears of emotion with a big balad or sheer delight and dance.

The surprise really does unite us all.

I wonder if you’ve had nice surprises in your life recently? This month’s gratitude thread is open to all and it’s all about suprise and delight.

I can’t wait to hear from you in the comments below...

Claire

✨

P.S - here are two of the epic songs from the karaoke night…

“The AI revolution has begun, and I need to learn as much as I possibly can and share it with all of you. To be clear, no one is paying me to talk about this. I’m just a curious human. It’s so, so important that women are involved…and you can be sad and lament it all you want, but the change is here.”

Multi millionaire founder Reece Witherspoon speaking on the topic of AI across IG, glamour magazine & Fox News

Loves,

In less than three years, more than 1.2 billion people have used artificial intelligence (AI tools), a rate of adoption faster than the internet, the personal computer, or even the smartphone.1 I’ve been reflecting a lot on it, my own use of it inside my business and how it’s freed up time in my life and supported my relationships.

The shift of humans using ai (especially personalised chat bots) for support in their work (and life) is tangible. Should we spend our energy being worried?

No - I actually think we should spend it being savvy about how to protect and stabilise our creative businesses with us at the heart as the biggest asset.

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So you want to use ai? (It’s a great time to be an ai teacher!)

Unless you’re a straight A student…

Hands up if you are?

You’ll be like me, never feeling quite ‘good enough’, waiting to be chosen. Always on a quest to learn more, to know more, to seek more, to self improve, to create systems that help in both your work and life.

My mother in law used to say to my husband;

“There’s a want in you lad.”

It’s normal to seek to understand, to feel accomplished, to look for the peaceful stillness after the work is done. Human curiosity is part of the plan.

✨

BTS - When you’re a mother and a business owner, the work is never ‘done’.

I want to get the grease stains out of my daughter’s school uniform and make it pristine white again, my son’s grown out of his football boots. I want to go on a writing retreat with a friend but I need a minute to look at train tickets and times. Spring is here, summer soon and I’d love to grow seeds but I’m afraid I won’t be able to look after yet another thing. I’ll plant the tubers instead - 80% success rate. I want to overhaul my website it’s embarrassing - that’s too big a job I can’t and I don’t have the capacity to work with anyone who will ask me questions about it… I should be working on my book, the deadline is fast approaching.

🌳

AI Sycophancy and the echo chamber of narcissistic mirrors

I was talking to a friend who is a life coach the other day on voice notes and we were reflecting on how quickly the ai trust shift has taken hold.

We’re in a position where it’s unsaid but we KNOW our clients often prefer ai chat bots to human coaching. People have replaced google search with ChatGPT searches and then go to google to sense check. Google know this and are running to catch up.

As consultants, mentors and coaches, we hold up a mirror and there’s no closed loop to an uncomfortable feeling - with world events right now, we don’t have enough breathing space to be uncomfortable that’s the issue. Our entire nervous systems are running on red alert and have been for some time!2

Maybe it’s not all ai, because we’re on the edge of a global economic downturn. (I certainly felt the weight of paying over £1000 for oil and £700 to have our boiler fixed this month.).

Yet I still booked and paid for an INCREDIBLE coaching session with - the cost of living didn’t stop me moving my career forward.

I didn’t book her group programme though which was around the same cost I paid out for our home to be warm. But it wasn’t the cost it was because I have my own group programmes with people I called in and adore. As an introvert I have to mind my ‘performance’ energy.3

Don’t believe the hype… or maybe believe the hype but stay humble? Do we all just want to be seen and praised?

Human communication can be messy, uncomfortable - AI is trained to agree with you and not push back. If chat bots endlessly agree with you and inflate your ego, soothe your nervous systems through slick conclusions it’s tempting to stay there - there’s no off switch and you start to believe and embody everything ChatGPT tells you - I’ve seen it.

Or maybe they are just overwhelmed and will circle back… one thing’s for sure though things have changed at human fingertips and FAST!

👏🏻 AI and the impact on hands and hearts at work.

Our heating engineer hasn’t had a day off (including weekends) since Christmas. He’s worked 133 days in a row. He felt proud showing me his online calendar… I’m glad I didn’t reference retirement as I later found out he’s the same age as me!

My web designer friend’s work has tailed off - she tells me she finds it strange - we wonder if Claude’s producing the web pages now.

For the last two years, I’ve been booked out with 1-2-1s - this year just 3 or 4 bookings so far. My membership was growing at a rapid pace, now members trickle in. I’m not worried - my business is robust, but I’m tired of performing for a world that is internally itchy for people who won’t stay still…

Are we all standing on a podium over exposed hoping someone will give us 7 seconds minutes of their time….? 4

I didn’t get worse at my job, AI got better, way better and then maybe we all got way more insatiable in the quest to be soothed.

I know my work is good, great actually. I know I offer a perspective and lens no one else can.

So what’s really going on with business?

Here’s what I think and I’d love your take on it too…

1. General overwhelm/ nervous system overwhelm

2. Full trust/ outsourcing/ preference with ai bots

3. More people doing a similar things (I did pretty much have most of the monopoly on Substack Education for a while back in 2023/24) and my business BLEW up because of my ability to hold it all.

4. SEO has changed (and I made some MASSIVE tech mistakes with this when I set up meaning all of my product pages have not been showing up in searches)

5. Lots of people are at online consumption capacity and cannot take in any more info. We’re buying up Bricks, looking at balance phones or choosing to watch funny ai generated cats or dogs whilst scrolling past your sincere business content that took you an hour to create. (Sorry).

What about Art? Paul Black at and I discussed art generation through a lens of ai on this podcast.

Human Creativity Cannot and Will Not Die but….

💖 Here are some of the difficult things I’ve had to process as a space holder for human centric creativity…

Real people in my work told me…

1. “I gave this to ChatGPT and asked it to make me sound more like . She gets great engagement and it worked - I also have great engagement now.”

2. “ChatGPT has supported me with every area of my life from my relationship to my hormones to a whole new business launch plan - it knows me so inside out.”

3. “I have a project for every area of my life in ChatGPT - it knows everything about me.”

4. “I asked ChatGPT and it told me this about VAT and refunds on Substack - can you confirm it’s right?” (it was wrong)

5. “I used Substack Notes to grow x million subscribers” - blatantly written by a chat bot - shame on us for clicking the slop and believing (yet again) in the emperor’s new clothes!

I felt physically sick and shocked in these conversations - there’s no judgement but if you’ve not had any of these types of chats they are coming!! And here’s why I think it’s a GOOD thing this mess is all happening right now and we need to be part of the conversation especially as women..:5

• Humans have learnt ai quickly - it can save them time in their lives. And I should add - not all humans - in my circles the opinions are very much divided - my business owner pals all use it and rave about it publically. My writer friends wouldn’t be seen dead typing anything into gemini, claude or Chat GPT and often write condescending notes to remind us all to go back into our shame caves with it.

• The opinions are varied - there’s pro ai, there’s anti ai and then there’s neurodivergent shame in the middle - we’ve named it!6

• AI can never be art of ‘good’ human writing - I don’t think that needs saying but I’ve said it.

• We know tech, we know online, we know communications - this is all of that sped up.

• Slow living is a privilege - for me my ai (Claude ai) has built capacity - I have MORE time in my life - instead of toxic positivity working for ‘the man’, we have space to to slow down and have sophisticated thoughts, create with our hands, make loose leaf tea and sit and enjoy it in the garden, research financial future planning without being sold to - there’s JOY in the slowness and with analogue way more than there’s ever been?

So in a world of self compassion and kindness… (this one)

I’m sending some to you along with this pandora’s box article. 🤓 🎁 👀

I’m also sharing my Claude ai knowledge in this blog and reassuring myself and you that I’ve found AI builds more human capacity for creativity, for writing for art.

Maybe this is a capacity argument more than anything else?

We’ve had plenty of online dopamine rich toys to play with, this is just another one of those we handle with more care?

Where do you sit with it all? Do you have a chat bot you’ve humanised or are you steering clear of being sucked in? Are you curious about it and how it can help run your business or are you worried we are giving all of our power away?

I’d love to know - I’ll meet you in the comments and don’t worry I’ll always take care of your heart and your consciousness in all of the work I do. I’ll always write my own work but Claude can have all my maths and data processing work.7

Claire

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Members - our gratitude circle is open right here if you

would like to chime in?

When I was a kid I was obsessed with watching The Wizard of Oz.

There’s never been another movie that impacted me like it. We would create a ‘magic bubble’ with blankets on the sofa, pop in the VHS and press play. (I’d then discover it hadn’t been rewound so we’d do that, the VCR whirring away, wait patiently) and then settle back down.

We’d watch the whole movie from start to finish, I knew exactly what was going to happen next, what the characters were going to say. My body braced at the scary bits.

If we try and watch a family movie now (with my 5 and 11 year old), I try and create the same aesthetic feeling - phones away, snacks ready (so no one asks during the film), dog cuddled in under a blanket. I’ve never felt more ‘at home’ than I do when we’re all together on the sofa. My daughter is super high energy and I enjoy the stillness after the ‘work’ has been done.

My favourite scene in The Wizard of Oz is when Glinda first appears like a vision as Dorothy is just settling into munchkin land.

I also loved the part when Dorothy got into the hot air balloon to go home. There’s truly no place like home and when I younger and travelling, I would find ways to be ‘home’. inside my heart if I missed the feeling of it. Especially useful on delayed planes and trains.

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Like how totally magical?! 🎈

Have you ever been inside a hot air balloon? I haven’t.

Although when I was pregnant with my first child, my husband and I woke up in Italy to catch our flight home at sunrise and the sky was full of hot air balloons - it' was incredible. One of my many art imitating life moments.

Dorothy was a strong heroine in so many ways - a beautiful female role model for me as a kid and I’m sure helped influenced a lot of my adventures solo travelling as a young adult.

And of course our lives and this movie are made up of many many parts - I once saw the ruby slippers on display as part of a fashion exhibition - they were beautiful and a lot smaller than I thought they’d be.1

I wouldn’t say they were magical, the movie is bigger than the sum of it’s parts though - that’s the magic my love?

Space to dream

It occured to me whilst scrolling IG for hook ideas the other day that we are presented with an extraordinary amount of stuff from other people’s lives.

We can curate our feeds but ultimately if we fall into a scroll hole, the algorithm remembers and shows us more of that. It’s like falling down a rabbit hole into the witches castle when you meant to stay in munchkin land.

Actually I think it’s the vortex of spiritual warfare to forget what we’re here to do. (no judgement but we’re smarter than this - we operate on so many levels).

But here’s the thing about opposites… you can’t hold both…

This is why I love yoga nidra so much - is one of my favourite teachers and she has many yoga nidra meditations here. It gives me so much insight and helps me remember…

Opposites teach me so much…

… as do contrasts…

I guess once of the things I love to do as a space holder is remind you of your potential, get you truly connected to what you’re here to do.

We are all mirrors for each other’s potential…

…reflecting back the essence by noticing and being kind, saying the things we feel and think - helping each other come back to centre.

If you are feeling a little untethered and missed our visioning session at the start of the year, it’s below…you can use it for the start of your new chapter this Spring/ Summer?

I can’t wait to tell you more about what has come to fruition through the intention setting work I did in this class - maybe next week?

I also wanted to share another workshop on storytelling and our origin story which prompted this post and me telling you about my passionate obsession with all things OZ.2

It’s called ‘Your Origin Story is your Superpower’ and it was delivered by for my members yesterday

You can watch it below if you’d like - I think you’ll adore the writing prompts and unlocking new parts of YOUR story.

With love for the next chapter of our story and huge thanks to my friend who inspired this post.

Let’s lean into whatever helps us remember our unique magic!?

Claire

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🌪️ 🌈 🐶 🧙‍♂️ 👠 🏠 🦁 💫

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“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” - Melody Beattie

Hi loves,

As you know I’ve added in a monthly participatory element to my community here for 2026 which is around the themes of gratitude and abundance.

I’ve had this practise since I started my company and it’s been so beautiful to lean into bo…

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Happy Friday!

As you probably know I share more about the behind the scenes of my creative online business as part of my Self Seed your Business and Grow section here. I’ve built quite the archive. One of the mottos I work and live by is to ‘create the things you wish existed’

When I was trying to build a business away from freelance work (in 2017), I couldn’t find anything like this. Sure there was the odd female founder who would speak about a £10k launch but there was no nuts and bolts of ‘the how’, the behind the scenes, the hard bits. I felt like I was learning through frosted glass.

I’ve been self employed since 2008, started my company in 2017 (when my husband bought me the domain name), started an IG account at the same time…

Oh and actually started making things happen in it as a business in 2020!

The timeline between 2020 to now was fast, multilayered and magical.

And so here we are… I like the concept of self seeding our business because every action we take impacts. Even if you can’t see what’s going on below the surface;

• the way we feel about ourselves inside business (the soil)

• the way we feel about doing business (the seeds/ growth)

• the way we understand our online audience/ customers who support our business (the weather)

I’ve written on visibility, growth, money and self development (for paid subs) as it’s more personal (behind the paywall).

In a nutshell, January felt kinda slow but was my biggest income month this quarter, Feb was a bit of an ‘in between month’ and March was MAD for visibility.

Here’s the breakdown of how it all panned out.

I’m an open book so do ask questions if you have any - it also makes me feel less weird about writing this stuff online. 🥰

January - April 2026.

Visibility

I’ve consciously diversified my online visibility away from Substack and into other spaces. I did this for three reasons…

• because I wasn’t seeing the results I wanted on Substack

• I didn’t want to exhaust my audience

• I wanted to test my funnel for beginners and the impact.

I was ready to get back out there into other spaces where I feel more awkward (hello linkedin and trial reels) and alchemise the experience.

• I was photographed with my family for The Sunday Times. The headline made me feel SO over exposed but I’m doing it as a practise and nervous system exercise ahead of promoting my book next year. I didn’t read the online comments.

• I was also in the ipaper talking about being a beta mum (i.e not an alpha ‘pinterest mum’ )- although I do still love crafts lol.

• Both of these opportunities came from this facebook group.

• I’ve been chatting to someone who’s podcast I love on IG and she bought my Substack book and tagged me - over 50 followers arrived overnight thanks to her tag - it’s so beautiful to see reciprocity in action - I’m a huge fan! I think you can start to feel like the online space is a bit clique with everyone either obsessed with their own ego, what best serves them or how they want to be seen so it’s always a delight when people play by different rules.

• I was on two of my DREAM podcasts. I pitched for both of them. You can listen here and here. has nearly 300k instagram followers and she added a tag to my account so it was great to see the impact of that and how many people commented using the many chat function for the link (100+)!

Growth

January saw the launch of my brand new live programme Audience Alchemy which was WONDERFUL. I also co-hosted a month long challenge around joyful growth on Substack.

• The main growth (in audience numbers for my email list) came via two challenges, a summit I took part in and through my instagram network. My IG was up over 300 followers which is alot for me with many checking out my free class and getting onto my list. I also had LOVELY chats in the dms with great fit clients, some of who signed with me or booked me for their pods/ communities.

• I also worked on trial reels and got my views up from 40k a month to 250k a month which felt like a fun way to get infront of new audiences - it feels like a slot machine over there so I play in fits and starts.

• Because I promote freebies (free classes) a lot on Substack Notes, I noticed people would sign up without liking the post… the format for best success on clicks on external links is; storytelling, social proof, link in the comments below.

• I’ve also noticed people are trending towards being less generous on Substack Notes and way more self promotional. Cultures change and shift all the time but I think this is more of a collective nervous system (a fight for survival)? I actually find endless self promo posts quite boring but maybe that’s something I need to understand more of because it must work lol?

• In terms of customers - people seem more cautious to invest and buy at the moment - the price and promises impact but testimonials and case studies plus people building trust is the alchemy we all need. Video builds trust faster than anything else…low ticket is easier than higher… 1

• I also held a fair few sessions for my free 12 Chapters (writing) Club which has over 500 sign ups this year (I promoted this heavily in between Christmas and the first week of Jan)

Top takeaway - they might not remember your name but people don’t forget how you made them feel.

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Income, Money and Self Development

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It’s a bit of a personal one today. But first, some science…

Needing to be liked is wired into our survival system
Humans evolved in groups. Being accepted meant safety, food, and protection. Rejection, historically, could mean danger and our brain still carries that wiring today.

Your brain rewards social approval
When someone likes, praises, or accepts you, your brain releases chemicals like dopamine (reward) and oxytocin (connection).
It literally feels good to be liked because your brain treats it as a win.

Rejection activates pain centres
Studies show social rejection lights up similar brain areas as physical pain.
That’s why being ignored, criticised, or excluded can feel viscerally uncomfortable, not just “in your head.”

Belonging is a core psychological need
In psychology (especially attachment theory), humans have a deep need for connection and belonging just like food, rest, and safety.

A few years back I taught a class called ‘The Reframe’ which was about stepping into holding yourself in a new frame to do the work you’re called to do online. I talked about some of the hard things that had happened online and where they landed in me back then - I knew more was coming but I held myself and a group of women in it anyway.

You might have read this sentiment before;

What strangers think of you online is none of your business.

I’ve made the Reframe class free for everyone here as I’m going to teach an updated one soon.

The biggest compliment I’ve had from people I met online who are now friends is;

“Wow, you’re exactly the same in person.”

Because apparently not everyone is.

But here’s the other thing…

This evolved version of me has outgrown friendships, had deeply unsettling experiences. One in particular still makes me shudder when someone I considered a friend close by stalked my socials and then shouted at me in on my own street. I’ve had friends follow, unfollow and re-follow me on instagram.

I get it - I feel like I get whiplash myself from trying to understand incongruent or peacock-ish behavior online but we all need to do what helps us feel safe… but we must always be kind.

This week I was in the ipaper, talking about being a Beta Mum (rather than an Alpha) and a lovely mum from school who I don’t know very well send me a lovely text - how thoughtful is that… we had a nice chat after.

Judgment Detox

I’ve listened while friends have slated someone they’ve never met because of them being ‘too much’ or posing with their kids or taking up too much space online. Not being a horrible person or a sleazy pyramid scales or NLP charlaton just shining their light.

Not everyone presses the like button

I’ve posted to social media and whilst on there seen my own friends ‘like’ other friends posts - friends they met through me thought - Oh god they never like mine, should I text them, ask how they are, apologise for my muchness?

I’ve chatted with colleagues with big online profiles and understand their personal brand. We’ve talked about the vulnerability of what works and what doesn’t… staying congruent and authentic.

Take up space, but not too much, be vulnerable… but not like that.

Share but process it first, be relatable, be human, capture attention, curiosity, move into the frame but make sure you do it within the first 1.5 seconds….

Sometimes I worry I’m not relatable at all, that it was easier when I had less eyes on what I’m doing - then a testimonial drops and someone tells me I’m full of grace and they have learnt so much from me.

I don’t want to ‘harden’ myself but I have learnt to move through the triggers more quickly because being triggers keep me small and stop me showing up…

I’ve talked in depth about where rejection lands in the past and even published a whole anthology about it, it’s a tricky topic but healing is possible.

💫

How about you?

Have you started to find it easier to show up online, to share your beautiful work?

Here’s what my colleagues had to say on the topic of being perceived and seen…

Light, Dark, People pleasing and Blind Spots

I don’t have all the answers but I know my work isn’t supposed to make others shrink or feel bad, quite the opposite actually.

How do we keep doing the work to support a generation of women who feels safe to be seen, misunderstood and judged as we burn the scraps left over from internalised patriarchy and rise HIGH from those damaging ashes?

If my presence online makes people (especially those who knew me before) uncomfortable, I can be sad about that (and often am)

…but then it’s time to move on, stand tall and continue doing what I came here to do because it’s worthwhile and I’m super proud of running the business I run.

As we head into Quarter Two, I have some new plans for visibility I’m excited to try - I’ll share them with you of course. If you’re inside we’ve got our goal setting class coming up.

I’ll leave you with this thought - “Your new life will cost you your old one…” - I’ve found much comfort in that.

Claire

P.S - Mentors, authors, voices who support you with personal brand and personal separation from your perceived internet self…

• Lucy Werner - jump in her membership ‘Hype Yourself’.

• Tamu Thomas - listen to her private podcast or buy her book.

• Lauren Currie - read her book Upfront.

• Kat River - follow her IG stories

• Leonie Dawson - jump in her annual membership ‘The Academy’ with me?

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You can join Leonie Dawson’s academy with me. A few of us are taking her new programme ‘Million Dollar Memberships’ together so you’d be welcome to join our chat group on telegram. If you buy an all access pass for £70/ $99 you can access for a whole year and get access to a tonne of other helpful courses too. 1

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Happy Sunday. I am SO beyond delighted that (fake) Spring has Sprung - we’ve been outside all day for like 2.5 days - BEAUTIFUL.

I wanted to write today on mentorship because when interviewed me for her podcast she asked me a question I’ve never been asked before;

Have you always had a mentor?

This is honestly one of the reasons I like podcasts as they remind me of things, of stories or pieces of my own inner world.

So to answer the question. Yes! Since being 17 I’ve always had a mentor - I counted and there have been 13 of them…

In name;

Jill, Dezrie, Maddie, Steve, Jo, Jude, Rachel, Sara, Sarah, Mya, Leonie, Denise, Jamie.

Some of these names are people I had mentor relationships with, spent time with, had structured meetings with. Others are people I bought into programmes with and stayed obsessed with. In 2026, there is SO much beautiful mentoring available in so many unique ways.1

Mentoring is such a beautiful exchange of energy - from my experience one of it’s main jobs is to increase self belief and that’s why I’ve stayed in mentor roles for over 25 years - who wouldn’t want to be that catalyst for someone else? It’s just GORGEOUS work and I must have mentored 1000+ people now - wild.

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When I was working in the cultural sector (in festivals and events) pre 2020, I noticed a pattern in some of the ‘more experienced’ women I asked advice of.

They had embodied the belief there was a ceiling of opportunity, things should be done a certain was. I don’t know where it’s because I’m a millennial and I was looking to Gen-X women or because I was called to a different path BUT I never believed it!

There is NOT a sealed envelope with a letter about your future written inside it - people with self limiting beliefs do not get to determine who you are and how you evolve. Write that letter yourself love!? 💖

Reminder - ANYTHING is possible especially with the healing and tech we have available in 2026.

I always had a thirst for MORE and working in a different creative system. To understand the system you are stuck within you only have to listen to the subtly (and sometimes not so) embodied patriarchy in women.2 I was also DOG tired of the feast and famine fundraising cycle and planning my life around whether I could write a good enough funding bid3

Which is why I sought out in the pandemic as a new mentor. Leonie does things completely on her terms and has made millions doing so. Learning from her blew my mind.

There was something so beautiful about the timing; the world was quieter, birds were louder, I was growing my daughter in my womb - everything felt possible and impossible all at once.

I remember being in one online class and she was talking about taking out a plain piece of paper and figuring things out. Sounds so simple doesn’t it.4

And we do look to teachers, to mentors, to coaches for answers but a GREAT space holder will always leave room for you to unearth the answer. It’s often about remembering what we’re here to do and nervous system work. Being brave you know?

I remember buying Leonie’s online course ‘Money, manifesting and multiple streams of income’ (the first online course I ever bought after hovering over SO many for SOOOOOOO LONG) and it felt stretchy to trust someone I’d never met but I also felt an instant connect and my illustrator friend was doing it too so we went all in.5

Working with Leonie was SUCH a permission slip to dream bigger, to get expansive, to see the opportunities that were already in front of me.

Infact, one of the reasons I started writing here on Substack was because Leonie had opened me up to thinking about being paid in new ways. When I was called to start a membership here, Leonie’s voice was in the back of my brain telling me; You’ll figure it out.

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Maybe it’s your time now? If you feel a bit funny in your tummy reading this then it definitely is!!

In just a few days Leonie is teaching on how to create (and keep) a membership. I remember a colleague telling me memberships were dead and me thinking;

how interesting of you to see the world this way.

She earned three times what I earn, had a team of 11 and embodied wealth the old way - I moved on.

For me the opposite is true - my membership and community is very much ALIVE and a beautiful piece of the business I run.

In 2026, I believe this is one of the most secure elements within a creative business and you can get access by joining the academy (Leonie’s membership) for just USD $99 for an entire year. 6

If you want to hear more I’m going LIVE on Substack with Leonie to talk about this new programme. You can join us here.7

I can’t recommend Leonie enough and have been in the academy myself for five years now. I’ve also been part of ‘grow mastermind’ and taken almost every course inside there. I got good at business by being encouraged that we can ALWAYS figure it out.

If you have a creative brain there is literally nothing in your way but yourself. Foundational work is important both for the energetics and for that day where you open the envelope to your future self.

Cleanse your essence of the old voices that don’t belong. Let’s get clear, determined and creative and build something really special together! Always here for your questions. I hope you can come hear us chat live about it - it will be hilarious and soulful and a really special chat.

Claire

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I’ve been thinking on possibility.

My intention for this year for my business is expansion (in nervous system safe ways).

For expansion, I’ve realised you need to better understand possibility…

Being a parent is great for this because we naturally have conversations most days about what’s possible in life.

My son wants to work with animals - he weaves in and out of talking about moving to Africa. He’s done this since he was very small. I can see that’s the path for him so I actively encourage it.

When I knew I wanted to work in ‘the arts’ lots of people told me it’s not about ‘what’ you know it’s about ‘who’. I must have heard that tens of times before I was 15.

When you’re making decisions about GCSEs (topics) and other pathways in a school system you really only have the choices put in front of you.

What if it’s not about that at all?

I often tell my son most of the work I’ve done in my life didn’t exist when I was 15.

The organisations didn’t exist or they didn’t have the departments I worked in. I’ve encouraged him that in the entrepreneurial space anything is possible.

That’s what’s different now. The internet has changed EVERYTHING.

It’s not about what or who you know anymore although of course doors can be opened and nepotism is rife in the entertainment industry.

What if it’s now more about how you are known.

It’s about what’s memorable in you.

Journal Prompts

• What is it that you want to be known for?

• What is one tiny tweak you can make online to support this vision?

• If your best friend/ biggest cheerleader was celebrating the work you do in a room with people who could change your life, what would they say?

• What happens next?

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We are the architects of our stories but we have to make aligned moves. We have to pay conscious attention to our language. We have to fill our lives with people who know it’s possible… we have to change the vibration.

My husband’s dream as a kid was to be a stuntman for film. He’s not a stunt man, he’s a therapist and holistic healing coach.

My guess is people told him “that’s nice” but didn’t open up the channel of expansion and possibility. That he practised the physical side but didn’t get an anchor into the practical side. I would argue his military background showed him his childhood visions but in a new way. When we first met, he was always climbing walls and things while I held my breath and our baby in my womb.

Write your own name badge.

Before I founded my company, I knew what it was called and I would write it on my name badges for events. I would talk about what I did as part of the work and as part of it try and piece together what it would look like in the future.

I’m writing this in real time and my five year old daughter has woken up and is singing whilst drawing and colouring a big pink fish. It’s a happy song - she’s storytelling.

She found a huge bone on the beach last weekend and brought it home. She said she wanted to wish for a cuddly fish to appear magically in its place.

I looked for one briefly in London for her but I didn’t find one.

The search continues. She might forget but if she doesn’t - you bet I’m manifesting/ buying her a bright pink cuddly fish, leaving it on the doorstep and burying the bone under dahlia tubers in the back garden!

If you see one, let me know?

Claire

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I thought about writing to you and then the moment passed.

I was up to my eyes in nappies, baby led weaning and post covid chaos all in the same year.

Sometimes I’d feel the labyrinth of my days in energy - some rooms would glow red hot from how much time I’d spent moving around them, others were stone cold.

I wondered how you were often.

I started working with a new team member who lives where you live. I think I messaged to tell you or maybe I just told her - I forget. She has purple and bright pink feathers woven into her hair. I heard my Grandad’s voice in my ears;

“What will they think of next?”

I loved the creative expression of it and the thought of someone doing something with my hair other than washing or cutting it.

The Death of Bad Omens

Last summer, I found myself in London thinking about that ridiculous weekend we had in our late 20s/ early 30s? there.

It felt like we were co-creating with time and space, everything was so funny and cute.

It was also SO vibrant, like we were players in the great game of life and winning.

I could almost laugh just as much thinking back as I did back then.

Things are more ‘serious’ now.

There are crows that nest and fly high in the Yew trees aligned with my view from the gym. An old church yard; still just as noisy and ridiculous.

On the crosstrainer, I remind myself to laugh because it turns out the invitation is always there. (and people are quite serious at the gym)

Smiles get buried in laundry and holding things. I held less all those years back but I also wanted desperately to hold more. It was a paradox.

When people tell me they are consciously child free I can’t connect to it.

I knew from being a little girl I wanted to have children; two of them; I could see my future in the daydreams.

An older boy and a younger girl. This is now my life. I’m beyond grateful.

They are wonderful.

I didn’t know what would happen after they were here but I know I’ve learnt more about myself, self compassion and generosity than I have of martyrdom.

I’ve also learnt more than I’m comfortable with about the real passage of time.

A moment in a mundane school run infused morning and I noticed an eight minute voice note from you on whatsapp.

That’s nice I thought.

And it was.

I listened twice before I replied.

It turns out you’d met someone that morning (in real life) over juice and coffee who knew of a different version of me - the online version; the one who teaches people about voice and audience and Substack.

Parasocial meets the past and there was sparkle in-between.

That’s how you knew.

It was soothing and special and wildly strange.

I love that you chose it as a moment.

Life, milestones, space and time separates us.

Then we choose how to spend the present moment and everything slots back into place.

It’s familiar and life affirming.

I wonder if I’ll ever visit.

It feels strange to think about leaving the kids…

but then

…maybe there’s a day when it won’t.

Probably when they are older.

Or maybe we can all go and live like wildlings and digital nomads for a bit.

The flight feels impossible - 22 hours but then maybe that’s my resilience piping up and I actually need to speak more with my sense of adventure.

I can imagine the flight screens in my head - choosing myself and the adventures, sitting on the plane and being served drinks and tiny pots of food.

For now I weave thoughts of the possible with the impossible just for fun.

I smile at the vortex of time and the possibility of laughing about nothing for hours.

Freedom from this life for a while.

Faces on a screen

I taught a class online and there were 14 people all from different parts of Europe.

I don’t know if I did a good enough job of convincing them they all had something to say. You can’t really tell online. It’s odd. That’s what I miss the most about working in person. Vibrance and heartbeats. Eye contact and empathy.

Afterwards, I reflected on my own story of arriving online - what made me want to write and be perceived all those years ago?

• How did I pick up the permission?

• Why did I think it was important to take up space?

• How did I get over imposter syndrome? (any day now)

There was a reality at the start of my career and for LONG years afterwards where I felt utterly stifled by glass ceilings I didn’t invent.

Too young to have anything of my own, not educated or important enough…

Maybe all three were true maybe not - maybe other women projected their insecurities on me. I feel that as I re-write the neural pathways over and over again.

The next day.

I found this;

“What’s the best that could happen?”

scribbled in an old journal in pink pen and underlined.

I’d written it once with an exclamation mark and once with a question mark.

It waded right through my hazy cotton wool infused memory like a circuit board lighting up inside my heart.

I’ll know what to say next time someone asks for some advice to live and write by.

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Thank you to , , , , for hosting another International Women’s Day Call Out with me.

There’s still time to join in - we are publishing all weekend. If you tag us in your post or in Substack Notes we’ll share yours with our audiences too.

As you know the focus of my writing and community here this year is abundance and gratitude for the life I’m in.

I’ve had this practise a long time but going deeper with it has taught me that life will present things I should want and have me untangle that. It’s not all consumption and capitalism but that is probably the noisiest part of modern life?

A female comedian I admire popped up on my IG explore page talking about having a facelift. She’s two years younger than me. She looks great but I would have thought she looked great before the surgery anyway.

When I was in my early twenties two people close to me told me I needed botox.

“Just a bit around your eyes.”

I embodied it and believed it and sometimes look at myself knowing what society really wants of me as my face slowly disappears into irrelevance.

Our obsession with smoothing lines isn’t a new thing - society has wanted to smooth out lines to make us more palatable for a long time. There’s a darker side about being obsessed with youth but I’m not writing on that today.

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What about what I want though?

I want to go live online in service to my community without thinking about filters. I want to be fit and strong without being taunted by the lure of easy fixes and weight loss jabs.

I want my children to see me smile, a real smile - not be consumed for the rest of the life I have left about lines and aging.

Yesterday one of my trial reels on Instagram went viral.

A man waded in and commented on my appearance and perceived insecurity. The paradox is shown to us day in day out. It’s in everything. We can’t move without the shadows but we can choose to hold our faces towards the sun produly.

It is my hope those type of men would have died out before my daughter stood on her podium to speak but given current world events I’m not so sure.

In being brave, in feeling the guttural need to self express AND to circle, I know this; we are the first women in our bloodline to have access to these beautiful tools. To have power in our voices and feel compelled to share them globally. I refuse to waste that privilege worrying about what I look like.

I’d also love for it not to feel like a struggle - more a softening… so I’m leaning in…

Like tears accidentally breaking through when you’re completely immersed in empathy witnessing someone or something poignant and beautiful.

In grief we find more love than we’ve ever known possible - we all know that to be true.

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As soon as it ended I wanted to re-watch it again but for the first time. It’s creator is here.

Do you ever feel like that? Life passes us by unless we pause and deeply experience the moment we’re in.

Paid readers, our gratitude circle for February is open for you here.

Claire

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P.S - want to join us behind the paywall? Here’s some more information on what this space holds and why I set it up…

https://creativelyconscious.substack.com/p/our-year-of-abundance-free-creativity

It’s been a while since I wrote about business stuff. It’s all done with heart to inspire you and act as a log for me to celebrate myself too. You can read past articles here at Self Seed your Business and Grow.

2024 was a MEGA year in my business. I hit over £100k in revenue and sorted out so many systems and ways I wanted to grow sustainably.

In 2025, I didn’t set any mad goals about being a millionaire, I just wanted to feel safe in holding the income level and re-investing back in the things I needed to do that. I have nine income streams into my business which might sound a lot but two of them are very light touch.

There’s so much nuance in the way we run our businesses, so much unseen. I write these posts because they are the thing I wish existed when I started building. I wanted to find examples from women who were building without the security of other family income in new creative ways that spoke to me.

Now I have to have those conversations with myself.

Here are 6 ways I added an extra £30k into my business last year

1. Valuing my time more. All the time inside my business needs to help the cogs turn AND build more evergreen income. In 2024, I got really close to burning out and so I worked with a mentor to unpick and understand what was going on there in 2025.

2. Turning programmes off and on - I found having everything turned on all the time so tiring. I wanted space in between launches so I turned off certain things like my 1-2-1 consults and my Diamond Membership at periodically. Scarcity mindset and cashflow are interesting elements to play with together when you’re used to being able to invoice monthly!

3. Tuning out the noise of others - if a person shouting online about how easy it all was didn’t align with my values I muted/ blocked them and re-curated my feed. It’s so important to surround yourself with positive examples and retrain your brain and your subconscious that everything is possible. Looking for examples where you see yourself reflected back, scratch the surface with colleagues - our brains play huge tricks on us when it comes to us understanding ease and privilege.

4. I got granular about the numbers. I used to resent paying £44 a month for xero now I use it like a finance manager. I have monthly money dates with my business; look at my profit and loss and my balance sheet. Everything I offer is coded so I can see which elements bring in the most income.

5. I pushed more of the levers that worked without my input. Affiliate income was a big one for me in 2025, bringing over £3000 into my business with very little effort on my part.1

6. I said yes to guest teaching - I love guest teaching - in memberships, on other people’s courses - it’s such a nice thing for me because the host holds it. I didn’t have this as an income stream in 2023/4 because most of the pop up classes I did, I did for free. I’m going to add more in the comments about this…

I hope that’s an interesting read for you today and gives you insight into the possibility of running a business with multiple income streams or even a little side hustle?

I always love to hear from you so let me know if it sparks ideas or you have questions?

Claire

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P.S - you are SO welcome to join us as a paid subscriber here if you want to dive deeper into my back catalogue of four years of weekly posts on running my business, behind the scenes and join us for our abundance and gratitude circle. Here’s some more info…

This is our thread for Abundance Practise thread for February - noticing the ground beneath our feet…

As the days start to creep into feeling more open to light, as the shoots rise from the ground, more feels possible than it perhaps did before…

Could hibernation be over? My Spring time practise feels more possible and I have to find paper to spi…

Read more

But my legs are tired…

I know your legs are tired, although we’ve only walked a few steps…but love;

If I’m honest… really really honest;

My heart is tired from fighting my bosses to get paid for you.

My tummy is empty from making your portions big enough for you.

My head is dizzy from all of this days I’ve stared at the computer screen for you.

My eyes are tired from crying real tears and swallowing my pride for you.

My spirit is tired because despite it all, it suits people to continue to reflect their fears on me.

If I bend down to pick you up and carry you, could I ask you to hold all of that for me?

Just for a moment?

If you will, if you could, it would mean the world and just for now we can both feel free!

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I’m doing some research into my new book and I came across this old blog I’d written when my son was two. I’m putting it here because reading it reminded me of the feelings I had then, the difficult and beautiful.

It reminded me of waiting to be paid and being frightened I wouldn’t be able to afford bills/ to eat and it made me grateful of the work I’ve done to feel safe and really far away from that way of living.

I hope it’s a balm for you today and abundance finds its way to you in the most unusal of ways.

Claire

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