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    Soft, quiet & powerful (or, How to be Underestimated, always)

    March 9, 2018March 9, 2018

    As a woman in business I am continually underestimated. Actually, scratch that – as a woman on Earth I am continually underestimated, just like the rest of my sex – it’s just that running a kickass business that has made it so glaringly apparent to me. People from the more conventional world of financial success

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  • Podcast

    Podcast 13: On really, actually trying, with Sarah Von Bargen

    April 26, 2017June 1, 2017

    Sarah’s Blog | Twitter | Instagram |Pinterest | Facebook “Anything that has ever changed your life – that person had to stop being afraid of self promotion. They had to pitch the book agent, they had to write promotional tweets, they had to work with a PR agency and talk themselves up. That’s the reality of putting

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  • Podcast

    Podcast 10: Managing self doubt, with Sas Petherick

    April 5, 2017January 20, 2021

    “The only people who don’t have any self doubt are sociopaths.” Sas Petherick is a UK-based coach who specialises in helping women experiencing self doubt. I first met her through Instagram a year ago, and was struck by how much insight and wisdom she could drop into the most incidental moments of casual conversation. She

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  • Podcast

    Podcast 8 – Why every online creative needs a mailing list

    March 22, 2017January 2, 2020

    This episode is ‘mailing list 101’, for people who don’t have one, people who think they don’t need one, or for people who have one but aren’t doing anything about it. Over the last three years I have worked with hundreds of makers, writers, photographers, shop owners, bloggers and creatives through my instagram coaching &

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  • Podcast

    Podcast 7: Finding your right people online, with Tara Swiger

    March 15, 2017May 8, 2017

    “You don’t want to be Walmart. You want to make the people who you serve ridiculously excited.” Tara’s instagram | site| twitter | blog & podcast | youtube Tara Swiger is an infectuously enthusiastic US-based author and business coach for makers and creatives, & one of my favourite people online. (She’s also more Star Trek than Star Wars, but we’ll forgive her

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  • Work

    5 ways to grow your creative business this year

    January 16, 2017April 11, 2017

    Since sharing my successes of 2016 I’ve heard from loads of you with really specific & interesting questions. It seems like a lot of us are either running a creative business online, or would quite like to be, so I thought it’d make sense for me to start sharing a bit more about that side

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    ❄️ Would you follow yourself on Instagram? ❄ ❄️ Would you follow yourself on Instagram? ❄️
I always love to kick off my Insta Retreat classes with this question because it really helps us shift to that outside lens.
NOT because we want to be people-pleasing or obsessing over what others think - we’re wondering about what *we* would follow, here. We’re thinking about what’s valuable to us.
.
In fact, when our answer is (quietly, sheepishly) “no” to this question, it’s usually a sign that we’ve been indulging in too much of the above. Filtering ourselves to try and be what we think everyone else wants or expects us to be. Creating an account that is entirely product-focused (I have to be professional!) or super mild and bland (“nice walk today”). And I get it - it can feel a lot safer that way. Don’t be too human, don’t go off topic, don’t risk new things, don’t let it get messy. 
.
I’m here to tell you can throw that whole self-written rule book away. 📖💨 
.
People buy from *people*. We connect with those who are human and multi-facteted and dare I say it - even sometimes flawed. 
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Creating an account that YOU would love to follow shifts your focus back to all the unique ways you can offer value to the world.
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And if it feels overwhelming, or if you’re not sure where to start - I’ve got you! My 6 week class, The Insta Retreat is enrolling now and we begin on Monday. Join me for live coaching, a proven step-by-step process and to have all your questions heard, held and answered. Link’s in my bio, my loves xx
    I never normally do this, but I’m feeling pretty I never normally do this, but I’m feeling pretty overwhelmed by hopelessness today. So I wondered - if my work (podcast, book, random IG posts, classes or just anecdotes) has ever touched your life in some small way, or helped you, could you tell me about it please? Tell me why it counts? 

Just trying to reconnect with the why of it all, I suppose.

And if I haven’t yet, here’s to hoping I can some day in the future. Lots of love ❤️

Photo by @themelias.co, of course.

Edited to add: I can’t even express how grateful I am for all these beautiful words and sentiments below. I tried going through and thanking everyone individually but became a bit emotional and overwhelmed. Please know I’ve read and treasured every one - and they’ve helped more than you could know xxx
    It wouldn’t be Christmas if I didn’t post this It wouldn’t be Christmas if I didn’t post this picture - as featured in Vogue, as of this December! 💁🏻‍♀️ Head to my Stories if you’d like to grab it as a wallpaper for your phone 💫, and swipe to see the iPhone version! 
—-
This year I’ve been noticing a common theme in conversations with my coaching clients and friends: long long lists of festive “shoulds”.

‘I should send all the Christmas cards. I should be doing more with the kids. I should see the family, should bake everything from scratch, should buy a gift for all my neighbours, should buy a new sparkly dress...’

I always see ‘should’ as a red flag that we’re not acting from our own values and wishes. We do it for lots of reasons, but most of our Christmas “shoulds” are really about trying to control what other people are thinking and feeling - “if I don’t do XYZ then they’ll be offended/will think I’m a bad person/won’t like me any more”.

So here’s a reminder - consider it an early Christmas gift, if you like: 
***You are not responsible for what other people think and feel.*** It’s beyond your control, and doing things you don’t really want to do just to try and influence their opinion of you isn’t loving, isn’t being a good friend or family member. It’s just manipulation. 
Let the people be people, and show up as you really are. Here’s to stopping shoulding all over ourselves and having a happy, fun-filled December ❤️🎄
    Reach for the stars 💫 Or if you're anything lik Reach for the stars 💫
Or if you're anything like me right now, maybe just reach for the wine, and the hugest bucket of popcorn that internet shopping can provide... amirite? 🙈

The toss-up between fulfilling our dreams & obligations vs hiding inside our turtle-shell until it goes quiet outside still feels like a daily battle, and I'm not sure I'd have seen daylight at all this summer were it not for the supportive, encouraging and commiserating community of small business owners and creatives I get to talk to online. And that includes you, my lovely friends ❤️

If you're struggling to stay connected to your personal or business goals right now, you're definitely not alone. As an ambassador for @vodafonebusinessUK we're working together to offer regular, free support to the small business community to help get us all to the other side together.

As part of this, tomorrow I'll be joining @e_nation for a live Q&A session all about Instagram growth for small businesses, as part of their series of support webinars for small business. The session is completely free, and if you can't make it live there'll be a replay shared afterwards. Head to the link in my bio, or enterprisenation.com/events to grab your spot now
    It’s been a tough year and we’ve all had to se It’s been a tough year and we’ve all had to see a lot of hard things, so here are some pictures of my rescue kitten Nettle for you to rest your eyes on 🐱

We found her in a tractor tyre, half dead, and now look at her pampered little life! She’s my daily reminder that we create love and joy in the world whenever we choose to try and help ❤️
    Pretty excited to see that #napdresses and #cottag Pretty excited to see that #napdresses and #cottagecore mean I’m basically on-trend for the first time this century. Possibly since around the 1800s, tbh, but I always knew my day would come!

Based on my newfound status as a Sartorial Trendsetter I feel pretty confident in stating the following Winter trend predictions: All Jersey Everything, and an end to brushing your hair at the back. (Nobody can see it on Zoom anyway.)

Feel free to ask me any of your Fashion Related Questions, such as, “What shoes should I wear for a country hike?” (cheap ballet shoes, every time), and “When is it appropriate to wear a nightie as a dress?” (always.) Yours very fashionably,
Sara xx

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