Planning 2026? Here’s Why Your ‘Small’ Audience Is More Powerful Than You Think

If you’ve been looking at your audience lately — your email list, your downloads, your Instagram following — and thinking, “It’s just not big enough,” this episode is your gentle reset.

Today, I’m sharing an archived audio I originally recorded for my private client podcast. It’s a quiet reminder that the size of your audience has never been the thing that determines your success… the root system of your business does.

Inside, I share a story about repotting one of my new plants (yes, your girl is officially a plant mama 🌿) and what it taught me about sustainable business growth, especially for creative CEOs living with chronic illness or navigating burnout.

Whether you’re planning for 2026, feeling behind on your goals, or questioning whether your tiny audience can actually support a profitable, ease-filled business — this episode will remind you that small can be mighty, and depth can be more powerful than size.

Because sustainable businesses don’t grow by getting louder… they grow by getting rooted.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why your audience is not too small to support real growth
• How tiny, intentional communities create long-term sustainability
• The plant metaphor that changed how I look at business development
• What really matters more than list size or follower count
• How to build a business that feels nurturing, easeful, and profitable (even in low-capacity seasons)
• Why creative women and entrepreneurs with chronic illness thrive in depth-first business models

Key Takeaways

• A tiny audience can lead to powerful, sustainable results when you focus on connection over volume.
• Growth that ignores your health, your energy, and your capacity isn’t actually growth — it’s burnout.
• Your 2026 plan doesn’t have to be bigger; it has to be deeper.
• Small but mighty businesses create the strongest root systems — the ones that quietly grow, flourish, and stay profitable long-term.

Who This Episode Is For

• Creative CEOs craving sustainable business strategies
• Entrepreneurs with chronic illness who want growth without sacrificing their health
• Women navigating burnout who want to rebuild without pressure
• Anyone who feels behind on their 2025 goals and wants a calmer way to approach 2026

✨ Thank you for listening. Your Next Step:

→ Grab the Podcast Planner to start and grow your podcast with ease.

→ Or, learn my Voice-First System — Chronically You & Profitable (CYAP): the signature method featured and practiced on Business With Chronic Illness Podcast: CEO Women for Sustainable Growth and Burnout Support.

This system is designed for a woman entrepreneur, creative, a chronic boss, or a woman with an autoimmune illness who want simple business growth, sustainable sales, and burnout support, without sacrificing their health, energy, or self-care priorities.

💛 Inside CYAP, You’ll Learn How To:

• Manage your health and business with confidence.
• Grow a health-first business that supports your wellness, creativity, and income.
• Create sustainable systems that let your business serve your life, not take away from it.

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
I want to speak to you aboutsomething that comes often with clients
that I'm talking to, whetherthey reach their goals or not.
It's a very real end of theyear moment when you're looking at
your audience, your sales andyour growth and thinking it's not
enough or you wish you did more.
Sometimes that's happening.

(00:20):
Sometimes that's maybe thevoice you're trying to ignore or
push to the background.
And if you've been feelinglike your list is too small, your
community isn't growing fastenough, and you're talking to the
same people over and overagain, that's what you feel.
I want you to take a momentand breathe for me for a second what
you're about to hear.

(00:41):
And a little archived audio Ioriginally shared inside my private
podcast.
And honestly, it's even morerelevant right now as we step into
the new year.
The Most Sustainable burnoutProof businesses aren't ones chasing
size, they're the onesnurturing depth.
Small doesn't mean stuck.

(01:01):
Small doesn't mean failing.
Small often means rooting,going deeper and rooted.
Things grow in their own time,in their own rhythm, and in a way
that actually supports yourhealth and your business long term.
So as you plan, dream and setintentions for the year ahead, let
this be a gentle reminder thata tiny audience, whatever that definition

(01:25):
is for you.
Because I've had clients thatsay like 10,000 followers or email
list is tiny.
And then I've had people whosay 100 is tiny.
Right?
Whatever that number is for,you can still be wildly powerful,
profitable and evensustainable when you build it with
intention.
So stay tuned.

(01:48):
Welcome to Business withChronic Illness, the globally ranked
podcast for women living withchronic illness who want to start
and grow a business business online.
I'm your host, Nikita Williamsand I went from living a normal life
to all of a sudden being inconstant pain with no answers to
being diagnosed with multiplechronic illnesses and trying to make
a livable income, I faced thechallenge of adapting traditional

(02:11):
business advice to fit myunique circumstances with chronic
illness.
Feeling frustrated and moreburned out than I already was while
managing my chronic illness tobecoming an award winning coach with
a flexible, sustainable onlinecoaching business, I found the surprisingly
simple steps to starting andgrowing a profitable business without
compromising my health or my peace.

(02:33):
Since then, I've helped dozensof women just like you learn how
to do the same.
If you're ready to create athriving business that aligns with
your lifestyle and well being,you're in the right place.
Together, we're shifting thenarrative of what's possible for
women with chronic illness andhow we make a living.
This.
This is business with chronic illness.

(03:02):
I just got done planting, repotting.
I'm a new plant mama, so I'm alittle nervous because I might have
killed them, I might havekilled the plants, but we don't know.
This is usually when thingsget icky.
But I have committed to myselfthat if they die, I will just start

(03:24):
over again and learn a lessonand do some more research.
Okay, so I wanted to sharewith you guys something that I, you
know, I've been reallyfocusing on small but mighty small
but mighty businesses, likegoing deeper, having more intimate
connection and things like that.
Right.
And how you can have a list of30 people, 400 or a thousand, and

(03:45):
make a business that'sprofitable and sustainable.
And I was replanting one of myviney plants.
Don't ask me the name.
I think it's a Pythos, potentially.
And since I'm a new plantmama, I don't know what the root
systems all look like, exceptI have one plant that I'll have to
post in the community when weget it up that is in, like, a glass

(04:07):
jar and you can see the root system.
And I've started to replantplants, most of them, except for
my bigger plants, into, like,a clear pot.
So it's easier to see what'sgoing on with the roots and things
like that.
Something I learned fromsomeone that I follow.
But anyway, and I'm justlooking at the vine of this plant

(04:27):
that's just flourished intothis beautiful thing.
And the root system is so tiny.
Like, comparative to the pot,the pot is bigger.
The.
The soil inside of the pot is bigger.
However, it's.
It just made me think aboutthe nutrients and the happiness and
the coziness and theexperience that it had in this pot,

(04:47):
right.
To foster this beautiful,growing, voluntuous plant.
Right?
And it didn't need a whole lotof things.
It needed the right environment.
And I think in businesses,we're missing that.
Like, over the years, wedefinitely heard a lot of coaching

(05:08):
and things and business likethe numbers.
The numbers, the expansion,the expansion, the growth.
And for a lot of people, theyhad the growth, but they didn't have
profit, they didn't have sustainability.
They have burnt out and paint.
Right.
And they quit their businesses.
And I wonder if we all justfirst start with the first mindset
of I want to build small butmighty, nurturing, engaging communities

(05:34):
that literally lead to morevines that connect out on the outside.
For me, and for those that I serve.
And so that's kind of like themindset or the approach I think about
businesses.
Like when you have one personshow to show up to a master class,
that's amazing.
If you have one person on youremail, that's amazing.

(05:57):
If you have made a hundreddollars today or this month, that's
amazing, right?
And those small things lead tothese beautiful, luxurious like plants
if you will your business,beautiful, sustainable and profitable
business.
This is when we get too big,get in our like try to do all of
the things, try to all of thestuff, right?

(06:19):
And we just focus on the bigend game.
We miss out on the growth thathappens and the profitability and
the sustainable and the peaceand the ease that comes with one
to one connecting, building,nurturing and deep relationships
with those that we want to serve.
And so it doesn't have to bethis huge.

(06:40):
All or nothing huge is loud, right?
It can be loud.
And if you want a hugebusiness, great.
But huge businesses that aresustainable and profitable start
from small but mightybusinesses, okay?
And so if you have a bigbusiness right now and you don't
feel like it's deep orconnected to your p, your purpose,

(07:02):
mission and your vision andyou feel disconnected, go back into
the smaller things that led tothis beautiful big community.
And for those of you who arejust getting started, started, it's
like love and appreciate andbe filled with joy around the fact
that you are building thisnurturing, enriching community and

(07:27):
business that's not only justgoing to serve people, but it's going
to serve your life of what youwant, how you want to live it, right?
And when we come from thatplace, it creates ripple, ripple
effects, right?
It creates this vine, thesebeautiful vines that just keep telling
others to come into your smallbut mining community and business.

(07:48):
And it's lovely.
So just wanted to share thatas I finish cleaning up my mess of
this small but mighty.
All right, loves, staybeautiful, stay wonderful.
Peace out.
That's a wrap for this episodeof business with Queen Chronic illness.

(08:10):
If you would like to start andgrow an online coaching business
with me, head to the shownotes to click a link to book a sales
call and learn how to makemoney with chronic illness.
You can also check out [e-mail] for
this episode's show notes andjoin our email list to get exclusive
content where I coach you onhow to chronically grow a profitable

(08:31):
business while living withchronic illness.
Until next time, remember,yes, you are crafted to thrive.