Hashtag Authentic - for creatives, dreamers & business owners online

This week, I talked with author/photographer/YouTuber/knitwear designer Veronika ‘Kika’ Lindberg about her fluid and inspiring journey to success online, and how she’s evolved her work along the way. Kika’s open-minded and playful approach is so inspiring to me, and I’ve found myself returning to this conversation in my mind so much since we recorded it.I hope you love hearing from her too!

Things we talk about in this episode:

* Ge...

This week, I’m chatting to Dr Anita Goraya from ADHD Wellness & Wisdom , GP-turned Psychotherapist who specialises in helping people with ADHD. Both Anita and I have diagnoses of ADHD, so this is a topic close to our hearts, and I hope this warm and compassionate conversation will be helpful whether you’re neuro-diverse, awaiting a diagnosis or just interested to know more!

Things we talk about in this episode:

* Being diagnosed with...

This week, I’m chatting to my friend Sarahbeth Larrimore, the wonder-woman behind Unabashed Apparel. The mantra for her work says it all: “Empowering women to design & sew. Our bodies are worthy of our finest frocks, just as they are.” Um, yes please!Sarahbeth and I had a juicy conversation about personal style and the benefits of sewing for self-expression, creativity and body acceptance. I know next to nothing about sewing, but ...

This is a republished episode from LFAHC

In today’s episode we dive into listener questions all about Instagram - from building engagement up, feeling hopeful and excited about the platform again, coming back after a long break, adapting to creating more video content, whether to use hashtags anymore and lots more.

Join Sara for her Instagram Summer School Class starts on Monday, the 29th, so you need to be quick.

Would you love som...

I first met Sarah D Rees through my class, The Insta Retreat, quite a few years ago, and we’ve worked together ever since. Sarah is a mental health nurse and CBT therapist with over 10 years of experience in private practice. Through her mentoring and coaching services, she supports other therapists in setting up and growing their private practices. Sarah struggled with the lack of a business plan and structure in her private pract...

I first met deep-dive master coach Katie Pulsifer when she was my instructor for certification at The Life Coach School. I recall being pretty intimidated. I’ve never been sky-diving or tried a bungee jump, but I’m pretty sure the adrenaline rush is comparable to coaching in front of Katie for immediate feedback in front of a group. 🪂

Katie’s recently gone solo, after many years working for a large coaching school, and as we caught...

I’m sharing something a little different today… the results of my ‘podcast affair’ with my Aussie bestie, the gorgeous Ms Keeley Rees . Bonded over our love of storytelling and creativity, Keeley and I and came together to create The Substack Soirée - a gathering of resources, classes and a shiny new podcast, in the hope of passing some of that passion along.I chose this very first episode to share here with you on Hashtag Authenti...

This week I talk to Katie Leamon, who turned her love of paper and pattern into her eponymous family-run stationery studio. Her notebooks have been a daily companion to me for many years, so it was really fun to chat with her about her designs, her process and the realities behind running a product-lead business with the family on board!

Things we talk about:

* Building from a home studio to printing and selling at scale

* Designing p...

Things we talked about:

• The way multi-faceted careers can feel piecemeal (especially if parenting is added into the mix), or “like I’m doing five different jobs at once”
• Factoring in time to play as well as work
• Exploring your home town like a holiday destination
• Taking things home from real holidays that you might not expect (like appreciating the simple things, family meals, all your possessions in one suitcase)
• Avoiding habits of...

Things We Talk About In This Episode:

• Working with clients in the creative process and their reactions.
• How as humans we respond to visuals in a human way. Narratives that make it seem shallow to care about how things look. Like it’s superficial to care too much about the way you look and that this might mean you don’t have depth.
• Aesthetics are a luxury that comes after the essentials of survival and how you can still ca...

Things We Talk About In This Episode:

• The importance that established news organisations find ways to use social media if they want to engage a young audience
• TikTok has redefined the experience of social media, with short video content, and Instagram Reels and Youtube Shorts have followed suit
• How Sophia found an audience on TikTok (and later on Instagram Reels) by talking to camera about her media stories
• The way we can ...

Things we talked about:

• The value of owning your own audience
• Building a brand for yourself around the work you’re doing
• The growing online hunger for content by real people and the forging of real connections
• We seem to be entering an era that Farrah calls, rather poetically, "the Time of the Writer": the world has passed the period of devouring all the content on the Internet, now we are more discerning, and only want to consume ...

Things We Talk About In This Episode:

• The many ways for a book to “be successful” that don’t involve writing a New York Times bestseller (who knew?!)
• Lockdown lessons, and learning to live with uncertainty
• The surprising weight and reliance that we put on the future, without realising we’re doing it
• The “ladder of hierarchies” through which we try (and mostly fail) to feel better about ourselves
• Learning to enjoy the proces...

Things We Talk About In This Episode:

• Recognising the power of what’s possible when people come together with a common goal
• The value of creating your own, distraction-free destination for group learning and support
• Empowering creators to place higher value on the important business, community and content they are making - rather than being driven solely by the pursuit of money and influence
• The importance of community, pa...

Things we talked about:

• Trusting that you have enough, you are enough and that there'll be enough in the future and how that applies to you as a human
• Decluttering and finding your own style, starting with the external and slowly moving in
• Being diagnosed with cancer at 25 and having an existential crisis that kick-started a big lifestyle change
• Jess's realisation that if the worst happened she would have had so many regrets, that ...

Things we talked about:

• How it still doesn't feel quite normal to call herself a full-time artist and how that's something a lot of us struggle with
• Growing up with a parent who's an artist, the expectations that brings and how that comparison can make creating art feel overwhelming
• Finding your own path, however varied and wherever it takes you
• The feeling of not being good enough, how it can hold you back and the judgements we ma...

Things we talked about:

• The difference between writing as a journalist and writing a book (it’s just so long!)
• But: you only get to publish your first book once! Accept the nerves, and appreciate the moment
• The ever-present contention and push-back received when one writes about race
• Natalie’s very wise words that reaction is the point of writing - and those reactions don’t have to be positive every time
• The value of the interviews ...