Diary of a creative business owner
January brought the winds of change
Hey friends,
How are you doing as we cross this threshold? I feel like I’ve just blinked and it’s February already; like January was a full trip around the sun and a drop in the ocean, both at the same time.
Yet, while I feel like I’m ready for the world to start slowing down a bit, I’ve also kind of loved watching the shifting of the seasons through my office window and as I water the garden at night.
Here in southwestern Australia, we've just entered Bunuru, the second summer. The hottest, driest time of year, its arrival is heralded by the white blooms on the ghost gums, jarrah, and marri. There are also lots of red-tailed black cockatoos around where I live, too, their squawks carried on the hot easterly breeze.
In my motherland, on the other hand, we've passed Imbolc - the halfway point between midwinter and the spring equinox, where my ancestors would have celebrated the promise of longer days and warmer weather.
Although this first month of the year has felt very heavy for many of us, here’s hoping for sunnier days ahead - at least in spirit, if not in the sky.
On Grief & Letting Go
The saddest part of January was saying goodbye to our family dog, Kayley. We found out last Monday that she had incurable cancer, and by Friday afternoon, she was gone.
It was midnight my time when she passed, but I couldn't sleep. All I could think about was my dad walking home with her collar in his pocket and then going to pick my mum up from daycare like nothing happened. She wouldn't have noticed the difference. She doesn't notice much these days. The heartbreak feels never-ending.
January also brought with it my mum's birthday and then mine, which we celebrated with a picnic by the river. The city even put on some fireworks. I always find it bittersweet celebrating mine so soon after my mum's; my dad still signs my birthday card with “mum” first.
That said, it was a good day. Getting older feels like a gift. The more time that passes, the more I get to know myself and the more I feel like I can lean into just… living and existing in the world, rather than constantly feeling like I have something to prove.
On Business & Doing Things Differently
As a solo business owner, it’s hard not to notice how deeply everything is connected. When you face challenges in your personal life, it’s much harder to just leave them at the door and go to work.
On that front, January also brought with it some big changes with my business, although I'm not sure exactly what they look like yet. I'm trying to surrender to the unknown a little more and let them play out, instead of forcing anything or feeling like I have to have it all figured out.
I joined two new groups in addition to the work I do with my own mentor. One is a branding Playgroup with
Both of them feel like incredibly supportive and sustainable places, with an emphasis on growing and learning in community, which is exactly what I need as I enter this next chapter.
For me, knowing other people are facing similar struggles and challenges and finding ways to show up regardless is far more helpful than seeing everyone posting their success stories and their wins on social media.
As I mentioned in my last post, being in the groups also made me realise I'd rushed into a couple of things, so I ended up paring things back on some of my dreams for the year. Like humans, dreams need time to breathe, especially in 45-degree heat, and especially when they are navigating hard things. Even if it’s been five years of hard things and it still feels like there’s no end in sight.
I also had quite a quiet month with my 1:1 work, too. I still had some great client sessions, but I’ve been a little more discerning about who I've been working with recently, especially when it comes to bigger packages. It's been fun to spread my wings and embrace what works best for me, especially after a big year of saying yes to almost every opportunity, hoping it would help me grow.
On Writing, Speaking & Finding My Voice Again
Alongside these shifts in how I show up for my business, I’ve also been thinking a lot about how I use my voice and share my stories, both in writing and in conversation.
One of the highlights this month was recording a podcast with
from about my journey leaving the UK and all the things that have brought me here to Australia. We talked about how the realities of leaving your life behind and running off into the sunset - and what happens when life eventually catches up with you. I can’t wait to share it.As a writer, it was also really interesting to speak my stories out loud rather than writing them. Although I usually read my articles to myself before sharing them, speaking hits differently. I could see connections I couldn't see before. I ended the call feeling like I was flying - like I'd found my way back to me.
Our chat also made me realise how much I love sharing my stories and wisdom when I've been invited to. I don't love putting myself out there - pitching was always my least favourite part of being a freelance writer - but I love being asked. It’s actually a big part of why I burned out as a travel writer.
While my fellow writers would follow more of a spray-and-pray approach, aiming for at least 100 rejections a year, I’d focus on nurturing longer-term relationships and curating the perfect story for each publication.
In previous years, this worked well, but the modern media landscape has changed - squeezed between lower budgets and shorter attention spans. As a result, there’s now less potential to write the stories I actually want to write - or read. Instead, I felt like I was selling my soul, writing “go here, do that” pieces that almost disempower travellers by taking away the magic of discovering places themselves.
While I’m all for travel being more accessible, it still feels like it should be a portal - a rite of passage - where we discover, explore, and learn things about ourselves and the world outside of our little bubbles and echo chambers.
At the moment, I’ve reached a similar crux point with my mentoring work. I don’t want to run sponsored posts and make sales funnels and blast my face or my services around. So instead, I’ve been focusing more on SEO and writing the posts that I want to write - both here and on social media - as a way to build up a bank of knowledge people can tune into.
To me, it feels more like laying a breadcrumb trail so my dream clients can find me, see my stories and see if they connect, and then reach out and we can get on a call and go from there.
On Creativity & Ripples We Can’t Always See
As I ended up with some unexpected space on my calendar this past month, I ended up dipping my toes back into writing for publications and did some sub-editing for
's magical mini zine, This Creative Life, which was fun, heart-affirming, and soul-filling, in equal measure.The zine, which will soon be out and available to buy, is an incredible ode and testament to the power and wonder of creatives. As someone who has long been passionate about having more creative voices in the world, I loved the sound of the zine and Sarah's vision for it, and first backed it on Kickstarter - along with her
Playdeck - last year.Although I’m not entirely sure what this month - or this next year - will look like for me or my business, working on the zine has inspired me and made me even more passionate about the importance of the work we both do in supporting others on their creative and business journeys.
It’s been a good reminder of how our stories can inspire and uplift others, and how sharing them with the world can have massive ripple effects - even if we can’t always see them.
Questions to Ponder
What season are you in? (In nature, in life, in business?) How does it feel?
What natural rhythms or signs have been showing up in your world lately? What might they be inviting you to notice?
What has changed for you since the start of the year? What’s shifting, settling, or stirring?
Where in your life or business do you feel the urge to push forward? Where might you need to surrender and let things unfold?
Have you been honoring your own timing, or do you feel pressure to move faster than feels natural?
What has felt life-giving, expansive, or energising this past month? What has felt heavy or constricting?
If you were to lay down a breadcrumb trail for the people who need your work, words, or wisdom, what would it look like? What would you want them to discover along the way?
If you’re also in a season of discovery, transition, success, celebration, or anything in-between, and fancy joining me for a community conversation then I’d love to invite you to join me for a creative coffee-style chat tomorrow at 8.30am GMT/4.30pm AWST/7.30pm AEST. Click here to RSVP.
Note: the call will not be recorded. It’ll last for about an hour, and while you don’t need to be or bring anything special, you may want to have a notebook to hand.
Whether you can make it or not, please know I’m here cheering you on, celebrating your wins and successes, grieving your losses with you, and marvelling at all those ripples we can’t see.
Catch you in the comments, tomorrow, or next week.
All my love,
Cassie xx
PS: If reading this has piqued your curiosity, you can find out more about my 1:1 sessions or all my other offerings on my website.
You can also support me by upgrading to a paid subscription or by buying me a coffee, here.
You navigated a challenging week, there. You must have so many fond memories of Kayley. Glad she is at rest but sad for you in equal measure 💛
Our conversation was epic, it is brilliant to hear our thoughts spoken aloud isn't it. So sorry to hear Kayley has now passed, sending you love xx