Despite visual branding being my bread and butter, I've rarely talked about it onb the podcast. So I've rectified that with this juicy chat with designer and educator  Hannah Bacon. We dive deep into the definition of branding: Hannah shares her unique perspective on branding as a business's 'clothes' and the significance of consistency in visual elements to avoid customer confusion and strengthen brand recognition. As ever, I manage to stumble upon another juicy challenge (!) so grab a...

It's an episode in the wild today as I record on the go with my roving microphones from OFFF Barcelona with freelance illustrator Carina Lindmeier.   I was really excited to chat to Carina all about how people can use illustration in their branding, which I think is often really overlooked way to add creativity and consistency to your brand. We chat about the versatility and emotional depth illustrations add to branding, particularly how it conveys brand personality, connects across...

Without veering into toxic positivity, todays episode is all about the power of being kind! I chat with my pal watercolour illustrator Imogen Partridge about how kindness and support have helped her become a cheerleader of small businesses.  Among many juicy tangents we chat about the impact and repercussions of comparisons and negativity online, the challenges that come with showing up online and the importance of aligning with your values and intentions. Episode highlights:  01:54 The...

Sometimes I get to dive into some really deep conversations on this podcast and today I'm chatting about about the personal growth and inner work essential for running a creative business with illustrator and designer Emily Wylde. We talked about Emily's journey of starting her own business during the pandemic, the importance of having honest conversations with ourselves, and the impact of therapy and coaching on personal and business growth. And we touched on the challenges of putting...

I've talked a lot about values  and brand values on this podcast. And recently I've had some situations in my business where my values have been put to the test, leading me to make decisions that others might disagree with.  And so, when I asked who would be the best person to talk to me about this, everyone told me to talk to Keri Jarvis. Keri is a developmental coach, intersectional feminist, charity co-founder and community activist and through her work she's helped lots of people to...

One of the best things about having my own podcast is having an excuse to talk to my design and illustration heroes. Remember that rejection challenge that I've been wanging on about Well, Jessica Hish has been at the top of my dream guest list ever since I started the podcast three years ago, and last year I plucked up the courage to ask her. Jessica has always been so open and transparent about her career, from her creative process, to pricing work, to running businesses with three kids,...

It's the return of friend of the podcast and newly published aurthor Hannah Isted!  As her friend, I am so proud and as a podcast host I can't wait to talk about the process of writing a book because it's something I know lots of you want to do too. In this episode we talk all about how Hannah applied her inimitable style of breaking big things into small, manageable chunks and how she used that to write a book AND deliver it to the piublishers early! It's not all about writing a book...

Today on the podcast, my guest is the Senior Director of Creative for EMEA at Getty Images and iStock Jacqueline Bourke. Alongside her team of researchers, art directors and curators Jacqueline is responsible for producing visual insights and imagery and video creation that's been used in award winning, advertising, design, and editorial.  We chatted all about how small business owners can make the most of stock images and videos to tell stories that are really important for them. Jacqueline...

You might remember that back in January on Building Your Brand I shared my 2024 goals, one of which was to be able work with my close friend Lois more, as outsourcing a part of my business to her in 2023 worked so well for us both. Well, today you can hear from multi-disciplinary artist and designer Lois Seco about how she thinks it's all going! Outsourcing is something a lot of small business owners have to navigate and it's not always the easiest so we thought that we would chat about...

Something I'm guilty of neglecting is my website copy, even though I know it's such an integral part of my branding. So I was thrilled to pick Website Messaging Strategist + Copywriter Alice Brown's brains on how to improve my website copy (and all of yours too!)  In today's episode Alice shares the reason why your website copy might feel 'off' and what to do about it in simple, practical terms. We talk about the significance of having an authentic and unique brand voice to sound more human...

A theme of this podcast is how to build a brand in a way that feels good to you and true to your personality, and that always encapsulates more than just designing a great logo. Today I'm excited to chat to client experience expert Fran Smith about how to elevate your client experience to grow a community of loyal fans (who'll ultimately do your marketing for you!) We had such a great chat and I was particularly excited about all the amazing tips Fran shared. So have a listen, come and let...

I have a complicated relationship with AI. On the one hand I see the time saving benefits of it, and on the other, I worry about the problematic outcomes with tools like generative AI. So I was so happy to chat with the founder and CEO of IncluedAI, Joyann Boyce. IncluedAI is software designed to help marketing teams reduce bias, protect brand reputation and reach wider audiences so, as you can imagine, Joyann knows a thing or two about AI!  We talked about how AI models are trained and how...

So many of my clients small businesses come about in the most interesting way so today I want to share how Rebecca Aning-Brown went from medicine to running her own successful flower farming business, Silver Grey Foliage. I've worked with Rebecca for two years now, collaborating on a wide range of branding projects and we've developed a really great working relationship so I wanted to pick her brains on her journey. We discuss the evolution of her business, her investments in professional...

Every so often an episode comes up that's harder to categorise, usually because the conversation is so rich and full of twists and turns and this episode is one of them! In today's episode I interview Kieron Lewis, a freelance graphic designer, speaker, and Adobe Live host about his transition to freelance work during the pandemic and his ongoing efforts towards community building and advocacy in South London. We explore the importance of representation in the creative field and how...

In this episode, we discuss the role of social media in our businessese and talk about how we really feel about using it all.....including X (which Liz still hates saying!) We share our tips for how to improve engagement by making content fun, informative, and approachable and dig into why having a  'hero' platform is great for marketing. If you've fallen out of flow with social media (particularly Instagram!) this is the perfect episode to get stuck into.   Episode highlights: 01:55 The...

In this episode, Hannah and I share the things we've learned the hard way while running our businesses. From inefficient manual tasks that could have been automated, to the importance of setting clear boundaries with clients and learning to trust your gut. This is an honest and funny episode from two imperfect business owners!  Episode highlights: 02:31 Importance of Communication in Business 04:28 Dealing with Difficult Clients 09:09 The Importance of Branding and Logo Design 15:04 The...

You all know I LOVE a challenge and so does Hannah, so in this episode of our mini series we discuss why. We chat about the various challenges we've tried and how they've impacted our businesses, even when we've given up! From boosting creativity, growing a skill and making habits stick we want to show you how fun setting a challenge can be for your business (or yourself!) If you want to join us in setting a challenge, drop us a DM on Instagram so we can cheer you on!  We've also created a...

Every so often I like to mix things up with the podcast, which is why I decided to kick off 2024 with a fun Building Your Brand mini series where I chat to my pal Hannah Isted about the things work wives chat about!  We decided to start off by talking about how we go about setting goals for the year (without getting overwhelmed!) With a particular focus on the processes of goal setting, we're super honest about our 'why' along with the things that haven't quite worked in previous years.  As...

I often seek out guests who are doing things a little differently because I think it's so important to show there's not just one way to do things. Today's guest is an award winning content creator, speaker, accountant and founder of accountancy firm Accountant She Rachel Harris.  Rachel shares her journey of taking social media by storm, building her successful personal brand and co-running the fastest-growing accountancy firm in the UK with her husband. She discusses the strategic approach...

I can't quite believe it, but after over two years of podcasting we've made it to episode 100 of the Building Your Brand podcast! Thank you so much to all of you for joining me for this journey; it's been one of the BEST things I've ever done for my business and in today's episode I tell you why.  In today's episode I invited my podcast producer Lucy Lucraft on, and in a twist of events, she is interviewing me! It's a really fun and open chat about how and why I started the podcast, what has...

As we're nearing the very last Building Your Brand episode of the year I've squeezed in a solo episode! This one is a little bit more personal as I reflect on 2023 and how it's been both exhausting AND my busiest year yet.  It's really easy for us all to constantly look forward to our goals and feel frustrated we haven't yet reached them so I hope this episode helps you look back to see just how far you've come over the past twelve months.  When I think back on 2023 I think my overall...

How to deal with burnout as a small business owner might not be what you’d typically expect when you think about building your brand but it’s something I felt so inspired to explore. Which is why I loved chatting to today’s guest, Marloes, all about how she experienced burnout, tackled it head on and how she’s rebuilding her career as a small business owner while in recovery.  Whether you’ve experienced burnout or not I encourage you to dive in to today’s episode as it’s a must listen for...

This week, I'm chatting to amazing Instagram and TikTok sensation, designer and founder of Pink Pony Creative Kristy Campbell who grew her business from a one-woman band to a thriving agency in three years! In the episode I picked Kristy's brains about how she's transitioned from working solo to leading a team, what struggles she's navigated and how her processes have evolved.  Whether you are interested in building a team, already have one and want to see how to make it more efficient, or...

Something I've been pondering recently is how, as content becomes more bland and generic due to the increased usage of AI, personal branding is going to become more important than ever before. Today on the podcast I am chatting to Christine Gritmon all about personal branding. Who should have one? How to get started? And how to make your personal brand work for you. We even cover the age-old dilemma of how many Instagram accounts you should have!  I nodded along in agreement to so much of...