Journal, news & useful stuff

(also procrastination fuel – you’re welcome!)

Creating a personal brand

Creating a personal brand

Creating a personal brand can be the key to supercharging your business. You might have started your business or your freelance work because you hated working in an open plan office full of people (hi, fellow introvert and HSP!), but your business really is more about...

read more
Business mentoring 101 – how can a business mentor help?

Business mentoring 101 – how can a business mentor help?

All business owners sometimes have hiccups - starting and running a business is a constant rollercoaster with plenty of unexpected WTF moments along the way. (Though we wouldn't change it for the world, would we?!) Juggling all the hats you have to wear, especially if...

read more
How to improve your online presence

How to improve your online presence

Your online presence is like your living room (or reception desk, if you're feeling formal) on the internet. It's the very first impression many of your clients, collaborators and contacts will have of you and your business, and it's crucial that it's clear, welcoming...

read more
A year of morning pages

A year of morning pages

31st May marks an anniversary - a whole year of morning pages! What are morning pages? Created (in the form I'm familiar with, at least) by Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way, morning pages are three A4 pages, or approximately 750 words, of long form, handwritten...

read more
Why I won’t be offering virtual shoots

Why I won’t be offering virtual shoots

If you lurk or socialise in the entrepreneurial world, you’ll probably have noticed an increasing number of posts promoting or talking about the new “virtual shoots” which are taking place during lockdown. A sneaky behind the scenes snap from an actual in-person shoot...

read more
Support Local: Online Classes

Support Local: Online Classes

UPDATE: Please check with each provider as many classes are now back in their venues - some are still running hybrid or have online classes, some don't. This was written during lockdown as a guide to online classes. Are you missing your favourite classes? Lots of them...

read more
Small Business Barbie brand shoot

Small Business Barbie brand shoot

Seven, or is it eight, weeks in, and like you, I'm really missing my usual business life. Most of all, my clients - I love photographing my cats, but they get stroppy about it when it's continuous! So imagine how pleased I was to come across Joss and Fia, an artist...

read more
Support Local: doorstep collections during Covid-19

Support Local: doorstep collections during Covid-19

As the coronavirus pandemic rolls on, it's become even more vital than usual for small businesses to somehow keep going. While tweaking the delivery policies for the stationery company I co-own, I realised there are lots of local businesses which can arrange for...

read more
March meet the maker: Change

March meet the maker: Change

Oof. I was going to write about moving to full time entrepreneur, about how it's taken time to recover from 12 years of working full time employed and shifting to working solely and entirely for myself. I was going to go through the pluses (loads) and minuses...

read more
March meet the maker: self care (and virtual lunchbreaks!)

March meet the maker: self care (and virtual lunchbreaks!)

Oh, hello loves! I have been horribly sidetracked from #marchmeetthemaker over the last couple of weeks so will attempt to have a little catch up over the coming days, alongside my normal posts. I hope you're all ok and staying safe and well - we are living in the...

read more
March Meet the Maker – Hands at work

March Meet the Maker – Hands at work

#marchmeetthemaker day 2 is "hands at work" - my hands are holding my cameras as often as they can, but more often, as is usually the way for small businesses, are to be found typing, writing (by hand, with a fountain pen!) or holding the pen of my graphics tablet...

read more
March Meet The Maker – Story

March Meet The Maker – Story

It's March! Which means #MarchMeetTheMaker by @joannehawker, and I'm so excited to take part this year! Starting with Story, which is one of my favourite things - storytelling, story reading, hearing people's stories... Image by the amazing Anna Pumer 🙂 Once upon a...

read more
Press: The Design Trust, branding advice blog

Press: The Design Trust, branding advice blog

A fabulous birthday present this year was the publication of my interview on the Design Trust blog - Patricia and Anne-Marie have been instrumental in my entrepreneurial journey, and it's the best feeling to see your words on a site you admire! I was even at the top...

read more
Beyond the logo – what is business branding, really?

Beyond the logo – what is business branding, really?

What is business branding? Whether you're established or fairly new to business, unless you're a brand expert, the terms thrown around can be really overwhelming and confusing. If you ask three or four different people, you'll probably get five different definitions -...

read more
Getting the most from a brand shoot in a single location

Getting the most from a brand shoot in a single location

Lots of small business & entrepreneur photography you'll see online is spread across all sorts of different places. If you're just dipping your toes into the waters of professional photos for your business, you mostly work in one type of space, or you need...

read more
Align, ignite & soar – my 2020 words

Align, ignite & soar – my 2020 words

When it comes to planning, I can be both detailed and a bit big-pictureish. With the business I have really clear goals mapped out, and ways to get there, plus systems & content plans because that's (weirdly) part of what I find fun about running a business. For...

read more

Hello Lovely!

I’m Carla – it’s fab to meet you!

Want more magic and a free brand story planning worksheet?

Hop on my mailing list!