Episode #5 | Things I Don’t Have in my Business
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Links & Mentions —
🙏 Hillary Weiss & the Instagram post that inspired this episode.
✅ Our Notion Client Portal Template that I use for client projects
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In this episode, I’m stripping it back and talking about what I don’t have in my business—no big team, no fancy office, no elaborate workflows.
Just me, my laptop, and a setup that feels right for how I want to work. I dive into why a lean approach can actually be more freeing and how you don’t need all the extras that you might think you do.
I also share some behind-the-scenes insights on what tools and strategies I actually use to keep things running smoothly, from managing client work with just email and Notion to setting solid boundaries that keep me sane.
If you're curious about what it really takes to run a business on your own terms, this episode’s for you.
Episode Transcript —
Introduction
Hello, hello! Welcome back to the pod. This episode is one I've had stored for a while and thought it would be really cool to chat about. It’s inspired by an Instagram post I saw a while back, maybe last year or even a couple of years ago, from Hillary Weiss. I might be saying her name wrong.
She used to be a copywriter, but now she’s a creative director—a creative badass, really. I worked with her over ten years ago when she was a copywriter, and she did some amazing stuff for me.
The idea is about sharing what I don’t have in my business and what I do have. This might have been a trend—I’m not sure if she started it or others did, but I thought it was a vibe. Sometimes you think people have a huge team or a big office, or all these crazy goals, but in reality, it might not be like that.
So, I wanted to share a bit about what I don't have in my business and what I do have that I’m really stoked about.
What I Don’t Have in My Business
Let me start with what I don't have. I don’t have a separate office or a huge space. If you’re watching the video on YouTube, you can see I’m just chilling in my living room. I just have a desk in my living room, and I love my place—it’s totally fine.
I also don’t have a huge team. My business is literally just me. The one consistent thing I've always hired out since I started is an accountant and bookkeeper—they’re from the same company. They handle my stuff every month, do my taxes, and all that because I have zero interest in doing that myself.
They’re the only people I work with consistently, but other than that, it’s just me. I don’t even have an assistant, though sometimes that would be nice. Occasionally, I contract out some design work, but not very often lately. It’s just me doing my thing.
I also don’t have an extensive, automated workflow for one-on-one design work. I’ve tried it a couple of times, and it never worked for me. I’m talking about tools like Dubsado and HoneyBook—those big programs that help manage client work. They never worked for me, maybe because of the type of work I was doing.
I never worked with multiple clients at once; I preferred working with one big client at a time. I’ve only ever used emails to chat about things. Back in the day, I used Trello to manage my projects, and now, for the past few years, I’ve used Notion. And that’s literally it. It’s simple, it works fine, and people like it.
There’s no need for an automated backend if it doesn’t suit your workflow.
I also don’t have a big long-term strategy in my business. To be honest, I don't know what I'll be doing this time next year. My business runs based on me—my energy and my interests—and it's adaptable to pivoting at any point. I have no desire to build an agency or hire a bunch of people. At one point, I thought that's what I wanted, but it’s not.
My business is just me, which means I can move quickly and change direction whenever I want. The freedom in that is really cool, and I can't imagine running my business any other way. That’s also why I rebranded my business last year. Over the years, it’s had many names, but now it’s back to just my name, because that’s what feels right.
I don't have a desire to scale massively. I think more people are starting to say they don't want to scale, and it feels like a big deal to admit that. There’s this idea that you have to always be aiming for the next big thing, always trying to 10X your income. Sure, I'd love to make more money, but I don’t need to make a bajillion dollars. You can make enough to live and enjoy your life without striving for huge amounts of money—unless that’s what truly excites you.
Another thing I don't have is a perfect website. Honestly, my own website kind of makes me cringe a little. The homepage and the about page need a big update in terms of copywriting, and I want to update some design stuff. But that doesn't stop me from selling things and launching new products.
You don’t have to have a perfect website to make things happen. You can launch products or share your work even if your website isn't perfect, or even if you don't have one at all. You can just make a one-page website and get your product out there. Don’t let the idea of needing everything to be perfect stop you from putting yourself out there.
What I Do Have in My Business
Now, let me talk about what I do have that I feel really good about. I have extremely solid boundaries with my work, myself, my clients, and my customers. Even though my desk is in my living room, I’m very clear about the hours I work. I never work past 5 or 6 PM unless there's something urgent. Once my laptop is closed for the day, that’s it.
I love what I do, but I don’t live to work. My time with friends, family, and exploring outside is equally, if not more, important than my work. That’s what allows me to show up for my work in the way that I do. It might be a product of doing this for so long, but it's also just how I want to live my life. The nature of my work is on a laptop, which is amazing, but we don’t need to spend all our time staring at a screen.
I also have the ability to pick up my laptop and work from anywhere. This flexibility is literally why I started my business in the first place. I was working a desk job in Sydney, and it killed my soul to be stuck at a desk from nine to five, especially when it was sunny outside and I wanted to be out there. Now, I can just take my laptop and go work somewhere like Whistler for a day or go on a road trip and work along the way. That freedom is so cool to me, and it’s the reason I started my business.
I have a lot of clarity about what my brand stands for—what I care about and what I don’t. This is pretty important to me, and it’s something you develop over time. Having that clarity is more important to me than having a huge strategy or a big team.
I have over 13 years of experience as a creative entrepreneur, and on top of that, I trust my intuition to guide me. Being able to pivot whenever I want and trust my gut always leads to the best outcomes. Any product I've made or project I’ve launched has always come from following my intuition, and I believe you can’t go wrong with that approach.
Lastly, I have a personal brand that feels like it’s come full circle. Like I was saying earlier, I recently rebranded back to my own name. Now, my brand feels like a place where I can share all of me—design stuff, photography, adventures, everything.
It’s this idea that you are the niche. You don’t have to separate different parts of you into different projects, Instagram accounts, or websites. In the past, I did that a lot, but now it feels right to have everything in one place. I’m just doing me, and it feels great.
Conclusion
So that’s a little rundown. I thought this might be a quick, short episode, but I hope it’s a reminder to just do whatever the hell you want. It doesn’t matter what everyone else says you should care about or strive for. You get to define what your business and life look like.
Take the time to think about what you actually want for yourself, regardless of the noise from what everyone else is doing. Sometimes it’s easy to get lost in all of that.
And that’s the whole point of this podcast—to talk openly about this stuff. If you picked up any nuggets of wisdom or things you want to rethink for yourself, I’d love to hear about them. Feel free to shoot me a DM on Instagram anytime.
That’s all I’ve got for this one. See you soon!
