Advertise on podcast: The Kind Business podcast

In this episode, I share seven tips for setting your business up for decades to come, even when the future feels genuinely hard to picture right now. I talk about finding a business model that actually fits your capacity, abilities, and current phase of life rather than forcing yourself into a rhythm that doesn't work, and I share how making room for curiosity and interests outside your core work, like the quilting and textile classes I've taken, can feed back into your business in unexpected ways. I also talk about why trying to do it all alone rarely works, including my own regret about not connecting with other web designers earlier in my career, and why understanding your numbers and your longer term financial needs builds real confidence rather than just managing anxiety in the moment. I get into the importance of clear boundaries and real time off, and I talk honestly about letting go of perfectionism, including how holding myself to a lighter standard with my newsletter and podcast over the years is actually what allowed me to stay in the game for over a decade. I close with a tip on letting positive feedback actually land, since building confidence that way makes it so much easier to keep going through the harder moments. My hope is that this episode leaves you with a few grounded, practical ways to think about longevity in your own business. Here is more info about the Kind Business Community I mentioned: https://pinkwellstudio.com/community/ Thanks for listening! Love, Yarrow

This week I'm pulling back the curtain on how I launched the Kind Business Community, from the thinking behind its structure to the practical, nitty gritty steps I took to get it out into the world. I start by sharing about how this offer came to be and about my previous group, the Livelihood Community, which ran for four and a half years before I closed it in 2023. Rooted, my new group program was such a beautiful experience and so the Kind Business Community grew directly out of how much people loved that format and wanted it to continue. Then I get into the practical side of the launch itself - all the little things I did from batch recording podcast episodes to drafting emails, tech set ups and deciding on pace and timing. Finally, I talk about why I've chosen not to use Instagram or social media at all for this launch, and how I think about that trade-off in terms of my time and energy rather than just the numbers. Here is more info about the community: https://pinkwellstudio.com/community/https://pinkwellstudio.com/community/ and here is the link to book a call with me: https://yarrowmagdalena.17hats.com/p#/scheduling/xckkzgxdszxhcpbppxnfhczfdkghrwfb Thanks for listening! Love, Yarrow

In this episode, I share the tool I use to price my offerings, which I think of as a magic triangle balancing three things: what the industry typically charges, what your community can realistically pay, and what you personally need to feel good about the work. I walk through how I use this to figure out whether a new offering is even financially sustainable, breaking that down further into my financial need in the moment, my anticipated conversion rate based on my newsletter and podcast audience, and the time and energy I expect an offering to take. I use the Kind Business Community as a live example, including the real numbers behind why I expect 20 to 30 signups right away and why I've capped it around 60 to 70 members to keep things feeling intimate. I also walk through two more concrete examples, a small fundraiser print run where I mapped out costs and time before ever picking up a carving tool, and the Rooted group program, where I share the actual pricing tiers I used, why offering three price points plus payment plans ended up feeling more confusing than generous, and what I'm planning to simplify next time. I talk about why I've chosen not to build an agency even though it could be more lucrative, since the size and kind of client relationships I want matter more to me than maximizing revenue, and I close with a nudge to build a habit of raising your prices every year rather than letting them stagnate. My hope is that this episode gives you a genuinely practical way to think through your own pricing, numbers and all. If you'd like more support putting this into practice, the Kind Business Community and one on one working sessions are both open. Join us here: https://pinkwellstudio.com/community/ and book a free call with me here: https://yarrowmagdalena.17hats.com/p#/scheduling/xckkzgxdszxhcpbppxnfhczfdkghrwfb Love, Yarrow

In this episode, I dig into what great customer service can look like for solopreneurs, building on an earlier episode about growing without a team. I start with the importance of transparency, from clear sales pages and written agreements to how I use 17hats to automate parts of my booking process while making sure the actual conversation with a client always stays human. I talk about where I draw the line on automation, since I'd never want someone to commit to a big web design project without at least speaking to me first, and why customizing packages and staying open to a back and forth conversation matters so much to me. I also get into why giving people real time and choice before a big decision is such a core part of good customer care, including my own philosophy of long lead times rather than pressuring flash sales, and I share a recent frustrating experience as a customer myself that reminded me how far a genuine apology goes when something goes wrong. I talk about setting clear boundaries, like a defined number of revisions on a web design project, and why that actually helps clients feel more secure rather than less, and I close with some thoughts on accessibility, both in how we present information to clients and in staying open to requests we might not have anticipated, like a client who preferred email over Zoom calls. My hope is that this episode gives you a grounded, human way of thinking about customer care that doesn't ask you to be perfect. You're welcome to join the Kind Business Community here: https://pinkwellstudio.com/community/ and you can book a call with me here: https://yarrowmagdalena.17hats.com/p#/scheduling/xckkzgxdszxhcpbppxnfhczfdkghrwfb Love, Yarrow

In this episode, I share some simple, sweet rituals for bringing more magic and enchantment into your business. I start with the idea of bookending your workday, from the small morning rituals that help me feel grounded before I begin, like a good breakfast, opening all the windows, and lighting a candle, to the equally intentional ways I like to close the day, from tidying my inbox and workspace to taking a proper screen break in the evening. I talk about why having a clear beginning and end to the workday matters so much when you work for yourself, since it's so easy for the hours to blur together otherwise. I also get into the ritual of spending time in nature and making space for divination, whether that's visiting the same river every week to sit with a business question or drawing tarot and oracle cards at home, and why bringing in some intuitive, less heady way of thinking can be such a relief alongside all the conscious decision making a business demands. I close with the importance of celebrating your wins, even the small ones, and building in seasonal touchpoints to notice how far you've come. My hope is that this episode leaves you with a few gentle ideas for bringing more enchantment into your own working life. You can join the Kind Business Community here: https://pinkwellstudio.com/community/ and book a free call with me here: https://yarrowmagdalena.17hats.com/p#/scheduling/xckkzgxdszxhcpbppxnfhczfdkghrwfb Thanks for listening! Love, Yarrow

In this episode, I talk about how to keep a business going through hard personal times, like health crises, bereavement, or mental health challenges, drawing on my own experiences with a serious accident in 2020 and my mum's sudden death two years ago. I share why building a content buffer makes such a difference, since having a few episodes, posts, or newsletter drafts ready in advance takes the pressure off feeling invisible when you need to step back, and I talk about the importance of keeping some days genuinely unscheduled so you can move at your own pace rather than pushing through on empty. I also get into how I think about scheduling client work, including why I only take on one web design project at a time and build in enough spaciousness that a hard week doesn't throw everything off. I also open up about how I decide what to share publicly and what to keep private, including why I spoke about my mum's death fairly soon afterward but waited months to talk about losing my dog Orlando, and why I never talk about my dating life or family at all. I talk about understanding your financial baseline and letting yourself have a genuine sense of enough, including the year I stopped saving entirely so I could have the spaciousness I needed to grieve, and I close with the value of transparent communication with clients and having something pre-recorded ready to go as a small backup for the days things don't go to plan. My hope is that this episode gives you a gentler, more honest way to think about resilience in your own business. If you'd like more support along the way, the Kind Business Community is open for enrolment, and you're welcome to book a free call with me any time. Join us here https://pinkwellstudio.com/community/ Love, Yarrow

Hey everyone, just wanted to pop in here to tell you about my new Kind Business Community one last time before the price goes up on Thursday. As a reminder, its based around three things: regular co-working sessions, monthly themed workshops and a rich library if pre-recorded courses you can work through in your own time. You'll meet amazing, like-minded people, feel less alone as you built your business and have a space to get your questions answered. More info is here: https://pinkwellstudio.com/community/ There is a 14 day free trial, so you can come to the first workshop and see if you like it. Love, Yarrow

In this episode, I explore whether we can grow our businesses without building a team, coming at it as a hardcore introvert who has thought about this a lot over the years. I talk about the two dominant narratives online, the lone wolf who does everything alone and the builder who scales by hiring out anything they don't love, and I share why the truth usually sits somewhere in between depending on the stage of life and business you're in. I get into the real benefits of hiring, like freeing up time, energy, and headspace, alongside the ethical complexity I feel around profiting from someone else's labour, and I talk honestly about where automation makes sense to me versus where I think a human touch still matters, especially given how seriously I take labour rights and the impact of AI on jobs. I also share what I've actually chosen to hire out over the years, like photography and briefly bookkeeping, versus what I've kept doing myself because it genuinely suits me, along with where I turn to mentors and classes instead of employees. I end with a little glimpse into my own fantasy of an island retirement where someone else handles the selling and shipping of my art, and what that fantasy reveals about the tasks I actually enjoy versus the ones I'd love to hand off, plus some thoughts on non-monetary skill swaps as another way to get support without hiring. My hope is that this episode gives you a more honest, less binary way of thinking about growth and support in your own business. The Kind Business Community is open for enrolment with a special price until September 10th over here: https://pinkwellstudio.com/community/ Thanks for listening! Love, Yarrow

This week is a big one. The Kind Business Community is officially open, and I wanted to walk you through the thinking behind it, what you can expect, and how it all works. Some of you will remember the Livelihood Community, which ran from 2019 to 2023 and grew to about 60 members. I loved that space, but by 2023 I needed a proper break to replenish my own well. Coming back into teaching happened gradually, starting with Rooted, the three month programme I ran this spring with 15 people. What stood out most from that experience was how much people wanted to keep working together and keep the conversation going, which is really what led me back to an ongoing membership model. I talk through how the Kind Business Community is structured: two coworking sessions a month, a monthly themed workshop starting with intention-setting and mapping the season ahead before moving into marketing and finding confidence in your own voice, and a growing library of pre-recorded courses covering things like kind marketing, newsletter strategy, and questioning social media. I share who this is really for (any stage, any kind of creative values-led business), what the pricing looks like, and the scholarship spot available for every ten people who join. You can learn more here: https://pinkwellstudio.com/community/ Thanks for listening! Love, Yarrow

In this episode, I explore what it looks like to bake generosity into a business, especially while still holding good boundaries. I talk about starting with accessibility to ourselves first, meaning we get clear on our own needs before we can be sustainably generous with others, and I share moments from my own journey where saying yes out of guilt led to resentment rather than real generosity. I unpack the difference between authentic and performative generosity, particularly around opt in offers and marketing tactics that can feel extractive even when they're dressed up as generous, and I talk about why transparency and giving people genuine agency matters so much in how this all lands. I also walk through concrete examples from my own business, from long lead times and deposits on web design projects to free podcast knowledge, scholarships, and payment plans, alongside the places where I'm intentionally more stingy, like not offering free brain picking calls or engaging with spammy pitch emails. I share some practical ideas you might try in your own business, like building in payment plans without penalty, giving people a heads up about your seasons and rhythms, and thinking of your work as a steady companion rather than something that always has to reinvent itself. My hope is that this episode gives you a fuller, more honest picture of what generosity can look like when it's paired with real boundaries. Here is more info about the Kind Business Community I mentioned: https://pinkwellstudio.com/community/ Thanks for listening! Love, Yarrow

In this episode, I dig into whether passive income is really a myth, drawing on my own experience running two businesses since 2015. I talk honestly about how the online course world in the 2010s oversold the idea of easy passive income, often without acknowledging the privilege and structural advantages that made it easier for some people, and I share a personal experience of being pressured into a course that didn't feel worth the investment. From there I unpack what passive income actually means, including affiliate income, pre-recorded courses, and book royalties, and I explain why I only ever turn practical, learnable skills into pre-recorded courses, while anything more transformative and long term stays as live group work with real community and accountability. I also get into what actually goes into building something that looks passive from the outside, from expertise and the right tech setup to the long, unglamorous work of building an audience before a course can even be worthwhile. I share some honest numbers around conversion rates and newsletter growth, and I talk about how affiliate income and royalties from my book Rituals have added up over time even though neither replaced my main income. My hope is that this episode leaves you feeling less pressured by the passive income hype and more grounded in figuring out what mix of income streams actually fits your business and your life. You can learn more about the Kind Business Community over here: https://pinkwellstudio.com/community/ Thanks for listening! Love, Yarrow

The Kind Business Community is opening its doors soon and in this episode I'm telling you what it is, who it's for, and why I built it this way. This community is an evolution of everything I've learned running Pink Well Studio since 2015 including my program Rooted, my Patreon, and the Livelihood Community before that. It's a year-round home for creative, values-led business owners who want steady support, honest strategy, and people in their corner who won't push them toward hustle. In this episode, I talk about: Why I wanted a year-round space rather than a fixed-length programme What the three parts of the community actually look like: coworking, themed workshops, and the course library Who this is for, and why business stage matters less than shared values The kind marketing focus we'll be exploring together this autumn The details: Enrollment opens 31st August The community officially opens on 10th September, with our first live workshop that day £25/month for anyone who enrolls before 10th September, grandfathered in at that rate for as long as you stay a member Join the waitlist to be the first to know when doors open: pinkwellstudio.com/community

In this episode, I get into the nerdy but genuinely satisfying topic of lowering overhead and finding the best software deals for your business. I share how I keep my baseline overhead around £150 a month, plus variable costs for things like education and materials, and I walk through how tracking where your time actually goes each week can point you toward the parts of your business worth automating. I talk about the tools I rely on day to day, including 17hats for client bookings, agreements, invoicing and podcast guest scheduling, and Podia for hosting my courses and groups, and I explain how mapping your software needs against your customer's journey, from first contact through to booking and delivery, can help you figure out where automation actually serves you. I also share some practical tips for getting better deals, like making the most of free trials, keeping an eye out for Black Friday offers even if I have mixed feelings about the day itself, asking around for affiliate links, and negotiating with providers when an introductory discount is about to end. My hope is that this episode gives you a useful starting point for thinking through your own systems with a bit more ease. And if you want to go deeper with me, my new Kind Business Community and Kind Marketing course launch in September, so get on my newsletter to hear when enrolment opens. You can learn more about the Kind Business Community over here: https://pinkwellstudio.com/community/ and this is my recommendations page: https://pinkwellstudio.com/stuff-i-use-in-my-business/ Thanks for listening! Love, Yarrow

In this episode, I dig into financial planning for creative business owners, a topic I'm genuinely passionate about even though I'm not a financial planner. I talk about releasing shame around money and understanding the stories we inherited, whether that's scarcity, guilt, or the belief that there's never enough. I share my own journey from paycheck to paycheck living in my twenties to feeling steady and grounded now, and I walk through the practice of mapping personal risk factors, from illness to living alone to not having children, as a way to turn vague anxiety into something workable. I also get into the systemic side of things, naming how much easier this could be if we met more of these risks collectively rather than individually. From there I move into practical systems: how I handle my own bookkeeping and tax planning, why I keep a simple monthly tracking sheet for income and expenses, and how that habit has helped me notice which parts of my business actually feel good and profitable versus which ones just drain me. I also open up about insurance, pensions, and planning for aging, including the accident that shaped how seriously I take this now. My hope is that this episode offers a gentle, honest starting point if you've ever felt overwhelmed by your numbers. And if you want to keep exploring this with me, my new course and community launches in September, so get on my newsletter for details. You can learn more about the Kind Business Community over here: https://pinkwellstudio.com/community/ Love, Yarrow

In this episode I'm joined by Keri Jarvis, a really wonderful coach, thought partner, and community activist based in Essex, UK. Keri describes her work as helping people navigate relational complexity, from building businesses fit for this moment to staying connected to each other and refusing the ways dominant systems push us toward isolation. We talk about her business model, built around a platform called the Portal, including her free live conversation series Spiral and her community space Composting. Keri shares why she left Instagram, what changed for her once she did, and how a culture of ongoing conversation and shared context makes it harder to be quick to judge one another. We also get into aligning our values with our work and her creative process and her weekly newsletter, written more as a devotional practice than a content strategy. Towards the end we talk about AI as an attachment technology rather than an attention technology and why choosing to be available and generous with each other is so important. Keri Jarvis is a Leftist Developmental Coach, Thought Partner & Community Activist. She believes that you deserve a meaningful, dignified, satisfying life, and so does everybody else. Her work supports people to expand their capacities for complexity and reclaim their relational skills so that we can meet this moment of polycrisis together.  www.kerijarvis.com Thank you for listening and supporting Keri’s work! Love, Yarrow