Small Shifts, Big Healing: How My Past Shaped the Business I Run Today

This episode is a little different.

The tables are turned and I am in the hot seat, being interviewed by two members of my Get Seen Get Sales community. There was no prep, no pre-approved questions, and no script. Just real, on-the-spot answers.

We talk about the personal experiences that have quietly shaped the way I run my business today, including childhood experiences, divorce, motherhood, and the moments that forced me to rethink what success actually looks like.

We also dig into how those experiences show up in business. From confidence and boundaries, to ideal client clarity, comparison on social media, and building a business that supports real life rather than competes with it.

You will also hear from Faye, a family and newborn photographer based in Ayrshire, and Dana of Snow Moon Therapies and Gather and Grow, as they guide this honest Ask Me Anything conversation.

If you are a small business owner who wants growth that feels sustainable, aligned, and human, this episode is for you.

• Small Biz Community: Join Get Seen Get Sales and get the support, strategies & accountability you need to grow your business on social media with confidence. Learn more
• Connect with Amanda on Instagram: @amandahughes.uk
• Growth Addicts Show Notes: Read the blog + grab freebies + guest links
• Free Small Business Downloads: Access all of Amanda’s freebies in one place → Get them here
• Exclusive Discounts: Exclusive discounts on Amanda’s favourite small business tools & services → See discounts

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:02

Hello and welcome to another episode of Small Business Growth Addicts. Welcome, welcome, wherever you're joining us from. I am glad you're here. Oh, I've got a bit of a different episode today, and I'm not gonna lie, I was so nervous about doing this. So today the tables have been turned, and I am not the interviewer, but I am the interviewee. I am being interviewed today on my podcast by two members of my incredible mentorship community, Get Seen Get Sales. So today I'm joined by Faye and Dana. If you are a member already and would like to know a little bit more about me, or if you've been thinking about working together and you'd like to know more about me, or you're just a listener for the podcast, and for whatever reason you want to know a little bit more about me, then today is the day because these girls have got some incredible questions lined up. This was completely off the cuff. I wasn't checked at all on purpose. I said I wanted to just roll with it, so the answers are just completely on the spot. We get a little deep at times, childhood, previous relationships, you name it, and also some fun stuff too. So yeah, I guess I'll stop yapping and start yapping in a different way. Let's go. If you know me by now, you'll know that I love social media. It's how I've grown my businesses, and now I want to help you do the same. That's why I created Get Seen Get Sales, my mentor group for small business owners who want to get seen online and actually attract followers that convert to customers. Inside, you'll get weekly content prompts, live workshops, and support on everything you need to grow confidently on social media. If you're feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or just ready to do things differently, I've got you. Head to smallbusinessgrowthaddicts.com to join us. Hello, welcome Faye and Dana to Growth Addicts. How are you? Oh good, thank you. Excited to be here. Me too. Thank you so much for joining me. I've never done an episode like this before, ever. I've never done anything where I've not been a wee bit prepared beforehand. But for our listeners, Dana and Faye are members of our incredible community, our small business community, Gets In Get Sales. And they've very kindly volunteered to do an Ask Me Anything episode for Growth Addicts with Me today. So thank you both so much. I've been really looking forward to it, but now it's here, I'm like, oh my god, I've got no idea what this is going to be like. They're not horrible questions. You're fine. Mostly love that. So first, maybe if you guys could just introduce yourselves, tell us a bit about you and your business, and then I'll pass it over to you.

SPEAKER_02: 2:33

Hi, I'm Dana from Snowman Therapies. I offer Helic Therapies in the comfort of your own home. I cover all areas. Doesn't matter where you stay, offer relaxing treatments, such as aromatherapy, massage, recce, reflexology, and a whole list of other treatments. I'm also a mobile PT, so you can have a wellness package and get fun, physical, and then nice relaxing treatment afterwards. And I am also uh a community collective circle host. So I basically run I hate the word networking, but I'm gonna use it networking group for people who are just starting out being self-employed, are already established. Mostly it was open to everybody, but I seem to have attracted mostly holistic wellness practitioners, so we're just going to be the flaw, basically. So everybody's welcome. And that is called Gather and Grow.

SPEAKER_01: 3:31

I love that. I love hearing your name. Yeah, but we've been chatting in our group about that whole word networking and how people feel about it. I mean, I'm sure there's people who are absolutely fine with it, but I think other lot that have got some sort of negative associations with it, hasn't they? And just thinking like stuffy rooms and business cards and whatnot. I love gather and grow. That is really nice. That's something definitely I'd like to go to.

SPEAKER_00: 3:52

Hi there, I'm Faye and I am a photographer. I photograph maternity, newborn, baby, and family, all kinds based in my home studio in Ayrshire.

SPEAKER_01: 4:03

Yay, not too far from where I am. None of us are quite far from each other actually. You're in North Lanarkshire, Dana, is that right?

SPEAKER_02: 4:09

Yeah, I'm North Lanarkshire. I just knew Mother Well, but like I said, I'm quite close to all Moorway links and local villages and everywhere rural.

SPEAKER_01: 4:18

I've been awesome places. So we're all Scottish based. Also, it's a full Scottish episode you've got today. Okay, so yeah, this is a sort of Ask Me Anything host. I get to know the host Ask Me Anything episode. So I'm just gonna hand it over to you guys.

SPEAKER_02: 4:32

Go for it. Okay, so I'm not first. What's a moment in your life that completely changed your direction? Wow, that changed is professionally, I guess, business-wise. Either professionally or not personally, just I'm leaving that with you.

SPEAKER_01: 4:49

The thing that comes instantly to mind is my son's health diagnosis. So yes, we'll find out he was pregnant in January of 2020, and we all know what happened a few months later. COVID descended upon us and upon the world. So yeah, found out this is pregnant with twins. They've got twins as well. So yeah, then my twins were born in August 2020, a boy and a girl, and our son was just really deeply unhappy. It was a very small baby, and it's my first time being a mum, but you just know yourself when something's not right, and they say not to compare. But when you've got twins, it's very hard. You know, he was incredibly unhappy compared to our daughter. So there was a whole battle to find out what was wrong. And about eight weeks or so later, he was diagnosed with us what they describe as a catastrophic and rare form of epilepsy called infantile spasms that day, and in that room completely changed life personally and professionally, being in that room. And it's funny because, in a way, felt relief that we had a diagnosis because I knew there was something wrong, so it was nice not to be turned away again. Say it's just colic or starture reflex, but everything changed then. And at that point up until then, I was still self-employed, but I had a wedding and event floristry business, so very different from what I'm doing now, and already that had changed because I was pregnant, I was pregnant with twins, I was really heavily pregnant very quickly, and then COVID, and it was all events and weddings that I did, and they all closed down. So things had changed already. But at that moment, I'm thinking, what does life look like now? Like, how will I be able to work at all? I couldn't go back to that job, that's a full-time job because we knew now we were admitted to hospital straight away, we were in hospital for months, and even after that, it was daily appointments, daily appointments for months and months, trying different meds, and then a bit of a break, and then back in hospital, that changed everything. And actually, I started doing photography as well. So I've always been a hobby photographer. I've had a camera in my hand for as long as I can remember. Like phones having cameras was the best thing that ever happened if you had a camera in your pocket. But then when I was really struggling through all of this through managing our son's health and everything that came along with it, and I spoke to my own GP and she was saying, you know, what sort of thing do you enjoy? We have to find something for you amongst this. And I was like, Well, photography, you know, that's that's a hobby. And she was like, just pick up your camera, take it everywhere. And I did, and then it turned into some small businesses that I know because I've been working with small businesses in the wedding world for a long time, and got to know a lot of them, had asked me if I fancied coming along and taking some shots for them. They were doing some yoga on the beach, and did that and loved it, and absolutely loved it, and so it just sort of snowballed then into a whole new career, but it did all stem very much from that day of receiving that epilepsy diagnosis. That was an absolutely pivotal moment in life for sure.

SPEAKER_00: 7:40

But it's obviously had a real positive turn on your business because could you see yourself now still doing the wedding events?

SPEAKER_01: 7:50

No, nope. I think now looking back, yeah, I I've taken it as far as I wanted to take it, I guess. I'd done big events up and down the UK, I'd been flown to Dublin to do flowers for a wedding, I'd hired staff, I'd did really big events and whatnot, and got really creative, which is what I really enjoyed. I also spent a lot of time photographing the creations as well, which was a nod to what I then dabbled in later. But no, life now wouldn't support that job for a start physically. I don't even know if I'm still in shape for it. Like, pregnancy does something to you. Like, um, I'm still seeing a chiropractor to get realigned. But just life. So our son still he ended up having this really severe neurosurgery where he had to go in and disconnect the left side of his brain. It's called a left tenusphorectomy. And so we are three years seizure-free, which is incredible, always touch woods. But it's left him with permanent disabilities, which come with a lot of a lot of appointments and medication and reviews and and whatnot. I mean, just before I picked up the phone, you guys was on occupational therapy phone looking to make an appointment for next week. So he's got a new splint arriving and stuff. So that's that's pretty much part of my life and almost like a job in itself, managing all those appointments. So I knew I needed to do something that was very flexible. It's a whole part of now why even doing this work I do it in a group basis, group mentorship rather than like one-to-one coaching or anything, because I just don't have that sort of time. And I've been asked for it a few times, and I I would enjoy it, I know I would enjoy it, but um I just can't commit to stuff like that. So yeah, I can't imagine still be doing wedding event forestry. Even one wedding is a full-time job, you know, that's ordering the flowers and getting the flowers in, getting them all ready, getting all the prep done, then the delivery and the setup and takedown as well. Shout out to all the wedding florists out there, it's it's a big job. Definitely couldn't imagine still doing that, and just my life now just wouldn't support it.

SPEAKER_00: 9:46

I thought we could go back even further, back to your childhood. And can you think of a childhood experience that has shaped the way you do business today?

SPEAKER_01: 9:56

My gosh, man, you're all gonna need a set of tissues after this. Like childhood for me. This wasn't the best experience. Um I'm fine at talking about it though, don't worry. So, alcoholic parents for a start, and a big family, but a sort of separated family, different mums, different dads. So I'm actually the youngest of five, but I'm the only child of my parents, so previous marriages, previous relationships, and whatnot. So I was always very disjointed and are both heavy drinkers, and it wasn't a great childhood growing up. But now thinking about how that shapes how I do business, gosh, I'm very independent and very determined. I think that a lot of that has come from that, and almost sometimes it can be dangerous because I genuinely think I and anyone else can do whatever they want. I don't really think that anything's out of bounds. Like, I mean, if you tell me you want to be a brain surgeon, I'd be like, right, well, where do we start? And like, cool, like, what's the problem? I really believe that, and I think that determination has got me so far in life, and I think it's probably from that independence that was formed from my childhood that just wasn't safe, and also thinking this is not the life I want for the future, this is not for me. And so now when it comes to business, I can be determined and I really apply myself to things. If I've got something in mind that I want to do, I will definitely go for it. Whether it works out or not, it's fine. Um, don't see failure as failure, it is just purely learning, learning all the time. And I really enjoy being surrounded by good people. I protect my peace quite fiercely. Yeah, and I guess again, from growing up in a household that wasn't safe and wasn't peaceful, now that's so important to me. If we're not vibing, it's fine because we're not for everyone, but I will probably just wish you well and move on. And I guess like that in business as well, you know, we're not like for everyone, and that's absolutely okay. Maybe it's why I hold in so much on the ideal client, like be really clear on who you're talking to and who it's for, you know, because you're not for everyone. And does that answer it though?

SPEAKER_00: 11:54

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for sharing because obviously it is personal how you get into business and who you are as a person. So it's so interesting that you can link that back, and it does stem from the beginning. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01: 12:09

They say it shapes you, don't they? A lot. Yeah. I think you get to a stage as an adult, you know, you will take the reins, and we can't, you know, blame things that happened, perhaps, because uh at some point you have to take the driving seat, don't you? And you have to then decide where you go from there. But yeah, I th there's a lot of it probably does shape you unconsciously, and there's just nothing you can do about that, isn't there?

SPEAKER_02: 12:31

Thank you for sharing that. What is a time that you almost gave up or almost walked away?

SPEAKER_01: 12:36

What happened at that time? Yeah, I probably had a moment. So I had also been married before and divorced. John and I are together. John and I have our kids and our family now, which is amazing. And I actually met John through my ex.

unknown: 12:49

Oops!

SPEAKER_01: 12:51

Nothing untowards happened, no one was doing anything they shouldn't be doing, but we did meet through him. I was employed when I was in that relationship. I had my fuck it moment that I don't want to be employed anymore, and I want to be self-employed. And I always had this vision that if I was ever lucky enough to have a family, I wanted to be there to do the things that I need to do. And look at it now, like how it's worked out, how I do need to be there for appointments and stuff. So it's so funny, isn't it? Because that relationship I was in at that point was never going to bring kids into it ever. Like it wasn't a great relationship, you know. But had my fuck at moment, left the bank, was full-time self-employed, and then we split up and I did panic, like shit. I'm going down to one income on my own. Like, can I actually do this? And to get out of the relationship quickly, I had to just rent somewhere until our stuff was all sorted out. And you know, I'm sitting with like numbers on bits of paper, like, gosh, right, I know I've got X amount of bookings, I was still doing wedding and event forestry. Business was booming at that point, but when you find yourself on your own, and it's all on you to pay the rent and pay the bills and whatnot, and feed my dog, feed myself. It was really scary, and there was a few points I thought, oh, this is too much, like I'll just go back to the bank. I thought that a few times, but I didn't, and I just powered through. But it was a constant assessment, really, week to week, is everything okay? I just totally focused, like laser focused on work and getting work in and doing the work and earning what I needed to earn and cut back in some areas, you know, like where I had to cut back, but not in a big way, you know. I was still at that point, nights out were still a thing, not now. And just somehow made it work. You know, and I was single for a few years at that point, and I would say weekly assessments of is this okay? to went to monthly, went to every few months to then just went to it's working, and then that sense of pride when you're like every single penny I'm earning right now, I am earning and doing this completely for myself and keeping this flat that I had at the time. I'm paying for it all and working really hard for it. Yeah, but I think that's definitely there was a few times at that point I thought, oh god, I should just the pressure of it was too much, and I would just love to know I was getting paid X amount every month. So yeah, definitely almost walked away at that point.

SPEAKER_00: 15:08

You overcame it though, that's the main thing. That's it, real determination. So it might be a bit similar to your determination, actually. Is there something that you believed when you started business that you don't believe anymore? Oh gosh, do you know the first thing that's kept in mind is the importance of a logo?

SPEAKER_01: 15:26

I had a logo on a pedestal when I started out, like all those years ago, as I'm saying back then, the fuck it moment, I don't want to do this anymore. What can I do? I'd had some previous forestry experience. I actually really wanted to get into photography. I would have had to be in a job and sort of on job training, and the opportunity just wasn't there, you know, in the area, whatever at that point. The floristry position had came up. Anyway, fast forward now, going in self-employment, gonna go all in on forestry, wedding forestry specifically, because that's what I really enjoyed. I'm thinking my god, I need a logo. Like you can't you can't, you're not a business if you've not got a logo. Have you guys had that thought, or is it just me? I've put all those on everything now.

unknown: 16:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 16:06

Yeah. It's so funny. So, like one of the very early things I did before anything, and I mean anything was hired a graphic designer to create a logo for me. There was no thought put into it, there was no ideal client thought. It was just literally like something pretty with like pastely colours that I liked at a wee bird, it was like a floral sitter wreath, and the font was almost like Disney-like, nothing against Disney, but I'm not like a fan or anything, I don't know where it came from. And Gareth designed that for me. I'm still in touch with Gareth today, and I was like, cool, okay. And I was like, ah, right. So now I'm a real business because I've got a logo, and now I know that logo is so much more thought should be put behind a logo, but also it's really not the first thing you should be doing. If you still don't have a logo that you like or whatever, a year or two down the line, it's also fine. You will get by.

SPEAKER_02: 16:57

These questions are a bit more deeper, more practical business reflection. What has been the hardest lesson you've learned in professional life and what did it teach you?

SPEAKER_01: 17:07

I think I'm gonna come to just my favourite subject, ideal client. Just gave you an example there of how I just jumped in with the logo, no thought process with it either at all. Then got stuck into I want to do weddings. End of my ideal client is anyone who's getting married and wants flowers for the wedding. Like that's as deep as it went. It worked and I pulled in clients, but I was all over the place. I was doing work I didn't particularly enjoy, I was working with people, wasn't vibing with, you know, and on a weekend I'd be doing three or four weddings all over the place where I could have done one big wedding. I probably made more profit from it and did something that enjoyed, because I enjoy getting stuck into like big creations and big designs and hanging things and archways and stuff like that. So yeah, I think the probably the hardest lesson was that you have to actually step back before you step forward. Like there's groundwork to be done before you can get out there. It makes so much sense to step back and figure out what you actually want to offer for a start. Like, I mean, so many business owners who are not clear on that. You think you would be? Because it's like, yeah, you're doing it, but actually strip it back. What is it you offer specifically? And who is it for? Who do you want to work with? What do you want to do that's going to make this enjoyable for you? Because Lord knows we don't go into self-employment to do something we don't enjoy. You can be employed for that. There's loads of employee jobs you can do that are shit that you can do. So if you're going to be self-employed, at least make it something you enjoy and figure out who is most likely to buy that from you. Now you're not discounting other people from buying from you, but what you're doing is just narrowing down your marketing, your marketing to one person, which makes it so much easier for you. That just then things got so much easier from there. But it was a hard lesson to learn. Like I was a busy fool, as the saying goes, for a long time before that actually clicked. And I was like, Oh my god, I'm not enjoying this. And I'm so busy, and I'm just making like boring to me, boring bookies over and over again. One bride, two bridesmaids, and running up there and running up there, and it's not what I went into this for. And so I actually had to just take myself out and figure that out. What do I want to do and who it's for? And once I did that, oh my gosh, it takes time, you know, because you'll lose people on that journey. So people who were following me, maybe and thinking about booking me, then my messaging changed, and what I was putting out there image-wise was changing. And so they fell away. And you think, oh gosh, I'm losing people. And they all say the same thing. It's all about ideal client. Their ideal client is at the heart of everything they do, and it can be a hard lesson to learn. But for I'd get it's advice I'd give to anyone else. If I had a t shirt made for business, it would be before you ask, do you know who your ideal is? I was asked that recently. What would you put in a t-shirt? And I was like, that, definitely that.

SPEAKER_00: 20:07

A big thing for me as a photographer with social media is kind of comparison. There's so many photographers out there. How do you handle self-doubt and comparison? Are you able to brush it off? Have you got any tips of how to deal with it?

SPEAKER_01: 20:21

You're not alone, like it's a big thing, isn't it? And actually, a photographer friend, I remember a few years ago, she was the same. Photography is particularly busy, isn't it? Busy market. And there's so many gorgeous images out there. It would be hard. Yeah, and obviously, you know, I still do brand photography. I've got a brand photography membership, and I have clients who get two shoots a year, and they just keep rebooking, and I just keep going with that because I only want to do is sort of one shoot a month or every other month, so that suits me fine. But I tend not to, for me, I tend not to follow many other photographers on social media. Is it a conscious decision? I don't know. And I remember this friend who was a photographer a few years ago really struggling with this, and I was kind of like I felt a bit immune to that because I was thinking it doesn't affect me. Like she was paying a lot of attention to what other people were doing, and I'm thinking, hmm, I don't really do that. And at the time when I was in wedding floristry, and I'm thinking, not really, like I'm conscious of who my competitors are, I guess, you know, in that the area, but I'm not bogged down with every detail. I'm not checking their accounts every day to see what they're doing. And I think if you are, you have to unfollow, like you have to step away. I did actually recently, maybe earlier in this year, did a post about it as well about one of the things I'd done to enhance my growth on social media. Was it I'd unfollowed some other social media mentors, business coaches, that kind of thing. It's not because they're not good, it's because they're excellent. And I was actually really admiring them, but they were making me feel bad because they were so further ahead, and I wasn't. I just unfollowed and got on with my life. That's not really that deep, isn't it? Not there wasn't any real deep thinking about it. I think you've just got to protect your peace. We're all using social media and I enjoy it, and I don't want to open up to feel bad, and you can get obsessive, you know, you can. So if you're not enjoying what you're seeing, you've got to unfollow, block, mute, whatever it is, deep breath and and walk away and focus on your own stuff. I don't know if that's helpful in any way, but that was my experience.

SPEAKER_00: 22:17

Yeah, absolutely. It is hard because you want to kind of support and kind of see how you can grow in things, but it's absolutely right. Like you've got to look after yourself.

SPEAKER_01: 22:28

Yeah. And then there's other platforms, you know, if you're looking for inspiration, maybe Pinterest might be a better place to go for inspiration because it's not got the social media aspect of it, so you're not seeing tons of likes and follows and comments, but you can save inspiration and stuff there and still get that if that's what you're looking for. Yeah. You're not actually have to open it up and see conversations and whatnot every day if it's making you feel bad. And because you never know what stage someone's at in their business as well on social media. So, you know, they could have been at it for 20 years or completely established a bit of client base that ticks over, whereas you're if you were just starting out, you know, there's no comparison there, that's completely different. Comparison is a thief of joy. Very, very true. So protect your joy, protect your peace at all costs. There's another t-shirt for you. Merch coming soon.

SPEAKER_02: 23:15

Oh, what do you think people misunderstand about you or your work?

SPEAKER_01: 23:21

Yeah, good one. Okay. I think I can be often misunderstood as probably quite standoffish if I'm in a group of people. But it's just I sort of take people in and take everything in if I'm, you know, face to face before I sort of get involved. And gosh, Faye and I actually years and years ago used to go to a twin baby group. And I remember being at that and thinking, everyone's chatting, everyone's chatting, and I'm not sure what to say yet. I just need to take everyone in and see if I've got any chat. Like, I think I don't say stuff just for the sake of saying it. But I think I could be quite often misunderstood as a bit of a like, oh, she's not getting involved, she's not wanting to talk to anyone, but I just need a minute. I just need a minute to take it in. And misunderstood work-wise, it's probably like I did a post the other day about the whole I'm not an Instagram guru and I'm not out here having 20k once or anything. I'm just like a small business owner who's recognised that a lot of other small business owners were asking me how I was doing it on socials, and now I just want to share what I know to be true, what I've learned, and what I'm still learning, very importantly, still learning. I don't believe in fully qualified in anything because you're always learning. My line of work can often be misunderstood that you've got all the answers, you've got the magic formula, and it's all about going viral and whatnot. Whereas I want to share things that will help small business owners for the long term. I could give you at least what five or six viral real trends to jump on right now, and they'll probably see you through the next 24, maybe 48 hours at a push. But what next? Like I want to share strategies and plans and whatnot that help small business owners build something for the long term on social media. Again, to protect your peace and also have a business that's going to, you know, last with the viral wheel because they come and go, but your messaging can be consistent and steady and last for years.

SPEAKER_00: 25:12

So we're still talking about business and how you deal with things. What boundaries do you struggle to put in place the most? And then have you finally managed to enforce them?

SPEAKER_01: 25:24

No. This guy here, my phone. It's a work in progress. Tell me I'm not alone. No, not at all. No, it's hard, like because I enjoy my work and I enjoy social media. I've got so many awesome people on there, you know. And Dana, I would admit you a while ago now through another membership we were in, through Emma. So shout out to Emma. Lots of love to Emma. So we're talking about boundaries and the phone. And of course, I love my work, and I have curated a real community of people on social media. So I enjoy going on there. And I was saying that how I met Dana through Emma Anderson's. We used to be in a membership group that was all about learning about the moon and moon cycles and how you can adapt that to your business. It was really interesting. So I've got things like that on my phone as well, you know. So it might often look as if I've got the phone there. You'll be the same. It might look as if you're mindlessly strolling, but you're probably replying to an email or you know, involved in something that you enjoy. And sometimes I do get annoyed, and I think if I picked up a book, probably no one would bat an eyelid, but you're picking up your phone, it's so frowned upon. But there's good stuff in there, but also I want to be present in real life as well. I've got a young family, so of course they're not going to be this wee forever, they're not going to want to hang out with you like this forever, so it's hard. I don't have the answer, it's a boundary. I struggle with my phone time versus real life time. If anyone's got any tips for that.

SPEAKER_02: 26:48

I put my phone on flight mode sometimes, let's say at night, and I sat with an actual book, ran my Kindle or the Kindle app on my phone, just because I'm like, I just want to shut off some of the stuff on Facebook and that you're just like, no, give me a piece. I like to escape my book. And even if that's just for half an hour that you're still giving your time and away from the doom scrolling, I'm really bad for it.

SPEAKER_01: 27:12

Yeah. Yeah. Same. It's hard. So that's just a constant work in progress. And you know, occasionally if I put my phone like in another room, I don't actually think about it. But if I see it, I'll be like, oh, better just check that, better just check that. Even if I'm reading a book, I'll occasionally pick it up to take notes and then get distracted with something else that's popped up. That's a boundary I'm still very much working on.

SPEAKER_00: 27:34

I think it's hard though, as a small business, because that is your business. So if you don't deal with a inquiry or like a conversation that's going on, that could have a massive effect on your business. So it's really hard to juggle it. I think we'd be lying if anyone said that they don't do it.

SPEAKER_02: 27:54

Yeah. It's always whenever someone asks for like a recommendation on a Facebook page and I'm like a better answer so I can try and get interested in my business, or I'm really guilty for it. If I see somebody uh offer my services and I'm like, I may as well. I'll just go do it for you. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01: 28:12

I know. It's hard. It's hard. Maybe we need to work on that together. I don't even know what the boundary looks like. I mean, what does it look like? Does it look at putting your phone away at like five o'clock or something on a work day ends? I don't need to.

SPEAKER_00: 28:24

Set hours, working set hours and then shutting the office door. It's it's very different to a nine to five job.

SPEAKER_01: 28:31

And then what about the things that you use on your phone personally? Like groups and stuff on there that you're in that are just you're for your interests or hobbies or stuff? So I don't even know what the answer is. Answers and a postcard. If anyone's listening here and want can tell us, then we're all yours.

SPEAKER_02: 28:44

So that brings me to my next question. What's a piece of advice you once got that actually worked?

SPEAKER_01: 28:50

It's ideal client. It's the piece of advice I got that worked, and I needed it when I needed to hear it. That it works, that taking that time out to figure out who you're talking to, business as a whole, just gets so much easier. I'll tell you where I heard it first a long time ago, 12 years ago, Claire Mitchell, who runs, and I'm sure she still runs it to this day, uh, a girls mean business club, something like that. And she used to talk about your super customer, and that's where I first learned it. And I listen, Dara, I was like, you like, oh for God's sake, you know, what is this? But I knew also there was a disconnect in my business at the time. Something's not right here. I'm not enjoying this, I'm busy, but it's not right. Something's not right, and I don't want to be doing this, I want to start calling in the type of work that I actually want to do. And I heard Claire Mitchell talking about super customer, and I remember seeing her on Facebook and joining one of our Facebook groups and learning a bit more about it, and that's ultimately what it was. It was all about IDEO client and focusing on your, as she calls it, super customer. So I'll need to go and look up Claire now and see if she's still on the go and let her know we're still chatting about it all these years later. But that was a piece of advice I got like focus on your super customer and it gets to be so much easier, and she would fine. Quick pause from our conversation because I'm wondering how you'd feel if I told you I could give you a free£50 today. Yep, if you've been thinking about moving your business bank account or perhaps you don't have a business bank account yet, I can highly recommend Monzo. And if you open an account with them via the link in today's show notes, you get a free£50. Monzo are free to bank with, I bank with them personally. It's so easy to use, and also they won Best Business Banking Provider in the UK in 2024. So if you don't have a business bank account yet or you're looking to change from where you are just now to free business banking and£50 in your account, head over to small businessgrowth addicts.com for the link and enjoy.

SPEAKER_00: 30:34

So my next question was about motherhood, but I think we've kind of talked about how motherhood has changed the way you run your business. Because obviously it has had a massive impact on it. Is there anything else you can think of that motherhood has changed your business in any other ways aside from the kind of the massive ones we've already spoken about?

SPEAKER_01: 30:56

Yeah. I mean, just your day to day is so different, your week to week are so different. My hours, school hours are not real life hours, okay? They're not so one hour school time is five minutes real time because you blink and you need to go back and get them. Yeah. It's a time warp of when you drop them off. Just flies in like 93s. That sounds like a full day. It's not so my time management has to be so tight now. Like you're on a deadline all the time. Like, do you know you've got to feed your kids like all the time and water them like all the time? Everything is a deadline. Breakfast, archer's meds, and then you know, if they're at home, obviously you're stuck to lunch and whatever, but if they're at school, it's school pickup time. Then they want snacks straight after that because they're ravenous after school, like they've never ate. And then you've got to think about dinner time and downtime in between that, the entertainment before then, snacks, but not too many snacks. And then, of course, there's the dinner time and bed and bath routines, and trying to get this right so that they get the right amount of sleep and blah blah blah. You're just on the clock all the time. So that's changed for me massively before kids. I guess it was as free as a bird, you know, with work. I mean, you just did what you wanted, and now whenever we've got a babysitter, I'm always like, Oh my gosh, you're just like nowhere to be, nobody to feed at a certain time. Can I have my dinner right now if I want it's like 12 o'clock in the afternoon? Could have my dinner right now if I wanted to. Motherhood and time management is just like a different time zone, and you need to be slick with your time. So I have to be quite disciplined with my work time during the day. So I do have to block out what days I'm doing certain things, like recording the podcast and roughly how long that's going to take, and realistically, have I got that time today. And that's why I tend to plan my week on a Sunday, and the first need to look at if kids have got any appointments that week, that all comes first, and then schedule round about that. So that's been a huge eye-opener. How very little time you have when you have a young family.

SPEAKER_00: 32:55

I'm completely with you on that. It is some kind of time vacuum, honestly. Every day, every day I have a conversation at the school gates with how are we still here.

SPEAKER_01: 33:05

And then you see them at three o'clock, and I'm like, I swear I just seen you like half an hour ago. Where has the day went? Time's been a big eye opener, another work in progress as well.

SPEAKER_02: 33:14

Okay, so this one isn't even business related, you'll be glad to know. If you had a theme song that played every time you entered a room, what would it be?

SPEAKER_01: 33:24

Oh my gosh, that's an awesome question. I've never been asked that or thought about that ever in my life. But do you know what? Every week in our Gets and Get Sales group, we do a member spotlight and we highlight a member, and you guys have both been it. Very well deserved, and it's just a time to just shine a spotlight on one of our members and just celebrate them because everybody's just awesome. It's just a great group. But when I've been, if I post that to social media, there's a song that keeps coming up for me, and it's called She Rises and She Glows. And I use it with most of them because it just actually makes me quite emotional. I don't know if you've heard it. I can't actually remember who sings it. Hard pass on that one. I am happy to link to the song in the show notes. Um, you can find it on YouTube. I feel bad that I can't remember the singer's name. I'll find out. But it's like she rises and she goes, and it's talking about adversity and going through challenges and dancing in the storm and all that kind of thing. And do you know what? Play that when I enter a room, please. That'd be lovely. I would probably die embarrassment, but go for it anyway.

SPEAKER_00: 34:31

So what is your go-to coffee order? And does it change depending on the time of the day? Gosh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 34:37

So just now, as I'm getting over this flu, it's like a potion, hot water. I've got like homemade elderberry syrup in there. I feel like a domestic witchy goddess, honey and squeezed lemon, but I don't like coffee. I love the smell of coffee, but I hate the taste of it. It tastes like burnt to me. Don't mind a wee cup of tea every now and again, but always a hot chocolate for me. Hot chocolate. I'm quite a hot chocolate snob now since I've got a velvetizer, you know, the hotel chocolate thing. Didn't know and he did it when John got me for I think it was Christmas or Mother's Day or something. I was like, oh for God's sake, like I do this in a pan, this is just a glorified pot. It's not. It's amazing. I know the chocolate flakes and everything, it's so yummy. So yeah, hot chocolate for me with the works. Don't try and hold back. Okay, I'm going for a hot chocolate. I want all of it, the cream and the marshmallows, like a child. I want a spoon and everything. Hot chocolate. Do you have that in the hands? Yes, all of it. Yeah. Even in the summer, that's fine. One of the hottest days of the year, actually, this year. I was in Silverburn with Izzy, my daughter, and they'd just not long opened the hotel chocolate cafe there. And I'd never been, and it was roasted outside. I was like, Do you want to try it? She's like, Yeah, we went in for um Hotel Chocolate. Everyone's out there sweating. We'll be the only people in here with the hot chocolates. It's never a bad time for a hot chocolate.

SPEAKER_00: 35:52

What's your favourite flavour, hot chocolate, or do you just have chocolate?

SPEAKER_01: 35:55

Oh, for the velvet eyes it'd be the black forest gatto. And I'm not a big fan of a black forest gatto in itself. I don't particularly like cherries, but this is delicious. It's so rich, and I like the really dark, quite bittery hot chocolates. I've never met one I've not particularly liked unless it's just really watery and rubbish. But I'm open to all hot chocolates.

SPEAKER_02: 36:15

So what's a hobby you have tried immediately realised that you were terrible at it?

SPEAKER_01: 36:21

Knitting was the most stressful thing I've ever done. Pregnant, lockdown, right? Total isolation, twin pregnancy, high risk, stay at home, like don't let anyone come near you, kind of thing. Bored. And I was like, I've always fancied trying knitting. This could be the perfect time to try knitting. So John Blessing got me like a knit your own scarf kit thing. I was like, oh, this is it. This is it. Feet up, pregnant, gone and knit the scarf. Good lord. It was so stressful. John going from work and I'm like red faced, sweating, like I just can't, I just can't even get this. I can't, I don't even understand. It's like another language. I don't understand it. I can't do it. I can't make it work. And I eventually got like a Wii square that was like the size of my palm in my hand. I've still got it somewhere. I was so proud of it. It took me weeks, weeks to get this Wii square, and I just had to call it a day at that. It was actually quite stressful. So knitting's not for me.

SPEAKER_02: 37:12

It's not for the impatient people.

SPEAKER_01: 37:15

No. Can you knit?

SPEAKER_02: 37:16

I used to in years ago when my granny taught me, but that's well gone now.

SPEAKER_00: 37:22

Oh, that's lovely though. Fond memories. So you obviously love social media, Amanda, in different ways. But if you could only use one social media platform for the rest of your life, what would you choose and why?

SPEAKER_01: 37:36

Oh, Instagram. I love Instagram. As a keen hobby photographer, all my life, like I mean, I'm gone back to when you had to stand in the queue at the chemist to develop your film. Like I've always had a camera, I was always the annoying friend when we were teenagers with a camera at parties and stuff. Look at them now, all taking photos in their phone constantly. We'd had Bebo. Anybody remember Bebo? Yes. Then we would have had Facebook. But when Instagram came out and it was just about photos when it launched, you know, if you remember way back when I was like, oh, this is the place for me. Because all I had to do, it was just like it was like an album, wasn't it? You could just upload photos of anything. A photographer's dream, a hobby photographer's dream. Like you could just, there's no videos or anything. It was purely, there's no carousels, it was just single image photos, wasn't it? I would just upload there constantly. I just kept it as like an album of photos, and I loved it. I loved it then. I still love it now. I love it now for business, still for connecting with friends as well on my personal page. It's just got so much potential, and I love the creativity behind it, how you can really storytell on it, and you know you can show photography and video and yourself and you can use it to speak. I think it's an awesome platform. I know it's not without its frustrations, it's no means perfect. It's done me dirty a few times as well. Like my trial rules just vanished the other day. I know it's not perfect, but I really enjoy it. And if I had to keep any, I would definitely keep Instagram.

SPEAKER_02: 38:57

So, what's been the most embarrassing moment that's happened in your working life? Your most embarrassing that you'd love to go cycle in a corner and die.

SPEAKER_01: 39:06

Oh God. Yeah, yeah. Do you know this is why I keep glancing at my screen to make sure we're still recording because it'll be that day. You've heard about it, haven't you? That I didn't have record. I still sweat about that to this day. So with Jay Elliott. So the thing is, in my defense, Jay was having me on his podcast, but he wanted to try Riversides, which we're using right now that I use as my online studio. I was like, yeah, cool, just use mine, that's fine. But because I was in the mindset of it was his interview and not mine, I didn't hit record. It just didn't even cross my mind. And it wasn't till the very end, the very end, that I realized I could have died. So he was so kind about it. And he was like, Listen, it's fine, we get another go. But I know how hard it is to find these hours, you know. Like, I'm so sorry. Like, oh, I cringe so much. And now to this day, when I'm doing anything that's recorded, I am so paranoid about it. I glance over quite Constantly to make sure it's still recording. At the end, I'm like, did I record it? Oh my god. That was a very, very embarrassing moment.

SPEAKER_00: 40:07

At least you can laugh about it now.

SPEAKER_01: 40:09

Yeah, we laugh about it now. And we did do it again as the CJ was very kind about it. Oh my god, I could have died.

SPEAKER_00: 40:16

So I'm wondering if the words ideal client might come into this question. If you had to give your autobiography a funny title, what would it be?

SPEAKER_01: 40:24

I think you might just call it fuck it. Because honestly, fuck it. Like nothing is as bad as you think it's gonna be. If you want to do something, try it. Like I said, you're so capable of so many things. Just try it and fuck it. Coming soon to a censored bookshop near you.

SPEAKER_02: 40:43

What's the laziest thing you've ever done and you're still proud of? Laziest? Yes.

SPEAKER_01: 40:49

Oh.

SPEAKER_02: 40:50

Or have you ever done anything not lazy?

SPEAKER_01: 40:53

The laziest thing. I think I'm doing lazy stuff all the time. I mean, sometimes when the kids were away, I would just walk them around the garden in the pram and to get them to sleep, like rather than going a full walk. I mean, they still got the benefit. It's all one to them where they were. They were only like babies. They would only nap in their pram for quite a while when they were away. And I just used to just lap the garden. Not always, but occasionally I would just lap the garden. If it looks, that's the main thing. Absolutely. But gosh, there's probably things I'm not even thinking about, lazy, because they're just they and they're just something that I'd do. I mean, I've never put the dog on my walking pad, but I've thought about it. I don't know. That's the one that comes to mind, certainly, just lapping the garden with the kids to get them to sleep so I could just go sit down for half an hour or however long I was blessed that it would last.

SPEAKER_00: 41:39

Is there a TV show or a movie that you could just watch over and over again? Gilmore Girls.

SPEAKER_01: 41:45

I love Gilmore girls. I really do. I'm actually though re-watching Outlander at the moment as well. So you can probably see behind me all my dried herbs and flowers and rocks and stuff. So I took a really keen interest in foraging this year and then started watching Outlander again because they mention that quite a lot. So it's not because of Jamie at all. It's to do with the herbs, okay? So I quite like Outlander, but Gilmore Girls to me is just like, have you seen it? It's just like pulling a blanket over you. You've not seen it. None of you. No. Oh, oh, that's that's just so good. It's funny, it's comforting. It's a mother-daughter combo. It's so good. It's so good. In this era of life, Gilmore Girls previously it would have been Sex in the City in that a previous life. I watched that and I did watch that over and over and over again, just on repeat, until I was a bit dirty, probably. Yeah, Gilmore Girls was my just like, ugh, whatever I'm needing, if I'm needing something funny or something sad or something comforting, Gilmore Girls will provide.

SPEAKER_02: 42:44

So if you had to have a dinner party with any celebrity, living or dead, who would it be?

SPEAKER_01: 42:50

I'm not totally clued up in celebrity worlds, I must admit. I remember when the Queen Blesser passed away, and I thought, wow, imagine having a conversation with the Queen. I think I'd still be up for that. Yeah. I think the Queen, so Queen Elizabeth. So yeah, I remember when she passed away, and I'm not necessarily a big royal fan. Don't mind them. Don't love or hate them. Whatever, they're there, it's fine. But I remember when she passed away, I was quite sad and I was thinking, God, what an interesting lady she must have been. She's seen so much and heard so much and been involved in so much. Like, yeah, I would like to have a big chat with the queen.

SPEAKER_00: 43:27

I'm in agreement with that. I've got the last question for you just now. If you could travel anywhere tomorrow, you don't have to plan it, no planning at all, where would you go?

SPEAKER_01: 43:37

Cold country for sure. I've been to Iceland a few times. I'm going back again next year, actually. Right now it's November, so it's winter. I love autumn winter. It's just totally my time. I would go to like far north as possible, worldwide, where there's guaranteed snow, log cabin, fire, hot chocolate, my book. I wouldn't even mind if there was no signal, I suppose, you know, if I had to. Snow, freezing, snow down, cabin, fire. Oh my god. Yeah, I would love that. Yeah. Where's that? Like, where would it be guaranteed snow right now? Like one of the islands way off the North Pole or something.

SPEAKER_00: 44:17

Yeah, take me there. Sounds good, especially in the lead up to Christmas.

SPEAKER_01: 44:21

Yeah. Well done. Oh my gosh, girls, that was amazing. Well done. I would never have thought of half those questions. That was really interesting. Yeah, and interesting for me as well. It's like therapy. Thank you for the free therapy. So, nothing else you want to throw in on the back of any of those questions or anything?

SPEAKER_00: 44:37

Think you've got everything in? I think we've gone pretty deep into Amanda Hughes.

SPEAKER_01: 44:43

I think so. Thank you so much for that, guys. That was really interesting, and I hope it helps our listeners get to know me a little bit better and you guys as well. And so you're obviously part of our community. That was fun. Thank you so much. And I will let you crap on the rest of your day. Thank you so much for joining us today for another episode of Small Business Growth Addicts. I hope today's episode has given you inspiration and tangible tips that you can use to grow your small business in a way that feels right for you. If you love today's episode, please head over to smallbusinessgrowthadicts.com and check out today's show notes where you can find details of our wonderful guests, sponsors, discounts, freebies, and so much more. Please also don't forget to leave a review today. Reviews are invaluable to us to help us get the show out there. Every single one is read and very much appreciated. Until next time