Welcome back to Sam Winch, the course creator who sounds like she could be a lunchtime food, for our special So Crisp Listener's Choice series. Sam's 2020 So Crisp episode is one of our most listened to episodes, and for obvious reasons: 1. She's a superstar 2. February 2020, when her episode - Courses, Content, and Fibs About Passive Income - hit airwaves was right before the whole world changed. So, now she's back to talk about what has changed in her world, in her industry, in the world of courses, and for us, too.

Amber Dennis recently said to me, “sometimes it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. And the fact she’s my baby cousin from my favourite side of the family may be a bit of a disclaimer as to why she never had to pitch to be on this podcast. But, ultimately, she’s wrong about the balance of importance of her statement. Because the most important part of this incredible blend she’s put together to create herself – and the world – wheeliegoodperth is, in fact, what she knows. With 35 years of lived experience of being a disabled person, just as many major operations under her help, and an adulthood of being a wheelchair user, Amber has – what you could safely say is – a darn fine knowledge base about accessing the world in a different way. In 2021, after years of barriers to her inclusion and access, and throwing in some pretty major life changes, AND having never run a business before, in the midst of a pandemic, she launched wheeliegoodperth. And boy, has Perth responded with a resounding YES PLEASE. So many of the fine women I interview on this podcast are at the point where they’re years and years into their first, second, multiple streams of income over multiple businesses. Amber is fresh, wheeliegoodperth is brand new, and I thought it would be helpful for our startup listeners to hear her story so far and be able to ask her all the questions while being so new to the business world is still such a recent turn of events for her.

I’m starting to think I have a hidden talent. I think it might be making a career out of copywriting seem like the ultimate in life goals, because every year I welcome massage therapists, business coaches, naturopaths, and women from all other walks of life into my group coaching and 1:1 mentoring crew and slowly, but surely, they figure out they could be conversion copywriters. And they’re right. Gabi Angelina spent her childhood wanting to be a writer, but like so many of us, was told that wasn’t the most sensible choice for an income-generating career. So she was a teacher, then a Principal, then a music specialist, then owned a business teaching piano, taking that online when COVID hit in the US. Moving her entire business model to a virtual one led her to realise she had a specific talent for making tech easy - she consumed courses like cornflakes and actually implemented what she knew - with very little stress or fuss. She understood funnels, and zaps, and automations, and upsells, and the way humans access information through a building block system - slowly being educated to get to the point they can figure out what they really need - that all just made sense to her. One of the reasons I was so interested in having Gabi on So Crisp is her inherent and strategic understanding of how copy is used to hold a reader by the hand and get them from point 'slightly interested' to point 'I need this in my life'. What sealed the deal was a story Gabi told me about a large course group where all the women were getting tied in knots trying to figure out all these itty bitty details of tech and systems, when they were really missing the big picture: their messaging. Take a listen:

Dance mums, we’ve got to stick together. Because if the cost of endless shoes and lycra shirts and perfectly plain pairs of black dance pants that retail for $500 doesn’t send you a little batty, the politics might. But the #DanceMum life makes for good stories. And good stories is what Mel Daniels is all about. In fact, she’s semi rejected the traditional funnel concept of content marketing and relied on… well... content for the content marketing! This month, funnels feature heavily at So Crisp. Next episode we have a Kajabi funnel expert walking us through all the things we worry about that aren’t even remotely important when it comes to funnels and today we have Mel teaching us what to do if funnels don’t tickle our fancy and we want to scrap them altogether. Take a listen:

Here’s truth: no one wants to subscribe to your newsletter. Literally, zero people want another bleeding email in their inbox to deal with. Nope, nada, zip. So writing: SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER is boring. And also offputting. And not in the least bit enticing to, well, anyone. Here's what to do instead.

Alex Meadows is one of Perth’s most fabulous hairdressers. She doesn’t do your Nan’s hair (though she would if your Nan was cool) but instead her IG showcases an array of delectable and delicious colours like rainbow ice creams. Squished together in a stretch limo, talking about hair and what do you do for a buck and suddenly I’m showing Alex my little guy’s Instagram and he’s booking his first ever gig performing alongside a whole bunch of professional performers. Because I am the ultimate dance mum. During that “what do you do for a living?” conversation, straight after Alex said she was a hairdresser, she said “but I’m running my first huge charity event next year” and I was fascinated. Who decides they can take something like this on with no experience of running events? What could possibly go wrong? And would she tell me if I asked her? I know there are plenty of you in events who have been hit hard by the last 2 years and plenty more of you who would love to do something like this, so Alex agreed to come on So Crisp and share it all – the good, the bad, and the ugly cries.

The entire time I was watching Clarkson’s Farm I was mulling over that meme that offers up the concept you can pretty much do anything if you pretend you’re a mediocre middle-aged white man. And… if Jeremy Clarkson can run a farm, my smart women can certainly write copy that makes them money.

This episode is a little different than other So Crisp episodes you’ve consumed, the format is new to myself and my team (that makes us sound super professional, but in reality, it’s me and my adult son, who is a whizz with the tech) but I’m confident you’ll still be able to follow along. Instead of one, live guest, this episode features multiple sets of audio from some fabulous women. Our guests today are: Tori Haschka Monique Mulligan And Laura Greaves These guests are all women who made the transition from whatever they were before to published authors and novelists. Some of them even published books during COVID. Now, it’s no secret I sometimes treat my own podcast like a therapy session or, in this case, like an opportunity to have a massive brain pick! And I thought, if I wanted to know how people made a transition from business owner or career woman or mother to published author, perhaps some of you lovely listeners would like to hear about that too. So, welcome to Season 4 of So Crisp and let's get on with the show!

When I first started my copywriting business I was quick to correct anyone who said I was in marketing. Why? I just thought it had a bit of an… odour about it. A bit of a whiff of hard sell, Spammy McSpammy pants, FOMO manipulating stench. That was before I realised I wanted all my ideal clients to be smart, savvy businesswomen and therefore, I’d need to treat them that way. Be totally transparent, showcase the solutions for objections they had, expect cleverness. And that changed the way I wrote and marketed. And also meant I wasn’t really invested in the umbrella someone else chose for me to live under. Today’s guest is also particularly interested in marketing tactics and how the words we use have a negative or positive impact on our clients and customers and our relationships with them. Were talking unethical marketing and how to flip that for something a little more sustainable and clean with Rachel Kurzyp.

"Fat girls shouldn't be front-of-house". My boss said that. And then replaced me with a not fat girl. Just a couple of months before I was due to take long-service leave. I didn't do anything about the non-dismissal-for-fat-girl-reasons besides: carry those words around with me for the next 8 years. Today's the day I'm letting them out. But first, I'm showing you how I used them as a tool to step away from the stories in my own head and make my brand so quintessentially Jay, it's practically uncopy-able. (Though a few have tried.)

Have you ever looked, critically, at the industry you’re in and thought “this whole shebang needs a massive, fat, juicy shake up”? Most of us have. In fact, most of us are in business because we’ve seen a gap, and we think do you know what? I reckon I could fill that gap, or do a better job, or just I see a small proportion of the clients and customers who use that particular thing and I don’t think they’re being served the way they could be. So, we start something. Usually, it’s a small something. Not small for us, but in the grand scheme of things, not like INDUSTRY SHAKING either. Just our corner of the world… jiggling a bit. Not Branka Injac Misic. Branka set her sights on the Superannuation industry. Can you imagine? And then proceeded to launch something a little left of centre, something that had never really been done before. Can you imagine that? Something that had never really been done before, in a world where there are no original ideas, where everything's been done before, in some fashion. And really, how quirky can superannuation get? Well, this is a little bit of that story. And a little bit of just how different one idea can be.

So Facebook has a bit of a marketing conundrum. It'd like sex not to exist. It seems racism and sexism are fine, cyber-bullying, not so much a problem. But sex? Nope. (Oh, don't feel too left out, sex, FB also doesn't like breastfeeding images, breast cancer images, or sometimes even classical art if a nip is involved!) Facebook's guidelines for Adult Products or Services state, "Ads must not promote the sale or use of adult products or services, except for ads for family planning and contraception." And they're not the only ones. When was the last time you saw anything advertising healthy sexual relationships anywhere online? Anna Walsh is like so many of us - frustrations turned into a spark of a business idea. Sick of engendered stereotypes and attitudes towards women and sex, Anna created happymash as an online space where women can feel comfortable learning about and discussing their own sexual wellness. Bonus: happymash sells pleasure products for women - as her tagline says - get to know yourself! Recently, my opt in FB ad was rejected because I told readers their new copy would make their own reader want to lick the screen. I was out for about 3 weeks while my FB ads expert sweet talked the couple FB people still working there during lockdown. I can't imagine what it must be like to run a business like Anna's, so helpful to modern women, but so totally censored on every platform. In fact, when we first booked this podcast episode, Anna's Instagram had been shadow banned - couldn't find her for love nor money. And it's that kind of consistent censorship we'll talk about on this episode, amongst a couple other fun things! ***** Use the discount code SOCRISP20 for 20% off the Know Yourself Range from happymash. YAY! Shownotes for this episode are here. ***** This episode was brought to you by The Good Bite. The Good Bite is a nutrition business like you've never seen before. Based on a holistic and kind approach, Em Zilic will show you how to be good to yourself, be good to others, and do good for your community. How? By designing nutrition plans to suit your individual health and lifestyle needs. By chucking body shaming and weight obsessions out the window. And by donating a percentage of profits to social causes that do good in the world. To live good, you've got to feel good - inside and out. So take a good bite out of life and savour every bit of it!

I was teaching a class on Brand Voice at a conference and Jenny De Lacy was in the audience, she'd already done her bit - a De Lacy classic on confidence and the camera, and I mentioned her in an answer from a question about finding an audience, building a fan base, getting people to be a bit in love with you. I said something like, "Jenny does this really well, she has a free group and gives away oodles of information and advice about working the camera and creating engaging videos and tech and...and..." and as I'm talking Jenny is slowly crumpling - finishing up with her head in her arms on the desk and I'm slowly tapering off my sentence looking in horror at someone having some kind of mid-business crisis. And she said, "I wish I wasn't quite so well known for giving away free advice". And it wasn't just that. Jenny had painted herself into a bit of a niche. Ohhhh, there it is. That hole you've dug for yourself as a business owner when you're actually really good at something, you've been doing it for ages, your audience knows exactly what they get from you, but you are living with some serious business regret. Fast forward a year or so and Jenny is changing things up. Only she's so established in her field for doing this one particular thing and now she's got to drag her fan base with her. Today on So Crisp we're getting a rare behind the scenes look at the process one rather internet famous woman has to go through to take her business from something she's super well known for and change it into something else, because she's fallen out of love with it. We're talking changing directions - but when people are looking. Please applaud for Jenny. She's a brave, brave woman. Shownotes for this episode are here. **** This episode is brought to you by one of my favourites, Fiona Fell. Website maintenance isn't the sexiest of topics, but just like you need to grab a bite to eat and jump in the shower regularly, your website needs to be cared for too; to keep it ready and open for business. It's fundamental to the success of your business, and you want peace of mind that it will be up and available for your audience 24/7 - without interruption. More and more websites are getting hacked and attacked, including the big players like Twitter and Facebook as well as millions of small businesses every day. One of my favourite website geeks (she's self-labelled, so it's OK for me to call her that), Fiona Fell, offers WordPress Website Care Plans that save you time and headaches, give you peace of mind, and boost your website performance. Site management and security is no longer an option, it's a MUST. Don't wait until it's too late. Pick the WordPress Website Care Plan from Fiona Fell that suits your business best, and get: · No lock-in contracts · Priority support · Tech rescue · Daily monitoring · Backups and recovery, and · A 90 day money back guarantee And why do I love her so much? She's a pro at taking website techery and explaining it in jargon-free, plain English - so you can leave the geekiness to her and simply have a website that works for you. Visit getwphelp.com to find out more! *** Want to start working on your own Brand Voice? Use...

Hold on to your hats, good people, I'm here to preach some home truths from a copywriting perspective. Despite what you have grown up being told, I don't believe website sliders are actually necessary and in some cases could even be doing more harm than good. The reasons? Let me break them down for you. *** This episode is brought to you by one of my favourites, Fiona Fell. Website maintenance isn't the sexiest of topics, but just like you need to grab a bite to eat and jump in the shower regularly, your website needs to be cared for too; to keep it ready and open for business. It's fundamental to the success of your business, and you want peace of mind that it will be up and available for your audience 24/7 - without interruption. More and more websites are getting hacked and attacked, including the big players like Twitter and Facebook as well as millions of small businesses every day. One of my favourite website geeks (she's self-labelled, so it's OK for me to call her that), Fiona Fell, offers WordPress Website Care Plans that save you time and headaches, give you peace of mind, and boost your website performance. Site management and security is no longer an option, it's a MUST. Don't wait until it's too late. Pick the WordPress Website Care Plan from Fiona Fell that suits your business best, and get: · No lock-in contracts · Priority support · Tech rescue · Daily monitoring · Backups and recovery, and · A 90 day money back guarantee And why do I love her so much? She's a pro at taking website techery and explaining it in jargon-free, plain English - so you can leave the geekiness to her and simply have a website that works for you. Visit getwphelp.com to find out more! *** Want to start working on your own Brand Voice? Use the code: SOCRISPPODCAST to get 15% off your Brand Voice Development workbook right here.

Kick ass businessing and maintaining of an actual life. That's what my guest today promises the women who work with her. It's a big promise. Because business alone is work enough. It's more than a full time job, it's a complete lifestyle and, often, a total life changing event. Having a family is also more than a full time job. It's every moment, every second, you eat sleep dream kiddos and money and kiddos and worries and schooling and feeding them properly and worrying about their relationships and trying to keep your marriage on track while your mission doesn't suffer and remember a social life oh, and if you have them, don't forget the kiddos. And while some business coaches and online strategists believe in putting your best, most filtered, professionally dressed foot forward - Angela Henderson encourages us to scrap those beliefs daily. Turn up as yourself. Hoodies and eating Nutella from the jar to boot. She's getting So Crisp with me today to talk about what she brings to the table - humanity. Shownotes for this episode are here. This Cuppa Copy minisode is brought to you by the Crisp Copy Brand Voice Development Workbook. For less than a pub lunch, this workbook will take you through - Building a Word Bank - Writing Brand + Benefit Statements so you can compel folk to read more of your website - and a series of helpful ideal client questions - the ones actually relevant to helping you write your copy Use the code: SOCRISPPODCAST to get 15% off your Brand Voice Development workbook right here.

You may have seen her dancing on the Instagram. Or making green smoothies. Or working with her husband. Or grooving with her kiddos. In fact, you may BE on Instagram because of her. You may have joined her massive and incredible free FB community or signed up to her paid one (hey hey, I'm in there too!). In which case, she probably encouraged you to do some social media visibility things you weren't sure you'd ever do. Don't worry, you're not alone. And they worked, right? Your e-commerce store might have more sales and better conversions because of what you've learned from her. She may have gently nudged you towards rethinking your perspective, reassured you about your positioning, or emboldened you to ask for help - and then act on that advice. Today, I'm getting So Crisp with Instagram royalty, Tracy Harris. Or, as you may know her, the Mums With Hustle absolute boss. Oh, and big juicy hint! Stick around after the outro to hear what we continued to talk about after the podcast episode recording was officially over! The post-recording convo is just as good as the episode itself! This episode is brought to you by the Crisp Copy Class, the self-guided course option. It's a comprehensive copywriting course for women ready to write bank-making copy on a bootstrapping-friendly budget. Over 30 hours of recordings, oodles of downloadable worksheets, tutorials, and structural guides, everything from About pages to Sales pages and all the copy in between, all with lifetime access. Whet your whistle here. Shownotes for this episode are here.

In 2018, the UN women organisation wrote a list of facts and figures about economic empowerment. In it they stated, "women's economic empowerment is central to realising women's rights and gender equality." Did you know "women constitute around half of the 258 million migrants who live and work outside their countries of birth? Migrant women and girls outnumber men and boys in all regions except Africa and Asia." That's also from the UN women facts list, and speaks directly to the need for economic literacy and licence to play a central role in ensuring equity for women and the success of the economies they work in. Grace Mugabe is doing something about that very issue, right here in Australia, on the ground. She brings her extensive experience in Accounting with her corporate background to deliver financial literacy to provide practical and comprehensive financial education that is affordable and accessible for women and disenfranchised communities. Today, we're talking about financial literacy. Not just for businesswomen, but for all women. How having it changes lives and communities and society. And with Grace in the So Crisp hot seat, we're bound to learn something. This episode is brought to you by the Crisp Copy Class, the self-guided course option. It's a comprehensive copywriting course for women ready to write bank-making copy on a bootstrapping-friendly budget. Over 30 hours of recordings, oodles of downloadable worksheets, tutorials, and structural guides, everything from About pages to Sales pages and all the copy in between, all with lifetime access. Whet your whistle here.

Imagine facing all the fears you currently have when starting a business, or running a growing one. The chutzpah it takes to go out on your own, have the confidence to be visible, ask people to pay you for your wisdom, quit your job, take up space, communicate your worth. Now imagine facing that with the added process of translating all your business communications from your "heart" language to English. Riki Deale is on the So Crisp podcast to speak about her lived experience of launching her parent education brand not in her "heart" language, as a businesswoman for whom English is a second language, along with some tips for all of us to communicate with each other with a little more compassion.

I was going to talk to you in this episode about websites, how cool they are but how you don't really need one just to start, especially as a freshly minted copywriter, but a face full of cold has lead me by the sniffles to a new topic. Like a snotty segue. Boundaries. And buffers. Now, many of you know I run my fabulously life-changing business on 20 hours a week. That's 20 hours total. To get done all my client work, meet with my 1:1 copy mentoring clients, build new things like all the courses that currently live in my head, do my own admin, talk to my team, and promote myself. How do I do that? Boundaries made of titanium. And a touch of sparkle. Diamond encrusted. Erk, probably shouldn't mention crusted. Let me tell you about the Crisp Crow version of boundaries and buffers and how I blend it all to make it work. And how it's saved my bacon a thousand times over. Ironically, this episode is brought to you by the boundary setting boss - Anita Kaiser. Anita has a program called Better Boundaries for Empaths and HSP Entrepreneurs. It's a 2 month exploration through why you, as an empath (hey, relatable!) or highly sensitive entrepreneur feels constantly overwhelmed and exhausted by other people's emotions. Because you can love your business and still feel that way, which is why you need this work. If you'd like to work with Anita to create strong yet loving boundaries so you can feel energised and confident to grow your business consistently, skip along right now to her website right here. (Also, stick around to the end of the episode where I test out my new poddy mic with a fluey-fuelled rendition of 'Hello' - or something like it. Because how else do you test your new mic?!) Shownotes for this episode live here.

Neha Awasthi put her hand up, I thought to ask a question, towards the end of a presentation I was giving about brand voice and taking up space at the Artful Business Conference. She beamed her billion megawatt smile at me, looked me dead in the eye, and with a twinkle asked, "have you thought about hosting a podcast? You have such a voice for it" And this was my introduction to life with Neha as a fast friend, confidante, business referral partner, and cackle buddy - she's always straight down the line, says what she means and stands strongly behind it, and is so inherently charming, it can put you a little off balance. Neha sees women. As in, truly sees them. So it's not so much of a surprise to find out what she does. And what her big mission is. Unmuted. Take a listen. This episode is brought to you by the Crisp Copy Class, the self-guided course option. It's a comprehensive copywriting course for women ready to write bank-making copy on a bootstrapping-friendly budget. Over 30 hours of recordings, oodles of downloadable worksheets, tutorials, and structural guides, everything from About pages to Sales pages and all the copy in between, all with lifetime access. Whet your whistle here. Shownotes for this podcast episode are here.

Some of you have heard me say this before. Copywriting is part creative, and part science. And here's where someone who has never formally studied the human brain will tell you a thing I am 99% sure is true. When we are under pressure, it's much easier to recall something than it is to create something new. Writing our own copy puts us under tremendous pressure. So, what do we do? We recall things. Things we've been saying forever, things we hear, the language other people use in our industry, in our community, and online. But what if some of those words don't mean what we think they do to our ideal clients? Or what if they aren't our words to use? So, here is the Crisp Copy guide of words to think about scrapping during your edit. Got a great idea or suggestion? Let me know here. This Cuppa Copy minisode is brought to you by the Crisp Copy Brand Voice Development Workbook. For less than a pub lunch, this workbook will take you through - Building a Word Bank - Writing Brand + Benefit Statements so you can compel folk to read more of your website - and a series of helpful ideal client questions - the ones actually relevant to helping you write your copy Use the code: SOCRISPPODCAST to get 15% off your Brand Voice Development workbook right here. Shownotes for this episode live here.

Straight down the line but tempered with one of the bleeding sunniest dispositions and can-do vibe I've ever been bear hugged with, Tori Kopke says she's a "Texan transplant" and has found herself in rural WA, running a farm with her husband, and helping particularly rural businesses with her fresh and experienced advice. Tori is one of my favourite kinds of business owners - she's multilayered, complex, and interesting. And she has opinions! Her Facebook post on not quite knowing what to call oneself when you run a farm with your farming husband is both hilarious and poignant. And, dear listener, you know - I love a woman who has something to say. And she has something to say about this one. little. all-pervasive. damaging. scrap-it-now-dear-listener. word... "Just." If you're a "just"er or use words like "my little/side/hobby business", this episode is for you. Please note: Tori connected with me over some pretty rural internet, so please excuse the sometimes wobbly sound quality in this episode, it'll be worth it. This episode is brought to you by the brand new, fresh as a daisy, Crisp Copy Blogathon. Go check it out here.

Last week we talked about copywriting as legacy. Ohhhh just legacy, right Jay? No pressure. Look, I get writing your own copy (and this goes for people trying to DIY and copywriters and marketing pros who are writing for themselves) feels like peine forte et dure (I had to Google how to pronounce that, so my apologies to any fluent or native French speakers listening in) - it's the French torture where heavy stones are placed on your chest until you submit or suffocate. Which is the perfect description of what it can feel like to write your own stuff. So, how can we make this easier? I have a 4 step process to run away from torturing yourself and start writing some good old copy. Take a listen. This Cuppa Copy minisode is brought to you by the Crisp Copy Brand Voice Development Workbook. For less than a pub lunch, this workbook will take you through - Building a Word Bank - Writing Brand + Benefit Statements so you can compel folk to read more of your website - and a series of helpful ideal client questions - the ones actually relevant to helping you write your copy Use the code: SOCRISPPODCAST to get 15% off your Brand Voice Development workbook right here. Shownotes for this episode live here.

Think your belief systems about food, your weight, and your body have zip to do with how you run your business? Think again. Not sure if you have internalised weight bias? Take a listen. Just want to hear two women talk about food, fat, power words, and being part of the anti-diet brigade? This is for you. Nina Mills is getting So Crisp to unpack the power we give words we talk about, and talk to ourselves about, when it comes to food and teaches us a little about diet culture and what role it plays in how women show up in business. Please note: In this episode, I refer to disabled people using people first language. That's purposeful, because I'm disability proud. Nina uses the term "differently abled" which isn't as widely accepted to some the disability community. My apologies for anyone this offends as we all strive to learn and do better. This episode is brought to you by the brand new, fresh as a daisy, Crisp Copy Blogathon. Go check it out here.

Cuppa Copy has been percolated especially for copywriters, marketing pros, virtual assistants and anyone looking to write words that sell. It's delivered in slurpable sips - quick caffeinated shots of copy, branding, and messaging ideas fast enough to consume before your coffee goes cold. Jay Crisp Crow writes premium, blow your hair back website and email copy for brands and businesses and teaches women in business how to do exactly the same thing, now she's also in your ears with her delicious brew of organically, sustainably, ethically, and biodynamically grown copy tips and advice. Pop on the kettle and don't be latte, it's time for Cuppa Copy. This week, we're rethinking what our copy is actually for (besides creating relationships and selling things) and we're using it to take. up. space. Want a Cuppa Copy review? You bring the chai latte, I'll encourage you to take up the whole lane AND eat the patriarchy. Book it here. Shownotes for this episode are here.

Cuppa Copy has been percolated especially for copywriters, marketing pros, virtual assistants and anyone looking to write words that sell. It's delivered in slurpable sips - quick caffeinated shots of copy, branding, and messaging ideas fast enough to consume before your coffee goes cold. Jay Crisp Crow writes premium, blow your hair back website and email copy for brands and businesses and teaches women in business how to do exactly the same thing, now she's also in your ears with her delicious brew of organically, sustainably, ethically, and biodynamically grown copy tips and advice. Pop on the kettle and don't be latte, it's time for Cuppa Copy. And we're starting with the humble CTA - Call To Action. Go on, listen now. (And that's a CTA!) Grab the shownotes here. Want a CTA Cuppa Copy review? You bring the chai latte, I'll pick on your funky buttons (and other bits o' copy). Book it here.

Martha Barnard-Rae wrote her thesis on high achieving female students and their relationship to femininity from a poststructural perspective. As she says, "the poststructural bit is important because what a poststructuralist does is interrogate: why do I think this? Who benefits from my thinking this? What stories have I been told that make me think this? And whose stories have been left out?" In this episode, Martha talks us through the very top layer of unpacking what we believe about ourselves, our femininity, how that's different from feminism, how to cope with the realisations that come with all of that, and where to start. Dip your toe in some femininity and feminist beliefs from this perspective and apply them to how you view yourself as a businesswoman. I promise, it'll even be fun. The shownotes for this episode can be found here. This episode is brought to you by the brand new, fresh as a daisy, Crisp Copy Blogathon. Go check it out here.

A large percentage of the thousands of women I've worked with started their businesses because they were brilliantly, shinily, jaw-droppingly committed to filling a particular gap they saw in a market. In layman's terms, they wanted to help someone. It doesn't matter if they sell a product or offer a service, whether they have a company structure with a hefty team or they're solo operators, the women I work with - they're driven by the desire to serve. What can happen when you're led into the business shiny spotlight by a sincere dedication to a big picture outcome - you can be completely sideswiped by the every day, constantly cropping up issues of running your business. On the daily, in the evenings, when things go wrong, heck, even when things are wonderful. There's no sugar coating it. Business is hard work. Add to the practicalities of running your business and, I've said it before, business ownership is one of the biggest personal growth adventures you can sign up for. Bundle that all up together and what do you have the recipe for? Success, yes, hopefully. But sometimes also the downside - burnout. Getting so Crisp with me today is Amanda Freeman who has the coolest label on the planet - Energy Alchemist and we're going to talk about energy, burnout, expectations, conditioning, and women in business. Trigger warning: This episode contains a brief mention of suicidal thoughts. Please keep away from little ears or, your own, if you don't think this content is suitable for your own mental health. Shownotes for this episode can be found here. This episode is brought to you by the 4 week blogging course taking you from content writer to conversion copy blogger - the Crisp Copy Blogathon. Go check it out here.

Here's the truth: we're in business because we have a product or service that leads. We probably know more about that particular thing than 90% of the rest of the regular population, and 100% of our ideal clients or customers. We. Are. Professional. In our ideal clients and customers eyes, we are the experts. We're the bomb diggity. So, when we get too worried that our brand sounds a little too much like a human voice, we backtrack and become an echo of someone else's brand. Which isn't memorable. Which isn't enticing. Which doesn't convert. And this was the brilliant conversation that started when Cat Paz invited me to come on her radio show to talk about About pages. Cat is from Kalahari Business Advisors and as an accountant and literacy educator, she's probably held to one of the highest standards for this label. "Professional." Get the shownotes for this episode and find Cat here.

When I invited Louise O'Reilly to teach a class on culturally inclusive writing to my copywriting crew, I knew what a talent she was. We'd originally met through a businesswomen's online group for women in WA and once had a fiery Messenger debate about labels, back in 2015. Since then, Louise has continued to question labels, perspectives, tone, and narrative, through her work on human rights and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, on radio, and through her consultancy. She's a natural-born writer and speaker with a specific flair for moving a reader from curious to powered with knowledge and fired up to do something with it. Louise is a Warrwa-Noongar Aboriginal woman based in Boorloo (Perth, Western Australia). Through her experiences with identity and self-discovery, she realised society wasn't always accepting of her, her community or her culture. In this episode, Louise is with us to have a bit of a chat about culturally inclusive language, especially in the words we write. Specific appreciation to Louise who helped me with the Acknowledgement of Country in this episode, meaning for the first time it's spoken, not just living in words on my website.

You might have taken a test. You might have been labelled. Or you just might know - there's no denying it. You find yourself spending way too much time in the loo at events just escaping, the concept of business networking has you breaking out in goosebumps, and after any kind of event you might find yourself needing to come home to your cave and not speak to anyone for a wee while. Yes, we're talking about introversion. And fascinatingly, today we have Janice Chaka - an expert on introverts in a business setting. In fact, she's a career and business coach specifically for introverts. More thrillingly, Janice petitioned against the Cambridge dictionary to change their language around the word!

I first spotted Nicky Thomas owning the stage at my very first Secrets in the Garden event, in the first year of my business. Which, by the way feels like a thousand years ago. If you've ever been to Secrets in the Garden you know how busy it all is - multiple stages, people everywhere, everyone vying for your attention - it's kind of like being online. But Nicky Thomas, she drew eyes. She captured attention. And the way she spoke about her thing, it made me not only stop wandering about and sit down and take notice, but it also made me feel a little fire in my belly. Because if she could speak that authoritatively and excitedly about something, I felt like it was something I needed to know about. When I got to know Nicky, that all made sense. She is, and quite literally has been, a warrior. With a background in the actual trenches - a lone woman cub in the pack that's otherwise known as the Military, she has soooome stories. But don't you dare pigeonhole her, because, as I came to find out, while she was kicking goals in the Army she was also dancing as a cowgirl in the local bar. In this episode, she's joining us on So Crisp to talk about the duality women should and can allow themselves when combining their career with the creativity their souls desire. And we get a bit sidetracked. Tune in to find out. This episode was brought to you by the new Crisp Copy course - Unfail Your Email. Find out about it here.

Once, when I was silly and charged $60 an hour to write copy and was poor, I stood in front of a room full of women and told them if they had to put money behind their advertising on FB their content wasn't engaging enough. Because I was an ignorant, arrogant twat. I am hereby officially apologising to anyone who was negatively impacted by my stupidity. Funny story about today's guest. A couple of years ago my business strategist asked who I'd work with on FB Ads if I could have anyone. I said Bianca McKenzie. She said "well, you'd better work harder then because right now you can't afford her." So, I did that. And, like a lot of fabulous but high-priced service providers, she actually ended up being more cost-effective than any other FB advertising tactic I'd tried to keep costs down. Better ROI. Better feels. The lot. So, I've invited Bianca on to talk about Facebook Fibbery, myths that need blasting out of the water, and perhaps a little bit of launch cleverness too.

People pleasing. It's so 2015. Aren't we bloody over it? Lucy-Anne Lewis thinks we should be. She's a confidence coach and, apart from appreciating the two Cs in her title (I love myself some C alliteration), I like her take on confidence. See, I think a lot of people think confidence is either inherited - or you're born with it. Or it's really bravado. But, brave doesn't equal fearless. And confident doesn't equal right up yourself. And because I've had so many clients and community members tell me they love me and choose me because I am bold, funny, and confident (none of which I ever feel at the same time on the same day or sometimes even at all) I thought I'd invite an expert to unpack this word and get her expert take on - confidence.

You may have heard I have a course. I have a couple actually, but the big kahoona is the Crisp Copy Class. It's a multi moving parts 10 + module with loads of live classes and a billion hours of recorded videos and about eleventy hundred downloadables and recorded copy reviews where I've made people cry and it's all bundled up in a new slick as heck platform and available in 2 different ways at 2 different price points. But it didn't start out that complex. It started out with my fingers bleeding because I couldn't take on one more done-for-you copy client and I needed to figure out a way to deliver Jay to group learning without making my brain implode. And it was imploding. Because I thought courses were for people who were massively established and had all the bells and whistles. Until Sam Winch and I got stuck in a service elevator together and I made her be my business friend. When it was time to embrace the fact I was going to write a course, I got Sam involved. She stepped me through what to include from all the content I already had and how to deliver it for best practice for user experrience. And that's the genius. If you know stuff. If you have content. If you think passive income is a thing, you've got to listen to this episode of So Crisp.

If you've ever heard me tell the story about the business strategist I let into the backend of my cart and add an extra zero or two to my prices while I happily drank her wine and rewrote her website, this is that woman. She's my favourite money lady, which is really saying something, because money and I haven't always been friends. In fact, if I have a business that's profitable at all, and not just income generating, but giving me enough to take a living wage from, it's because of Lauren June. She facilitated the relationship between myself and my money so we could fall in love and respect each other, and I'm so thrilled to be giving her to all of you incredible listeners so she can drop some hard truths about profit atcha and, just perhaps, you can start a love affair with your own bottom line.

Elle has depth of character and endless ocean of compassionate drive that she brings into everything she touches. She's an OBM, event and conference organiser, twins advocate, one of the most relaxed and engaging speakers I've watched do her thing (best bit, she doesn't even know how good she is). She recently launched a brand new agency and - super importantly to us - is the Podager for the So Crisp Podcast. From the Artful Business Conference and Events - bringing together artisans from all over Australia, to her work supporting social impact and enterprise projects, Elle is propelled forward by something that seems to burns inside her. Today we're peeling back just a couple of the layers to find out what makes Elle tick on this very special, final podcast of our first season. PLEASE NOTE: In this episode, I mention my illness being invisible as "fortunate". This isn't a label I comfortably use anymore but was rather a repeat of what society told me was true about my disability. I reject both the inference that my disability is 'less than' just because you can't see it from the outside and also that people with visible disabilities are 'unfortunate', and, listening back, I realise I didn't explain this eloquently enough with my tone of voice in this podcast. My sincere and deep-hearted apologies for anyone listening who thought this might be the case. The Crisp Takeaways Being vocal about your values is not about "using" them as a marketing tactic - it's about connecting with other businesses and customers who share the same values and who also believe in being socially conscious in business. Admitting you have strong values and that those personal values affect the way you do business, allows you to be more strategic about it, have a bigger impact without necessarily doing more and it means you can just show up in your business as yourself more fully. Intersectional Feminism - what even is that word? I talk to Jennifer Zeven about it in Episode 1. •"As soon as you try and do something good in the world, people will tell you all the ways that you are not doing it perfectly." •Burnout comes when you think you have to keep pushing the boundaries like eating well and sleeping. Hustle culture is so damaging and distracts people from the work they should be doing - like systems, profit management, and strategic planning. •If you are trying to leave the world in a better place than you found it - you have a socially conscious business. This episode was proudly sponsored by Rare Seed Agency. Elle and her team are ready to help you regain control of your business and cultivate growth!

Lesson you learn quick smart when you start a business: your talent is a small percentage of important necessities for a successful outcome. The rest? It's business. And that's a lot of learning - often about stuff you didn't already know, a steep curve of figuring out what to DIY, what to outsource, how to find systems and processes that work for you, when to push, when to lean far out, and how to be as productive as possible (while still allowing for joy to permeate every part of your day). And then, in the online world, there seem to be 2 camps. The hustle brigade - the women striving and pushing and hustling their patooties off, proudly, and the anti-hustlers, those singing a song about unbusying your life, your business, your mindset. Hustle has become a bit of a dirty word in business, which I think is a shame. Personally, I am pro hustle. I am also pro nap and pro lean out. I know, a contradiction. So I invited Faye Hollands onto So Crisp to give us her expert advice on the hustle and to teach us all a thing about productivity. CRISPY TAKEAWAYS * Yum * Hustle does NOT equal success! Busy does NOT equal productive! One from me, "You can totally be pro-hustle and pro-nap at the same time!"

"If I say, "Don't think of an Elephant" what do you immediately think of? "How long is his trunk?"" I came across Gemma in a random post in the Freelance Jungle, big shoutout for these guys - best large group I'm a member of for freelancers on the Facey - where we were blowing off some steam chatting about "the overpour" - that one topic you could talk about for ages even when other people's eyes had glazed over and they'd started backing away slowly. And Gemma wrote this: "Cognitive-linguistic mistakes made by advocacy organisations. I'm a blast at parties." So, of course, I immediately wanted to know her. The Crisp Takeaways * Yum * The facts are not actually enough to sell people into a cause - no matter how well researched. Without a good story or a cohesive narrative, people will not buy into supporting a charity. Carefully consider the metaphors you use. These have a powerful impact on how people view your situation, and how they react to it. Often we can find metaphors that do help to explain the 'thing' but the way it leaves people feeling about it is the opposite of what we want to achieve. "If you want to bust myths - put the truth out there, rather than the myth with the word NOT attached to it. They won't remember the NOT, just the myth!" Gemma Pitcher is a consultant who helps advocacy organisations and NGOs find more strategic ways to tell their campaign stories. As well as her passion for more effective messaging, she loves research, writing, technology, training, connecting people, generating ideas, building relationships and working in fun creative teams. She dislikes bigotry, misogyny and celery.

Even just listening to Linda's DAY might make some of you tired (and Linda admits November is her extra-crazy month) but she thrives on have many projects on the go at once and is most happy when she is moving between projects and back again. She is the epitome of Multipotentiality. "The Crisp Takeaways" * Yum * Media - We don't share our story, we don't go deep enough. And we don't do it soon enough! Christmas media is already locked in by November. Marketing - Don't sell your products, share your expertise. The best day for an entrepreneur to be in Facebook Groups is the Tip Day.. Show people what you know, give value and do it regularly. Worst Advice Ever - People with the breaching of Terms of Service! When people try sneak around the rules on Facebook and Google by selling from your personal profile. Don't. Do. It. Stop trying to find the easy way - it doesn't actually exist so just stay the course and do what you need to do to move your business forward. "There is no beating the algorithm!" Tell your story, tell it well, tell it not to sell. Instead focus on sharing your expertise and the why behind your business - because that's what will get you in the media! "It might seem like I've done lots of things, had a diverse career and have my finger in many pies - but everything I do comes back to telling stories."

Belle Lockerby burst into my life because I procrast-Insta. She doesn't know it, but I'm living a life vicariously through IG sensation Lady Jo of Tasmania and, a couple of months ago, Jo posted something about her incredible, vivacious, brilliant friend Belle and her new book. So, of course, I stalked Belle. And found my favourite Perth branding photographer, AJ Harrington, also loved her to pieces. And then I consumed all Belle's Instagram stuff, not knowing she's a former copy goddess, and fully and incorrectly assuming she was far too cool to be a Perth girl. But I was wrong. I've since found we should totally start a commune, she makes worse dad jokes than me, and is a fellow snort laughter. "The Crisp Takeaways * Yum * Awkward makes for great stories. It's who I am. I can not hide it, I suck at photos and I can't be arsed really. I have a face that can't lie. Plus, I think it's important to realise that with great awkwardness comes great responsibility - no great bravery. Responsibility belongs to Spiderman I have enough challenges being responsible for providing snacks to two kids who know the meaning of negotiate. "I thought I was brave in the business world, but in other ways I was full of it. I really got to understanding it more fully when I decided to own it in all its awkwardness in all areas of life"

"Having an 'ethical' business shouldn't be a point of marketing anymore, it's just how it should be." Anu Sawhney was a celebrated designer with a successful career in fashion before launching her own ethical jewellery line - Bidiliia. She designed for big brands such as Giorgio Armani, Kenneth Cole, Gap, Old Navy, and Leona Edmiston so you may not associate fashion and the jewellery business with being focussed on being kind. Today, we're talking Kindness with Anu, owner of ethical jewellry brand, Bidiliia. We talk about the difference between kindness and weakness, being kind and being nice, and how being assertive isn't mutually exclusive with being a kind person. Understand kindness and bring it into your business with Anu. How kindness is an evolutionary process. "I don't think there's anything wrong with hustle. But that entire hustle mode can sometimes be a headless chicken thing. You don't really know what you're doing, you don't know what your business can do or should do or could do." "There are some non negotiables you should always start with, it's not really rules, it's more standing your own ground for you to be able to move and grow."

Today we're talking to Lucy Tearne, PR maven and wish granter, about the concept of transparency in branding. "No PR Crisis has ever come out of the truth - it always comes out of a lie. People forgive mistakes but they wont forgive lies." Lucy is a fearless PR Maven, a vibrant, go-getter expertly blending experience and knowledge with the intrepid ability to target a campaign specifically to not only harness all that's fabulous about a brand, but deliver it straight into the laps of their next best customers. Lucy works closely with her extended team to create greatness. She brings the best from around Australia to give her clients everything they've ever wanted. Her favourite moment is when brands are offered opportunities they previously thought of as "wishful thinking", which is why she's known as the Wish Granter.

Today the word we are going to talk about "Period" and I don't mean the punctuation mark. We start by discussing the taboo that surrounds the word "period" and why there is so much stigma around having a period, talking about your period or even saying that very loaded word - period. Stasha shares her decades of experience, research and learnings with us and explains why shaking up this taboo is so important for women on so many levels. The Crisp Takeaways * Yum * We use euphemisms because we view this experience as such a negative one. How damaging the current trends that suggest "you don't even need to have your period" can be for the female body, hormones and mental state. "If you are any kind of birth control, you are basically mimicking menopause" The biggest block holding people from back from embracing their own psychic abilities is simply the fear of opening their mouths. You have be actively ovulating to make estrogen and progesterone, and here's the thing - these are the two hormones that make us ladies feel sexy, juicy, high energy, feel happy etc. When you don't ovulate - you miss out on these. There are no studies done on the real, long term effects of birth control. There are so many long term side effects that come from not having your cycle for years at a time. We talk about some very heavy issues, including how important words are in keeping your kids safe from sexual predators. Using the right words and really learning how your own body works is an act of revolution because it is how we as women are going to reclaim our power and ultimately change the world for the generations of women who came after us.

If I say the word 'psychic', do you immediately imagine late night phone calls to a hotline, connecting with a woman with tangled hair and wearing crushed purple velvet, speaking to you in a husky, lingeringly mysterious voice while manhandling a crystal ball? I'm about to introduce you to Denise, who is, in her own words "allergic to new age fluff" but has also been bumping into dead people for as long as she can remember. Yes, today we're talking about the psychic label and all its connotations with lycra wearing, tattooed and cool as heck powerhouse, Denise Litchfield. Denise Litchfield is an irreverent psychic who's allergic to new-age fluff and who has been seeing dead people since she can remember. She's more into purple hair than purple velvet and is old enough to decide that vegetarian pizza is an essential food group, thanks very much. Which is lucky, as she can't cook rice. Make no mistake though, this talented woman honed her communication prowess over half a lifetime teaching adult aerobics. She knows how to get a point across, especially while wearing lycra. A sassy straight-shooter, Denise couldn't give a faff about being like all the other psychics, and loves making videos to tell it like it is. Her qualifications include the ability to walk through crowds and make them get out of her way; it really, really comes in handy - particularly when she's in a hurry. She believes in living an intuitive and bullshit-free life and taking things one day at a time. Oh and no; your guides don't watch you in the shower.

Last year I got up on a stage, in front of a room full of people and told them I was FAT. I mean they could see it for themselves, right? But when I dropped the word FAT as a way to identify myself the room reacted with stunned, horrified silence. FAT is such a loaded word. And you know I'm a word-nerd. So when I came across Bex Bedford I just had to have her on the show to discuss this word and what her connection to it is. Bec shares with us the story of how the reaction to her weight, from a group of collage guys, lead her to withdraw and live an isolated life for EIGHT YEARS. Things look very different for Bex now and you will want to check this one out! "I spent my whole 20's terrified that anyone was going to see me being fat!" - Bex posts pretty regular photos of herself, but because she is a larger woman, these photos and her confidence offends people and she recieves a lot of harsh feedback. - "What other people think is not your business" what the phrase that changed Bex life. She realised she had more control over the situation than she had being telling herself - Buying herself a dress and allowing herself to be a woman and all that that means, even while she is fat, meant she could be proud and love herself! "I know my journey and I know who I am, I can look in the mirror and be proud of the person looking back at me. I am worth and I am able and I am allowed as a woman and as a human to live my truth, my way! I am not going to let one person, for one more day, take that power away from me."

Shannon liberates big-dreaming, big-hearted, big-to-do-list women from all the STUFF that shows up when you start and grow a business. She does this by through her ground breaking Thrive Factor Experience - an archetypal profiling framework, designed specifically for women to empower them with tangible insights into their own mindset, relationship with money and more effortless way to market and create magnetism. It allows her clients to draw the very best clients, opportunities, confidence and more towards themselves because they now have the permission they need to show up as the very best version of themselves in their business and life. She is often referred to as a Business Yoda and we think you'll understand why after taking a listen to this episode. The Crisp Takeaways * Yum * Can business be effortless? Shannon will explain why it not only can be, but it should be! - Her favourite words are; effortless, thrive and permission - so good! - Effortless isn't about doing no work at all - but rather finding ways to make it easier and more in flow. Shannon talks a lot about 'effortless success' - which is about the result of intentional effort. - Business can be easier than a lot of us make it and that the core at the work that Shannon does with her clients. Her business mantra is always "How can this be easier?" - We talked a lot about what it means to 'go with the flow' "When we really come to know ourselves, we can step into the space where we give ourselves permission to own the strengths that we have. It also allows us to understand our potential challenges and be ready to manage them."

Swapna helps rebels on purpose, develop a firebrand mindset and go rogue with their marketing so they can confidently own their value, claim their voice and get (well) paid for their genius. In this episode we talk about how and why to be a Rebel with a Purpose! Swapna is not only a rebel on purpose, she also works with other business women to help incite the rebel within them, but she does so in a way that focuses on their purpose and what changes they want to see in the world. Swapna shares with us how to become a rebel on purpose and what it matters to do so. •The place to start is WHY, why you want to do the work you do, what you hope to achieve with it and what change you want to see in the world. •It's not always easy to be a rebel so you need to know and stay connected to the why it is that you are doing it. •Swapna's favourite word is liminal (and it's a good one) relating to a transitional or initial stage of a process or occupying a position at, or on both sides of, a boundary or threshold. •Creating wealth and earning great money is a powerful act of rebellion and it empowers you to be able to rebel in many more other ways. "You are allowed to work with whoever you want to, right now, wherever you are! You are allowed to work with the right people."

Clare Wood shares her thoughts on the Mumpreneur Label and why it's a term that she is really proud of.

Shilpa Agarwal is a book writing coach and marketing mentor with a difference. One autumn afternoon, she denied herself the privilege of going for a run, because she feared it would make her seem not 'serious' about her business. She has lived a life of pleasing others, worrying about what others think, not valuing her own worth, and basically, a lifetime of feeling 'not enough'. Something had to give. It was at this moment, that she found her purpose and her mission of #Enoughness was born.

Gemma Moore is a spark finder, a word spinner, and a marketing strategist who loves helping women business owners find and share their SPARK with the world. She's here today, shining that light on us to help us unearth our achievements to we can dust them off and pop them on display. What do you want to know about entering (and winning!) business awards? Listen in, because Gemma's here to help. We discuss what makes you shine, and how to leverage that into your award applications.

Liv Steigrad of Tender L Creative is a fellow copywriter who brings psychological insight to her wordsmithing. I am a not-so-secret fan of hers, so I invited her onto So Crisp to get emotional about copywriting - in a good way! Ever wished you had an alter-ego? Liv and I discuss the power of names, and then we get into the psychology of copy, client avatars, and taking risks. There's a bit of queer marketing and baby-having in the mix as well!

Michelle Whitehead is an Australian lawyer and accredited mediator who provides creative entrepreneurs with the ultimate tools for business self-care. So naturally I invited her onto So Crisp to chat about all things wonderful in the world of words. Copyright protects works of creativity. This includes literary works, so in the context of business that is your blog posts, marketing, etc., artistic works (graphics, photographs), and dramatic works (videos, podcasts). What does it not cover? Find out in this episode.

Bonnie Davies is a West Australian comedian, writer, and producer. She is the founder and CEO of The Gelo Company, and as a producer she's won a bunch of awards and worked with a lot of great people and companies. But Bonnie is more famous (literally!) as her alter ego - Famous Sharron, who is very famous for nothing at all. Famous Sharron has won multiple awards and been crowned the 'Face of WA', is an Ambassador for Event Cinemas, and has lead multiple state advertising campaigns (they won awards too). On top of all that, she's even found time to write a book! I wanted to interview Bonnie not only because she makes me burst with giggles and snorts, but because she is an unconventional woman, making fabulous strides in the field of comedy and arts in Australia. And, though Famous Sharron, helps women 'become the fame they want to see in the world' and celebrate their damn fine selves!

Time to get juicy. A sexologist and author, Lauren White has plenty to teach us. I've invited her on the show to explore an often-ignored and infrequently-discussed topic: women's sexuality. Talking all things sexy, Lauren and I cover permission and consent, book concepts and titles, and poetry and Plath. Lauren works with women who want to move from anxiety and inhibition so that they can source their libidos in life and sex.

Jennifer Zeven is one smart cookie. You may not know her name yet, but you will. She's also one of my best feminist rant writing mates. Jennifer has purposefully positioned her freelance writing brand to incorporate her personal brand and her beliefs - with the phrase "opinionated woman" Where so many other women in business fear to tread, I wanted to know; how come she is so brave? Jennifer and I discuss internalised misogyny, what challenges women face as modern feminists, bravery and honesty in website copy, and House of Cards. Spoiler alert! l learn what makes Jen tick, and why she established #OpinionatedWoman