Dear Handmade Life

Nicole shares a special announcement, a thank you gift for all of you and closes out the season before our podcast goes on winter break. We'll see you all again in January 2023 for a new season.

Nicole chats with Instagram branding strategist Kat Coroy about how to create an authentic brand on Instagram that attracts your ideal customers, ways to create content without feeling overwhelmed, a mindset shift to help you feel more confident on social media, how to deal with negativity online and more.

What does a visionary relationship with your finances look like? Nicole talks with Jessie Susannah Karnatz aka the Money Witch about healing your relationship with money, creating change in your financial life, how to determine who your big financial goal is, the real reasons behind your money issues and more.

How are radical authenticity and self-acceptance drivers in the growth of creativity and business? Healer, Licensed Therapist, Ritualist, Yoga Instructor Shirley Johnson joins Nicole for a conversation about how if you’re not growing and moving towards being your true self, you won’t be able to build a sustainable business and irresistible brand. They talk about how discomfort and patience are key to growth, why rough spots are transformational, what to do if you feel like there’s something bigger for you and more.

What sets doers apart from dreamers? How do you know if you should take the leap and turn your artistic passion into a business? Ilana Griffo & Katie Johnson, artists, published authors and co-owners behind Goodtype join Nicole for a conversation all about what it takes to make a living from your art. They talk about how to know if it's time to quit your job, taking calculated risks, testing the market, sacrifices they had to make and more.

What is your brand story? How do you clarify your vision and create branded purposeful content that supports it? Brand, Content Marketing Strategist and avid storyteller Vivienne Okafor joins Nicole to answer these questions as well as talk about how to keep with the changes on social media, the importance of market research and how to do it on a budget, and they have an on-the-spot brainstorm session and create content ideas for a handmade brand to get your inspired. P.S. - You can join Nicole and Vivienne on Instagram Live on October 19, 2022 at 1pm PT for a Live content idea brainstorm session. We’ll invite you to tell us about your brand and we’ll give you a few content ideas that feel on-brand and easy. Just head to @ dearhanmdadelife on Instagram to RSVP.

How does gratitude play a role in goal-getting? How can realizing that as Jack Canfield said, “there are only three things you can control: what you think, what you visualize, and what you do” change your life? What does success look like? How can you fully embrace the good things in your life and move towards joy? Nicole chats with her friend of 20 years, Amy Tan, a small business owner, proud mama, professional scrapbooker, and the founder of Amy Tangerine, about all of this and more.

Whats's the biggest thing that’s holding you back in your creativity and business? It's actually YOU or more specifically your mindset. Your mindset can limit you and keep you in your comfort zone where everything is known and relatively safe, there's no risk of failure or making mistakes but there's also no chance for bringing the brilliance that only you have into the world. And, we need your brilliance! In this episode I’m sharing a story about my own mindset struggle that affected my business and six steps to deal with your inner critic and cultivate a mindset of abundance.

How can practices like breathwork, human design, EFT and the law of attraction help you find the flow and get unstuck in your life, creativity and business? That’s what we talk about with author and instructor Kerry Burki in today’s episode. Even if you’re more practical than woo-woo I urge you to listen with an open mind as adding these tools to your creative business owner toolbox can be impactful and meaningful.

If you’re a maker who is just starting your business, this episode is for you. Business owner, podcast host, educator and bestselling author Sue Monhait shares insights from her 30+ years in business to help early stage creative business owners shorten the learning curve to having a successful business. We talk about how to know if there’s a market for what you make, the common things makers miss when starting a handmade business, how to find your focus, how to know if your business is successful and more.

Even the most successful business owners deal with impostor syndrome, negative beliefs, limiting mindsets and other underlying issues that can sabotage their path from where they are to where they want to be. On today’s podcast we talk with Topsie VandenBosch a Mindset & Emotional Intelligence Coach & Consultant about these common mindset spirals and how to crush them.

What does a happy and abundant life look like? How do you know if you’re wealthy? What does it mean to be semi-retired? How can you plug the plug leaks of time, money and energy? These are some of things Nicole and life and wealth coach Alyssa Blackwell-Hammond talk about during this episode. This episode has a bit more woo-woo talk (think sacred spaces and spirit guides) than usual. Grab a drink, open your mind and hit play.

How can you be authentic and impactful on Instagram for your creative business without spending all your time planning content, mastering every new feature and feeling overwhelmed? KatieMac our online operations director joins Nicole for this special episode where they sit down with Instagram strategist Manu Muraro, the founder of Your Social Team and answer that question and more. They talk about the benefits of being salesy on Instagram, time management, new features, what metrics you should analyze, how to know if a post is successful, reposting guidelines, the question you need to ask yourself before every single post and much more!

Creative and entrepreneur, Margo Tantau and Nicole talk about the lifecycle of trends, forecast what’s next in design trends, how creatives can determine where to focus, when it’s time to push and when it’s time to rest, how to define what you do, what the creatives who meet their goals have in common, productivity culture and more.

If you've ever wondered how some people seem to have this fearless authenticity online, this episode is for you. Nicole talks with business mentor Erica Reitman about how to live a life that’s true to yourself, Erica’s evolution from interior designer to coach, how creatives can uncover and embrace their uniqueness, how to tackle social media without any dancing or pointing and more.

What if instead of thinking of social media as an obligation, you thought of it as an opportunity that allowed you to connect with your ideal customer and have fun? It’s possible! In today’s episode Content Strategist & Creative Director Gabriella Layne-Avery shares the techniques, mindset and insight you need to transform your relationship with social media into something that serves your business, your community and you.

Despite the fact that I ended up only asking designer, artist, and speaker, Adam J. Kurtz (aka Adam JK) only one of my official interview questions since the conversation flowed on its own, we actually covered many of the topics I wanted to touch on like admitting you don’t know what you're doing, Adam’s art and career, defining your version of success, embracing your youness, ways to be okay (even if only briefly) with the fragility of being a human, his newest book You Are Here *For Now and more.

Uncovering Your Brand Story with brand expert Marina Girgis. Marina and I talk about finding what lights you up, vision mapping, finding your own idea of success, creating a lasting brand, discovering your brand's mission and values and how you don't have to wait for someone to give you the life you want but instead can create it for yourself.

Financial planner Lauren Estes shares her insights for creatives to get their financial ducks in a row. Nicole and Lauren talk about money mindset issues, saving when you’re self-employed, the big mistakes she sees clients make and more.

Nicole helps you go from dream to done as she guides you through three key things you need to do to get your goals. Have you ever started going after something and found yourself losing steam? Or maybe you felt stuck during the process? Or you didn’t start because you weren’t sure what to do or felt overwhelmed? If so, this episode is for you. Nicole will help you get unstuck and break down those roadblocks. P.S. Enrollment is now open for The Club, our Members-Only community for creatives and passionate small business owners to get the tools, mindset, accountability and support to take your next big leap. Membership only opens a few times a year and our next enrollment period is February 1-15, 2022. You can join the waiting list at https://dearhandmadelife.com/theclub/