#96 - Big Life Changes, Small Business Shifts

SUMMARY

When big life changes come along—like, say, getting a new puppy—our business rhythm often needs to shift too. In this warm and reflective episode, I talk about how I’m preparing for a new season that will require more flexibility and care.

I share what went into the decision to welcome a Finnish Lapphund puppy into our home, and how I’ve been mentally and practically adjusting my business in advance. From revisiting my priorities to simplifying email strategies, I’m choosing sustainability over hustle, and presence over perfection. This episode is the beginning of a new podcast series that I’ll be recording in advance so I can step back this summer, while still showing up for my community and clients with intention.

It’s a gentle reminder that you can run a business in alignment with your life, not in competition with it.

FULL SHOW-NOTES WITH TAKEAWAYS + LINKS

patternshift.fm 

BEST QUOTE FROM THE EPISODE

“Not growing is not the same as shrinking. Keeping things status quo is fine—although very hard for me, I have to admit.”

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This episode was sponsored by Ja, Wol. I promote my own services and products in my podcast rather than working with sponsors. I will share the odd-discount for things I fully support and use.

Chapters

• 0:00 Announcing a Furry New Addition
• 1:52 The Puppy Prep Journey
• 3:55 Adapting Business with Intention
• 6:13 Restructuring Work and Priorities
• 9:15 Behind the Podcast Creation Process
• 15:28 Closing Thoughts on Navigating Change

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey there and welcome back to the Pattern Shift podcast. My name is Saskia and today's episode is a little different, more personal, more behind the scenes and hopefully really useful if you're also navigating big life shifts when running a small business. So big news from our family we are welcoming a baby into our house. Hey there and welcome to Pattern Shift, the podcast where creative business owners like you learn to build a business that's inspiring, fun and sustainable. I'm Saskia de Feijder, a business strategist, guide maker and all-round creative entrepreneur. I help business owners in the needle and fiber craft world, just like you, navigate all those icky words, branding, marketing and strategy in a way that actually works for your creative brain. Here we talk about everything from running a values-driven business to simplifying your marketing without burning out. Whether you're just starting out or looking to refine your business, you're in the right place. So settle in, grab a cup of tea, coffee or, you know, broekladig you do, you, and let's get started. A dog, baby we're getting a puppy. Yes, a furry, floppy, sharp toothed little life bomb is about to explode into our household and in this episode I want to share not just the what, but also the how how I'm adapting my business to meet this new reality, what I've changed, what I've let go of, the mindset shifts that helped me make space, and how making this podcast series is actually part of the solutions. Let's get into it. The puppy prep Okay, so the decision wasn't made lightly.

Speaker 1: 1:58

We've talked about this for years and over the past few months we started doing some real research, which is a nice way of saying. We borrowed a friend's puppy and tested our sanity levels. We dog sat for a few hours first, then a whole day, then a week. We watched training videos, read everything we could, and I did a lot of soul searching, because, the truth is, I'll be the one looking after the pup during the day. I work from home and I knew that if I was going to do this, I needed to be all in no resentment, no, what have I done?

Speaker 1: 2:39

Moments. And as my friend was experiencing the puppy blues in that face where they just can't seem to let go of your ankles, she was in tears and at that moment, had such a sad for her good for me opportunity to find out that this is part of it. And am I ready for that? The puppy blues, which is a moment where you're taking care of your puppy and you're thinking I am just going to give it to the next person that says, oh, how cute. Eventually it all clicked into place and I had a full body. Yes, also, for those of you who are wondering, we are getting a Finnish laphund, a Lappi. Google it and prepare to melt. They shed like crazy a couple of times a year but are otherwise very low maintenance coat-wise. They are clever, gentle, full of character. They are clever, gentle, full of character and, honestly, just big, fluffy, tiny bears. I'm so excited.

Speaker 1: 3:49

Okay, then there's the whole mindset shift. This is where the business comes in, because getting a puppy means my time, energy, focus. All of that is about to shift dramatically and instead of panicking or trying to push through and do it all, I decided to do what I help other business owners do all the time adapt with intention. I reminded myself of my strengths. I've done a strength test in the past couple of years and, funnily enough, my biggest learned strength is work ethic and my top unrealized strength, adaptability, which means I can pivot and reimagine how things work if I let myself. This doesn't have to be a setback. It can be a creative constraint. It can even be a gift, because constraint is the mother of creativity. As you have less to work with, you have to be more creative, and that's where I feel my best self, when I can be creative, problem solving and just trying to make things more efficient in fun ways.

Speaker 1: 5:05

I needed to get clear on what really matters in this new season. What are my constraints? What do I value? What are my non-negotiables, any boundaries? This is actually a key part of what we do in the Business Circle program too, so it was kind of easy for me to revisit.

Speaker 1: 5:24

So here's what rose to the top. One I care for myself first, so I can be present for the puppy, my family and my clients. Two, I honor my commitments, especially the people who are already working with me. Three, I'm staying visible, not to grow, but to stay connected with those that are already in my smaller or wider community. That meant letting go of the pressure to do more or to be everywhere and focusing on what's most essential. I talked about that before and if you're on my list, you probably noticed something. Hopefully, something hopefully.

Speaker 1: 6:13

I then restructured how I send updates. Now it's a monthly newsletter plus new podcast episodes alerts whenever a podcast episode comes out. I'm also batch recording podcast episodes in advance. This one is the first. I'm actually creating a new podcast series that ties in with my business framework. It's designed to help people walk through the key stages of building a business that fits your life. That's what you'll be hearing over the next few episodes and it means I can step back this summer and not worry about being constantly on. Client calls will continue as usual. Those are my priority, and I've scheduled weekly prompts and questions in the Evol community so that space stays active and supportive, even while I'm in puppy mode.

Speaker 1: 7:02

Of course I won't be able to not be in the community because it's my cozy little fiber village and I just I'm there all the time. So I will not not be there Just because I have a plan. It doesn't mean that I don't have worries. Of course I do. What if people forget about me? What if I fall behind? What if everything just kind of disappears?

Speaker 1: 7:28

Business always needs to grow. That's the life blood of a business growth. But then I also realized staying visible in small, consistent ways is enough. It's enough for now. Not growing is not the same as shrinking. Keeping things status quo is fine, although very hard for me, I have to admit. I also know that this season is going to be temporary. It's not going to be like this forever. The goal right now is not to grow, it's to maintain, to stay grounded, to care for myself and my people and doggos and chickens and cats and to be okay with enough. And you know what? I'm so excited because this puppy feels like a sort of a whole new chapter for our family and for my business, and I full well know that I do a lot of changes in my business, but this is not going to be something that people on the outside will notice much. It's more for me. So in this plan I make sure that my part of everything is different, but on your side things will stay the same, at least for now.

Speaker 1: 8:48

I'm also right in the middle of coach training. I am refining my offers. I want to be the best support professional that I can be, and so I felt coaching needed to be part of that. And as coaching already gets kind of a bad rap, I was not going to do it without getting actual accreditation. So I have to put in a lot of hours and I have to train a lot in order to become a good coach. I've never felt more confident about what I don't need to do. As I grow as a person, my business grows with me. I learn what's important, and changing your business is a very normal thing, basically what's always going on, and so working with it instead of against it is one of the best things that you can do, and this way I also get to keep showing up for my community in ways that feel joyful and sustainable, which is the whole core of what I'm trying to teach other business owners, and I get to snuggle the puppy.

Speaker 1: 10:06

Have you Googled already? If not, just if you need to pause, or you probably don't need to, you can still listen to me. Just Google Finnish Lapphunt it's, it's yummy, so lots of cuteness, aggression. Anyway, back to the episode. So just wanted to say it's quite of a short episodes, and the next episodes might also be quite short, because I do have to fit in all of these new episodes in a few days. I'm bulk recording, so they will be a little bit shorter, but I'm also trying to not yap too much. So I am writing scripts in order to get to the point, which might take away some of the chaos that you're used to. I'm taking you with me to let you know how I do this whole process.

Speaker 1: 11:01

So I come up with an idea, then I use the power of artificial intelligence. Sorry, gotta, I'm just one person, I can't do it all. I try to use it with a lot of integrity. I've tried different things out and sometimes I felt like it wasn't me. So now I found a balance. And where I need support with not talking, I can do the talking Also. Not writing I can write. What I need support with is to get some of the yapping out and some clarity in. So I kind of designed a whole process that, yeah, helps me to organize my thoughts.

Speaker 1: 11:52

So what I do is I think of a topic, then I get the help of AI to get some points out. Then I write, just as I would write with my words, a whole blog post on the topic. It then ends up way too long and with extras and things double, and so I ask AI to kind of clean it up a little, but keep my voice, and so it's still my voice. Then I get the blog post back and with that we are working on a script for the podcast episode. So I say listen, this is the podcast, and I'm always polite because I've learned.

Speaker 1: 12:42

The way you talk to the AI is how you train it to talk back. So I talk in a certain tone of voice because it's not somebody, it's not a body, it's not a thing that thinks, it's just combining different things that match what you want. So I want a certain tone of voice and I have built on top of that. So then we make the script and I've got the script in front of me and then I read the script. But I also freestyle and that kind of results in what you're listening to right now. But if I freestyle, everything is really long and probably a little bit more funny. I have to work on the sense of humor of my AI thing. I tend to become more serious when I'm typing than when I'm speaking. So, yeah, that's kind of how it works.

Speaker 1: 13:42

Everything that you hear all comes from my brain. The text has been organized. So it's basically like my house. I designed the interior with all the colors and the fabrics and the furniture and the knickknacks and everything. The mess sometimes gets reorganized, decluttered and cleaned, and the cleaning part I asked somebody else to do. So it's kind of the same thing. It's still my house, still my design, still my taste, still my vibe. Hopefully, the same thing is happening here, so that you know what's going on, and I just wanted to be honest about that and clear about that, because that's just how I do things.

Speaker 1: 14:27

So this is all about the process of my life changing, getting a puppy, and I just want to say, if you're also navigating a big change whether it's a move, a baby in the house, some diagnosis, a shift in energy, a loss or anything I see you, we are all living life. Changes are about to happen, but you don't have to do everything everywhere all at once. You don't have to disappear either. You can move forward with care and intention. Stick around for the next episodes in this series. Attention, stick around for the next episodes in this series. I'll be diving into the three parts of my business framework way find, organize and launch, which is w-o-l ball and I'll show you how they can help you to create a business that fits your actual life. Thank you so much for listening and I'll catch you in the next episode. Bye, thank you, thank you.