ask vienda anything n° 2

female founder — my enterprising journey: the timeline, challenges & lessons from a soft, gentle, feminine businessperson

I recently sent out this q&a (please, keep sending in your questions) and received many questions asking how I run a soft, gentle, feminine-led business.

Things like…

“what are your tips on selling?”

“how do you handle taking risks?”

“do ever struggle with being seen?”

“what is your secret behind writing great copy?”

“what are the neg. aspects of running a business?”

“how do you define and create financial security?”

“how do you expand your capacity for increased success?”

my story • a timeline

2013 — the beginning

The first couple of years were the hardest. It was the throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks phase.

I created & promoted free challenges, giveaways, workshops, anything. (To my random little audience of 300.)

I co-created with women who were ahead. slowly, my concept grew.

In my spare time learned, learned, learned; business podcasts, books, YouTube videos, PDFs - anything I could get my hands on.

I stayed in developing countries. hello: Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Costa Rica (back when they were all still really cheap).

And then San Francisco and Venice in L.A.

I lived off savings and took on copywriting and social media contracts to support myself when I ran out of cash.

2015 — the real beginning

I remember reading that if your business isn’t making money, then it’s just an expensive hobby. Those words always stayed with me.

By the end of 2014, I had a roster of clients and a live program. My business was finally supporting me.

In 2015 I created my first ever online course that made AUD $10,000 (because I had started my business in Australia with an Australian bank account) which I filmed in my friend’s bathroom in Bali (best lighting, cute tile aesthetic) with the relentless roosters crowing in the background.

I lived in New Zealand and Bali and travelled through Southeast Asia then ended up in Canada with my partner.

2017 — the cruise

The tremendous time and energy investment into my business started to level out.

I didn’t have to work as hard to get in front of audiences, sell courses and sign clients. I was cruising and it felt good. All that effort was worth it.

I developed 4 more online courses. I taught a 2-day live workshop in London. I out-earned my partner. I left my partner.

I moved to a 2-bedroom casita in the jungle on the Pacific Coast of Mexico.

2020 — the peak

I moved to the seaside town of Brighton in the U.K. to pursue my dream of creating Plannher with a European print house.

The global panini happened.

Everyone seemed to have disposable cash and time and I was the busiest I had ever been. I had my first £10,000 month. I was fully booked out. I had over 100 attendees in my online courses.

Looking at the figures, 2020 and 2021 were big, bountiful beautiful years.

Looking at my mental health, I was quickly deteriorating.

Late 2021 I moved to the Mediterranean island of Mallorca to escape the cold British winter.

2022 — the crash

I felt dizzy, confused and disabled.

Anxiety arose out of nowhere. The energy to create and show up to my work and business was radically diminished. I questioned whether I could go on.

I burnt out.

By 2023 I crashed.

And took my foot off the gas. Slowed everything right down. I returned to the U.K. for the soft cocoon of this mothering land.

And took the year off working as minimally as possible. I dipped into my savings.

It still surprises me that I made £22,000 working 5-10 hours a week that year.

And I listened:

• I needed financial stability (safety)

• I needed to change my relationship to online visibility

• I needed to break my addiction to the fast rush of social media

2024 — flowering anew

I took my time.

No force, no pressure, I allowed myself to be moved forward in my business by the gentle nudges of life. An aliveness seeped in. Innovative solutions landed.

The energy, the pulse and my confidence in myself and my work gently returned.

So many lessons were learned. Let’s get into those now.

the lessons • what I know now

• Some years are flush and others are poor. Trust that there’s a bigger picture at play. Limitless growth is not linear or sustainable. You’ve got to know when something is enough… And save for your fuck off fund. (Lucky I did.)

• There are 5 major functions of a business:

1. product/service development

2. customer service

3. accounting

4. operations

5. marketing

• Have either weekly or bi-monthly CEO days. This is when I overview all the various moving pieces and work on my business instead of in it. It’s taking an objective perspective on what is working, what is not, and what I want and need to do to move the needle forward. I normally do this on a Monday.

• 50% of my job is to be a marketer. No one, no matter how good they say they are, can market your products or services for you. I know because I hired someone in 2022 and lost a lot of money in doing so. My business. My responsibility. (The other 50% is everything else, incl. overseeing and managing support and delivering my products and services.)

• Feel genuine appreciation for the financial, location and creative freedoms this venture has given me. Including the intoxicating ability to make a positive difference in this world.

• Less is more. Focus on the 20% of the 80/20 that produces revenue.

1. get in front of new audiences and encourage referrals and sharing

2. content marketing (emails/podcasts/social media)

3. build and nurture community

4. sell

• Create and lean on systems and structures that make showing up to my “job” easy. Have clear practices & routines; use productivity tools so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel each time.

• Say “no” more than I say “yes”. And be discerning with those yes’s.

• What hurts the most? What are my biggest hopes? Dreams? Desires? Fears? Understanding that is understanding my prospective clients and students because you are like me.

• Sharing the solutions that solve those problems (above) is what creates sales.

• Dream. Plan. Set aims. Follow through. Rinse. Repeat.

• Don’t give your power away.

p.s.: some recommended reading

• I once had a client who was obsessed with buying toilet paper.

  Her biggest fear every single day was that she might run out of toilet paper.

  So every day, on her way home, she would buy (another) pack of toilet paper. A story about a private client; on clients' presenting problems; using your insight (intuition); who our clients are; fear of not standing out or being unique enough to succeed; and more... Read it here.

• Your tools can be replicated... Whether it's Reiki, coaching, mentoring, yoga teaching, or breathwork— right now, thousands of practitioners are using these same techniques. Here's what cannot be replicated: the unique way YOU relate to these tools. Your personal experiences, your intuition, your voice. These are what make your practice truly one-of-a-kind. It's not about the tools themselves, but how you give them shape and voice in your work. Read it here.

• You yearn for a more intuitive way to help, a heart-centred approach that honours the unique journey. Deep down, you know there's more to facilitating true healing than what traditional programs offer. As practitioners, we find ourselves armed with tools that barely scratch the surface, ill-equipped to dive into the depths where real transformation occurs. It's a disheartening realisation. That our training or lack thereof may be holding us back from offering the profound, holistic support our clients truly need. But what if there was a different way? Read it here.