I'm planning some changes
I'd love your thoughts and feedback
The fact that I’m writing to 1,175 people about this is amazing to me. Three years ago I started writing weekly about my experience of working for myself for the first time. This was a self reflection exercise and a way to build a writing habit. What I didn’t expect was that people would read and enjoy what I wrote.
Around a year ago I re-structured my publication to allow me to continue to write about running my business, write more about my design work and start experimenting with more personal pieces. Last year I also tried paywalling some of my business writing. It’s been a real joy trying things out, getting your feedback and flexing my muscles as a writer. Your continued and growing support through this has been, and continues to be, wonderful.
I’m writing to you all today because there’s going to be some bigger changes to my publication over the next few weeks and I wanted you all to be the first to know. Through joining Beth Kempton’s Ink and Flame course I’ve recently been interrogating what it is I want to write about, and more importantly - why.
So if you’re here for my writing on design, this is our time to say goodbye (on Substack at least). I spend my days as a designer and while writing about design is good for my business, it’s not what I love to write about. If you’re interested in all things service design you can find me over on LinkedIn. I’ll also be gradually moving my design writing over to the blog on my website and continuing to share my thoughts on design there.
If you’re here for my writing about running a business you might want to see how things go. I’m not sure how much I’ll write about my business life moving forwards. I’ll be guided by what comes to me. I’ll be slimming down my business writing archive over the coming weeks. Some will stay, if it fits with the new focus, but a lot of this content will be removed from my publication. I’d like to do something with this writing but I’m not sure what yet. If you’re a paying subscriber, there are a handful of pieces in my archive that are for paying subscribers only. These will likely be removed so if you want to retain access, double check you still have them in your inbox and if not, get screenshotting or drop me an email and I can make sure you get to keep them.
Now for the exciting bit. I want to tell you about the new focus for my writing.
If I could have one wish, it would be that everyone was welcome. That we lived in a world where difference was revered, not feared. I believe, for this to be a reality, we all need to get better at showing the parts of ourselves that don’t conform and sharing the experiences we have that we’d normally keep to ourselves.
My biggies are that I have a transgender father, I’m childfree by choice and I live with anxiety. At the other end of the spectrum, I rarely wear a bra and have a chipped tooth because I hit myself in the face with a tennis racket when I was a teenager. Difference comes in all shapes and sizes, for everyone, yet we work so hard to hide it.
Moving forward, my publication will be a growing collection of personal essays about the things we shy away from talking about. Mental health, death, money, the reality of long term relationships, the intricacies of human connection, the way in which we have to grapple with our pasts as we get older, menopause, friendship break ups. The list goes on. As I move through my forties, I’m leaning into sharing the parts of life that others might be inclined to hide - with the hope of inspiring others to do the same.
A wise man, thanks Tom Spencer, once told me that my superpower is my honesty. I hope that by channeling my power in this direction I can help others feel less alone in their difference and encourage a collective movement against the conformity of experience.
At this point I’m sure some people will be thinking, as a white, heterosexual, almost married, able bodied woman, I’m not that different. I agree. However, isn’t that the point. That the spectrum of difference reinforces the idea of conformity in itself. So by just acknowledging that we are all beautifully unique, and getting braver at sharing the parts of ourselves and our experiences that we perceive to be non-conforming, no matter how big or small, we start to build connection and understanding. I would also love to explore inviting guest writers to contribute their experiences at some point.
So, are you staying? I hope so.
If you are, I have three questions for you:
What shall we call this new publication?
What do you want to read about?
Could I paywall the really vulnerable subjects or does this go against the entire ethos? If not, what might you pay for instead?
I’d love to hear any answers to these questions in the comments, or feel free to hit reply to share your thoughts directly. I’d also just be happy to hear your thoughts and feedback on the new focus of my writing in general.
Thank you for being alongside me as I continue growing as a writer and if this is your time to move on, then it’s been nice having you here.
I love ‘Prefer not to say’, Emma. And I love the new direction – it’s important to make space for writing what feels true to you, rather than writing for work all the time.
As for subs, I’ve seen another Substack writer who built up a great stock of posts, then paywalled them and suggests that to make the most of them people just need to pay the one-off fee and then cancel if they wish. That way he gets income and people get access to the archive. Just an idea – I’ve been toying with it myself.
As someone who’s loved both working with you and reading about what you’ve done next, I honestly can’t wait to read these new essays. 🤩 all the best!
Paywall wise, that’s up to you. For me, part of inclusion is openness and throwing things out there into the world. But that’s up to you where you might need that divide, and also where you might want to be paid for your knowledge and insight. Either way, I’ll be here. Can’t wait.