After a reset in nature last week, I felt like I finally tapped back into my voice, and one of the things that came up was the blog situation on my website. I’ve been writing a lot again, longer pieces, more personal stuff, photography, and sure, while it’s nice to share some of it here or on Instagram, it’s important to me that it also lives somewhere I own.

Back when I first moved to Australia in 2010, I started taking lil road trips on the weekends to go explore and see what cool shit I could find. What felt like freedom at the time, was the beginning of me learning how to be alone with myself, and actually like my own company. These days, these solo adventures are my everything. Over the last year or so it’s hit me how important they are not just for my soul, but for my creative nourishment.

I've been on my little side quest of making jewellery for just over 6 months now, and I've been thinking a lot about what it's taught me that might be different from the world of graphic design, and just creativity in general. I post it a lot more on my Instagram if you want to see some of the pieces I've made and where you can buy it ( it's not available online anywhere, just in a couple local stores here in British Columbia).

Over the last few months I was all-in on running the first round of Layout Legends, then I was head first into my first move in 6 years, so sometimes when life is a lot everything else just has to take a back seat for a little bit, you know. And this is why I love running my own business, because it means the space can be there when I need it to be. So today I thought I'd keep it chill with a life update, and some thoughts on moving & making a home, since that's been my focus lately.

So I've been keeping my eye out for really sick design a lot more than usual lately, since I'm bringing a lot of shit into my course Layout Legends, to talk about what actually makes good design and what I think some brands are doing really well, and there's something I've been noticing a bit lately that I absolutely LOVE, so I wanted to talk about it more here with you too.

I’ve been noticing a bit of a trend lately, if you want to call it that, where really big name entrepreneurs/businesses are re-branding, and their new branding is just a lot more… flat, boring, and to be honest, soul-less.

Let’s talk about the beige wave in branding—minimalism, white space, serif fonts. I know you know what I’m talking about. It’s everywhere. And while it’s not bad, I’ve been wondering—are these design choices truly intentional, or are we all just leaning on the easiest, safest trend out there?? 🤔

This week felt truly like the end of summer, it’s a little fresher at night, I put my fans away, the fruit stand guy packed up & left town, and I’m slowly wearing my dresses less and less. We’ve still got some solid sunny days coming up, which you bet your ass I’m going to make the most of, but it’s got me ready to shift into a new season.

I’ve been over to the Sunshine Coast a few times now, but one spot I’d never been to until this trip was Smuggler Cove. And holy shit, what a spot. It’s some of the most insane water I’ve ever seen.

Apparently it was a secret spot they would hide back in the 1800’s when they were smuggling Chinese workers into the United States, and then again during the prohibition when they were moving alcohol from Texada Island… So it’s a wild spot that has a lot of history and I’m sure stories behind it.

So this one isn’t a total solo mission, but I went to this group event by myself, not knowing anyone, and it was such an awesome time. It was a photography tour called Go Sailing, with Natural Freedom and Taylor Burk, and we went out on the Providence Sailing ship, which is apparently Canada’s oldest passenger ship… and it was so rad.

I just spent 4 days on a solo road trip, hanging out in the Canadian Rockies and holy shit, if there’s a place that can bring me back to life and re-invigorate my creativity and sense of adventure, that’s it right there. But let’s take it back for a second, because I wanna share some context for this trip, and what it meant for me, because it didn’t feel like just another, normal solo road trip.

So last weekend, on February 11th, it was 13 years since I quit my job in Sydney, Australia, to be self employed. Shit that is a LONG time, and it feels like it, lol. I wanted to make a lil collection of thoughts on some shit I’ve learned, and am still learning from all this time running my own business & all of the things that come along with that. So here it is!

I’ve been asked a handful of times recently what I think about ConvertKit, so I figured I’d do a little comparison with Flodesk since it seems like these are the two main players at the top of the email marketing game these days.

If you know me & my vibe, you know I’m all about carving out a niche that’s based on your unique perspective (not trends, or specific services, or really anything external), but sometimes I feel like there’s a missing piece to the whole ‘DON’T COPY PEOPLE’ convo.

‘Dial it up.’‘Take it to the next level.’‘Go BIG’…. These were a few of the things circling in my mind on a walk a while back. We see this shit a lot, right?? There’s this idea that when you have a chance to start fresh on something new, or re-imagine something you're already doing, it should be bigger and better than what you’ve done before.

I have a few things I've been thinking about (and reminding myself of) lately when it comes to creativity, and business, so I thought I'd share 'em here with you too. No matter how long you’ve been in the game, it will always ebb & flow.

I wanted to share a story from a situation that came up a few months ago, something that at the time *majorly* threw me off balance, but I took a breather, and also got some advice from my brother (ha), that helped me get past it.

I don’t know about you, but if you’re self-employed too, I’m willing to bet that one of the main reasons you made that move was because of the freedom-fueled lifestyle it can help you create. Amiright?? That was probably my number one reason, and after 12+ years in the entrepreneur game…

It's all well and good to dive into a re-brand for the aesthetics & design, and it's a huge part of it, but if your strategy, messaging, and values aren't clear, you'll likely find yourself in the midst of another 're-brand' in 6 months... which isn't really what you want.

So the other week I was having a convo in my Instagram DM’s with someone about all kinds of things that we have to suss out as a part of the creative process, and the topic of the value of creativity came up. I think it’s an important one, because sometimes as Creatives we feel like we need to justify our value, or justify our prices…