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Rebel thoughts, ideas and
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Reflections from the quiet rebellion.

Here's our space for honest writing on life, work, enoughness and doing things differently. Think stories, insights, and questions from the journey for those done pretending everything’s fine.

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I nearly cried when I read this message!

(I was already feeling emotional because I was watching the Sarah Cox documentary 😂)

Being ‘on a mission to spread joy’ is the most cliched and cheesiest thing I could say out loud 🤣… But I mean it from the bottom of my heart.

So getting a message like this one from Becs really means the world to me - people get it, they believe it, and they are feeling it in the work I’m doing.

Have you listened to the Reflective Rebels podcast yet?What did you think of it?

I had a client cancel this afternoon. I am REALLY busy this month and overwhelmed with admin that needs doing. But i decided to come to the woods and play.

I feel better, the work I do next will be better. And I won’t die regretting the admin I don’t do.

Life’s too short to be shit - go do something fun!

Follow if you’re a business owner who needs permission to be less than perfect.

Trying to grow your business alone? Pretty shit, right?

This is what happens when business owners stop pretending and start building together.

Badass Business Lab launches Jan 15th in Carlisle. 4 places left.

Want in? DM me and I will send you more info.

Busy. Scary. Lonely. Exhausting.

Yesterday, 8 business owners got brutally honest about how their businesses feel right now.

Then we talked about how they WANT to feel by December 2026.

Exciting. Fulfilling. Profitable. Connected.

That gap? That’s where the work is.

We spent 90 minutes on what’s actually getting in the way. Money (out loud). Boundaries. Bold dreams they’re scared to say.

People left with something BOLD to do in the next 30 days.

“Today felt like a quiet turning point. You realise you’re actually allowed to dream big for your business.” - Abigail

That’s Badass Business Lab. Monthly accountability for business owners ready to close that gap. And not do it alone.

Launch: January 15th Jan. 4 spaces left

Want in? Message me and I can send you more info.

That’s a wrap on our book club first birthday celebration.
Five books. Five members. Five honest reflections on how books intersect with real life.

From Christine’s “leaky boat” moments to Ewa’s introduction to manifestation. From Theresa’s courage to say “this book was too heavy” to Jane’s permission to rest.

And the book that started it all - Daring Greatly - which gave me the courage to create this space.

This is what happens when you gather people around ideas that challenge conventional thinking. Not to perform. Not to have all the answers. But to show up honestly and figure it out together.

We read books about vulnerability, manifestation, rest, regret, and courage. But really, we’re just practicing being human in a world that keeps asking us to be machines.

Year one: done.

Year two: let’s go.

If you’ve been following along and thinking “I need this” - December’s full, but we’re staring a waiting list for January. Drop me a message.

There’s a moment in this conversation with Jim where he says something that I think so many of us feel but rarely say out loud:

“I felt divided. There was work me… and real me. And I didn’t like any of that.”

This episode is about what happens when the life you’ve built stops feeding your soul, and the quiet courage it takes to rewrite your story, not because everything is falling apart, but because you want something truer.

Jim talks about:
• chasing ambition that didn’t quite feel like his
• losing parts of himself inside a system
• walking away from a career he thought he’d have forever
• rebuilding a life around connection, joy, and the fells
• choosing the next chapter before he even knows what the title is

If you’re carrying that feeling of “there must be more than this,” this one will be worth a listen.

Listen to Episode 10 of We’re Done Pretending. Search ‘Reflective Rebels’ wherever you get your podcasts.

Thanks to @herds.media for producing the podcast with me in their amazing studio!

Tag someone who’s ready for their next chapter.

Final book club review: The book that gave me the courage to start all of this.

Daring Greatly - Brené Brown

Two years ago this month, I read this book and it really did help everything change (books can change the world.)

Not in some dramatic, overnight way. But in the quiet self-awareness that I’d been living scared. Scared of being seen as struggling. Scared of admitting I didn’t have it all figured out. Scared that if people knew the truth about my doubts and fears, they’d think less of me.

Brené Brown’s research helped me put into practice something I knew, but wasn’t fully living: vulnerability isn’t weakness. It’s the birthplace of courage.

Understanding how our boldness - or lack of it - is tied to our fear of shame unlocked something in me.

Since then, I’ve done more and more things that terrified me. Now these won’t look like huge things from the outside perhaps, but that’s the thing about shame - it’s our demon.

For example, I launched this book club when I had no idea if anyone would show up. I rebranded my entire business to Reflective Rebels when the ‘safer’ thing would’ve been to stay corporate as a business coach. I posted about my money struggles on LinkedIn when every instinct told me to keep that private.

None of it was easy. All of it was worth it.

This book didn’t just change how I think about vulnerability. It changed what I was willing to do with my life.

And it’s why this book club exists - a space where we can all show up honestly, messy and human, without pretending we’ve got it all together.

What’s one thing you’ve done, that scared the shit out of you, but was REALLY WORTH IT?

Book club review #4: Jane Steed on why rest is rebellious.

The Brain at Rest - Dr. Joseph Jebelli, Reviewed by Jane Steed

“In a world that values productivity over all else, this book comes at just the right time. Jebelli begins by telling us how overwork is literally killing us.”

Jane breaks down the research: being in a forest measurably increases cancer-fighting cells. Patients recover more quickly if they can simply see trees from their hospital window.

And here’s the kicker: when we daydream or let our minds wander, parts of our brain are actually MORE active than when we’re focused on tasks. That’s when we’re most creative, inspired, and innovative.

“Worryingly, we quote political leaders like Margaret Thatcher, who survived on very few hours of sleep, as though it’s a badge of honour not to rest.”

At a time when we all feel under pressure to do more, earn more and produce more, this book feels rebellious.

When was the last time you let yourself properly rest without guilt?

My body went tense while writing this. My finger hovered over “post” for a long time.

Which is exactly how I know it needs to be said, even though it makes me feel shit scared.

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Ricky's a tech guy. Has been for years. Everything in tech has got a reason...either it works or it doesn't.

When we chatted he was open about the fact that this way of thinking meant people had told him he wasn't the most sensitive.

So he did something deliberately uncomfortable.

Ricky became a Samaritan volunteer. He chose to spend his time sitting with people's pain instead of trying to fix it. Learning that feelings don't need reasons to be valid.

If you've built your career on being logical and good at solving problems, but you're starting to realise that's not enough anymore, Ricky's story might give you some food for thought.

Hearing someone else's story can help change yours.

Listen to episode 9 of the Reflective Rebels podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

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