The Freak Show

Find your niche. Pick ONE industry. Get specific. But what happens when niching down starts to feel like squeezing out all the interesting bits about yourself? And why does figuring out who you want to work with feel a lot harder than figuring out who you… don’t?Enter Andrea Shah, copywriter and marketing consultant for wedding pros who’s about the only person I know has found a way to build a business around one clear industry without making her clients sound like carbon copies of each other (and without getting bored).So naturally I had to ask her: “How?!”But we also talk about the pressure to copy what's already working for someone else, to letting AI flatten your personality, sooo… just press play & have a listen!SPOTLIGHT MOMENTS✦ Why niching down doesn't have to mean boxing yourself into one tiny corner of the internet✦ Why your portfolio alone won't convince someone to hire you (even if your work is really good)✦ What we're losing by outsourcing our own judgment to AI✦ Why networking feels like gardening & watching seeds sprout——Mentioned in this episode:✦ LIFE OF THE PARTY: Pop the cork on your content confidence, grow an invested community, and have fun selling your offersFollow & Connect with Andrea:✦ Follow her on Instagram✦ Check out her WebsiteFollow & Connect with Eva:✦ Say hey on Instagram✦ Check out my Website✦ Get my Uncaged emails

Well, hello again! I disappeared for a while. Life threw me a bit of a curveball, and Q3 was one I'd rather have no recollection of, hence the unplanned two month podcast break, but I am very, very happy to be sitting in front of this microphone again!And I'm back with something that's been living rent-free in my brain since Happiness Camp in Porto: a slide deck from the Walt Disney Company that wasn't bad, wasn't ugly, did its job, and still left me feeling a little disappointed, because if you removed the speaker's name from those slides, I'm not sure I would ever have known it was Disney!It got me thinking about the difference between design that's fine and design that could only come from your brand, and if I replaced your logo with somebody else's and everything still made perfect sense, how much work is your brand actually doing?SPOTLIGHT MOMENTS✦ Why a design can be clean, readable, and professional and still be a massive missed opportunity for your brand✦ The difference between bad, functional, and branded design✦ How Disney could have turned one leadership talk into a walk through a theme park✦ The brand toolbox you already have, even without a castleTAKE THE STAGEPull up your last carousel, email, or sales page and cover the logo. Could it belong to anyone else? Now write down one thing (a metaphor, a recurring joke, a process, a belief) that could only have come from you, and find a spot to use it in the next thing you create.And if Instagram carousels take you four hours and make you want to pull your hair out, I'm working on a live challenge to help you design better ones! DM me on Instagram to tell me you'd join.——Mentioned in this episode:✦ BUILD BUSINESS BETTER CONFERENCE: better ways to market, lead, and operate for business owners beyond business 101 (*affiliate link)✦ PLOTTING SHED: the content membership where you learn how to post on Instagram in under 20 minutes (*affiliate link)✦ HAPPINESS CAMP: Europe’s largest human sustainability & future of work conferenceFollow & Connect with Eva:✦ Say hey on Instagram✦ Check out my Website✦ Get my Uncaged emails

Throughout my design career, I've been told what a successful business is supposed to look like: a fancy studio, a full team, a packed speaking schedule, and a founder who's basically a full-time manager instead of a creator. Then, I read Company of One by Paul Jarvis, and it changed everything I thought I knew about what "success" was allowed to look like for a one-woman show like mine.Enter today's guest, Jessica Freeman, a web designer, SEO strategist, and the founder of The Ordinary Business, a community and podcast for the small but mighty business owners doing the work instead of chasing flashy numbers.Jessica believes that being an ordinary business owner is the whole point, and once you stop trying to look like an agency, you get to build a business (and a life) that's actually yours.SPOTLIGHT MOMENTS✦ Why the "successful business" blueprint never fit for either of us✦ How one snarky Threads post accidentally turned into an entire community and business✦ The "shoulds" Jess let go of: the perfect email strategy, chasing every podcast feature, vanity metrics✦ Why followers don't equal income, and what community looks like once you strip away the buzzwordsTAKE THE STAGEOpen a note on your phone and ask yourself: what does "enough" actually look like for my business? Not the version you think you're supposed to want, the one that fits the life you're actually trying to build.——Mentioned in this episode:✦ The Ordinary Business: Jess's community, summit, and podcast for solopreneurs and tiny teams who'd rather be sustainable than scale✦ Company of One by Paul JarvisFollow & Connect with Jessica:✦ Follow her on Instagram✦ Check out her WebsiteFollow & Connect with Eva:✦ Say hey on Instagram✦ Check out my Website✦ Get my Uncaged emails——TIMESTAMPS00:00 Welcome to The Freak Show03:34 Jess's Freak Show Audition14:30 Building The Ordinary Business Movement (Accidentally)21:18 Letting Go of the "Shoulds"37:35 What Real Community Looks Like54:11 Jess's Final Bow

This Sunday marks my seventh brandversary, so what better way to celebrate seven years in business than by giving you an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look on my signature service, the Extravaganza?It's my done-for-you, 12-week rebranding project for online service providers who want a brand that looks the part, acts the part, and sells like it too, and it's also the one thing I've offered since day one.A lot of people ask me why 12 weeks, why not a VIP day or a quick sprint, and after seven years, I've learned that a rushed rebrand is rarely the one that actually sticks. Real transformation, the kind that changes how you show up and how your audience experiences you, takes a little more room to breathe than a weekend does.SPOTLIGHT MOMENTS✦ Why a 12-week container beats a rushed VIP day✦ The exact steps between "I want to rebrand" and becoming a client✦ Inside the strategy workshop: Pinterest boards, mood boards, and the questions that get real answers✦ What you walk away with, from the master folder to the grand finale callTAKE THE STAGEReady to see if the Extravaganza is right for your brand? Start your inquiry here!——Mentioned in this episode:✦ THE EXTRAVAGANZA: All-inclusive rebrand to finally look as legit as the business you've already built.Follow & Connect with Eva:✦ Say hey on Instagram✦ Check out my Website✦ Get my Uncaged emails——TIMESTAMPS00:00 Welcome to The Freak Show00:27 What Exactly Is the Extravaganza?04:44 How the Rebrand Process Kicks Off09:34 Strategy, Mood Boards & Design18:10 Building the Website & Brand Assets23:53 Handover, Launch & What's Next

I think we've become a little too obsessed with blank slates, starting the year strong, mid-year resets, ending the year with a bang… you know the drill!The truth is, that “new year, new me” energy from January has worn off by now, and what you're left with is your endless to-do list and a goal-setting doc you wrote once and never looked at again.So instead of another reset, I'm giving you a summer deadline to work out why your personal brand doesn't feel like it's fully you yet, whether that's the name you show up under, the content that doesn't quite match your polished brand shoot, or the pressure to answer some deep "what makes you different" question you don't actually need to solve.Because your brand is a work in progress, not a finished product, and it's about noticing what's not pulling its weight and adjusting from there!SPOTLIGHT MOMENTS✦ Why mid-year "resets" are overrated, and what to do instead✦ The brand name mistake that's making it hard to be personal online✦ How to design a container for your low-lift content so it doesn't clash with your polished brand shoot✦ Why "what makes you different" is the wrong question to ask about your brandTAKE THE STAGESend me a DM saying you just listened to this episode, and I'll review your profile and post design and send back one thing you can improve from a design point of view, no strings attached!——Mentioned in this episode:✦ Episode 022: Time For Your Brand’s Mid-Year Check-In: Here’s How To Do It✦ Episode 045: Your (Personal) Name Isn’t Your Brand, with Katie PannellFollow & Connect with Eva:✦ Say hey on Instagram✦ Check out my Website✦ Get my Uncaged emails——TIMESTAMPS00:00 Welcome to The Freak Show00:35 Why I'm Skipping the Mid-Year Reset02:55 Step One: Figuring Out What's Not Working In Your Brand06:57 Step Two: Designing A Container For Your Low-Lift Content08:55 Why "What Makes You Different" Is The Wrong Question11:34 Your Authenticity Feedback Loop and Summer Deadline

You've made the Pinterest boards, had all the conversations with your business besties, stalked every rebrand in your industry, and you still haven't pulled the trigger. Because it never feels like quite the right time.In this episode, I'm handing you the permission slip you've been waiting for, because I believe staying where you are isn't the "safe" option, as it may feel. It's actually the bigger risk!SPOTLIGHT MOMENTS✦ Why the people who wait the longest to rebrand are the ones who care the most✦ What's actually costing you by NOT rebranding✦ Why measuring a rebrand's ROI in sales is the wrong metric entirely✦ The signs that tell you it's genuinely time to make the moveTAKE THE STAGEGrab your journal and write down one opportunity you didn't go after because you didn't feel like you "looked the part."——Mentioned in this episode:✦ THE EXTRAVAGANZA: All-inclusive rebrand to finally look as legit as the business you've already built.Follow & Connect with Eva:✦ Say hey on Instagram✦ Check out my Website✦ Get my Uncaged emails——TIMESTAMPS00:00 Welcome to The Freak Show00:25 Why You Keep Putting Off Your Rebrand05:43 What Not Rebranding Is Actually Costing You07:08 Your Permission Slip to Finally Go For It

Somewhere along the line, we all created an Ideal Client Avatar: defining the age, income, Saturday morning routine, what keeps them up at night... the whole shebang.And yes, knowing who you're talking to matters!BUTThere's a point where this exercise stops being a strategy tool and starts becoming a people-pleasing spiral, where you're trying to make every single brand decision based on how every single person in your audience *might* react.So much so that you pull yourself out of your own brand, try to please everybody, and end up with something... safe & forgettable. But your "ideal client" doesn't want the safest, most palatable version of you. They want the real you, with the jokes, quirks, weirdness, and personal tastes that make YOU different from everyone else.SPOTLIGHT MOMENTS✦ How the ICA exercise sneaks up as people pleasing✦ The Venn diagram your brand decisions should actually live inside✦ What happens when you filter yourself out of your own personal brand✦ Why "inclusive" doesn't mean your brand has to appeal to every person alive——Mentioned in this episode:✦ THE EXTRAVAGANZA: All-inclusive rebrand to finally look as legit as the business you've already built.Follow & Connect with Eva:✦ Say hey on Instagram✦ Check out my Website✦ Get my Uncaged emails——TIMESTAMPS00:00 Welcome to The Freak Show00:25 The Ideal Client Avatar Exercise, Revisited05:11 When Audience-First Thinking Becomes People Pleasing13:50 What Your Ideal Client Actually Wants15:46 Closing Thoughts & The Extravaganza

Getting in front of a camera is scary AF, and I'm saying that as someone who remembers the first time I talked on Instagram Stories, legitimately terrified that my college friends and family would see me and think I was some kind of stuck-up know-it-all...Today I'm joined by the incredible Olivia Bossert, a fashion photographer turned personal brand photographer, content coach, artist, and founder of the "It Girl" movement — which, just so you know, is way less about that mean girl energy and way more about reclaiming the phrase as something empowering, loving, and kind.She's worked with literal Vogue models, and now she's helping online service providers like us show up visibly and confidently in our content without the full production or existential crisis.SPOTLIGHT MOMENTS✦ Even Vogue models apologise for their appearance on set✦ The Taste Gap & why your content looks nothing like what you had in mind✦ What the “It Girl” movement is really about (mean girls not allowed)✦ Carpe Diem Method vs. Intentional Batching: build your content system✦ The Red Theory, the voyeuristic shot, and other low-effort ways to shoot visuals that stop the scrollTAKE THE STAGEFind one corner in your home with good natural light, set your phone up on a tripod, and film three minutes of yourself just doing what you'd normally be doing. Don't fix your hair. Don't change your outfit. Just hit record and see what happens. Your future content bank will thank you!——Mentioned in this episode:✦ It Girl B-Roll Course: 7 easy Reels you can film in 30 minutes that actually look good (freebie)✦ Listen to this past episode: “016. Dopamine Dressing, Unexpected Red Theory & The Hidden Power of Colour”✦ Listen to this past episode: ⁠“017. Rebranding The Word ‘Performance,’ with Sarah Kleist”Follow & Connect with Olivia:✦ Follow her on Instagram✦ Check out her Website✦ Subscribe to The It Girl JournalFollow & Connect with Eva:✦ Say hey on Instagram✦ Check out my Website✦ Get my Uncaged emails——TIMESTAMPS00:00 Welcome to The Freak Show03:16 Olivia's Freak Show Audition11:45 Why Getting On Camera is Non-Negotiable15:07 Even Vogue Models Have Hangups About How They Look21:43 The Taste Gap and How to Close It25:57 What the It Girl Movement Is Really About32:10 How Showing Your Face Actually Converts34:33 Building a Content System That Works for You42:28 Stop Overthinking and Start Repeating48:37 The Visual Details That Make You Stand Out54:50 Olivia's Final Bow

Episode 50, Troupe... FIFTY!! 🎉We hit 1,000+ downloads, listeners in over 40 countries, and somehow, this little passion project became the marketing platform I've been most consistent with? So before we dive in, THANK YOU! None of this makes sense without you freaks on the other side.Now, let's talk about that itch... the one where you fall down a Pinterest rabbit hole, suddenly hate everything you've ever made, and start eyeing a completely new colour palette like it's going to change your life.I know a clean slate sounds really appealing, but if you keep finding yourself in love with new colours and fonts each month (perhaps each week), changing your look isn't the magic wand you think it is.SPOTLIGHT MOMENTS✦ Why the urge to rebrand is usually avoidance disguised as strategy✦ The taste gap: and why it's making you hate your bran✦ What happens to your brand recognition every time you start over✦ The difference between an intentional rebrand and a shiny-object makeover✦ How to know if it's time to actually rebrandTAKE THE STAGEOpen your notes app and answer this honestly: What problem are you actually trying to solve by changing your brand?Is it a visibility problem? A messaging problem? A confidence problem? Write it down. Because until you name it, no new colour palette is gonna fix it.——Mentioned in this episode:✦ THE EXTRAVAGANZA: Show up online with a brand that looks as legit as the business you've already built.Follow & Connect with Eva:✦ Say hey on Instagram✦ Check out my Website✦ Get my Uncaged emails——TIMESTAMPS00:00 Welcome to The Freak Show00:26 Episode 50 & 1,000+ Downloads!01:51 Why Changing Your Visuals Isn't the Fix04:13 The Taste Gap, Imposter Syndrome & Other Culprits06:33 What Constantly Rebranding Actually Costs You10:51 What Brands You Admire Do Differently12:18 When a Rebrand Is Actually Worth It15:12 Closing Thoughts & The Extravaganza

Two brand designers discussing design hot takes? That’s what I call a front-row-worthy show!Aiza, from Studio Coya, & I got together to discuss 6 different opinions we see clowning around the online business space, and spoiler: you’ll hear “it depends…” A LOT.You’ll want to tune into Part 1 on Nourish Your Brand to get the full spectacle, and in this second part, you’ll hear why playful doesn’t mean “childish”, how to use colour as a tool, and why your social media doesn’t need to be either 100% curated Canva carousel or random photo dumps.As always, we believe the real answers are a more nuanced (and much less one-toned) than we’ve all been led to believe.SPOTLIGHT MOMENTS✦ How premium brands can absolutely still be playful, colourful & fun✦ The problem with “professional” being code for beige, bland & personality-free✦ When colour psychology becomes marketing fluff✦ Why branded social media templates still matter (when they actually support your content)——Mentioned in this episode:✦ Listen to part 1 on Aiza’s podcast!Follow & Connect with Aiza:✦ Follow her on ⁠Instagram✦ Check out her Website✦ Listen to the Nourish Your Brand podcastFollow & Connect with Eva:✦ Say hey on Instagram✦ Check out my Website✦ Get my Uncaged emails——TIMESTAMPS00:00 Welcome to The Freak Show00:46 Meet Aiza Cheung, from Studio Coya01:59 Hot Take 1: “Premium Brands Shouldn't Be Playful & Fun”13:19 Hot Take 2: “Colour Psychology’s Just Marketing Fluff”26:55 Hot Take 3: “You Don't Need Branded Social Media Templates Anymore”46:20 Closing Thoughts & Next Steps