Not Every Win Feels Like One | You’re Making More Progress Than You Think | S6E5

Seven seasons. Countless breakthroughs. A whole lot of beautiful, messy, human shit.And now, The Sacred Shitshow® is entering its final chapter.Welcome to Season 7: It's a Human Thing.What if the point of this human experience was never to have it all figured out? What if healing isn't about becoming perfect, spirituality isn't about escaping our humanity, and sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is admit that life is a complete fucking shitshow?For the first time, Hannah Strange is sharing the microphone with incredible women who are ready to tell the stories behind the smiles.We're talking identity, motherhood, relationships, nervous system healing, breaking points, personal transformation and the moments that change everything.No spiritual bypassing. No pretending we've got it all together. Just honest conversations about what it really means to be human.And yes, this is the final season of The Sacred Shitshow®.Not because the journey is over, but because sometimes the most sacred thing we can do is recognise when a chapter is complete.Join us for one last season of uncomfortable truths, unexpected wisdom, laughter, tears and the kind of conversations that remind us we're never as alone as we think.Because the sacred was never separate from the shitshow.🎙️ Subscribe or follow The Sacred Shitshow® so you don't miss the final season.

What if the biggest thing holding your business back isn't your strategy, marketing, pricing or product?What if your business has simply reached the point where it needs a different version of you?In the final episode of The Sacred Shitshow® – Season 6: Plot Twist, Jess Gelling brings the entire season together with two founders at very different stages of business, but both discovering the same thing:Every stage of business asks something new from the person building it.Our first founder has spent months building their first product as a solo developer, only to discover that building it was actually the easy part.Now come the human bits.Pricing. Marketing. Selling. Finding customers. Communicating value.And the uncomfortable realisation that another feature might feel productive, but it isn't necessarily what the business needs anymore.Our second founder is much further along.Their business is generating revenue while they're somewhere else entirely. Their team is working, leads are being followed up and the systems they've created mean the business no longer stops when they do.And they've realised something surprising:Maybe this is what success was supposed to feel like all along.Through the RUNE lens, Jess explores the evolution from creator to business owner, from doer to leader, and from measuring success by how hard you work to measuring it by what you've built.✨ Why building a product and building a business are two different things✨ How perfectionism can become protection from visibility✨ Why your first customers should become your greatest teachers✨ Reframing marketing as communication rather than self-promotion✨ Why another conversation can be more valuable than another feature✨ The shift from doing everything yourself to building systems and trust✨ Why systems are acts of leadership✨ Building assets instead of constantly recreating effort✨ Reducing founder dependency✨ Why your definition of success is allowed to change✨ Building a business that serves your life rather than a life that serves your business✨ Becoming the founder your business needs nextYour business has never needed a perfect founder.It needs a founder who's willing to keep evolving.The person who starts the business isn't always the person who grows it.The person who grows it isn't always the person who leads it.Every new stage asks you to learn something, release something and become someone you haven't been before.And the business only grows when you do.As we close Season 6, Jess leaves us with one final question:What version of me got me here… and what version of me will take me further?Think about who you were when you started.What have you learnt?What have you let go of?Who have you become?And most importantly:Who does your business need you to become next?Because if Season 6 has taught us anything, it's that the next breakthrough probably isn't hiding inside another strategy.It might be waiting inside the person you're becoming.Thank you for joining Jess for The Sacred Shitshow® – Season 6: Plot Twist.Eight episodes. Sixteen business stories. And hopefully, a completely different way of looking at your business and yourself.If an episode changed the way you think, send it to another business owner who needs to hear it.This has been Season 6: Plot Twist. 🎙️RUNE Membership

What if something you believe about your business with absolute certainty… isn’t actually true?Maybe you’re convinced you’re behind.Maybe you believe everyone else has figured something out that you haven’t.Maybe you’re terrified of losing a client because you’ve labelled them one of your “biggest”.Or maybe you’ve repeated the same story for so long that you’ve stopped checking whether the evidence actually supports it.In Episode 7 of The Sacred Shitshow® – Season 6: Plot Twist, Jess Gelling explores two founders whose businesses look completely different, but who are both being influenced by the same thing:The story they believe to be true.Our first founder is just 17. They started experimenting with business at 14, have launched businesses, made sales and experienced failure, yet social media has convinced them they’re falling behind.While they’re still figuring things out, their feed appears full of teenagers driving Lamborghinis and becoming millionaires overnight.So they’re asking:“What am I doing wrong?”But what if they’re measuring their real life against somebody else’s highlight reel?Our second founder believes they’re about to lose three of their biggest clients.That should feel terrifying.Instead… it feels like relief.When they look beyond the size of the invoices, they realise those clients aren’t particularly profitable, take significant capacity and only really make financial sense when the founder personally delivers the work.Perhaps losing them isn’t the disaster they thought it would be.Perhaps the business has simply outgrown them.Through the RUNE lens, Jess explores what happens when we stop treating our assumptions as facts and ask:What if I’m wrong?✨ Why comparison distorts our perception of progress✨ The danger of using social media as your measure of success✨ Visible success vs invisible learning✨ Why a failed business doesn’t mean you have failed✨ Why your biggest client isn’t necessarily your best client✨ Revenue vs actual profitability✨ Why relief can tell us something important✨ When old client relationships and pricing become unsustainable✨ Why losing revenue can create space for better revenue✨ How fear, familiarity and comparison shape business decisionsThe hardest thing to let go of isn't always the client, business or opportunity.Sometimes…It’s the story you’ve been telling yourself about it.“I’m behind.”“I should be further along.”“I can’t afford to lose them.”“Everyone else knows what they’re doing.”What changes when you stop assuming those things are true and look at the evidence?If I looked at my business with fresh eyes today… what would I see differently?Where are you assuming something is true without checking?What story have you been repeating?And if you stripped away the fear, comparison and familiarity…Would you still believe it?Sometimes the biggest shift in business doesn’t begin with a new strategy.It begins with a new perspective.Follow The Sacred Shitshow® so you don’t miss next week’s final episode of Season 6: Plot Twist.

Have you ever said yes to something in business while a little voice in your head was quietly saying…“I really don’t think I should.”A client. A discount. A project. A favour. Another revenue stream.Sometimes we say yes because the opportunity genuinely fits.Other times? We say yes because saying no feels terrifying.In Episode 6 of The Sacred Shitshow® – Season 6: Plot Twist, Jess Gelling explores two business owners facing very different decisions, but both are learning the same lesson:Just because an opportunity exists doesn’t mean it deserves a place in your business.Our first founder believed saying yes to every opportunity was the fastest route to growth. Every client meant more revenue. Every custom request was good customer service. Every discount might secure another sale.Until all those yeses started creating a business they didn't particularly enjoy running.Our second founder has created a free online platform that's already attracted around 50 users, and they're coming back.Now they're wondering how to monetise it. Advertising? Affiliate links? Something else entirely?But perhaps the question isn't simply “How can I make money from this?”Perhaps it's “Which way of making money actually belongs in the thing I'm trying to build?”Through the RUNE lens, Jess explores the nervous-system patterns beneath opportunity, scarcity, boundaries, validation and our tendency to grab what's available before asking whether we actually want it.✨ Why every yes has a hidden cost✨ How fear and scarcity can influence the opportunities we accept✨ Why saying yes can become a confidence strategy rather than a business strategy✨ How we unintentionally teach clients how to work with us✨ Why boundaries are decisions we make for ourselves, not punishments for difficult clients✨ The difference between being customer-focused and customer-led✨ Why not all revenue is good revenue✨ How to identify the clients and projects that genuinely fit your business✨ Why returning users are powerful evidence that you've created something valuable✨ Different ways to monetise an online platform without immediately relying on advertising✨ Why your existing audience may be your greatest source of market research✨ The value of building assets and offers you actually own✨ And why growth can come from becoming more selective, not less.Freedom doesn't come from having more opportunities.It comes from choosing which opportunities deserve a place in the business you're building.More clients aren't automatically better clients.More revenue streams don't automatically create a better business.More opportunities don't automatically equal growth.Sometimes the most commercially intelligent thing you can do is say:No. That doesn't belong here.What opportunity am I saying yes to simply because it's available, not because it's aligned?Is there a client you've been reluctant to let go?A project that no longer feels right?An idea you're pursuing because you think you should?Or perhaps there's an opportunity you've been avoiding because saying yes to yourself feels far scarier than saying yes to somebody else.Don't judge what comes up.Just notice it.Because every yes shapes your business.And every no shapes it too.Throughout Season 6, we're taking real entrepreneurial stories and looking beneath the surface through RUNE, the Regulated Understanding of the Nervous System for Entrepreneurs.Because business decisions aren't made in a vacuum.Fear, scarcity, safety, validation and our need for certainty can all influence what we say yes to, even when logically we know something isn't right.Follow The Sacred Shitshow® so you don't miss the rest of Season 6: Plot Twist.And if you know a business owner who needs permission to stop saying yes to every bloody thing that lands in their inbox, send this episode their way.RUNE: https://strangeapothecary.co.uk/main-shop/personal-development/nervous-system-leadership/

Have you ever looked at your business and thought:“Surely I should be further along than this?”You're working. Learning. Problem-solving. Trying to move things forwards.But somehow, it still feels like you're standing still.In Episode 5 of The Sacred Shitshow® – Season 6: Plot Twist, Jess Gelling explores two very different founders who are both making genuine progress.The problem?Neither of them feels like they're winning. Our first founder is building a product-based business and is already exhausted by suppliers, manufacturing delays, import fees and the sheer amount of waiting involved.Everything feels slow, frustrating and far messier than they imagined entrepreneurship would be.But what if friction isn't failure?What if finding the right supplier, discovering hidden costs, rejecting the wrong samples and learning how the industry actually works are all wins, even when they don't feel like them?Our second founder has created an automation system for their first client that is already delivering measurable results.Response times have dropped from hours to seconds. Leads are being followed up automatically. Enquiries that would previously have been missed are being captured.Yet because the client isn't particularly responsive, the founder is questioning whether they're actually doing a good job.Through the RUNE lens, Jess explores what happens when we stop measuring our progress by evidence and start measuring it by how progress feels.✨ Why founders often mistake friction for failure✨ The gap between what we imagine entrepreneurship will feel like and the reality of building something✨ Why product businesses can have very different timelines from service businesses✨ The quiet wins that build strong foundations but rarely get celebrated✨ Why waiting doesn't have to mean standing still✨ Building an audience before your product is ready✨ Why pricing needs to account for the costs you didn't know existed✨ How solving problems builds genuine founder confidence✨ Why a client's communication style isn't evidence of your value✨ The difference between selling technology and selling a business outcome✨ Why measurable results matter more than reassurance✨ Turning free trials into paid clients by demonstrating return on investment✨ And why some of your biggest breakthroughs might feel like nothing more than another ordinary Tuesday.Progress isn't measured by how quickly things happen or how loudly people applaud you.It's measured by the evidence you're creating along the way.Not every win comes with a sale, a celebration or somebody telling you how brilliant you are.Sometimes a win is the mistake you caught before launch.The supplier you decided not to use.The cost you discovered before setting your prices.The system quietly doing exactly what you built it to do.The problem that would have terrified you six months ago that you now know how to solve.Those count too.What evidence of progress am I overlooking because it doesn't look the way I expected?What do you know today that you didn't know six months ago?What problem have you solved that once felt impossible?What foundations have you quietly built that nobody else gets to see?And where are you dismissing your progress simply because it isn't as exciting as you imagined it would be?Because not every win arrives with fireworks.Sometimes it quietly becomes the reason your business succeeds.Throughout Season 6, we're taking real entrepreneurial stories and looking beneath the surface through RUNE, the Regulated Understanding of the Nervous System for Entrepreneurs.Because how we measure progress affects how we experience business.Sometimes you don't need to work harder, move faster or achieve something bigger.You need to recognise just how far you've already come.Follow The Sacred Shitshow® so you don't miss the rest of Season 6: Plot Twist.RUNE - https://strangeapothecary.co.uk/main-shop/personal-development/nervous-system-leadership/

What if your business hasn’t stopped growing?What if your role within it has changed, and you haven’t realised it yet?In Episode 4 of The Sacred Shitshow® – Season 6: Plot Twist, Jess Gelling explores two real business stories from founders at very different stages of growth. One wants more customers. The other desperately needs to stop doing everything themselves.On the surface, they’re completely different problems.Underneath? They’re experiencing the same transition.Through the RUNE lens, we explore what happens when your business evolves, but you’re still trying to solve today’s problems using the role, behaviours and strategies that got you started.Our first founder has built a local grave cleaning and restoration business, is consistently getting paid work and knows there’s demand, but feels like they’re missing the marketing strategy that will help them scale.But perhaps they don’t need another marketing tactic.Perhaps they’ve already moved from proving demand to building reputation.Our second founder has reached another familiar milestone: they’ve become the bottleneck in their own business.Sales. Marketing. Clients. Invoicing. Admin. Everything still comes back to them.They keep telling themselves they’ll delegate once the business grows.But what if waiting to delegate is precisely what’s preventing that growth?✨ Why every stage of business requires something different from its founder✨ The difference between proving demand and building a reputation✨ Why local businesses need visibility and trust, not just more advertising✨ How to identify which marketing is actually bringing you customers✨ Why referrals and strategic local relationships can be incredibly powerful✨ The importance of customer retention and repeat business✨ Why growth can trigger a search for certainty and the mythical “missing strategy”✨ How doing everything yourself eventually becomes a bottleneck✨ Why delegation isn't something you have to earn through success✨ What to eliminate, automate and delegate before hiring✨ Why systems should come before throwing another person into the chaos✨ The hidden cost of not delegating✨ And how to recognise when your business is asking you to become a different kind of leader.Your business has already grown.You just haven’t changed your role within it yet.The things that helped you get your first customer might not get you your hundredth.The habits that helped you survive your first year might not help you lead a team.And sometimes the next stage of business isn't asking you to work harder.It's asking you to evolve.If my role within my business changed tomorrow, what would I stop doing first?What are you still doing simply because you’ve always done it?What are you holding onto because doing it yourself feels safer than trusting someone else?And what could become possible if you created space for the work that only you can do?Sometimes growing your business isn’t about doing more.Sometimes it’s about letting go of the things you’ve already outgrown.Throughout Season 6, we're taking real entrepreneurial stories and looking beneath the surface through RUNE — the Regulated Understanding of the Nervous System for Entrepreneurs.Because business growth doesn't only change your strategy.It can challenge your identity, your need for certainty, your relationship with control and your ability to trust other people with something you've built from the ground up.Follow The Sacred Shitshow® so you don't miss the rest of Season 6: Plot Twist, and send this episode to the business owner who is still wearing seventeen different hats and wondering why they have no bloody time.RUNE - https://strangeapothecary.co.uk/main-shop/personal-development/nervous-system-leadership/

What if the thing you've been waiting for… has already happened?Maybe you're waiting for confidence before you take the next step.Maybe you're waiting for certainty before choosing what business to build.Maybe your customers are already telling you they love what you do, but you're still waiting for more proof before you're willing to put yourself out there.In Episode 3 of The Sacred Shitshow® – Season 6: Plot Twist, Jess Gelling explores two real business stories that look completely different on the surface, but underneath, they're driven by the same pattern.One entrepreneur wants to start a business but has no idea what that business should be. They've already experimented with affiliate marketing and Etsy, yet they're still searching for the right idea before committing.The other already has happy customers and has received referrals organically but freezes at the thought of actually asking a satisfied client for one.One is waiting for certainty.The other is waiting for confidence.And through the RUNE lens, we uncover the plot twist:Neither of them actually needs more evidence. They need to start trusting the evidence they've already collected.In this episode:✨ Why clarity usually comes from action, not before it✨ How the nervous system can turn a desire for certainty into endless searching✨ Why previous business attempts aren't failures - they're evidence✨ How to choose a business based on the life you actually want to create✨ The three things to look for when exploring a business idea: interest, ability and demand✨ Why opportunities often begin with problems rather than brilliant ideas✨ How your existing skills and experiences may contain clues you're overlooking✨ Why asking happy customers for referrals can feel so uncomfortable✨ How to ask for referrals without feeling pushy, awkward or "salesy"✨ Why specificity makes referrals easier✨ How systems can reduce the emotional weight of uncomfortable business tasks✨ And why confidence usually arrives after you've done the scary thing - not before.🌀 The Plot TwistNeither entrepreneur needed another sign.They didn't need more qualifications, another strategy, more experience or some magical burst of confidence.The evidence was already there.The challenge was learning to believe it.✍️ This Week's ReflectionWhere in my business am I ignoring evidence because I'm waiting to feel confident instead?Maybe people are already telling you how valuable your work is, but you're afraid to raise your prices.Maybe you've already created incredible results, but you're hesitant to talk about them.Maybe something you tried taught you exactly what you needed to know, but you've labelled it a failure.Sometimes the next step isn't finding more proof.It's finally trusting the proof you've already earned.🧠 About RUNEThroughout Season 6, we're taking real entrepreneurial stories and looking beneath the surface through RUNE - the Regulated Understanding of the Nervous System for Entrepreneurs.Because sometimes the question isn't simply: "What should I do next?"It's: "What's really stopping me?"Follow The Sacred Shitshow® to join Jess throughout Season 6: Plot Twist, and if this episode reminds you of someone who's still waiting for permission to believe they're ready, send it their way.

What if everybody else *doesn't* know something you don't?What if there isn't a secret platform, marketing strategy, sales technique or perfectly timed decision that's going to suddenly make everything fall into place?In Episode 2 of The Sacred Shitshow® - Season 6: Plot Twist, Jess Gelling takes two very different real business stories through the RUNE lens to explore our obsession with finding the thing that will finally make business work.First, we meet a 25-year-old content creator who's generated more than 30 million organic views and built audiences of thousands, yet can't seem to find their next client.If they're clearly good at what they do, why isn't the work simply following?Then we meet a founder asking a much bigger question:What actually makes a small business last?Is it a brilliant product? Great marketing? Loyal customers? The right strategy?Or is the answer far less exciting and far more powerful?Using RUNE - the Regulated Understanding of the Nervous System for Entrepreneurs - Jess explores what can happen when uncertainty sends us searching for the one answer that will finally make us feel like we know what we're doing.Because sometimes searching for the perfect strategy stops us noticing the ordinary things that are already working.In this episode:Why being brilliant at what you do doesn't automatically mean you'll attract clientsThe difference between competence and confidenceWhy your nervous system craves certainty in businessHow urgency can convince us that more effort is always the answerWhy 100 unanswered DMs might be telling you to change the strategy - not send another 100The difference between looking for clients and becoming easier for the right clients to findWhy relationships, positioning and trust matter as much as technical abilityWhat actually helps a small business survive long-termWhy profit, customer loyalty, reputation and systems matterThe difference between consistency and stubbornnessWhy sustainable businesses gradually reduce their dependency on the founderAnd why extraordinary businesses are usually built through very ordinary decisions🌀 The Plot TwistThere isn't one major decision that builds a successful business.There isn't one magical platform.There isn't one marketing tactic everyone else secretly knows.There isn't one habit that guarantees longevity.It's hundreds of ordinary decisions, made consistently, that eventually make extraordinary results look inevitable. ✍️ Today's ReflectionWhat ordinary decision could future me thank me for making today?Maybe it's following up with someone.Looking at the numbers you've been avoiding.Asking for the testimonial.Documenting the process that's currently living entirely inside your head.Creating the content.Looking after the customers you already have.Or simply continuing with something that's working instead of abandoning it because it stopped feeling exciting.Don't dismiss the decision because it feels small.It might be exactly the point.🧠 About RUNEThroughout Season 6, we're taking real business stories and exploring them through RUNE - the Regulated Understanding of the Nervous System for Entrepreneurs.RUNE brings together Hannah's nervous system expertise with Jess's experience in business strategy, marketing, systems, community and sustainable growth.Because sometimes you don't need another strategy.You need to understand *what's happening beneath the strategy.If this episode made you think of another business owner who's convinced everyone else has discovered the secret formula, send it their way.https://strangeapothecary.co.uk/main-shop/personal-development/nervous-system-leadership/And follow The Sacred Shitshow® so you don't miss the rest of Season 6: Plot Twist.Because there isn't a secret way.There's the next decision.The next conversation.The next improvement.And then you do it again tomorrow.

Real business stories. Nervous system insights. Practical business strategy.Have you ever stopped to ask yourself...Who told you that? Who told you that being a good business owner means worrying about everything?Who told you that you need another qualification, another system or another piece of software before you're allowed to sell?In the very first episode of The Sacred Shitshow® - Season 6: Plot Twist, Jess Gelling explores two real anonymous business stories that reveal something far deeper than business strategy.Using RUNE, our exclusive AI companion built around the Regulated Understanding of the Nervous System for Entrepreneurs, Jess unpacks the hidden nervous system patterns that could be shaping the way founders think, lead and make decisions.The first story follows a profitable coffee shop owner questioning whether they should sell everything after years of carrying the emotional weight of their business.The second follows a founder who landed six paying customers using nothing more than a Google Sheet and a handful of direct messages, but still believed it "didn't count."At first glance, they couldn't be more different, but beneath the surface... They're both being driven by invisible rules they've never stopped to question.In this episode:Why responsibility and hypervigilance are not the same thingThe hidden emotional cost of carrying your business aloneWhy preparation can quietly become procrastinationWhat confidence really looks like in businessHow nervous system patterns influence decision-makingWhy simple action often beats perfect strategyThe question every entrepreneur should ask themselves:"Who told me that?"Today's ReflectionWhat pressure am I carrying simply because I believe I should?Where did that belief come from?Is it helping you build your business......or simply making it heavier to carry?About RUNEThroughout Season 6 we'll be using RUNE, our exclusive AI companion built around the Regulated Understanding of the Nervous System for Entrepreneurs.RUNE combines Hannah Strange's expertise in nervous system regulation with Jess Gelling's experience in business strategy, systems, marketing and sustainable growth to help entrepreneurs understand what's really happening beneath the surface, before deciding what to do next.Because sometimes the problem isn't your business.It's the way you've learned to carry it.Connect With Us🌿 The Strange Apothecary💫 Join RUNE and learn how nervous system regulation can transform the way you lead your business.📲 Follow The Sacred Shitshow® for weekly episodes throughout Season 6.If You Enjoyed This Episode...⭐ Follow the podcast so you never miss an episode.⭐ Share this with a business owner who needs to hear it.⭐ Leave a review, it helps more entrepreneurs discover the show.

You thought you knew what was coming...Plot twist.Season 6 of The Sacred Shitshow® is unlike anything we've created before.For the first time, Hannah is handing over the microphone to Jess, who'll be taking you behind the scenes of real anonymous business stories and uncovering what was really happening beneath the surface.Because most business problems aren't actually business problems...They're human problems.Every episode begins with a real story before peeling back the layers through the lens of nervous system regulation, behaviour, and the hidden patterns that shape our decisions, relationships and businesses.If you've ever found yourself wondering:✨ Why do people behave the way they do?✨ Why do conflict and communication break down?✨ Why do the same patterns keep showing up in business?Then this season is for you.Welcome to The Sacred Shitshow® - Season 6: Plot Twist.Because every story has another side.In this season you'll discover:Real anonymous business storiesNervous system-first insightsBehavioural pattern decodingPractical regulation strategiesA completely different perspective on leadership, business and human behaviour🎧 New episodes every Friday.Connect with us🌿 Website: https://www.strangeapothecary.co.uk📱 Instagram: @strangeapothecary🎙️ Join The Sacred Shitshow® community for exclusive content, behind-the-scenes updates and more.