Yet I often wonder whether discussions about loneliness miss the point.

Perhaps considering relationships to be the cure of loneliness is part of the cause of the loneliness itself. Because in reality loneliness isn’t an individual problem to solve, loneliness is the individual scar of a communal wound.

When we tell people to get out there and find friends or partners to cure their personal loneliness, we not only commodify people, we also ignore the crucial nature of community.

Seeking an individual solution to a communal problem is futile. We can’t cure a loneliness epidemic because we don’t have a loneliness pandemic. We’re lonely because our communities are neglected, and neglected communities collapse.

This is most obvious to me with the ‘male loneliness pandemic’ – a “men’s issue” described as straight men not being able to find partners or pass on their genes… but how can that possibly be a “men’s issue”? Who are these hetrosexual men partnering with? Who gave them the genes they are so keen to pass on?

I already wrote about this from a maternal perspective, but my view has developed. Tying individual identities to the ability to have these conversations nudges us into thinking of women as commodities to provide offspring (who also exist largely as commodities and status symbols) to men.

If men; women; children; the elderly; those who want children; those who don’t want children; and all the other characters in the widely polarised debates around male loneliness are actually people with inherent value, people who matter by the mere fact of their existence, then questions of male/maternal/elderly/genZ/student loneliness are irrelevant.

The question becomes, what conditions are required to allow us all an equitable opportunity to live in a way in which our core needs are met?

From an individualistic perspective on the male loneliness pandemic, a boy relies on his parents to meet his physiological & safety needs until he is able to meet them alone. When grown, the same man earns love & belonging by providing the service of core physiological/safety needs to others. Eventually he learns to do this well enough to get the recognition and esteem needed to focus on being his most ideal individual self… and if he’s thwarted it is the fault of a woman because the conditions required for a man to self actualise are:

• parents (especially a mother) to feed and care for him until he can fend for himself

• women who will reproduce with him and respect him for providing for & protecting his children

• freedom from the shackles of the family created to boost his self esteem

There’s no room for the mother of his children to find creative outlets as she must remain in her place for him to succeed, every level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs is a ladder requiring other people to serve particular roles in order for the man to advance, women are mothers to provide, then damsels in distress to protect, then babymakers to bear heirs, then doting trophy wives to flatter. Until eventually, women become irritating distractions in the way of men fulfilling their potential to live forever.

Compare this to the interpersonal lens from my last newsletter where needs are met communally with each person seeking to give to others and not just to extract from the community.

Loneliness is inevitable when we see other people as valuable only according to their utility or lack thereof. Unless we all actively seek to meet other people’s needs, we can’t live in healthy communities that are the true antidote to loneliness.

Going back to our male loneliness example to illustrate this point: a young man looking for a partner could become a loving husband or an angry incel depending on how he’s treated by the pool of women he attempts to choose from (and how he chooses to interpret their responses to him.) Whereas a young man seeking to give in relationships and hoping to become a husband is more likely to find himself in a mutually joyful relationship that’s a blessing to others in the community and unlikely to begin to hate women because they reject him. He may be hurt by rejection, but he didn’t view women as a resource he was entitled to so his expectations aren’t shattered by a fully human individual exercising her right to autonomy and expressing a preference that is disappointing to him.

When we value other people and chose to use our gifts and resources to meet their needs, we tend to attract others with similar mindset and create communities where everyone serves and gives so everyone’s needs are naturally met.

So how do we create communities where loneliness isn’t part of the vocabulary? Perhaps we start by asking what can I give my community? Instead of how do I get my needs met in this community?

This month:

• Rachael’s Harmony Experiments: 4 step framework for moving through hard times

• Joy Bringers: The Exes, SLOMW, PEMFiT - City of London (RACHAEL50 for offer)

• Creative Sparks: Trick Me Twice

• Opportunities & Resources: £25k for Founders, Free expert consultation for new website or SEO refresh, Funding + Training for Creatives, £3m for AI

• The Harmony Question: Reflective prompt (email back your answers, drop in comments or journal your thoughts)

Rachael’s Harmony Experiments

It has been an intense month. Here’s a framework that’s helped me through some major challenges.

Joy Bringers

Watching:

Recently I’ve been engrossed by The Secret Lives of Mormon Housewives and I know this is controversial because of the allegations and ongoing cases… but beyond the slightly shameful voyeurism of watching to see if MomTok will survive it all, there’s something beautiful about a group of women working through big questions around faith, family, fitness and friendship.

Reading:

I hadn’t heard of Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams until the publishers sent me a copy to review… I’m shocked (but not surprised) given the content that such an explosive book isn’t all over our algorithms.

Of course it’s always hard to know how much of a story has been sensationalised; but whether the stories in this book are exaggerated for entertainment or accurate, they raise important questions. Anyone else reading this?

Also reading…

The Wealth Habit by Ken & Mary Okoroafor (2026, finance book)

The Exes by Leodora Darlington (2026, psychological thriller)

The Universal Christ by Richard Rohr (2019, spiritual read)

[AF] Enjoying:

Heights Magnesium is hands down the best I’ve tried. I was gifted some other stuff so I switched for a while and my sleep has been trash. Went back to Heights and all my sleep stats are immediately up. I also use their multivitamins, probiotics, hydration salts and other supplements because health is wealth. You can get 20% off with my link if you want to try them too.

Reading The Wealth Habit has encouraged me to get serious about my ISAs and I find it super easy to set up saving rules and roundups on my Monzo account. If you want to try it, you can get a mystery gift of £20, £50 or £100 with my link.

I’ve been having sessions at PEMFiT - City of London to support my wellbeing and recovery for a few months now and I’ve noticed improvements in my sciatica and eczema. PEMFiT is a type of Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (PEMF) therapy; a non-invasive technology that uses low-frequency electromagnetic waves to stimulate cell repair and improve metabolic function. You can get 50% off with my code RACHAEL50 when you book here:

Try PEMFiT

Creative Sparks

Life has been crazy… so here’s a dystopian fave from the archives: Trick Me Twice.

Opportunities & Resources

DEADLINE TUES 21st APRIL 12PM If you’ve started a business in the last two years or you’ve got an idea you haven’t launched yet, this could be the opportunity you need. Expert business advice and the chance to win up to £25,000.

Email casting@creatorville.co for more info and say I sent you by TUES 21st APRIL 12PM! They’re especially keen to hear from businesses creating positive social impact.

If you’re building something new and don’t have a website yet, or your current one needs a refresh then book one of 10 free consultations with BzvStudio for this community.

BzvStudio handles everything web, from design, to development, to SEO and hosting. The first 10 people who click ‘start a project’ and fill the form here will get a free expert session to unlock the full potential of your business online.

Book Now

🤖💷 Innovate UK £3m AI Research Grant
Up to £3m for new frontier AI & machine learning tech. Deadline 11am 29th April.

🎭 The Andrew Treagus West End Workshop by Stage One
Better understand West End commercial theatre. Deadline 12pm 1st May.

🎨💷 Developing Your Creative Practice (DYCP) by Arts Council England
Up to £10k+ for artists needing time, research, experimentation or skill development.

Try my free app for a Work-Life Harmony reset in just 5 minutes every morning.

The 54321 App

The Harmony Question

What did you find most helpful about The Work Life Harmony Method this month? Let me know so I can give you more of it :)

xoxo – Rachael

I’ve had one of those weeks. Three bad things, then something that shook me.

I’d planned to write about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in relation to Work-Life Harmony… but life pulled me down.

I’d been thinking about the anthropological research that led to Maslow’s widely loved (and criticised) hierarchy of needs. In his 1954 book ‘Motivation and Personality,’ Maslow describes his field research with the Siksika Nation people and I found it interesting that before drawing generalisations, he said the Siksika are:

“[…]all people, individuals, human beings, and only secondarily Blackfoot Indians[…] the constitutional differences in our own culture are observable all over the world, e.g. differences in intelligence, in forcefulness, in activity or lethargy, in calmness or emotionality etc.

Even where differences have been seen they may confirm the feeling of universality since they are very often immediately understandable as reactions of the sort that any human being would be prone to in similar circumstances, eg, reactions to frustrations, to anxiety, to bereavement, to triumph, to approaching death.”

That being said, Maslow did recognise that some cultures are more peaceful and harmonious than others, and he explained this through the lens of thwarting or threats to basic human needs.

I started writing about Maslow and the idea of ubuntu as an odd was of processing the constant news of international violence. The Xhosa concept of shared humanity and interdependent existence is summarised in ubuntu which roughly translates to: “I am because we are.”

Ubuntu and communal harmony felt important to discuss in this time of global aggression.

I suppose tumbling down the Maslow rabbit hole was part of an attempt to develop a positive philosophy of Work-Life Harmony that doesn’t disregard suffering.

I didn’t know how much I’d need that for myself a few days later.

I’ve always believed that what’s true across cultures and times, is true for all humanity. It’s why I enjoyed history in school. It’s why I did my MSc in Medical Anthropology. I suppose having had a fractured and chaotic childhood nudged me towards trying to understand humanity better, so I could feel equip to navigate a world that felt unsafe.

Despite years of trauma therapy, my obsession with ancient and cross-cultural philosophies remains. So I wanted to apply Maslow’s ideas into something less a Eurocentric, sequential progression towards success and more of an inclusive, collective perspective on well-being and harmony.

I started playing around with diagrams and, though this one needs further development (including reflection on systemic injustice and structural violence), I wanted to share it to discuss what happens when our needs aren’t met.

This week an incident threatened my core needs, but I still needed to show up for my family and businesses. I had key meetings; my kids had big events; I’m raising an SEIS investment round and the tax year deadline is looming (please let me know if you want the deck). I struggled with finding Work-Life Harmony in a week that felt relentless.

Last newsletter I wrote, “creating Work-Life Harmony involves designing a life where your ambitions, relationships, creativity, health and wellbeing work together, in line with your values, instead of constantly competing for limited resources.”

But this week that definition felt lacking. Too individualistic. Too oblivious to the chaos and violence in the world around us.

I asked myself, what about when you’re hanging on by a thread? Or when someone you love is struggling? Or both at once? How can Work-Life Harmony apply then?

I’m not sure I have the answers yet, or if I ever will. I do have some thoughts and alternative analogies that have helped me find peace in turmoil. I hope these concepts help you or someone you love when you need them too.

I usually describe Work-Life Harmony with the idea of a conductor directing an orchestra. And yes this explains Work-Life Harmony… but so does the analogy of an ecosystem.

Ecosystems need: continuous energy, water, nutrient cycling, biodiversity and resilience against disturbance to flourish. With those resources they flourish, without them, they’re destroyed.

I had a dark week. My ecosystem was threatened. I didn’t have the resources needed to maintain harmony. But I do have an incredible community who supported me to flush out destructive pollution.

When close friend’s asked what I needed, I really didn’t know. But turned up with food; helped with my backlog of housework; entertained my twins; and supported with crisis admin. Jainuma , lay in the dark with me till I was ready to speak; then picked up my kids so I could get ready for an award dinner I’d been looking forward to but didn’t know if I could face; she sorted my outfit, prayed with me and even figured out how to crochet miracle knots on the spot to help me fix my hair. My brother joined me for the dinner and after giving me a chance to talk things through, filled the evening with the lightness and silliness I often don’t know I need in dark times.

So I made it to the awards. As I was leaving, I complimented someone on her dress and we bonded for a moment over both almost not making the event because of hellish weeks. She said, “well, thank God we don’t look like what we’ve been through.” And I thought how grateful I was for a loving community that makes that possible.

I can only sustain Work-Life Harmony because of the community around me. And what a privilege to be able to not look like what you’ve been through. Showing up and experiencing moments of joy in darkness can be empowering.

My takeaway from this week has been just how important our environments and communities are in being able to live well. And that turning up is underrated. In every sense.

This month:

• Rachael’s Harmony Experiments: Rhythm-setting with awareness of cycles & seasons

• Joy Bringers: The Wealth Habit + other cool books, Marie & Rosetta, Potwee Golden Sea Moss (RAE10 for offer)

• Creative Sparks: The Agency (Original Short Story)

• Opportunities & Resources: Funding for Founders & Creatives, The 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Web App & free Serious Trainer personalised fitness app

• The Harmony Question: reflective prompt (share your thoughts with me directly, discuss in the comments or use for journaling)

Rachael’s Harmony Experiments

I’m learning that annual, monthly, weekly and daily rhythms have to shift in line with cycles & seasons that are outside of our control, and we need to do this regularly to maintain Work-Life Harmony.

Here are some rhythms that I use, I hope you find some helpful!

I’ve also been making videos on this idea, here’s the first in the series. Please leave a comment to let me know which other parts would be helpful to unpack.

And here’s a new Mum Dem Pod Episode on the invisible load!

Joy Bringers

Watching:

Marie and Rosetta with Beverley Knight & Zo Ndlovu has insane vocals; a moving story about friendship, creativity and legacy; and the first ever all Black Female band on the West End. Limited run till 11th April at Soho Theatre, I’d deffo recommend booking!

Reading:

The Wealth Habit by Ken & Mary Okoroafor is becoming one of my favourite actionable finance books. The concepts align beautifully with Work-Life Harmony and each chapter ends with reflection questions and a small action step. Useful to read alone and a fun one to work though with others (I’ll be going through it with my husband and another couple as soon as we finish discussing Financial Joy, Ken and Mary’s first book!)

Also reading…

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (2022, 1950s historical fiction read)

The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma (2015, literary fiction read)

With: Reimagining the Way You Relate to God by Skye Jethani (2011, spiritual read)

Motivation and Personality by Abraham Maslow (1954, psychology read)

Success Habits by Napoleon Hill (2018, but based on his 1950s lectures, self-improvement read)

And I have only just noticed the strangely recurrent 50s theme… Guess I’ve been in a very 1950s time in my life.

Enjoying:

I love sea moss for gut health, immune support & skin. It’s high in iodine, antioxidants and natural polysaccharides which support healthy, hydrated skin. My favourite is from an area in St Lucia called Potwee and I’m super excited to have just pre-ordered some from friends of mine who are selling a limited batch of organic, sun dried Golden Sea Moss, blended into a gel with spring water.

They’ve kindly offered free delivery with code RAE26

Potwee Seamoss

Whilst impatiently waiting for my Potwee Seamoss to upgrade my smoothies, I’ve been adding Jersey milk and a spoon of Perfect Ted Blueberry Matcha to my velvitiser for an easy homemade matcha latte. It tastes soooo good and gives me sustained energy throughout the day without any caffeine crashes. Let me know if you try it.

Creative Sparks

This post is getting long! So I’ll just say I hope The Agency inspires something for you.

Opportunities & Resources

🚀💷 ESA Business Applications Funding by European Space Agency
Who it’s for: Startups, founders and businesses using space tech, data or satellites
Zero-equity funding (typically €60k–€3M+) and support. Not just space tech, can be climate, cities, health, mobility, agriculture or anything else powered by space tech.
More info and apply

🌍💷 URRA Residency (Buenos Aires) by URRA
Who it’s for: UK-based visual artists (emerging to mid-career).
Fully funded international residency offering time, space and community to develop art without pressure to produce finished work.
Artworkarchive.com

🎬💷 Venice Gap-Financing Market 2026 by La Biennale di Venezia
Who it’s for: Film producers with feature-length projects in development or post-production.
Prestigious industry market held during the Venice International Film Festival, connecting filmmakers with international financiers to secure funding.
Apply here

🏛️💷 The Stephen Lloyd Awards
Who it’s for: Founders of early stage businesses, charities or CICs
£25,000 in seed funding for early-stage projects solving systemic social or environmental problems
More info and apply

Two years ago I set myself a goal to heal my diastasis, lose my baby weight and feel appreciative for a healthy and functional body. I’d say I’m just about there! One of the things that’s helped hugely is the Serious Trainer app built by a member of this community. It’s now in beta mode on the App Store and Play Store and free using this link:

Try Serious Trainer App Free

I’ve upgraded the app I built to help you (and me) find Work-Life Harmony in just 5 minutes every morning.

The 54321 App

The app is free for now, but it does have development costs so if you like it and are in a position to do so, please consider upgrading your membership to support the app.

Upgrade Now

Guided Audio Courses for paid subscribers.

The Harmony Question

Thanks for reading to the end! I hope The Work-Life Harmony Method helps you to live well.

xoxo – Rachael

Two years ago I sent an email asking what it means to ‘live well’ and I was moved by the response. I couldn’t quite believe that thousands of people would want to read my meandering thoughts on life. Much less, over 20,000.

In that first official newsletter, I wrote about battling a dark depression and trying to figure out what a life worth living looked like. Readers wrote back with their perspectives:

“Living well for me is… the joy of creating new experiences & memories with people”

“It is the simple things in life that brings us happiness & who we are is far superior to what we do.”

“Living well is the ability to journey through the challenges of life and realising that you are the original spectator to your experience. I have grown to realise that it doesn’t matter what other people’s perception to my situation is but what’s important is the realisation of what is at the core of you.”

“To live well? I think it’s to carve one’s own path and make the most of it in whatever way brings meaning and fulfilment.”

“A life worth living is one where I understand that peace and rest are just as important as having a good career.”

These thoughts prompted me on a journey to figuring out what it meant for me to live well. I began to rethink every single message I’d internalised about success and explored that in this newsletter.

As I returned to a new type of work postpartum after exiting my first business early and started rebuilding my life after health & family challenges, I found the steady rhythm of writing a newsletter each month oddly grounding.

This Substack sort of anchored me through the chaos of exploring, then defining, my ideal career… something I hadn’t had to think about since I chose what to study at university when I was 17. My career had just sort of happened to me. I hadn’t needed to plan.

It was uncomfortable to figure out work and life in public, yet also somewhat grounding. As things became clearer, I turned my focus to figuring out what I could give back to this community and I started to create audio courses on requested topics, then I developed my first Work-Life Harmony web app.

People told me it was helpful, so over the last year I’ve suppressed the urge to delete or drastically change the newsletter.

But recently writing this newsletter has felt off… Somewhat constraining and no longer grounding. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing…

I suppose, in a way, when I first started, I needed you guys. I needed this community to validate my projects and experiments and to respond to my ideas with insights and enthusiasm. But now I’m in a much different place and the newsletter title was starting to feel a little self-indulgent…

I want the focus to be on what you need. So we’re changing things.

The Work-Life Harmony Method is about giving back to the community that’s given me so much.

Before that first newsletter, I’d already found out the hard way that work-life balance is a myth. I knew you couldn’t do everything at once, and I’d learnt that even just attempting to keep everything balanced is an exhausting path to burnout.

What slowly became clear was just how much living well is about creating Work-Life Harmony.

Creating Work-Life Harmony involves designing a life where your ambitions, relationships, creativity, health and wellbeing work together, in line with your values, instead of constantly competing for limited resources.

Work-Life Harmony allows me to run businesses, serve on boards, volunteer, write, workout and still show up fully for my family and community without losing myself.

This newsletter has slowly been becoming a place to explore Work-Life Harmony in practice. Now I’m making that more official.

The Work Life Harmony Method is a newsletter to help you on your journey, whether you’re a founder, creative, leader, professional or hyphenate.

I’m keeping the parts of the newsletter that you’ve told me are helpful, and shedding the rest.

Here’s what you’ll get each month:

• Rachael’s Harmony Experiments: rhythms, boundaries & systems I’m testing as I learn to maintain Work-Life Harmony whilst raising 4 kids, serving on boards, volunteering, writing and building a new business

• Joy Bringers: things I’m reading, watching & enjoying. Sometimes with offers on products and services I think you’ll love

• Creative Sparks: stories, art and ideas for nourishing imagination and sparking inspiration

• Opportunities & Resources: Practical support for your Work-Life Harmony journey from funding to courses, job openings to events as well as tools and research

• The Harmony Question: reflective prompts for us to discuss here or for you to use when journaling

Thanks for reading to the end! I hope The Work-Life Harmony Method helps you to live well.

xoxo – Rachael

P.S. I love hearing from readers, so please reply and tell me what Work-Life Harmony looks like in your life right now (or what you’d like it to look like if you’re not quite there yet.)

That’s how it felt when the Epstein files began to be released. The names of the rich and powerful were carefully redacted. The victims; left exposed.

Horrific abuse casually circulates in our newsfeeds. We know there are no innocent explanations to the images and emails we’ve seen. But we’re being socialised not to expect accountability.

Almost everyone knows someone who’s suffered at the hands of a more powerful person, or they’ve survived this themselves. So the palpable sense of glee over (former Prince) Andrew being arrested on his 66th birthday this week is unsurprising. It’s what I’d call justice-based schadenfreude.

If schadenfreude is pleasure at the misfortune of another and an explanation for why it was socially acceptable to laugh at people being pranked on Candid Camera and Punk’d, then justice-based schadenfreude explains why public executions were a socially acceptable form of entertainment. People have an inherent desire to see harsh punishments for the worst violations of the social contract.

The spectacle of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest, the undignified pap shot and the nature of the discussions reminded me of the memes surrounding Diddy’s downfall.

When the Diddy documentary was released, people proudly rejoiced over the clear betrayal by someone in his camp. Perhaps the sense of vengeful pleasure came from the poetic irony of Diddy’s misplaced trust in someone leading to his public humiliation, just as he’d humiliated his victims when he played films of their abuse at his parties.

Justice-based schadenfreude seems to be almost innate. The puppet morality test showed that babies as young as 4 months old not only favour a puppet that displayed good behaviour over one that’s bad, but that they also favour the puppet that punishes the bad one. Further studies showed that babies will choose punitive delight over a reward for themselves. This doesn’t seem to be something people grow out of.

It’s why pop culture loves Luigi Mangione and why viewers root for Dexter Morgan, a fictional forensics geek by day and serial killer by night. People root for Dexter to catch criminals who slip through the net so he can dispense vigilante justice from his plastic wrapped table.

Dexter developed a cult following because he forced the worst types of criminals to both face their victims and to suffer as they did. This vengeful part of humanity understandably makes many nervous… But as unsettling as it is to feel this sense of justice-based schadenfreude or to see it in others, part of me wonders if it helps make society safe…

The Broken Windows Theory suggests that smashed glass left unrepaired is a green light to criminals because it shows that an area is neglected. Litter leads to more litter, graffiti to more graffiti and these signs of disorder send the message that people can show no regard for others and the community will let it slide.

What we’ve seen of the Epstein files feels like one of the biggest broken windows we’ve experienced in our lifetime.

Millions of documents and photos have been released showing the murky, abusive and downright shameful behaviour of politicians, academics and business leaders. Despite the reams of disturbing evidence laid out for all the world to see, those with the authority to investigate and bring wrongdoers to justice seem to have barely batted an eyelid.

Weeks after the Epstein files were released, not a single powerful person has been arrested or charged in relation to the sex offenses and trafficking of minors and young women. And whilst from a legal perspective, much of the evidence is circumstantial and difficult to use without a testimony from Epstein (who is unable to provide one for obvious reasons) from a moral perspective, people across the world have been crying out to see justice done.

We want our moral windows repaired.

It’s human nature to want to know that no one is above justice, even royalty. Because if every person matters then harming any person matters, regardless of who causes the harm.

Whether the powerful men named in the Epstein files are first investigated for their sex offences, their market manipulation or their misconduct in public office, is less important than the fact that they are investigated. The stain they’ve graffitied on humanity is being cleaned up. If no one is above the law, then no one needs to live in fear of the powerful.

Andrew’s arrest signals that the men who laughed about the ways they abused their victims are being investigated, and we will not let it slide.

This arrest is unrelated to Epstein’s sex crimes and trafficking, but it’s still a sign to the victims that they matter. I hope it will be a catalyst for bringing about the justice they need to finally move on.

In this month’s Newsletter:

Project Updates: Working Life Harmony App
What I'm Learning: The benefits of mutual mentoring
What I'm Loving: Pemfit (50% discount!) with code: RACHAEL50
Stories: Pebble Stack
Events & Opportunities: 20% off Techish Live with code RAE20, Funding for founders, podcasters & creatives and an open EDI role at the Royal College of Art

Project Updates

Working more on my Work-Life Harmony app and the first part is live and free on my website!

Whilst I’m chipping away at the next phase of the app, I’ve set up an automation using Tomo.ai where I text Tomo the image from the app of my plan for the day and it syncs to Todoist so I can check off my tasks and stay on track.

This has hypercharged my productivity and helped me to be focused consistently whether I’m consulting, delivering keynotes, working on projects like Ayaa, MumDem or my book manuscripts and also on days where I’m fully focused on the kids.

Try it out and let me know what you think! It takes under 5 minutes a day.

The 54321 App

The app is free for now, but it does have development costs so if you like it and are in a position to do so, please consider upgrading your membership to support the app.

Upgrade Now

What I'm Learning

I love a mutual mentoring relationship. I recently did a workshop for The Guardian and shared a story of what I think is the coolest example of mutual mentoring. The story starts in 1967 at a film festival and you can read about it on LinkedIn (and guess the directors) here.

What I'm Loving

Lately I’ve been trying PEMF therapy. It’s a low-effort, high-impact wellness discovery that I wish I’d found sooner.

PEMF uses gentle electromagnetic pulses to support recovery, reduce pain, improve sleep and help your body regulate itself, which is helpful if you juggle a lot mentally and physically.

If you want to try it, they’ve shared a generous 50% discount code (RACHAEL50) that works across all session packages at the City of London location. And the first person to reply to me and request it, will get a free session too.

Book: pemfit.co.uk/pemfit-city-of-london Code: RACHAEL50

Short Stories

Working on a short story for an anthology and editing my novel manuscript so no new short this month, but here’s a thought provoking one from the archives.

Read Pebble Stack

Events & Opportunities

🎟️ Techish Live! Wednesday 25th February, 6-9pm, London

One of the top Tech Podcasts out there and a personal fave of mine, Techish, is heading from the timeline to the stage.

Michael Berhane and of will be live with unfiltered takes on the biggest stories shaping the industry today, alongside humour, Q&A and the kind of honest commentary we need right now. Ideal for founders, operators, investors, creatives and tech professionals.

Use promo code RAE20 for click the button below for 20% off. See you Weds!

Get 20% off Tickets

💼 EDI Officer role at the Royal College of Art
Who it’s for: EDI professionals experienced in higher education/creative institutions.
Deadline: Not specified (apply ASAP).
A senior role leading equity, diversity and inclusion work across the RCA, influencing policy, culture and institutional practice. Ideal for someone passionate about systemic change in the arts and education.
Apply: jobs.rca.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx?ref=018-26

🚀💷 MassChallenge UK Early Stage Accelerator
Who it’s for: Early-stage startups, especially in AI, cybersecurity, foodtech & impact.
Deadline: 4 March 2026.
London-based accelerator connecting high-potential startups with mentors, corporates and investors to support growth and impact. Up to £20k funding available.
Apply: masschallenge.org/programs-united-kingdom

🎨💷 HausCode Digital R&D Programme by Haus der Kunst
Who it’s for: Digital and interdisciplinary creatives worldwide.
Deadline: 25 February 2026.
Remote creative research programme offering a €2,000 commission, curatorial support & the chance to develop digital projects exploring how institutions shape meaning.
Apply: hausderkunst.de/en/hauscode

🎧💷 The Whickers Podcast Pitch
Who it’s for: Independent audio makers and documentary storytellers.
Deadline: 27 February 2026.
An international funding opportunity offering a £15,000 top prize, £5,000 runner-up award and a funded trip to Sheffield DocFest to pitch to industry leaders.
Apply: whickerawards.com/apply/the-podcast-pitch

🚀💷 TechLocal Grant Fund by Innovate UK
Who it’s for: UK businesses seeking funding to develop tech talent/local workforce.
Deadline: 18 March 2026.
Part of a £7.6M national fund supporting employers to strengthen regional tech skills pipelines and workforce development.
Apply: businessgrowthwestmidlands.org.uk/articles/techlocal-new-grant-opportunities

xoxo – Rachael

If you enjoyed reading this, please do forward on or hit the restack button.

It’s been impossible to avoid the conversation this month. Podcasts on male loneliness and collapsing birth rates. The manosphere spilling into the mainstream. Our feeds swinging between anti-motherhood essays and thoughtful rebuttals; inflamed by people blind to all the ways they meet in the middle of the false dichotomy we’ve had forced on us.

We’re circling the same questions but missing the point…

Birth rates are collapsing at historical rates and everyone has a hot take. But can we be honest about the fact that motherhood looks deeply unattractive?

Despite popular opinion, women’s freedom and education do not change biology. Every month, women’s bodies still whisper (or scream) that it’s time to make a baby. And yet these days so many respond, ‘no thanks,’ because motherhood has never looked less appealing. The consequences reach far beyond individual choice.

Think about this recent case: a mother buckles under pressure, adds an appointment to her work calendar so she can make the school run and gets struck off as a GP for five months. Her patients lose access to care. Her family loses stability. Her career takes a blow. Everyone loses. For comparison a male GP was recently suspended for 12 months after he, “knowingly entered into a sexual relationship with a 17 year old, with whom he exchanged messages from the time she was a 13 year old patient.” Setting that particular horrific injustice aside, the comparison alone tells you something is broken.

Mothers are constantly under attack in a society that already forces us to make impossible choices on a daily basis. Who would choose that? For a long time, I thought I wouldn’t.

And yet, I love my children. They are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. They’ve changed my brain so completely that I barely recognise who I was before them. I’m grateful every day for the surprise blessing of the four tiny humans who reshaped my life. At the same time, I understand why people opt out.

The problem isn’t the children. Children themselves are unhinged yet wonderful. The problem is everything surrounding motherhood. It’s the absence of community. It’s a society that forces a choice between career and family. It’s astronomical childcare costs making motherhood a financial burden that’s impossible to bear without surrendering your lifestyle, autonomy and/or sanity.

I’m not wading into the tradwife debate, but the idea that women working is modern, is ahistorical nonsense. Women have always worked. What’s new is women being isolated at home, alone with children and cut off from adult community.

So-called trad wives worked with children in tow, alongside other adults, inside functioning social systems. Researcher published an important paper on our shift away from allomothering and the consequences for modern society.

We’re living through an evolutionary anomaly. Motherhood has never before been a solo endeavour. Traditionally, babies stayed close to their mothers; they were carried, breastfed on demand, and they co-slept. Traditionally, parenting was shared, visible and supported. The modern approach to motherhood is an unethical failing experiment.

As an ambitious leader and a mother of four, I constantly face choices I don’t want to have to make. I often find motherhood isolating and I understand why people say no to this. Yet I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Early matrescence involves being torn, cut or split open and yet so many of us willingly do it more than once for good reason. Yet many women reject their maternal instincts because we’ve made motherhood brutal, lonely and punishing.

Perinatal depression rates are at an all-time high. Women are being diagnosed with neurological conditions when their coping mechanisms collapse under pressure. So what are we asking mothers to sign up for when we insist they choose motherhood? Is it any shock that global fertility rates have more than halved?

Male loneliness and maternal loneliness are not separate crises. They’re entangled. Women reject men and motherhood because they don’t want to end up alone and holding the baby. But it doesn’t have to be a choice between happy men and miserable mothers, or childless women and lonely men…

Societies that treat mothers well tend not to face the same demographic implosions as those that do not. Women who say no to an endless series of impossible trade-offs may say yes to a baby with the support needed to actually enjoy the little bundle.

Whether you’re a parent or not, this affects you. Aging populations need younger workers. We will all grow old. We will all depend on the next generation, whether we raise them ourselves or not. And right now, that future is thinning out.

Earlier this week, I gave a keynote about how prioritising my babies meant selling my business earlier than planned. I shared lessons from building while pregnant; leading while breastfeeding; and choosing family without surrendering ambition.

Every time I speak about these topics, I open myself up to critique, some of it well meaning. Some of it vicious.

I will always choose my children. But I also choose myself. I choose my career. I enjoy working. I enjoy life. And I hate the idea that this makes me a lesser mother. No one has ever suggested to my husband that he give up his career to be truly present with his children, despite the fact that he too can be replaced at work but not at home.

Yes, motherhood is sacred. Yes, it is extraordinary. And yes, it requires unsustainable levels of martyrdom. But it doesn’t have to.

To make motherhood a viable choice, we need to build work cultures that allow parents to fully participate in family life whilst also excelling professionally. We need to bring back the village and adequately support the parents around us.

Our future depends on it.

In this month’s Newsletter:

Project Updates: Starting Up SE07 & The 54321 App!
What I'm Learning: Range vs Specialism
What I'm Loving: Pinwheel
Stories: How Anasi Learnt All The Stories
Events & Opportunities: Open Roles in Tech, £15,000 BBC Short Story Competition, Student Business Pitch Comp and Academic Startup Funding up to £800,000

Project Updates

I need to clarify some details before I can share Ayaa updates… in the meantime, here’s a mockup of the range and product textures! I’ll be working with an incredible designer to bring these to life.

Finally uploaded a new Starting Up video on my YouTube channel.

Oh! And I built an app to help you find Work-Life Harmony in just 5 minutes every day.

The 54321 App

The app is free for now, but it does have development costs so if you like it and are in a position to do so, please consider upgrading your membership to support the app.

Upgrade Now

What I'm Learning

I’m currently reading Range and it’s reshaping how I think about mastery. I’d absorbed the idea that the 10,000-hour rule meant specialise early or risk never reaching full potential.

But Range shows something different. Many high achievers, from Serena Williams to Vivaldi, spent years trying a wide range of activities before they specialised. That early experimentation gave them an edge. Range is part of the path to excellence.

What I'm Loving

We gave our 9 year old a medium intelligence phone and it’s been an interesting experience!

I’m loving Pinwheel because of all the safety features that allow my daughter to safely learn how to use technology. Check out the video to see it in action. [AD]

Short Stories

I’m currently working on some long form projects and a couple of new short stories, including one for ’s exciting new Anthology! Hope you enjoy this weird little Anansi story in the meantime.

How Anasi Learnt All The Stories

Events & Opportunities

Events, funding and resources for creatives, founders and leaders:

Abadesi of is hiring a Brand & Marketing Manager at Ordinance Survey! Great opportunity with one of Britain’s most impactful tech & data companies, ideal if you love startups, storytelling & innovation. Salary up to £41,000. Immediate start.

Apply Now

If you’re a student with a business idea you want to take seriously, the UNiDAYS Student Startup Accelerator is now open for applications. Six-week accelerator ending in a national investor Pitch Day. Deadline 1st February!

Apply NOW

£15k prize for the winning story of up to 8,000 words with the BBC Competition.

BBC Short Story Award

If you’re sitting on research with commercial potential, apply for up to £800k through the Cyber Security Academic Startup Accelerator Programme.

Learn More

TRC Audio Courses:

Catch you next time!

xoxo – Rachael

p.s. If you enjoyed reading this, please do forward on or hit the restack button.

I believe it is still just about acceptable to say… Happy New Year!

Quick note to share a small but important change to how we do Accountability Hour.

The 9–10pm live slot has been tough to keep up with consistently, for you and for me. I’ve had a lot of messages about trying a different approach so we tested a live hour on WhatsApp and a live hour …

Read more

I go through the Year Compass to review the year that’s ending. Then I get on with planning for the year to come. With 4 young kids, it’s hard to be consistent with timings… but for the last decade, at some point between Christmas and the end of Jan, I follow this ritual.

I keep coming back to this process because it’s led to some amazing growth career wise, spiritually and even physically; this year I went from barely being able to lift an empty bar to hitting a deadlift PB of 92.5kg in the gym! More on this in the What I’m Learning section below…

However your year went, I hope these resources help you to have a wonderful year ahead. Let me know how you find them and if you have any useful NYE rituals, please do share in the comments!

Year Compass – a free retrospective guide for personal reflection on the year that’s ending.

Dream-Plan-Do – my resource for goal setting that actually works, based on neuroscience and academic research (neurodivergent friendly!)

In this month’s Newsletter:

Project Updates: AI Hackathon, YouTube Series & Creative Recovery
What I'm Learning: How to Do Less to Achieve More
What I'm Loving: The Fold London
Stories: It’s pretty derivative, don’t you think
Events & Opportunities: £5000 Funding for Theatre Producers. €360k Funding for Entrepreneurs and audio courses

Project Updates

Earlier this month Dr Ricardo Twumasi and I hosted an AI Hackathon at King’s College London. As a way of exploring AI ethics & risk, we focused on a proof of concept for open world testing of AI systems.

The plan was simple: use Minecraft as a shared simulated environment to observe how multiple AI agents behave under real rules, incentives and constraints… Pretty much everything went wrong, but we’ve been running these hackathons since 2023 and this was still my favourite by far.

The session moved ethics out of abstraction and into practice, revealing how values are shaped by system design itself rather being something you can just add later.

It was great to see teams plan, test, debug and adapt together across disciplines. We had people travel from all over the country and a packed room including a group of sixth formers and a dad with his kid so it’s great to see things picking up when it comes to interest in ethical AI use.

My key takeaway was this: better AI outcomes depend as much on the worlds we design as on the models we train, and collaborative spaces are where that progress begins.

We’ll be running another hackathon in spring to explore coordination, decision making and responsibility before AI systems reach the real world. If you want to join our AI Hackathon Telegram group, just reply to this email and I’ll send you the link!

My now not so secret projects are still ticking along! I’ve been posting about my entrepreneurial projects on my YouTube channel and my Creative Recovery series is wrapping up on my IG. 2026 will be a little different… but I’ll update you on that in Jan!

What I'm Learning

My theme for 2025 was “Streamline”, which was all about doing less and focusing on big goals after a year of exploring different avenues in 2024 after exiting my startup.

What I learned is that Work Life Harmony is built through intentional focus, not fullness.

By simplifying and letting go of the urge to do everything, I saw quiet, compounding gains across both life and work: my company grew revenue 3.5x while serving fewer clients on more aligned projects, and personal commitments like training for my purple belt in karate, protecting sleep, eating well and reading consistently directly supported my energy, clarity and confidence in my training, consulting and speaking work.

Saying no to exciting but misaligned opportunities created space for creativity, sustainability and the steady growth of this Substack community that I love writing for.

Looking back, small intentional choices definitely compounded in ways that surprised me, and freed me to prioritise what mattered most. For instance it’s been a goal of mine to bake my kids’ birthday cakes but I’ve never felt I had the time or skill. This year I made themed cakes for all four by building in extra time on client projects, finishing ahead of deadlines rather than working to the wire, which meant I could properly switch off at weekends and bake for my babies.

The biggest lesson for me has been how good it feels to be fully present and focused on what’s in front of me, and how that shift has allowed me to achieve more both as a leader and as a mother.

What I'm Loving

I was recently nominated for Speaker of the Year and The Fold London dressed me in this gorgeous gold design for the ceremony.

I love their ethics and commitment to thoughtful craftsmanship, timeless silhouettes and clothing that supports women to show up with confidence in every room they walk into.

You can shop The Fold here.

The Fold London

Short Stories

I wrote an odd little story loosely inspired by a trip to an art gallery in Soho. Hope you like it!

It’s pretty derivative, don’t you think

Events & Opportunities

This is a great time of year for self development! Here are some resources for creatives, entrepreneurs and leaders:

The Peggy Ramsay Foundation is offering grants of £5000 to theatre writers in the British Isles with at least one play professionally published to afford them the time and the space to write. The grant may go towards general costs such as rent and bills, as well as materials and equipment. Open all year round.

More info: https://peggyramsayfoundation.org/grant-applications.html

Eurostars (part of the European Partnership on Innovative SMEs) is offering up to €360k of grant funding for startups and small businesses in a range of industries including Agrifood, Biotech, Creative Industries, Design, Health, Quantum Computing, Space, Sustainability and Robotics & AI. Deadline: March 2026.

However you’re celebrating, I wish you a memorable New Year’s Eve and a wonderful year ahead.

xoxo – Rachael

p.s. What did you find most helpful about this post? I’d love to hear your thoughts over email or in the comments.

p.p.s. If you enjoyed reading this, please do forward on or hit the restack button.

Not just because of the shocking behaviour in the House of Commons on the day Rachel Reeves announced it or because of the stealth taxes. It caught my attention because there’s actually a lot of hope for entrepreneurs, leaders and creatives.

If you’re a creative, this Budget has a bit of welcome news. The government have confirmed £380 million for the creative industries to strengthen regional hubs, grow skills and support innovation. Which should mean more grants, programmes and opportunities across the UK.

There’s also a £150 million Creative Places Growth Fund for smaller creative businesses, plus £25 million for new R&D labs pushing the boundaries of screen, performance and immersive tech. Film studios in England are getting relief on business rates and indie filmmakers can access more tax credits. That should translate into more work for actors, supporting artists and freelancers.

For entrepreneurs and founders there’s movement too. Limits for EIS and Venture Capital Trusts are rising, which should mean more investment circulating. The three-year exemption on Stamp Duty Reserve Tax for shares in newly listed UK companies gives founders better exits… which should mean more angel investors with more money to invest... So despite the tax squeeze, there’s backing for bold ideas and creative leadership.

Like most people in the UK I’ve found parts of this Budget tough and frustrating. But these details stood out because they send a clear message: people who create, build and shape things still matter.

While we wait for the capital to filter through, read on for opportunities and share them with someone who might need a lift. You never know whose trajectory you might shift.

In this month’s Newsletter:

Project Updates: Personal Branding Audiocourse now live, Founder’s Journal Unfiltered Ep03 + Starting Up Ep06
What I'm Learning: Work-Life Harmony vs Consistency
What I'm Loving: PerfectTed & Pinwheel (offers)
Stories: Honey, It’s Classified
Events & Opportunities: Funding for Founders, Volunteering opportunities for Leaders, Submissions for Creatives

Project Updates

More updates!

My most requested audio course is now live. This one is all about brand building. My personal brand has secured bookings with major brands, put me on stages with huge audiences and helped me support thousands of people on their journey to Work-Life Harmony. This self-paced audio course is designed to help you build a presence that creates real impact and makes you proud.

Personal Branding Course

Ayaa Botanicals is getting closer and closer to launch. Here’s EP03 of Founder’s Journal Unfiltered with more details (surprising myself that I’m still doing this…)

We’re now on EP06 of Starting Up… I think we’ve finally figured out the lighting and sound issues! Let me know what you think.

What I'm Learning

You may have noticed I don’t send this newsletter on a fixed date. I’m not technically consistent with it and that’s intentional…

People talk a lot about consistency. It’s sold as the guarantee that if you follow a schedule you’ll get the outcome you want.

But Work-Life Harmony doesn’t always thrive on strict patterns. Sometimes it asks you to be inconsistent. To step off the hedonic treadmill and move in time with your own rhythm instead.

Consistency should be a choice guided by your goals. It doesn’t need to apply to everything. Some parts of my life need steady attention. I’m consistent with my kids; reading the bible; and my finance admin (at least, I try to be), because those matter deeply and I want to show up for them. But I’m not consistent with skincare routines, playing the guitar or baking because those are interests that bring joy without needing structure.

If I tried to play the guitar or Djembe every day it wouldn’t work. I couldn’t justify that level of commitment. As projects I can dip in and out of, they fit my life. As daily duties they wouldn’t.

When I think about Work-Life Harmony I see the big things like family, faith, health, career and creativity as the baseline and melody. They form the core of the song. Then you have the ad libs, the small bursts of percussion and the little creative touches that make music rich. Those hobbies and curiosities matter too. They colour your days and help you feel alive. They just don’t need the same attention as the drums, keyboard or vocals. Not everything needs to be consistent. Some things are for pleasure. And that variety isn’t a threat to harmony. It’s part of what makes it work.

What I'm Loving

I don’t meet people for coffees. I meet for Matcha.

[AD] You may have spotted me sipping PerfectTed on the treadmill in Week 5 of my Creative Recovery series or seen my video about setting my intention when working from home with a matcha. You can get 20% off the PerfectTed matcha I’ve been loving when you sign up to their mailing list here:

PerfectTed

[AD] I’ve just given my daughter her first phone and we went with a Pinwheel. It’s a kid-friendly device that keeps her connected while avoiding the usual distractions. With handpicked apps, caregiver controls and a setup that encourages healthy tech habits, it feels safe and simple. They have a Black Friday sale with up to 45% off & a 30 day money back guarantee so this is a great time to try it!

Pinwheel Black Friday Sale

Short Stories

Honey, It’s Classified is a short story I wrote inspired by snippets of conversations I really tried not to overhear in an airport lounge…

Read Honey, It's Classified

Events & Opportunities

Minecraft AI Hackathon – 16th Dec 2025

I’m cohosting a focused hackathon to build an AI benchmarking tool for Minecraft (Microsoft Project Malmö) with Dr Ricardo Twumasi.

📅 When: Tues 16 Dec, 18:30
📍 Where: King’s College London, Macadam Building, Flexible Learning Space 3.1

Bring your coding skills, creativity and curiosity. More info / working paper.

Register Now

NVIDIA Inception Is Now Accepting Applications

NVIDIA Inception helps startups innovate and evolve faster, offering a whole bunch of benefits for tech startups at any stage. The program takes no equity and there are no fees to apply. It takes about 10 mins. You may as well!

More info and apply

🎬 2-3 Degrees Frame the Future – Videography Project (18–25)

Exciting new project run by Thames Freeport and 2–3 Degrees for young people in Barking & Dagenham, Havering & Thurrock. No experience needed.

Make a 90-second video about the future of where you live including your hopes, ideas and vision. Winning videos will be remade by a professional film team & finalists shown at a private screening with prizes, work opportunities and networking.

Register / sign up: https://forms.gle/KtSfdZVFWy2znNBL6 by Sun 25 Jan 2026

Fiction and Nonfiction Mslexia Submissions now open

If you’re thinking of submitting to Mslexia, now’s the time: they’re open to both fiction and nonfiction entries for Issue 109. Their deadline is 5 January 2026 for stories, monologues, essays, “first‑page surgery” excerpts and Salon submissions.

Fiction Submissions

Nonfiction Submissions

Exclusive Audiocourses for paid subscribers:

xoxo – Rachael

Building my personal brand has opened doors I could once only dream of. It’s secured bookings with major brands, put me on stages with huge audiences and helped me support thousands of people on their journey to Work-Life Harmony.

I want the same and more for you. This self-paced audio course is your invitation to shape a personal brand that reflects who you are, what you believe and the impact you want to make. A brand you don’t have to perform.

After two hours you’ll be clear on how to build or polish a personal brand that is recognisably you. This course draws on real-life lessons, the learnt-the-hard-way type, mixed with simple strategies that help your message land with ease. You’ll learn how to communicate with clarity, share your story with confidence and build a brand that supports your goals.

When your message feels clear and your voice is honest, things start to shift.

In this course, you’ll:
✨ Discover the turning points that shaped your perspective
✨ Uncover the tension and transformation at the heart of your story
✨ Shape a Big Idea that positions you as the go-to voice in your space
✨ Build a voice that feels natural across writing, video and speaking
✨ Choose the right platforms so your visibility feels intentional and sustainable

Whether you’re growing a business, embracing a creative career or stepping into new levels of leadership, this course meets you where you are and helps you shape a brand that works for you.

Why this course works:
🔹 Audio-first, self-paced and easy to follow
🔹 Designed with entrepreneurs, purpose-driven leaders and creatives in mind
🔹 Laser focused on clarity and alignment (so you grow without burning out)
🔹 Downloadable workbook to guide your reflections and action steps

My invitation to you: stop hiding behind your expertise and start sharing your big idea with confidence; it could change someone’s life.

Read more

To maintain Work-Life Harmony, I think about my work and life in layers of time and intention. Not everything is a main focus: I have commitments, projects and experiments.

Commitments are long horizon: things I know I’m in for the next 10 years+ which shape who I am and how I spend my time. For me, that includes building Ayaa Botanicals.

Projects run in 3-month cycles. They have structure, goals and an endpoint. Right now my main project is my YouTube channel. I’ve planned and scripted three months of videos and I’m seeing how it goes.

Experiments last 4 to 6 weeks. They’re playful and low-stakes. I just finished a six-week watercolour painting class experiment and letting myself meander and explore helped me get out of a creative rut, so I’ll likely do the next course.

Some things start as experiments and grow into projects or commitments. Working out, writing books and The Raenaissance Club all began that way for me.

I frame it as exploring unknown unknowns through experiments, known unknowns through projects, and known knowns through commitments. It keeps life interesting and helps me build momentum and explore curiosities without burning out.

If you’re feeling stretched thin, try naming what’s a commitment, what’s a project and what’s just an experiment. When you’re overwhelmed, you can pause your experiments and even most projects to lock in on your commitments. Not everything has to be a forever thing. Some ideas need space to grow, others need structure and some just need a short season of curiosity.

In this month’s Newsletter:

Project Updates: Starting Up Ep03 + Ep01 Founder’s Journal Unfiltered
What I'm Learning: How Octavia Butler’s Discipline Helped Her Make History
What I'm Loving: Yendy Skincare (scroll for 15% discount)
Stories: Pebble Stack
Events & Opportunities: Free Tickets to the Bola Sol Show + Start Up Funding Opportunity

Project Updates

So many updates!

We’re now on EP03 of Starting Up…

…and I now have a spin off called Founder’s Journal Unfiltered. A project giving rise to an experiment… hope you like it!

I’m also finishing off the Personal Branding audio course you guys requested, so watch this space! I’m aiming to share it with you later this month.

What I'm Learning

This Black History Month I’m learning about one of my favourite Black creatives, Octavia Butler.

Bloodchild is one of the best pieces of speculative fiction I’ve read, and with it Octavia made history as the first Black woman to gain major recognition in science fiction, winning both Hugo and Nebula awards.

What I didn’t know is that Octavia grew up in poverty. Her father passed away when she was young and her mother worked as a cleaner.

Octavia was dyslexic and suffered from anxiety, so she spent her days in libraries reading science fiction but rarely saw characters who looked like her. So she wrote herself into her stories.

To focus on her writing, Octavia picked up odd jobs where she could. She worked as a dishwasher, a potato chip inspector and a telemarketer. The kind of jobs that left her mind free to wander. Before work, she’d get up at 2am to write every single day.

Octavia wrote her first novel whilst still young, but received over 20 rejection letters. Eventually she sold her first story: Childfinder to her friend and fellow Black Sci Fi writer Samuel R Delany for an anthology that never made it to print. Still, that sale inspired her to push past rejection and keep going until she landed her first book deal.

I’m in my artist era and researching Octavia inspired me because she pushed through poverty, neurodiversity, grief, racism and a rough start in life to build entire worlds from questions others were afraid to ask. Questions about power, humanity and survival.

Octavia’s discipline, resilience and imagination remind me that creativity is a practice. Creativity isn’t about inspiration or vibes or finding a muse. It’s about consistent dedication to the craft.

Octavia’s story reminds me that every small act of art making is part of a bigger picture. With that energy, I’ve been working on my own creative rehab, here’s the first in a video series on my journey… I hope it inspires yours.

What I'm Loving

This BHM I want to highlight Yendy! I use it morning and night and it is one of the only things that moisturises my dry, eczema prone and yet somehow also acne prone skin. You may have spotted Yendy in my Day in the Life video:

You can get 15% off Yendy Skincare with code RAE15

Short Stories

Creative rehab is clearly working for me! I finally painted something I liked, then felt compelled to write Pebble Stack, a story inspired by it. My friend tells me this is called ekphrasis.

I love that every random creative compulsion seems to have a name. There is truly nothing new under the sun.

Read Pebble Stack

Events & Opportunities

Free Tickets to The Bola Sol Show! 💫

Bola Sol has kindly given our community a number of free tickets for this Friday. There are first come, first serve using the code FRIENDS via the link below:

Book your ticket here (scroll to the bottom for The Bola Sol Show)

Instructions:

• Takes about 3–5 minutes to register

• You’ll be asked for your name, job title, email and industry

• Works best on a laptop or desktop but mobile also works

Hope you enjoy the show!

Last call: CoCreate Pitch 2025 is a global startup competition offering $1M in prizes, mentorship, and exposure as well as access to Alibaba.com’s sourcing ecosystem. They’re looking for bold founders with product-driven visions. If that sounds like you, apply here by Oct 15th:

https://pitch.alibabacocreate.com

xoxo – Rachael

p.s. What did you find most helpful about this post? I’d love to hear your thoughts over email or in the comments.

p.p.s. If you enjoyed reading this, please do forward on or hit the restack button.

This reflects in the …

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That pilot event taught us an important lesson: stick to your thesis, even when the earl…

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This afternoon that clip popped up on my algorithm (when I was doom scroll pro…

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Natasha was the senior editor at ELLE magazine. She saw the shift to digital on the horizon and made a bold move: she launched Tough Crowd, carving out a new space for women in the automotive industry.

I founded and exited a VC-backed startup, then pivote…

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Quick message to let you know that our Accountability Hour chat has moved to WhatsApp! I’ve heard your feedback and hope the new chat will offer more of what you’re looking for: easier check-ins, gentle nudges and a better flow for our rhythm of weekly accountability & encouragement towards your goals.

If you haven’t joined the new group yet, you can join with the link below.

Read more

I’d written over a dozen personal statements for different university courses.

“I’m eager to study biomedical science”... but I wanted to learn other things too.

“I’m keen to take this course in philosophy”... except I wasn’t sure I was.

“I love reading and would relish the …

Read more

Ever feel like time is slipping through your fingers? Constantly busy but never caught up? I’ve been there too.

This self-paced audio course is your invitation to pause, reset and finally take control of your time: not by doing more, but by doing what matters.

This course draws on real-life lessons (the learnt-the-painfully-hard-way type), practical systems and mindset shifts that actually stick. It’s designed to help you stop reacting to your inbox and messages, and start intentionally designing your days.

When we’re proactive and responsive instead of simply reactive, everything shifts.

In this course, you’ll:

✨ Shift your mindset from busyness and burnout to clarity and intention
✨ Learn simple systems that work with your energy, not against it
✨ Try out powerful tools like time-blocking, batching and SOP templates
✨ Make space for the people, projects and rest you’ve been putting off

Whether you're juggling work, family and side hustles, or just tired of feeling behind, Time Optimisation meets you where you are to help you build a rhythm that works for you.

Why this course works:

🔹 Audio-first, self-paced and perfect for learning on the go
🔹 Designed with creative, multi-hyphenate and neurodivergent thinkers in mind
🔹 Based on learnings from popular books like Deep Work & 7 Habits for Highly Effective people, turned into practical lessons learned through trial, error and parenthood
🔹 Includes a downloadable handbook with plug-and-play tools

My invitation to you: stop saying “I don’t have time” and start living like your time matters.

🎧 Press play to begin, and scroll down to download the handbook.

Read more

I started Year 9 with no home and no address, just a deep knot of shame. I told my teachers I’d moved and couldn’t remember the new address, a half-truth as I didn’t know the address of the hostel.

Read more

It was a piece about a famous billionaire. He claimed that work-life balance is a lie. On that point, I actually agree. But I couldn't get behind what came next: that employees should go home, have dinner with their families… and then open their laptops again. Apparently sleeping un…

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The event team faced unexpected health challenges and couldn’t make it. The wrong slide deck was shown behind me. Right in the middle of my talk (ironically, during a story about messing up a pitch) I blanked on the key beats of my story. Even the photos I got were a bit sketchy…

An…

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