Hey Reader

I wrote last week's letter from our family summer in Ipswich.

Here's what I didn't tell you… tucked into the quiet corners of this holiday, I was working. And I loved it.

My two Brand & Bloom beta builds are mid-flight, one in week two, one in week three. Between the poolside cocktails and boating to the sandbar I've been in user research mode: real conversations with the real people my clients serve, finding out what they actually need. I've enjoyed every minute of it.

And here's the bit that matters most. All of it happened whilst I was properly on holiday. Present at the table, in the water, around the bbq, with the people I love. The work still got done.

Creating smart systems did that. I've spent this year quietly building an operating system that works the way I work, and this summer it paid me back in the only currency I care about: time.

More time = more freedom. More analog making. More yoga. More of my family.

And it turns out the whole internet is circling the same question this month: how the work really gets made, and who to trust. Here's what's happening 👇

 

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the trust shift (and what to do about it)

Three things going on this month that all point the same way. None of them need you to change who you are. Great news, right?

1. Substack made honesty visible

On 22 July, Substack quietly switched on AI detection. Readers can now scan any post and see an estimate of how much of it a machine wrote. And, writers are split. Some are calling it the feature of the year, some a total witch hunt. I've read both angles, and underneath all the noise sits one simple truth: readers want to know there's a real person in here and that said person is also flawed, but showing up anyway. Substack has also added a place to answer them, a short statement called "How I make this". Mine goes up this week.

→ Try this: read your last post and circle everything that could only have come from you. That's your raw material.

2. Your realness is the differentiator

When polished words are cheap, the valuable part is the part that can't be generated. And that's your twenty plus years of experience. Your opinions. The client stories only you were in the room for. The marketing press has spent August arriving at the same conclusion: voice and lived experience are what set you apart now. Which is great news for a woman with decades of both. Your wisdom is your currency, and this is the season it helps you stand out.

→ Try this: add one specific lived detail to your next post. A date, a place, a sentence a client actually said. These specifics read as human because they are.

3. AI is the lean team. You are the author.

Around 2/3 of women running businesses run them alone. And, the answer to that maths is never hustle harder. AI is the lean team: a brainstorming partner for first drafts, a filing clerk, a researcher. You keep the judgement, the taste and the final word. Last week I talked about keeping a human in the loop. This week I'm going further. The loop is you and that's how you refine your brand voice.

→ Try this: write your own three-line "How I make this" statement. Line one, what's fully yours. Line two, where the helpers help. Line three, why. That's it.

Here's mine:

Every opinion here is mine, backed by thirty years of actually doing the work.

AI helps with the research, the market insights and the first drafts, always inside beautiful templates I've designed.

The time it saves goes back into being human: my family, my yoga mat, my sketchbook, my garden.

 

One score. One differentiator. One lean team. All three point the same way: let your people see how you make it. Post the wins and the losses. The behind-the-scenes is even more important now than it ever was.

 

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2 things i'm loving

✦ Magnesium butter. See the science.

Being a woman of a certain age, I just can't recommend this product enough, especially to help me through my jet lag (I arrived home 2 nights ago and this was the first thing I reached for to help me sleep). Get £10 off Sweet Sleep Magnesium Butter.

 

✦ Canva search words that are quietly on fire

Type these into Canva's template search this week and watch the imperfect-by-design mood appear: notes app template, textured carousel, brand board, scrapbook style. Canva's new AI search reads plain language, so the clever name loses out to the clear ones.

 

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1 post to use this week