CI Magazine - December 2020

DE C E M BE R 2 0 2 0 I S S UE N O . 11 FREE

STEP into your POWER How to set wildly outrageous goals for 2021 and beyond with ADR I E N N E H E R B E RT

Christmas gift guide Best buys from

small businesses for ever y budget

Nicola RaeWickham

Make a wholehear ted impact in the world

FOREWORD

FREE

TI S' TH E

1 0 0 PA G E SPECIAL ISSUE

SEASON It’s the most wonderful time of the year. I know it may be hard to swallow in 2020, but I am still being proudly carried away by the Christmas spirit. I made 2 batches of Christmas cookies already, listened to Mariah about 250 times, decorated the house and brushed off my fluffy socks.

This year more than ever, we are truly looking to celebrate what we have, remind our family and friends that we love them, and seek true connections. This is the time to stop and reflect on what we have achieved - albeit that may feel slightly different this time around. As our collective members are focusing on business strategy planning, I have been encouraging them to set goals, but also to look back at what they are willing to be thankful for, and what they are looking to change for the new year.

Talking about goals, we dive deep into the topic with our cover star, Adrienne Herbert, as we celebrate her brand new book Power Hour and how she starts each day with energy and courage. We uncover her true feelings about the accomplishment she's achieved and how no-one can become an overnight success; resilience is key.

Long live the celebrations from Awards month as we have exclusive interviews with a few of our winners, finding out what makes their platforms unique. We dive deep into the act of setting intentions rather than resolutions for the new year and have a planet-loving up-cycled skincare routine to rival them all.

May you have a wonderful festive time and eat all the mince pies.

Fab Giovanetti Editor in Chief

FAB’S FAVES SATSUMAS

May sound a bit simple, but it reminds me of my time up in the mountains with my family at Christmas, as we’d collect the peel and leave them on radiators to infuse the house with it's aroma.

XMAS MOVIES

Die Hard, Harry Potter are on repeat this month (yes, to me it’s a Christmas movie). I even ventured in the terrible Netflix Christmas selection.

XMAS CANDLES:

A recent obsession has been candles. I have seen everything from cinnamon, ‘angel wings’ and everything in between.

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CREATIVE IMPACT

EDITORIAL

MAGAZINE

Editor-in-Chief Fab Giovanetti Contribution Editor Amy Lanza

CONTRIBUTORS Columnist Charlotte Willis; Hannah Wallace Special thanks to Adrienne Herbert, Kelly Notaras, Ceren Tosun, Lauren Armes, Catri Barrett as well as the winners for this year's awards.

Did you know our members get FREE issues every month?

BACK ISSUES Creative Impact is the ultimate tool and resource for creatives and conscious entrepreneurs. Current members of the Collective will be able to download each issue directly for free as well as back issues on the online platform.

CLICK HERE

Website creativeimpact.group/collective

VISUALS & MORE Lead Designer Michael Cavalli Junior Designer Lucia Cavalli Stock photography Pexels; Rawpixel; Unsplash Affiliate links Amazon Associates

Creative Impact Mag

is part of Creative Impact group For inquiries or suggestions, contact us at: Website creativeimpact.group Email info@creativeimpact.group Advertising brands@creativeimpact.group

FOLLOW US Facebook Facebook.com/creativeimpactc Instagram Instagram.com/creativeimpactco TikTok Tiktok.com/@creativeimpactco Twitter Twitter.com/creativeimpactc

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FIND OUT MORE AT

creativeimpact.group/online-magazine

CONTENTS

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I N TH I S I SSU E POSITIVE CHANGE | NOVEMBER 2020 | ISSUE NO. 11

06

18

62

ESSENTIALS 03

WELLBEING 62

Cacao ceremony

FEATURES

66

Christmas gift guide

Editor's note

05 Contents 06 Good news

18

Cover feature

76

Hannah Wallace column

09

Monthly calendar

26

Born to write

78

Mental health stigmas

11

Mission statement

34

Authentic brands

82

Winter skincare routine

12

Charlotte Sophie column

13

Podcasts of 2020

16

Expert profile

46

32

Founder series

38 41

PRO SECTION

FOODIE 88

Christmas food picks

50 DIY PR

90

Promo: One Planet Pizza

Behind the content

52

Evergreen funnels

93

Award winners

Books of 2020

56

Podcasts for brands

97

Recipes

Hosting better meetings

CREATIVE IMPACT MAG | 05

Good

IN THE NEWS

NEWS As we are consuming news more than ever, we thought we’d bring you our very own special roundup of happy news.

He's the G.O.A.T TRAVEL | US

Meet Frankie, the adventurous goat who has traveled over 60,000 miles across the US with her owners in their colorful Airstream trailer.

Frankie, a 6-year-old Nigerian dwarf/pigmy goat, has covered a lot of ground recently, travelling with its family. Cate Battles and her husband Chad moved from their house into a trailer in 2016, and they’ve been traveling to beauty spots with their favorite pet ever since.

“She’s so much fun, she looks tiny but she actually weighs about 80 pounds, she’s a stocky girl and she’s very well fed by us” shared Cate .“we have a great time with her.”

YOU CAN HELP This month, as it's the time for giving, we have decided to focus on helping our fellow man. So with the help of Frankie, we are highlighting the 'Super Goat' package from Oxfam. It's aim is to help farmers earn more income in the face of climate change, by helping educate people to earn an income to support their families.

BUY A GOAT FROM OXFAM

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IN THE NEWS

Bringing diversity to the table SOCIAL | GLOBAL

Pinterest has announced some new initiatives to ensure creators from minority groups receive equal representation on the platform, including a commitment to partnering with more diverse groups, and a new “Community Information" option so businesses can list their relative affiliations. Pinterest says that it will now ensure that 50% of the managed creators it works with come from underrepresented groups. Pinterest is also adding a new Community Information tab in business profiles, which will enable retailers, advertisers and creators to self-identify if they’re from an underrepresented group, so that their content can be highlighted in relevant spaces.

Period justice HEALTH | SCOTLAND

Scotland has become the first country in the world to make period products available for free to ‘anyone who needs them’, in a scheme unanimously approved

by MSP last month. Local authorities across Scotland have been placed under a legal obligation to provide free period products to anyone who requires them. MSP Monica Lennon, who has been campaigning to end period poverty since 2016, introduced the bill that saw this legislation – known as The Period Products Act – become written in law.

Get some sunshine in HEALTH | ENGLAND

The Department of Health and Social Care has announced that over 2.7 million at-risk individuals across England are to be offered a free supply of vitamin D to see them through the winter months.

Care homes will automatically receive a supply for their residents and individuals on the clinically extremely vulnerable list will be invited to opt in for a free-of-charge delivery of the vitamin directly to their homes. The deliveries, which begin in January, will provide four months’ worth of supplements.

Santa is officially listed as an essential worker CHRISTMAS | GLOBAL

Politicians across Europe have spoken up in recent days to confirm that the man who knows whether they’ve been naughty or nice — i.e. following coronavirus rules — is himself not obliged to abide by all pandemic precautions, given his role in cheering people up at the end of a miserable year. The news is likely to come as a relief to the North Pole native given that his routine would certainly exceed even the most liberal limits for how many households a person may visit. Meanwhile in Italy, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte published a letter this month which he sent to a 5-yearold boy named Tommaso, who was worried the pandemic might stop Santa Claus from delivering Christmas gifts.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has received similar letters from children just as worried as Tommaso, among them 8-year-old Monti, who wrote: “Dear Mr. Johnson … I was wondering if you and the government had thoughts about Santa coming this Christmas,” suggesting he could leave hand sanitizer out alongside some cookies. That would be an “excellent idea,” Johnson said in a response he tweeted on Wednesday, adding that according to his chief medical adviser, “provided Father Christmas behaves in his usual responsible way and works quickly and safely, there are no risks” to anyone’s health.

Together against plastic ENVIROMENT | UK

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and WRAP are collaborating to develop a Plastics Pact in India, aimed at enhancing ‘knowledge exchange’ between the UK and India. The pact will complement India’s existing initiatives, designed to reduce plastic use and overcome the waste management challenges associated with disposing of it – further, it will connect government, industry, researchers and practitioners, providing a more cohesive way of working together.

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COMING UP

DECEMBER12 CALENDAR

December | 2021 COUNTDOWN Less than 31 days to the end of the year and we cannot wait to review our efforts, set intentions and celebrate our wins for 2020.

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Tue 8th | NATIONAL BROWNIE DAY Each year on December 8, brownie lovers across the nation enjoy one of their favorite baked goods.

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CREATIVE IMPACT MEMBERS: Coffee Break Office Hours & Networking Tue 8th December | 11am Each month, we're hosting live 1-hour sessions to discuss any questions or struggles you may have.

Talk through the month’s theme, get your questions answered, and share your learnings with other members.

FIND OUT MORE HERE

9 10 11 12 Fri 11th | XMAS JUMPER DAY Christmas Jumper Day is an annual charity event and this year it’s being held on December 11th, with 100% of proceeds going to the charity ‘Save the Children’.

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CREATIVE IMPACT MASTERCLASS: Shaping a 2021 Business Plan Tue 15th December | 2pm Join us for a very special masterclass all about setting up systems to hold you accountable to your 2021 goals.

FIND OUT MORE HERE Sat 26th | BOXING DAY The Oxford English Dictionary gives the earliest attestations from Britain in the 1830s, defining it as "the first weekday after Christmas day, observed as a holiday on which postmen, errand boys, and servants of various kinds expect to receive a Christmas box".

Mon 28th | BOXING DAY BANK HOLIDAY

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Thu 10 | HUMAN RIGHTS DAY DIGITAL ROUNDTABLE: How to Navigate Your Finances with Jenna Leigh Thu 10th December | 5pm Join this online event with finance expert Jenna Leigh as she talks us through our finances at this difficult time. She'll make sense of the latest government guidelines and offer advice and tips for the freelance/ self-employed/small businesses among us!

FIND OUT MORE HERE

☀

Mon 21st | WINTER SOLSTICE The term solstice comes from the Latin word solstitium, meaning 'the Sun stands still'. This is because on this day, the Sun reaches its southern-most position as seen from the Earth. The Sun seems to stand still at the Tropic of Capricorn and then reverses its direction.

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ð&#x;Ž„

Fri 25th | CHRISTMAS From everyone at Creative Impact, we wish you and your loved ones a very merry Christmas.

Thur 31st | NEW YEAR’S EVE

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COVER FEATURE

MISSION STATEMENTS

WHAT’S YOUR MISSION? We asked our collective members what’s their mission and how they are looking to make a positive impact on other people and the planet, and here’s what our founder Fab had to say.

About Fab

aka Creative Impact founder

Surrey, England Bringing people together is what I am particularly skilled at. You could say it's something I have been perfecting in the last six years, especially since running what is now known as Creative Impact. I am truly passionate about supporting people with a conscious mission, looking to make a positive impact in the world around them.

It is my legacy to make a difference, and be the champion for the change that I have been eager to see in the online world. Being able to support over 150 people in our collective and over another thousands with our events and courses, we have been able, as a company, to truly refine what we do to be able to serve you even better. What does this mean for2021? More online events, more tailored networking, more connections, more stories to be told. We'll be bringing you back the podcast for season four, as well as the magazine to inspire you to try something new, meet incredible creatives and experts and so much more.

MY MISSION IS TO H EL P CR EAT I VES AND EX P ER T S LOOKIN G T O M AK E A POSITIV E I M P ACT O N OTHE R PE O P L E AND T H E PLA N E T, H EL P T H EM G R O W THE IR BR AND O NL I NE. ” Fab Giovanetti www.fabgiovanetti.com

C lic k h er e to se e m o re a b o u t Sa ra h o n In st a

I am incredibly grateful to be able to do this every single week, and bring people together in so many powerful ways. It's truly a joy to be able to bring this community to life, so a massive thanks goes to our members and audience for believing in us.

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COLUMNIST

CONTEMPLATING WITH CHARLOTTE

Intentions, new beginnings and accountability Our columnist Charlotte shares why intention setting is for life, not just for New Years

C

ontrary to your preconceived thoughts on what this short essay might entail, I’d like to premise, dear reader, that if there’s one thing I completely, utterly, entirely and wholeheartedly despise, it’s the making of a New Year’s resolution. Urgh.

Every year, we make promises to ourselves on January 1st to do more, go further, get better and improve ourselves, all of which we seldom hold ourselves accountable to. We promise that this year will be our year to get healthier, stop weekday wine and give up dairy, only to leave such promises on the shelf come February. But before you reconcile yourself as a lost cause, let’s talk about intentions and new beginnings.

Intentions shape long-term habits by positively biasing our thoughts and actions throughout the day. But in order for intentions to be meaningful, you need first to realise their significance over your inner psychology, and work with your intentions by holding yourself accountable.

What is an intention? Intentions go further and deeper than face-value goals. Rather, intentions help us work on the particular areas of our lives which we want to evolve, alter or re-think in order to better our sense of self. Intentions work to heighten our awareness of the mind-behaviour connection, and are process-based rather than achievement-orientated.

For example, being promoted is an aspirational goal, whilst working with more focus is an intention which will aid in the achievement of your goal.

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So, where to begin? First, think of thought processes, behaviours or actions you’d like to change. Perhaps you want to end your day feeling more accomplished or joyful? Or maybe you would like to be more in-tune with your emotions? A little more open and trusting with others? All brilliant places to begin.

Next, you’ll want to set aside some time and space to create your intentions. Use five minutes every morning before you start your day to journal a single intention for which you are accountable for today. This should be written in first person, such as “I will take time to focus on moments of joy” and “I’ll listen wholeheartedly and respond with greater depth”. Reflect on how “What one does is what you might manifest this counts. Not what one had intention throughout the the intention of doing.” day, alongside associated emotions and actions.

Pablo Picasso Take time to periodically remind yourself of your intention during your day. This will re-affirm your intention and adjust your mindset, whilst holding yourself accountable and encouraging new behaviours.

Use your journal every day to reflect on your success or struggles. What could you improve, where did you feel challenged and what have you learnt?

Manifesting intentions and getting used to setting them will take time and practice, but once you begin to realise the impact of intentions in forming habits, you’ll never again need a New Year’s Resolution. @charlottesophiewrites

WHAT WE’RE FOLLOWING

THE BEST

PODCASTS OF 2020 O

ur thirst for podcasts is insatiable with new shows launching every day. From food and fitness to mental health and wellbeing, business and careers advice there is something for everyone. As we draw the year to a close, we round up some of our favourite podcasts for the year 2020 - a year that won't be forgotten.

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WHAT WE’RE FOLLOWING

C li c k o n ast n a y podc a rt w o rk to nk g e t th e li

DREAM AND DO 40+ EPISODES

Dream and Do is a podcast for women who are ready to make changes: big and small hosted by Nicola Rae Wickham. Tune in for confidence pep talks, soulful insights and all things creativity and wellness.

Be inspired by powerful conversations with women who are dreaming and doing in action alongside solo episodes with Nicola.

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THE POWER HOUR 145+ EPISODES

Do you aspire to be that person who leaps out of bed at 6am to get things done before the day has started? If you answered yes to that question then Adrienne is the lady you need to listen to.

Even if you don’t aspire to be an early bird, listening to this podcast could help you get into a better routine and set you up for more productive and enjoyable days.

IN BAD TASTE 30+ EPISODES

In Bad Taste sees nutritionist Pixie Turner and cardiothoracic surgeon Nikki Stamp cast a critical eye over health documentaries and the claims they make to reveal fact from fiction within the wellbeing, health and fitness space. From talking about sugar and veganism to cancer and coffee, this podcast busts some myths and takes a closer look to common trends.

SLAY IN YOUR LANE 20+ EPISODES

Slay in Your Lane: The Podcast comes from multiaward-winning authors Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené. Their pioneering guide to life for young Black Women explores topical news and popular culture from a Black British female perspective while also chatting about workplace, finances, education, health, relationships and dating.

WHAT WE’RE FOLLOWING

DID YOU KNOW We have a podcast of our own! The Make an Impact show is now back for its third season.

Expect more interviews, inspiring stories and insightful hacks on how to grow your brand online whilst making a positive impact on people and the planet.

CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE

EAT CAPTURE SHARE 50+ EPISODES

Kimberly Espinel, founder of The Little Plantation and the Eat Capture Share podcast, is a food photographer, stylist and blogger. While the podcast is dedicated to food, photography and social media, she interviews inspirational guests to share expertise and stories from a diverse and varied perspective by documenting the journey of creatives.

THE CURIOSITY CLUB 65+ EPISODES

In this educational and motivational podcast, host Catri Barett, Life and Business Coach, teaches us the real-life lessons we didn’t get taught in school. Through expert interviews, she explores how to better navigate modern living through the seven peaks of curiosity: the mind and emotions, the environment, money, social change and the body.

MINDSTYLING 25+ EPISODES

Pushing the boundaries and giving you the tools to start “Mindstyling” for yourself, hosts Dr Becky Sage and Amy Armstrong interview a diverse range of entrepreneurs.

Showing us how to cut our own path to success, they draw on practices employed by top business owners as well as drawing on their challenges and their successes.

PERIOD STORY 40+ EPISODES

Period Story is the podcast from Le’Nise Brothers where she talks openly and honestly with a new guest each week about their own period story.

They debunk some common myths and misconceptions and offer advice for those struggling with their own menstrual health. Guests include Tamu Thomas, Kat Horrocks and Sarah Greenidge.

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IN PROFILE

EXPERT PROFILE

Lauren Armes

I'm Lauren. I am an entrepreneur, CEO, and business coach. Since founding Welltodo in 2014 as a passion project – and then eventually transforming it into a sustainable, profitable business – I've learnt an awful lot about what it takes to launch and grow a successful business; and how fear, doubt, and a whole host of limiting beliefs, can really get in the way.

CV

Job title: Business

Coach and Founder/ CEO of Welltodo Expertise: Scaling expert brands!

I has met and interviewed hundreds of successful entrepreneurs and mindset gurus, from Gabby Bernstein to Daniel Lubetzky, and I am obsessed with uncovering the secrets to successfully building and scaling an expert business.

What is the biggest mistake people make when it comes to your field?

Over complicating things by selling too many things to too many people, and solving too many problems using too many systems! When you’re starting out, you have limited capacity, so it’s critical to keep it simple: one target audience, one product, one method of conversion (selling). I teach

INSTAGRAM WEBSITE

this to industry-leading experts all the time.

It’s the secret to sustainable growth.

How can people feel more confident about improving in your field of expertise?

Don’t try and do it alone. You aren’t meant to figure this all out by yourself. The best way to achieve anything in life is to find somebody who has done it before you, and model yourself on their success. This requires an investment in learning,

NAIL YOUR NICHE I mean really get specific. Who do you help, with what problem, to get to what solution?

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coaching, mentoring, advice and tools to support you… if you tackle it all on your own, you’ll get burnout pretty quickly.

What was your favourite thing about being part of Creative Impact Awards Conference?

Sharing my own expertise in a way that enables other experts to expand and grow.

We rise by lifting others! I’m always championing the success of others because there is room for everyone to succeed!

DON'T GO IT ALONE Get support, surround yourself with people who have done what you want to do (and done it well!)

GET IT LIVE Launching a product or campaign for the first time can be tough, but getting it done is better than nothing.

Free monthly training

Click to view calendar

Email marketing for online creators CREATIVE IMPACT MAG | 17

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THE

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HOUSthEat is ADRI EN NE H ER BE R T "Whatever your goal is, whatever your situation, whatever your circumstance you can achieve anything.

It doesn't mean it'll be easy, but I want to lead by example, to show what is possible"

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“When I started my podcast my goal was intentional, I knew that I had something that I really believed in” A D R I E N NE H ERB ERT

H

ow do you spend the first hour of your day? Right now, Adrienne Herbert starts her days with energy and courage.

“I wake up in the morning, and before I look at anything, I go to the bathroom, I put cold water on my face, and I do some deep breathing. As I'm doing that, I repeat the words in my mind, energy and courage” shares Herbert, with a big smile.

“One is because I think about what's the energy you want to put into the world today.

The other one is courage because if we have big ambitions, and if we want to make big changes in the world, then we have to have courage. Those are my words, but they change all the time.”

her passion and her expertise on her podcast and social channels, she is a voice of inspiration, encouragement and motivation.

Over the last few years her love for running has taken her around the world and she has completed 19 road races in different countries. She is also a mum to her 8 year old son Jude and is currently writing her first book based on her popular podcast, the Power Hour.

The Power Hour is a popular weekly podcast, which features a variety of guests, such as Fearne Cotton, Ella Mills & Trevor Nelson.

Adrienne finds out their daily habits, routines, rules to live by and what they have learnt along the way.

I had the pleasure to acquaint myself with this incredible powerhouse that is Adrienne Herbert over four years ago - the actual whereabouts are blurry, but it’s most likely at one industry event or social media (where all cool kids make friends these days).

“I get so many different guests, and some are 10 years into their career. Some are 20. Some people are 10 steps ahead of you, but maybe others are one step ahead. I think that's really valuable as there's universal lessons that we can all dive into. Things like work ethic, resilience, fear of failure, risk taking. Those apply to everybody.“

If you have never met Adrienne, she is a leading wellness professional, international speaker, podcast host and Master Trainer at the UK’s leading fitness app Fiit. She shares

The Power Hour has been featured in iTunes’ “Best For Motivation” category in 2019 and has been downloaded over 1 million times, as well as being rated at 5 stars. Further to this,

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Adrienne is regularly asked to speak at brand events and conferences, culminating in her first TEDx Talk in 2018.

As we look back at some of the big lessons from The Power Hour, Herbert recalls fondly her time with DJ Trevor Nelson. In their episode, he talked about the fact that young people reach out to him often about advice when starting out in the music industry. She mentioned how he would look at his own experience retrospectively.

“For him it was like being at the start of a tunnel, underground, chipping away with a pickaxe. He couldn't see anything in front of him. He didn't know which direction he was really going but he just kept chipping away, chipping away.” That chipping away is truly what people do not want to face, yet, according to Adrienne, it’s the combination of twists and turns, ups and downs that make the actual journey: “people always talk about the end of the journey, but he pointed out how the journey is the part that people need to focus on. People want what they can see all the way through the tunnel.”

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“I want to show people that we all face barriers.

You can either focus on those and let them define what you can and can't do, or you can focus on creating a better future for yourself.”

AD RI ENNE H ERB ERT As an admittedly impatient person, that visual example really stuck with her: “right now, I'm in the tunnel, chipping away, chipping away, this is the bit I need to focus on.”

It's not to say you're going to enjoy it all the time. She points out how it's going to bring up real challenges, there'll be times where you're exhausted, sweat and mud on your face, and you don't want to carry on chipping away, but in the end it’s all worth it: “I'm shifting my focus to being in the tunnel instead of the end” We quickly turn to the idea of goals, achievements and accomplishments and the misconception people have about the idea of overnight success. However, Adrienne truly believes that intentional goals and planning has been a key integral part of why the Power Hour has become such a success.

“I'm someone who loves to plan, I love to listen and read a lot about business and entrepreneurs, future trend forecasting. I was very intentional. When I look back at when I started the show, why I started it, how I launched it, I went and met with podcast producers and pitched the idea, and it was a full 14 page PDF bulletproof deck that could showcase them who this show is aimed at, these are the conversations

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that I want to have and why I'm the best person to have this conversation” She was intentional about the guests that she wanted to have in the first 10 weeks, in order to position it perfectly: “from the outside, it may look like people start things and then they just plant the seed and this tree grows. In reality, I think there's so much noise you are competing with.”

When she did research into the industry at the time, it said that there were around 400,000 podcasts uploaded to iTunes, Spotify every week. The percentage of people that listened to podcasts at the time, was only 8% of people on the planet, which meant 92% hadn't even discovered it yet: “ I believed that if I could just get those 10 episodes to showcase to people what it was about and give them an example of the vision and the energy that I had for it.”

What's the intention behind your goals?

“You've got to go detailed, with a lot of granular information about what you want to create, because it will allow you to take the right steps towards it. I'm all about dreaming big, I tell people to have audacious goals, but make those goals detailed.”

Going onto her book The Power Hour, which she is clutching in her hands during our Zoom call, she tells me how, once again, she started by asking herself the right questions.

“I asked myself why create a book? Who is it for? Who's it going to benefit? I thought that not everyone is going to find the podcast, not everybody uses social media and Instagram.”

We live in what she calls “sound bitey world”, where people are looking for top tips, the short version, because we're all busy, and don’t always have time for the long story: “I thought of giving someone a book that they can take and digest in their own time, the 360 approach from the idea of the power hour.”

By exploring the full concept, readers can answer some truly powerful questions. What will change in my life doing a power hour every day? How does this impact their mindset? How does this

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impact movement and daily habits? How does this impact my community, my network, my ability to reach people? How does this impact my sleep?

On a more personal level, she really wanted to show herself she had the full potential.

“This isn't a way to say ‘oh, I'll show you’ to others. However, throughout my life, I've definitely had a lot of challenges, barriers to overcome. People saying that you can't do that, or don't get your hopes up.”

Coming from a single parent household, low

income family, without a degree or A levels, she points out how certain opportunities were not afforded to her.

“This was really about me wanting to lead by example. I mentor some young people, as young as 14 and 15, and I want to lead by example. I want to show people that we all face barriers, we all have things in our lives we could perceive as barriers. You can either focus on those and let them define what you can and can't do, or you can focus on creating a better future for yourself. You have to choose one because you can't have both.”

“I hope that this will showcase to others that whatever your goal is, whatever your situation, whatever your circumstance you can achieve anything. It doesn't mean it'll be easy. It will not be easy. I wanted to lead by example to show what is possible”.

Adrienne finishes off our chat by talking about the importance of resilience and quoting Eleanor Roosevelt. “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man (or woman - editor note) stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit

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belongs to the man (or woman) who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly”

GET YOUR COPY You can pre-order Power Hour right now so you can be the first to get a copy, once it's released on 31 December. Perfect to get ready for the new year

Adrienne is an incredibly positive person, always with a smile on her face: But it doesn't mean time bullet proof, it doesn't mean that I don't get jarred by the same things as anyone else when it comes to critics or starting open conversation as well as opinions” she admitted candidly: “I'm just I'm just saying, well, that can't be the thing that stops us from from from daring to leap” Whatever you are daring to try this year, remember that by having the courage to try something new, you are going to be learning so much about yourself and have the wildest and most rewarding experiences: “I get to sit down for an hour, usually in person, sometimes now virtually, and have these amazing conversations and then distilled the best bits from them to share with whoever wants to listen. So I feel really lucky that I get to be that person.”

By daring to leap, by daring to create your business, or your brand, or your book, or whatever you are, you are taking action: “It's not to say that everyone will applaud you as you do it. Some people might throw stones, but you still have to do it anyway.

And that's the thing that I'm really learning in this process with the book”.

Find out more about Adrienne work on her Website here

“My hope for this book is to be a bit of a toolkit, a bit of a framework to not only inspire people, but to be that match of inspiration and motivation that lights the bonfire and says ‘go do it’.”

AD RI ENNE H ERB ERT

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KELLY NOTARAS INTERVIEW

The book you were born to write...

Interview by Fab Giovanetti with v

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KELLY NOTARAS INTERVIEW

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et me tell you a secret: this is at once the worst and the best time to try to publish a book. On the one hand, competition is fierce and the marketplace is highly competitive. On the other hand, you can be your own boss as an author and get full control of your marketing, sales, and overall creative direction. This is why marketing can truly help you stand out from

the crowd. Not too long ago, I had the pleasure to chat with the amazing Kelly Notaras for the Creative Impact Show.

In her book, The Book You Were Born To Write, she explores how the book business works today — and how you can break into it. This was a goldmine for a book nerd like yours truly.

“When I was working in New York publishing, I remember there was a book that came out that was called the Long Tail. It was an economic theory that said that over the course of time, with the advent of the Internet, and the way you can buy basically anything that you want, it’s we’re going to start having this ultimate choice around who and where we get our information, and then also our

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KELLY NOTARAS INTERVIEW

products in that case” recalled Notaras. “The things that I think has happened already, with the advent of print on demand digital selfpublishing, is that now we can find exactly the author who resonates with us with the person’s life story that’s like ours.”

Editor, writing coach, and Hay House veteran Kelly Notaras wrote this book to dispel a lot of myths with regards to the writing and publishing process, so you can get your world-changing ideas out of your head and into a book that will help them actually change the world.

“500 years ago, most books were written by men, the vast majority, or should say most books that were published were written by men. Most of the published books are written by men. So women who are looking for self-help, personal growth, etc, had to go to men. Now, if you would rather hear it from a woman who’s walked in your shoes, and in your body, etc, you can actually go and find that same information written by someone, your age group, your gender, your whatever your gender identity, your sexuality, whatever it is that you’re looking for, you can find it now.”

This is such a powerful shift that can benefit all aspiring authors, as they can feel met by books in a different way and at a different level because there’s so many more out there.

“I encourage anyone and everyone to get their voice out there, as there is someone who will only hear the message from you.”

This woman has a hell of a pedigree: she isn’t simply another business owner or entrepreneur who’s written a book or several, its author is a professional writing coach, editor, and ghostwriter. As someone who writes mainly about self-help and personal growth, I had to agree with Notaras when she pointed out that we are all saying the same thing, in a certain way.

“We’re talking about how to be happier, how to be more in love with ourselves, how to set aside the criticism, how to stop looking outside of ourselves, etc” In one way, the idea that you are just a drop in the ocean can be discouraging at first, especially when you are approaching your very own book idea. However, Notaras

reminds us that nobody is you, and that is your superpower: “we can find just the right person who can say it to us in a way that would not be reached by someone else’s book.”

What can help you be that person? What is the one thing that you can work on today, to get your book closer to that target audience that truly needs to hear from you? You got to learn how to create a powerful hook.

All you need is a hook I appreciate that the sentiment behind sharing your message with the masses may be inspiring, but what can you do in practicality to start standing out from the crowd?

"You have a mission — if you have that book dream in your heart, you are someone’s only hope. You are the one they need to hear it from. So you must write it” 28 | CREATIVE IMPACT MAG

You need to have what (in marketing speech) we call a hook. Hooks are also very common as a concept in the publishing world, but it could be called an elevator pitch, or a unique value proposition, or a positioning statement. Hooks are great for non-fiction books, but I believe that a lot of fiction writers can also learn from this concept.

“It’s essentially the answer to the question ‘oh, I heard you’re writing a book, what’s your book about?’ And you say, Oh, I’m writing a book about… And then you finish that sentence.”

Notaras revealed that many people don’t know how to answer that question. They’ve already paid for coaching for their book, they’re ready to write their book, but they can’t answer the question about what their book is about. She adds how this could be a good time to work with a book coach, as they can help you get into the right hook, one that is narrowly tailored, meaning it really speaks to a specific audience.

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WHEN EXPLORING YOUR HOOKS, HERE ARE A FEW THINGS YOU SHOULD ASK YOURSELF What is the audience that’s not yet being reached?

What’s that angle you are trying to explore?

What’s that one slice of the pie that hasn’t yet been written in book form?

How can you bring a new angle to the existing topic?

Which topics have been resonating with your current audience?

The truth is that especially as early-stage authors, the more specific you can get around your audience, the more likely you are to find an audience because that will make you stand out from the big names everybody knows.

“For that person who hasn’t written a book, these are the very important details that you need. You’re going for a smaller audience, do not ever say ‘my book is for everybody’, because then you’re in competition with people whose names are household names.”

Refine your audience as much as possible You want to choose a very specific audience that your book is for. Notaras uses the example of her book and her target audience to illustrate her point.

“Mine, for example, is for people writing transformational nonfiction. If you’re writing fiction, you’ll get something out of it, but really, it’s meant for people who are writing

KELLY NOTARAS INTERVIEW

"Oftentimes, I’ll say to an author, so what’s your book? 20 minutes later, they still won’t be sure. That’s not gonna get us anywhere.

We have to sell this book to readers if we've got a split second to grab their attention” self help personal growth, inspirational memoir, that is what I’m looking for. That’s what I work with. That’s why people need it.”

actually readers interested which lead to the next one, which is saleable.”

There’s not a book out there that’s just for that group, and that is because she wanted to reach an audience that wasn’t yet being touched. I want you to think about that. What is the audience that falls under your niche that’s not yet being reached?

Another piece of the hook puzzle lies in the idea that you want your book to be saleable.

Yet, this lends for a very simple question which is how do you know whether your book is saleable in the first place?

Notaras challenges you to find that niche audience that’s not actually yet being addressed directly — this is what she means when talking about narrowly tailored, high concept: “it means that you can answer what the book is about in one sentence.”

“Oftentimes, I’ll say to an author, so what’s your book? 20 minutes later, they still won’t be sure. That’s not gonna get us anywhere.

We have to sell this book to readers if we've got a split second to grab their attention.”

Your hook has to be high concept, meaning they get it right away. After that, you can explore your uniqueness. You need to figure out what’s that angle you are trying to explore. What’s your niche audience? What’s that one slice of the pie that hasn’t yet been written in book form? This, however, does not mean your book should be too obscure either. “I want you to be working in a category that actually has readers, I want there to be books in your category. If there are not, that’s a good sign that there aren’t

Grab that sale

She explains that in the publishing world there’s something called Bookscan, or NPD, that allows people to look up a particular title and find out how many books have sold, yet it’s something most people do not have access to. Notaras has a way to work around that by going to Amazon, and look at the books that are in the same category. Don’t look at their sales rank, because sales rank is so volatile, but look at the number of reviews they have, because people only a small fraction of readers actually leave a review. So if you’ve got hundreds of reviews, that means that book is doing really well, because that’s maybe 1% of the total sales.

“Look at reviews on Amazon to find out if your category has saleable books and which ones they are and read them” adds Notaras “I do not want you to tell me that you’re not going to read books in your category because you

don’t want to copy someone. I want you to read so many books in your category, that you will never be accused of copying just one other book. Because you’ve read so many you’ve been you’ve received influence from all of these different authors.”

When creating a hook you want it to be unique, specific, and saleable, but you also want it to be magnetic. “When you see it, you hear something, you’re like ‘Oh, that sounds great. I want to read that.’ Versus it falling with a thud.” That magnetism often comes from bringing a topic that you’re interested in into a new light, there’s something brand new about it. “You want people to relate with the book as they resonate with the topic, but they have never heard that angle, that brings up that magnetism.”

Some say creating a powerful hook is an art, and I do believe that myself. However, creating powerful hooks does not have to be hard after all. Ask yourself the right questions, and create a powerful sentence that can encapsulate what the book is truly about.

About Kelly

Find out more about Kelly and her latest book, here to knliterary.com

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EMILIE VANPOPERINGHE

FOUNDER SERIES

Embracing the sharing economy With Saasha Celestial-One

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iaasha Celestial-One is Co-Founder & COO of OLIO, a free app harnessing the power of mobile technology and the sharing economy to provide a revolutionary solution to the problem of food waste. OLIO is growing quickly, empowered by 50k+ volunteers. Since 2016, 2.4m OLIOers have successfully shared over 6m portions of food in 54 countries. Saasha was named one of the UK’s “Coolest Female Founders” by Business Insider, has an MBA from Stanford, is mum to 8-year-old Nolan, and is the proud daughter of hippy entrepreneurs.

My eureka moment We conducted some market research using SurveyMonkey and through this we found that 1 in 3 people are “physically pained” throwing away good food. That’s a lot of people, who almost every day, are having to throw away food because there’s no alternative… there’s been no innovation since the rubbish bin! Food waste is the 3rd largest contributor to the climate crisis and 71% of food waste post farm gate takes place in the home. We make it easy and fun to share your spare, rather than let it go to waste.

Validating the idea What we settled on was a slightly bizarre ‘proof of concept’ involving WhatsApp! We invited 12 people who took part in our market research survey, and who said they were physically pained throwing way good food, and we put them all in a closed WhatsApp group. They all lived close to each other and we asked them for 2 weeks to add any surplus food they had into the group and we’d see if food sharing started. We leapt with joy, and watched on in

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CV

excitement as many more items of food were shared during those two weeks.

OLIO

The failure I am glad I experienced When we first launched we allowed people to sell their spare (as long as it was 50% off or more). This was a disaster - people were horrible at pricing things, and the worst-priced items were by definition left on the app the longest as they weren't requested, which meant that new users had an unpleasant experience when they opened the browse view for the first time. We moved quickly to 'everything is

Founded: 2015 Job title:

Co-Founder & COO INSTAGRAM WEBSITE

3 TOP TIPS FOR...

ANYONE STARTING A BUSINESS A TARGETED APPROACH

Do your market research and experiment with the way your reach your potential customer

IT'S A BIG COMMITMENT

Choose your co-founders wisely, as it’s like a marriage and you want to get it right

POUND THE PAVEMENTS FREE' and it's really helped to shape our community culture and brand.

The role of social media Major - especially local Facebook groups - I belong to more than 500. Our tube campaign was pretty awesome, as it allowed us to reach even more Londoners. We also capture user stories with our dedicated twitter account and it’s great for social proof!

Biggest advice you’d give to someone You have to get an office to recruit great talent and

'be legit' - we've been remote first from day 1, which has kept us lean and flexible and find amazing talent outside of London What is one of your biggest wins?

Winning the 2018 Momentum for Change award at the UN Climate Conference, in recognition of OLIO's potential at scale to mitigate the climate crisis. Tessa and I are both prolific public speakers, which takes a lot of time. However our story is really powerful and it's free (except for our time of course) it's been important for finding investors, partners, etc

Get out there with your message, show up offline and online as the face of your brand

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AUTHENTIC BRANDS

HOW TO LIVE A LIFE MORE

d e r i p s n I We sit down (socially distanced) with award-winning coach Nicola Rae-Wickham and hear about how she has evolved, to help other people with their journey to living life on their own terms Written by Nicola Rae-Wickham

A

Life More Inspired started as a product based business, I created what I called an ‘Inspiration-in-a-box’ which contained various items from Affirmation Cards, to a candle to reiki infused crystal bracelets and my mission was to bring a little bit of everyday inspiration into our daily lives. It was about bringing these personal development tools that I was starting to discover to people in a product form that they could incorporate seamlessly and easily into their lives. I then discovered

coaching as I was being coached and realised that this is what I would love to do, I then got my coaching qualification and started to combine my nearly 20 year corporate marketing career with the coaching to offer Creative Mentoring.

I dropped the boxes but have kept the Affirmation Cards which I still sell.

My purpose and the way I show up online has evolved so much and it's really become a discovery of being more of myself alongside an exploration of

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AUTHENTIC BRANDS

MAKE A BIGGER IMPACT Embracing 'meaningful visibility' so it's not trying to get visible for visible sake, it's leading with your values, purpose and and using that to create an intention fuelled way of showing-up.

You can make a big impact online by having an audience of one, which means focusing on talking to one person through all of your messaging for them. Remember that notion of ‘talk to everyone and you talk to no-one’.

Changing your mindset to be one of 'how can I give' rather than 'what can get', so sharing and serving generously. It doesn't mean you give everything away for free but you are instead taking a generous point of view. And this happens on an energetic level as much as a practical. Its the way you feel about what you are doing.

the reasons why I haven't been from a personal level but also from a structural and systemic level. So now my purpose is focused on big hearted creatives (deep thinkers and feelers) and helping them to create powerFULL, purposeful and profitable brands in an authentic and conscious way that makes a wholehearted impact in the world.

The power element of this is really important because there's a journey for so many to redefine and reclaim what traditional power dynamics have been handed down to us so that we can really start to play in a bigger way and make a bigger change.

Showing-up wholeheartedly as ourselves especially for those in marginalised communities is one of the biggest revolutionary acts that we can make and I absolutely embody that in the way that I show up which is then deeply aligned to my purpose. It’s culminated in me being on a mission to make the

“One thing I wish I knew when I started is how much of a non-linear journey this entrepreneurial path would be. I think there's a perception of if you do this and you can then get a straight line from A to B and it just doesn't work like that. Also that it is ok to do things my way.”

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AUTHENTIC BRANDS

DREAM AND DO The top 3 episodes of the podcast and why Nicola loves them

01

EPISODE 39 The episode with my soul sisters Nova Reid and Tamu Thomas, as we let people join us for a beautifully real and raw conversation about what 2020 has been, meant and done for us.

The feedback we received was immense andmany felt seen and heard in our words.

DIRECT LINK HERE

02 wellness/spiritual/entrepreneurial/self-help space a place for the many and not the few.

One of the biggest misconceptions people are still having when it comes to living a life on their own terms is to acknowledge the nuance and the complexity in that. When we say on our own terms that requires some level of interrogation.

The personal development industry perpetuates traditional power dynamics by putting a big emphasis on the individual.

Yes personal responsibility is important but we exist within a collective that is the product of and subject to systems and structures of oppression and that has a big impact on our ability to live life on our own terms.

Ignoring that nuance and the impact it has causes people to pursue this journey in a very isolating way. Although we are not responsible for the systems and structures, we do need to take ownership of how we navigate and ultimately seek to dismantle and change them. And so even being able to shine a light on this can help so many in that journey to live a life on their terms.

About our winner

Click to follow Nicola and her work on instagram @alifemoreinspired Check our full list of winners here: creativeimpact.group/awards

EPISODE 40 Overcoming Perfectionism and People Pleasing with Natalie Lue as she is a fountain of knowledge and everything she says is spot on and led to a real deep and far-reaching conversation.

DIRECT LINK HERE

03

EPISODE 36 Seeing Ourselves and Life As An Artist with my good friend Sharon Walters who generously shared her journey which I know has served as wonderful inspiration to so many, she really is dreaming and doing in action.

DIRECT LINK HERE

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INTERVIEW

BEHIND THE CONTENT

@ catribarrett AKA CATRI BARRETT

I help womxn access the tools, knowledge and confidence to befriend themselves, each other and the planet. As a certified Life Coach, my unique coaching programmes help anxious and frustrated procrastinators and people pleasers get out of their own way, stop self-sabotaging, and quieten their inner critic once and for all.

I am founder of the brand-spanking new platform and community designed for curious minds: The Curiosity Club. Approaching all that we do with a holistic eye, we create educational, uplifting and, most importantly, interesting content, courses, and events. Life lessons for modern womxn that we didn’t get taught in school.

Behind the content I have spent time a social media content strategy that has evolved (and still is) with my ideas. I have content pillars that I stick to - coaching, mental health,

(Clockwise) Pictures of Catri in her home office, pictures from her Instagram profile including motivational quotes

wellness and nature - and about five subcategories within each of those of things that I like to talk about. This makes it a lot easier to know what to post, especially on days where I might be feeling less creative.I am also always aware to keep in mind my intention for each post - what outcome am I trying to achieve, how am I trying to make my audience feel, or what call to action am I encouraging etc.

On making a bigger impact My aim with the content I create with my coaching accounts and the Curiosity Club is to bring creativity and personal development together. To have honest and curious conversations that help womxn feel less alone in their experiences and that supports their personal growth and brings a deeper sense of connection. I like to make big ideas accessible, joyful and relatable. I believe that the more connected we our to ourselves and each other the better we can

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INTERVIEW

show up to the biggest challenges of modern life such as the mental health crisis and climate change.

Lessons and achievements My biggest mistake was not getting started. I spent years with certain creative ideas, like starting a podcast or creating video content, before I acted upon them because I was waiting to feel ‘ready’. I find that often the best ideas are the scariest ones, so I practice self-coaching and managing my mindset so that I have the courage to step into uncertainty and vulnerability, try not to compare myself to others, and to maintain motivation by regularly tapping into my ‘why’.

My biggest achievement so far was having my work and offerings recognised by lululemon who asked me to be an ambassador for them earlier this year.

Knowing I have the support of such an incredible brand like lululemon, and to get to collaborate with them, is such an honour.

Nuggets of gratitude It sounds cheesy but it would have to be my parents!

They let me live with them for 3 years whilst I was setting up my business (back when I was a yoga teacher and holistic therapist). I worked three jobs and all my money went back into trying to grow my business and my professional development. Without their support and encouragement I wouldn’t have had the means, motivation or courage to keep going with my ideas.

FUN FACT In my early twenties, myself and a group of friends started a stall selling watermelons at music festivals. Each summer

About being a Creative Impact member I always say that there are two things that can hold you back - lack of knowledge and/or lack of confidence. In order to courageously and continuously put yourself and your business out there you need to always be growing each. Creative Impact offers the educational insights and incredibly supportive community that allows for both! I am very pleased I became a member as it has really helped me navigate this year of isolation.

we’d go to 5/6 festivals like Glastonbury and Reading, and became known as the Melonheads (we still are).

CLICK HERE...

Find out more about Catri and her work on her Website here

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WHAT WE’RE READING

THE BEST

BOOKS OF 2020 T

here is nothing quite like getting lost in a good book, whether that is a self-help guide, business coaching or a fairytale to take you to another land. We have our favourite books from the year to treat for your this holiday season with the joy of escaping, learning new skills and becoming their best self through literature.

WHAT WE’RE READING

ny C li c k o n a rk to o w rt Book a nk li e g e t th

TRAIN HAPPY

TALLY RYE £10.99

Confidence, happiness and an intuitive approach to exercise. Hell yeah to that!

Join our cover girl Tally as she helps you to ditch diet culture and all its associations with fitness. Gain knowledge and tools that enable you to navigate your path to a health first, holistic approach to fitness and intuitive eating.

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THE UNEXPECTED JOY OF THE ORDINARY CATHERINE GRAY £11.99

With her latest book, Catherine Gray explores why ordinary is not that bad.

Actually, it’s pretty good.

Learn why big bucks does not means big happiness, expensive weddings doesn't predict future happiness, and the workaday is more important than the showreel.

YOU ARE DOPE OVIE SOKO £9.79

This book will help you find your way to peace and teach you to cherish the small moments that are a part of our big lives.

Ovie Soko provides you with the tools to supercharge your mindset and show you how to love who you are right now and embrace who you are going to be.

EXHALE

RICHIE BOSTOCK £10.49

The first book by The Breath Guy, Exhale, will help you master your physical, mental and emotional state in the comfort of your own home.

Whether you're looking to reduce stress, improve creativity, tackle back pain or treat chronic ailments, conscious breathing has benefits for everyone.

WHAT WE’RE READING

DID YOU KNOW That members of the collective get access to all past issues of the Make an Impact Magazine? Find out more about our community and how to join us in 2021.

CLICK TO FIND OUT

THE SOURCE

DR TARA SWART £7.89

Dr Tara Swart, a neuroscientist and executive coach, is convinced beyond all doubt of our ability to alter how our brains work - and transform our lives. In The Source, she draws on the latest cognitive science and her coaching experience to reveal the secret to mastering our minds.

THE FREELANCE BIBLE ALISON GRADE £10.99

In The Freelance Bible, award-winning entrepreneur and freelancer, Alison Grade, guides you through absolutely everything that you need to know to start your successful selfemployed life. This is your complete guide to turning your talent into a fulfilling and sustainable career.

THE POSITIVELY WEALTHY JOURNAL EMMA MUMFORD £13.19

This journal is designed to be used over a year and includes check-in pages to help the reader manifest money and abundance, organize and clearly set out budgets and help the reader to transform their relationship with their finances into a positive and grounded spiritual mindset.

HEART, SASS & SOUL GRETA SOLOMON £11.52

Heart Sass & Soul takes you on a journey to discover the life-changing powder of freewriting and journaling.

Greta’s book is a new and inspirational approach to find happiness and develop a method for writing freely, reframe the dark times, become empowered with self-expression and more.

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CREATIVE IMPACT

PRO SECTION DID YOU KNOW?

Robins on cards started as a joke 150 years ago when postmen wore red tunics and were named after them.

THIS ISSUE

Expert advice

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How to get started with

Hosting Better Online meetings Interview by Fab Giovanetti with Brennan McEchran

W

ith the rise of online events and Zoom meetings, small and big teams alike are more than familiar with the tribulations of online meetings.

As we first approached online meetings like a replica of their IRL counterparts, managers and founders like myself realised that, well, the road ahead was much bumpier than expected.

In fact, online meetings are less about updates and more about leadership, so I decided to ask one of the leaders in management skills and online meetings, Brennan McEachran of Soapbox.

Brennan is the co-founder and CEO of Soapbox, a simple and powerful tool that enables managers to be great leaders through their one-on-ones and team meetings.

They specialise in leadership and how to create productive meetings from the get-go. What better way to align on and achieve team goals than empowering your team during meetings?

Right from the beginning of our conversation, we discuss the idea of engaging in more purposeful meetings. “I think you have to be much more purposeful online, because you're not going to get as much time with your team“ points out McEachran. When it comes to building more purpose, the truth is that you should approach online meetings as a completely different beast: “try to forget everything you know, and rebuild what you need with your team from the ground up.

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There are so many micro differences when you do a video call.”

For example, if you're all joining a boardroom, if someone's one minute late to a couple people or a couple of minutes late, it's really not that big of a deal.

In fact, that's where some of the really good chit chat happens, right? If someone's two minutes late to an online meeting, everyone just has to sit there and wait.

You can't chit chat. What can you do in situations like these? You need to reframe and set the scene.

This can be a really good spot to take advantage of the fact that you can share your screen while you wait for people to join and uncover something that's not important to the agenda itself.

At Soapbox, Brennan likes to start his meetings with three trivia questions. They're just on the screen, for people who show up five minutes early. They get to see the questions. They're in the chat. They get to chat their answers and prove that they know and then when the meeting actually starts, he starts the meeting and straight after that, he reads the answers to the questions: “So if you're late, you kind of miss out on that. It's a nice fun little incentive to show up either early or on time, but that's only possible in an online meeting.”

By having a shared agenda that’s available to all team members before each meeting, everyone has the opportunity to contribute to it. Having access to the agenda prior to the meeting, means that everyone on the team is able to come prepared and isn’t surprised by what’s set to be discussed.

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“I think the largest mistake people make is trying to replicate the ‘in person meeting’ experience and forgetting about some of the unique advantages you have now that you're all online” Brennan McEachran, Soapbox CEO

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PRO SECTION

Agendas are also a great way to save time and encourage much more efficient meetings. “You have that opportunity to tell the team ‘this is why we’re meeting and it lets the team know that, if we get these things done, maybe we don't need an hour, or 30 minutes, maybe it can be a 15 minute meeting. It gives you the ability to actually cut back on meetings.” It may feel like more work, or like you're putting more effort into it, but you can actually save a lot of time, and save a lot of your team's time by doing it.

It’s important to shift the perception of agendas as a plan that is set in stone, as truly the magic of a plan is that it allows the meeting to be much more collaborative in the first place.“I think agendas give you that ability to let other people have a voice, particularly in remote or distributed meetings, if you're across different time zones” adds McEachran “particularly in those scenarios, you have the ability to, you know, raise people out of like the land of mute”.

Talking about agendas, these are also great tools to ban distractions, as they can give a really good outline to take notes later on, whether you're doing it in a meeting or later on, in remote online meetings. The note experience is one of the most important parts because it's so easy to get distracted.

“I know people like Jeff Bezos of Amazon who encourage their team in the first five minutes of the meeting to read through the agenda, make comments on everything in the agenda before they even open their mouth” shares McEachran.

Ask all the meeting participants to put away any distractions. To make this meeting even more effective, project your agenda onto a screen so everyone can follow along as you move through the meeting.

Encouraging collaboration is one of the most effective ways to make meetings more dynamic. You can do things like that as well at the start of the meeting and say “Hey, everyone, I'm gonna turn my camera

Missed the conference?

Missed out on this live chat, and 30 more amazing sessions to grow your brand online? Access our conference replay here

“Agendas give you a really easy outline, to just document some of those things as you go” Brennan McEachran, Soapbox CEO off for a second. Please add two or three things to the agenda that you know you want to talk about.”

Once you kind of break the ice with that, once your team get used to it, they know that if they put this in their agenda, it gets talked about and it gets dealt with.

When you’re able to run productive team meetings, the team will be more aligned and empowered to crush your collective goals.

An overwhelming 68% of managers say juggling their responsibilities along with managing a team is their biggest challenge as a people leader. Teams can have the most talented employees, but if they’re unable to collaborate and communicate effectively with one another, they can only achieve so much. When online meetings become more of a shared effort, the whole team contributes and truly feels involved, as well as motivated to follow through with their next steps.

LOOKING FOR MORE MEETING INSPIRATION? Check Soapbox 180+ Goal and OKR examples library and Agenda templates library

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How to get started with

DIY PR Interview by Fab Giovanetti with Jessica Barlow

W

hat is one of the most expensive services most brands tend to invest in? If you are thinking advertising, you are not far off, yet, the most expensive investment is actually allocated to PR agencies.

Brands and founders tend to delegate a cornerstone part of their business, and it comes at a hefty price. Yet, the best thing they can do by far is taking their PR in their own hands. You may be wondering why. I could have not said it better myself. When it comes to successful PR strategy for small businesses, I have only one woman for the job. That woman is Jessica Barlow. She created her own course, called the No Agency Method, with the idea of making PR easy for founders, solo-prenuers and startups to do PR by themselves and get the attention on atheir business that it deserves.

“The reason why I'm so passionate about PR education, or helping people realise that it's possible to do PR, is because I don't have a background in PR”, she explains.

“I had to learn how to do it myself, get through the smoke and mirrors and figure out how to make it work in my last job in a tech startup. I just realised that there was such a big job to be done to make PR accessible for everyone, not just the big

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PRO SECTION

“Nobody else knows their own story better than themselves. Sharing your own story helps with relationship building, and that is key in PR” Jessica Barlow, No Agency Method founder companies who have heaps of money to pay for an agency.” During our conference, I had the pleasure to have a chat with Jessica to discuss how founders and experts can foster relationships with the media. My hope is to give you the confidence to look at your own strategy and make PR work for you.

People think you need to be a certain size, your business, your brand, your sales. There is a pressure to reach a certain milestone in order to do PR. “If you are waiting to become a certain size, in order to start doing your PR, you're missing the opportunity to tell the story of your growth, you're missing the opportunity to tell the story of why you're launching, how it's going, what kind of failures and big wins came along the way.”

It's no good thinking one day, eventually you'll get some PR for your business. Or that a journalist will magically come and find you, if you don't put yourself out there and try - you're not giving yourself the chance to get featured. In the words of Barlow: “you have to just start” Feeling confident is everything, it changes how people perceive you. In a nutshell, you already are the expert. As the expert lead with your knowledge and your expertise, come at your

communication from that place of expertise.

The confidence will follow, as you’ll be tapping into your zone of genius. You have to think about your personal brand, and where you want to be seen how you want to grow that: “Know your boundaries. What are you prepared to share and not prepared to share?” You want to know who you really are, we stand for what your values are. Out of that you figure out what your stories are: “By the time you get round to being asked to be on TV, you want to be comfortable with that you want to know what your voice is.“ When doing your research, don’t go for vanity, go where your audience is. If you’re building a business that reaches students, what media are students loving? Chances are, outside of your inner circle, no one is going to care about what you do more than you: “in order to take that outsider view and shine a light on your product or yourself, you’ve got to put yourself in that space.”

Barlow suggests you putting yourself in the shoes of a journalist. “Ask yourself, would I care about this story/product I am selling?

How do I get a journalist to care about this?

Find that sweet spot: gold.” In her course and coaching, Barlow wants to shift the perception of media relationships for good.

“A journalist just wants you to look at what you're trying to sell them and say ‘who cares’. If you can break through that yourself, if you can convince yourself that there's

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something to care about, then you can convince someone else.”

One of the key lessons from Barlow is that when you lead with your expertise, your pitch doesn't feel like an uncomfortable sale. “If you are the founder of your company, or you are on the startup marketing team, you are more of an expert than anybody else in the entire world” admits Barlow. “You're imparting knowledge. You're sharing the story of your business, you're telling your audience who you want to buy your products, who you are, why you exist, why they need to work with you “ Really, you're selling yourself in this scenario.

You have to think, is this relevant for the audience of this journalist? is this relevant for the podcast listeners? is this relevant for my LinkedIn community? “You've got to do that that same ‘who cares’ exercise whenever you're trying to put yourself forward. That's how you get relevant. That's how you stay relevant. That's how you solidify your expertise and your expert status.”

Standing out from the crowd is truly a combination of relationship building and catching the media’s attention. It’s about getting the media to know you, your story and understand how it can benefit them. It’s about becoming the number one expert when it comes to your brand. As a last tip, never underestimate the power of networking.

Networking and raising the profile of your team/spokespeople is crucial for PR. Think about how you can galvanise your whole crew to join your PR mission: “each new person you meet is a potential loyal customer - don't forget that.”

CHECK OUT JESSICA’S WORK HERE

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How to get started with

Evergreen funnels

O

Interview by Fab Giovanetti with Jack Born

ne of the biggest questions I get asked, pretty much by every client I work with (and our community members alike) is ”what happens after my launch?” Well, first and foremost, take five. No, not just five minutes.

Five days to just decompress. Tackle your to-do list, lighten up your schedule and just breathe. You earned it.

After that, you are allowed to put your big work pants back on and make the most of what you created with your launch and set up systems that will last for months to come.

Launching over and over as the only way to get clients drains your energy. Scaling your business doesn’t require that you push yourself harder and harder, it means working smarter. This is where evergreen funnels come into play. I went to the best of the best looking for answers, and that person happened to be Jack Born, founder of Deadline Funnels: “(Deadline Funnels) is a software that helps creators, especially people who are online course creators, but

really anyone who's a digital creator or digital entrepreneur to capitalise on the attention that they're getting.”

In other words, the platform supports people looking to turn their offers evergreen, to put their best offer, in front of their ideal audience, and to get as many of those people who are watching their videos, webinars, or reading emails to actually take action. Just as a refresher, an evergreen funnel is a type of email sales funnel that's automated — so whenever anyone signs up for your email list, they receive the funnel without you having to be actively involved.

Once you set it up, it should be able to run with little day-to-day work by you.

I am not here to tell you that you should not put loads of effort into your launches, because the problem isn’t whether launches work or not (they do). The problem is the big drop in sales after your live launch promotion ends. “When you want to take what worked in your launch, and then you want to make it more evergreen, Deadline Funnels is there to transition you over.”

“There's a whole bunch of people in the middle that they just needed that extra little nudge something extra to just get them over the fence. And there's nothing as bulletproof as urgency to really get someone to force it, force them to make a decision, and to take that leap of faith with you” Jack Born, Deadline Funnels founder 52 | CREATIVE IMPACT MAG

In the last 6 months, we have seen costs of advertising going down, albeit briefly.

However, over the long term, the bigger macro trend is that the cost of your advertising, the cost to reach people is going to continue to go up and up. “For you to reach the biggest audience that you can, you need to be able to make sure that you do everything that you can within the boundaries of ethics to to get someone who's interested, who is a qualified prospect for your business, or your service to take that leap of faith” explains Born. Seeing a sale as a leap of faith can help reframe that level or relationship with your customers, as on a certain level, they're taking a leap of faith with you, crossing the border and saying “I’m going to give this a try.”

You need to have a healthy, profitable business that is generating returns on your advertising spend. If you're the type of person who isn't advertising yet, you know, you're at some point, you probably are going to want to advertise: “Whatever traffic you're getting, whether it's through content, or social media posts, or word of mouth, you want, you still want to capitalise on every single possible person that could and should become a client of yours.”

I wanted to give a bit more context around the way that we built funnels for Creative Impact. The way that we structure them is dead simple. Our courses are available for anyone who visits your website. Nothing is preventing a new visitor from going right to the course page and seeing the regular price.

PRO SECTION

But prospects that go through a new email funnel will have a limited time to get a special deal on our courses. That might mean a discount, or bonuses, or both depending on the course.

Do not get me wrong, I am all for reaching and retaining those 1,000 true fans that will buy from you again, and again every single

time. Yet, you should not just rely on those people to build a profitable business.

“There's a whole bunch of people in the middle that they just needed that extra little nudge something extra to just get them over the fence. And there's nothing as bulletproof as urgency to really get someone to force it, force them to make a decision, and to take that leap of faith with you”

This goes back to an old sales saying - ‘the delay of the sale is the death of the sale’. In other words, if you were in a sales call, and someone said “I want to think about this, I need to go talk to so and so” you’d know that your odds of closing that sale would be going down with every day, week and month that goes by. “Someone who's really, really interested in your solution, or the

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“I truly believe that in today's day and age,

if your offer doesn't have a deadline, then

you're leaving a lot of sales on the table Jack Born, Deadline Funnels founder

possibility of your solution right now is going to be far less interested six months from now.

Deadlines force people to make a decision.

There's a lot of other cycle psychology that goes on” The biggest mistake you can make is assuming everyone who gets exposed to your brand will be compelled to buy from you after your first interaction.

We have been personally using Deadline Funnels for over 2 years now, and I can tell you that it does work. I will be honest, at first I was a skeptic. I truly thought ’why would my audience fall for this?’ “A lot of creators think things like ‘Okay, my audience is too sophisticated.” Born is just reading my mind, it seems. “If you're selling to human beings, remember that people make decisions in certain predictable ways. Deadlines and urgency are one of the most reliable triggers”. This does not mean that urgency is a magic bullet. Your product needs to solve a problem for an audience that has money to spend and is reachable. If you can’t reach your prospects or if they can’t afford your product or they don’t have a big painful problem your product can solve… none of this will work.

Your offer still has to be good enough, and this is where taking the time to analyse what

works is going to be key when creating evergreen funnels: “if your market isn't interested in what you're offering, then deadlines won't work - ever.”

Pro tip: when choosing how and when to go evergreen, look at your most popular digital products and offerings, and start mapping out a user journey for those. You are more likely to see better return of investment based on previous responses from your most engaged audience. “A mistake that people make with adding urgency, that is not taking the steps to make sure that you can automate it, and are investing in the right tools and make sure that it's going to be accurate.”

Whichever tool you use to support you in the creation of evergreen funnels, please do not go cheap for the sake of being thrifty. The journey your potential customers will go through is going to be what convinces them to take action in the first place. From

accurate countdowns to tracking emails, the devil is in the detail.

Albeit simple, this type of system can still be something uncomfortable for some entrepreneurs.A lot of people struggle with the mindset around sales funnels, you may feel it’s too aggressive. If that is you, I recommend you reframe the way you see funnels altogether. To borrow Born’s words: “If you're a heart centred entrepreneur, and you want to get your message out into the world, the way to do that is to make sure that as many people that should become your clients do become your clients. And sometimes people need that extra little nudge to step outside of their comfort zone.” Creating a system that encourages people to take that leap is one of the most effective ways to build successful relationships and grow your business in a sustainable and effective way.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT DEADLINE FUNNELS HERE

Missed the conference?

Missed out on this live chat, and 30 more amazing sessions to grow your brand online?

Access our conference replay here

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PRO SECTION

Why podcasts will become

The key marketing tools for brands Interview by Fab Giovanetti with Tom Hunt

T

en years ago, the term blogger was not recognised as a legitimate job title, and little over two years ago podcaster was an elusive term only used by the big players. And by big players I mean a small group of hosts who relentlessly released shows, week after week.

As more and more businesses and brands are exploring podcasts for themselves, you may be wondering: ”Is there any space for more podcasts in the marketplace?”

A common question is “how many podcasts are there?”

The number it’s currently over 1,000,000 (Podcast insights), and could easily make any marketer back up from the idea of starting their own show.

This is why I decided to ask the experts and get a better understanding of where the podcasting industry is going - and why it’s important for marketers to know. During our conference, I asked Tom Hunt, founder at bCast to share his predictions on podcasts and how businesses can use it to market and grow their brand. I can vouch for bCasts without hesitation, as we moved to the startup platform little longer than a month ago, and I could not be happier with our new show’s home.

When we put things in perspective, podcasts are not such a new concept - and no, I am not even referring to its close cousin, radio. This "streaming" strategy for distributing content is not new: blogs have been doing this for many years. It has another term: RSS. A podcast is simply a stream of audio content distributed through an RSS feed.

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As creatives, celebrities and online personalities alike are dropping podcasts like there is no tomorrow, why should you join the party?

You want to start podcasting for your business to learn and add value to your core persona. You want to give an insider view to your business and overall story. What you really need to understand is how to make your podcast stand out from the crowd. Listener numbers are going up, as it’s estimated 55% (155 million) of the US population has listened to a podcast – up from 51% in 2019 (Infinite Dial 20). Yet, the number has not increased as much as the number of new podcasts dropping daily.

“The number one thing that I would say to a new podcaster is, when you are deciding what to do what audio content to create” shares Hunt “you have to think about the specific type of person who you want to whose life you want to improve.”

Just like a blog, your podcast should truly be content focused, first and foremost. If you're just going to start the next business interview podcast, then it's going to be hard. You're going to be up against players that have been in the game for like seven years and spend a shedload on the podcast. Hunt suggests taking a slightly more targeted approach.

“If you started the next interview podcast for gardeners that want to grow their gardening business, then there's probably only like three of them. You could probably work out a way to beat the other three and become the number one there.”

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“Podcasting is the best thing for building

a relationship with an audience that you already have”

Tom Hunt, bCast founder

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When it comes to calculating the ROI for your podcast, you can surely go a few ways. Hunt outlines four ways to monetise your show, including advertising (taking people's money in exchange for the attention), have a subscription (people will pay you for access to the show), affiliate partnerships, where you sell other people's stuff and their commission, and then you can sell your own stuff.

Long and short, you can combine a variety of monetisation methods, yet, if he were to choose, Hunt would focus on converting listeners into leads. He recalls how Document360 (a knowledge software business) does this by offering their listeners an eBook with insights from their episodes in exchange for their email address: “these leads are then nurtured and ultimately offered a free trial of their knowledge base software.”

Another example is from another bCast user, for a show called Launch Legends. The host interviews online marketers who have done good product launches.

“What we've done for the lead magnet is to simply take the data, because the host is quite good and asking for numbers and other product launch metrics” explains Hunt.

“I think (podcasting) is going to be much more ubiquitous, every business will just have

an RSS feed, like for their written content” Tom Hunt, bCast founder

“We've taken the data from all of these launches, and we've done about 30 interviews now, and just put them in a Google Sheet. How many customers did they get to spend money on ads, what's total revenue? We call it the launch legends vault. It is really a database in a Google Sheet. But that's converting really well because it's super relevant to the people that are listening.”

The way you do this via bCast is by using their auto opt in features, which gives you an email address, and the listeners can send a blank email to that - that can go through the API web hooks so you can deliver that thing automatically.

We use a similar premise for the Make an Impact show, encouraging listeners to access free content, or alternatively check out one of the latest offerings, by adding audio inserts at the beginning of each episode.

This is a very special bCast feature. At the same time, podcasting as a business will also boost the authority of

Missed the conference?

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Access our conference replay here

your brand, business or even yourself as a host in your chosen niche, and that in itself can be seen as a form of ROI. So what is coming next for podcasts? Hunt goes back to the idea of blogs and how they evolved in popularity.

24% (68 million) of listeners listen to podcasts weekly – up from 22% in 2019 (Infinite Dial 20), and with Amazon Music announcing its own portal a few weeks back, it’s impossible not see the signs: “We have Google, Spotify, Apple and Amazon now throwing millions and millions of dollars into trying to be the portal for the listeners.”

Hunt also highlights the rise of private feeds, such as podcasts for internal employees for example, customers or even friends: “if you have a company with 100 people, and you send weekly sSlack message or weekly email, but if instead you send a five minute audio update from the CEO, maybe with the CFO jumping in, that's just going to have so much better impact. I think that audio is going to become more pervasive in our lives.”

Podcasts are here to stay, build relationships and trust to encourage potential customers to ultimately engage and buy from you. Within that, there is the chance for marketers and brands alike to bring their own unique flair to the space, and it’s just the right time to get started.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT BCAST HERE

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INSPIRATION

"Christmas is most truly

Christmas when we celebrate it by giving the light of love to those who need it most."

RUTH CARTER STAPLETON

CREATIVE IMPACT

WELLBEING THIS ISSUE

Gift guide.

DID YOU KNOW?

Hanging stockings out comes from the Dutch custom of leaving shoes packed with food for St Nicholas’s donkeys.

WELLBEING

What you can expect from

A CACAO

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WELLBEING

CEREMONY Written by Ceren Tosun

W

e are familiar with cacao just as big chunks of milky chocolates with all kinds of flavours on market shelves, or finely crafted artisan little pralines or as hot chocolates stuffed with marshmallows and of course always a way of indulgence. But did you know that cacao is not just a lovely delicacy, but actually a sacred medicinal plant in South American, Mayan culture. Thus finally you can enjoy your cacao with less stress.

The Latin name for cacao is Theobroma cacao which is translated as the "food of the gods"; from theos , meaning 'god', and broma, meaning ‘food. It is seen as a medicinal plant, and has been used for a number of spiritual, medicinal and ceremonial purposes throughout history. This much love needed to mean something right?

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It's all in the molecules How does cacao allow us to speak from our heart?

The secret lies in its chemical formulation and how it interacts with our hormones. Cacao molecule has very unique components which includes;

PEA (phenylethylamine) which is also called the love molecule as it creates a euphoric feeling of pleasure, reward, and joy. It is secreted mostly when in love and it’s the reason why everything looks better and we are full of stamina. (pretty good right) ANANDAMITE the name is taken from the Sanskrit word ananda, which means "joy, bliss, delight�. Thus this is another molecule in cacao that fills us with joy and delight.

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SEROTONIN which is a hormone that is responsible for our happiness in general.

OXYTOCINE is a molecule about bonding, both with yourself, your body and all of your surroundings.

MAGNESIUM which is the most essential element in muscle relaxation. Magnesium relaxes muscles and increases circulation, and as the heart contains the highest amount of muscle this is how it lets us speak our heart.

Cacao was a big part of the ancient South American culture, it was used as a healing plant and in ceremonies when the community needed some guidance they asked cacao for help. When tribes have an issue that will be affecting the wellbeing of the community before having their conversations the leaders first drank their brewed cacao and then started their debate. The wisdom behind this tradition is that, having a cacao drink lets us connect to ourselves, our own intuition, knowing and inner guidance.

Thus by talking from their heart rather than directly from the mind and getting ambitious or destructive, it will allow the leaders to

WELLBEING

have a compassionate solution that will be beneficial for the whole community. This is where cacao ceremonies come to the scene, if there is a question on your mind or an intention or a decision to be made, it’s great to reflect on it with some cacao. It’s a great tool and a way of bringing this tradition to the future.

Ceremonial cacao drink usually contains ethically sourced pure high grade cacao mass with ceremonial grade raw cacao and cacao butter, some hot water or your choice of plant based milk and herbs or spices according to your intention. Usually spices like cardamom, cinnamon or cayenne pepper is preferred.

Nowadays modern cacao ceremonies are performed by people sitting in a circle, where the cacao drinks are served and maybe some dancing and ancient songs are involved. You set your intention and drink your cacao by thanking the elders and the mother earth for this gift, and then meditate with an intention and allow the cacao to speak your heart out.

It won’t be as powerful as a cacao ceremony but how I incorporate cacao into my life is by making it part of my morning routine, before I start my day I have a cup of cacao rather than a coffee. I make it with an intention in mind for the day and sip it before my 10 min morning meditation. It’s full of goodness, warms and nourishes you. Also cacao can

help to ease our everyday stresses and worries, as it encourages us to get more in tune with our positive, optimistic side.

Finally, if you want to have the full experience you can by joining a cacao ceremony near you or an online one just from your living room.

Fancy trying a cacao ceremony?

Spicy Health offers both online and offline cacao ceremonies that you can book with a group or just by yourself. Find out more here

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s a m t s i r Ch Gift Guide All of these gifts are from brands and businesses we love, and some of these are sponsored. We vetted all of these businesses and products ourselves, so you are in good hands.

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y t u a Be Singing out loud for all to hear, is a great way to spread Christmas cheer... and so is sourcing a few special gifts for that special someone. If you're looking for unique gifts for the beauty and self-care lover in your life, we have rounded up our favourites. From sustainable brands, upcycled products and self-care boxes, we hope you will fall in love with these beauty and self-care stocking fillers.

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01. Chai-lent Night Giftset £19.99, 02. MySmart Skin Moisturiser £28, 03. BOLT Beauty £50, 04. Coconut Bowls Candles £26.95, 05. The Beauty of Eczema’s™ Salty Soother £15, 06. Wildwoman Self-Care box £26.95, 07. Yugenial CBD Terpene Infused Head Roller £39.50, 08. Made by Cooper Calm Sleep Mist Set £33, 09. Be Kind Beauty – Luxury Vegan Self Care Gift Box £49.99, 10. Luxury Sustainable Christmas Gift Set £60, 11. Hair Oil Treatment £21.99, 12. Zero Waste Hair & Body Wash Gift Pack £30, 13. nüdie period cup £19.95, 14. Unati Shampoo £12

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ss e n t i F Are you looking for that special gift for the fitness fanatic in your life? Or someone who needs a little bit of a boost and new fitness clothes/accessories would do just the trick?

We hope you find something here to fill their stockings and stack up under the tree: from supplements to sustainable sets and more.

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01. TALA's hosta £28, 02. Free Soul Dual Use £24, 03. Sara da Silva £54.99, 04. Chocolate Kettlebells £7, 05. Acupressure Mat £24.99, 06. Pretty Athletic £38, 07. Crystal Infused Glass Bottle with Sleeve £26.99, 08. Mindful bathing salts £7.99, 09. Lunar Paws Yoga mat £68, 10. Bala Bangles £40, 11. Powerbeats Pro Totally Wireless Earphones £219, 12. Shreddy Foam Roller £12, 13. Roxy: Leopard Velvet Trainers £159

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d o o F ability n i a t s u S &

Nothing says Christmas quite like a festive selection of food! As well as delicious vegan Prosecco, no-waste sauces and your new best lunch companions, we're championing a more sustainable holiday season with eco-friendly gifts, beauty products and more.

Take a look at our food and sustainability focused stocking fillers.

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Click on any podcast artwork to get the link

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01. Rubies in the Rubble dips £12, 02. Superfood Bakery Mixes £4.99, 03. Tan France x Etsy Honey Gift Set £31.50, 04. The Teaspoon Club From £10, 05. Tan France x Etsy Coffee Gift Set £35, 06. We Are Wild Refill Deodorant £25, 07. Wild Thing Vegan Prosecco and Snack Hamper £58.50, 08. Chilli Plant Grow Kit £3.99, 09. Coconut bowls couple bundle £25, 10. Body Scrub Gift Set £13.85, 11. Lunchtime trio Sasstainable £29.99, 12. Reusable Makeup Pads Set £15.99, 13. Silicone Stretch Lids £16.99, 14. Bear with me £18

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y r e n o i t a t S We bring you a selection of gifts for your accountability buddy, your favourite clients, the work-from-home superstars in your life. From motivational reminders all the way to home desk gadgets and unique finds, we collated our top picks to show your biz buddies that you care for them.

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01. 2021 Inspirational Lifestyle Planner £35, 02. Wall wire grid £11.85, 03. Natural Finish Wooden Clipboard £20.10, 04. Love is power print £35, 05. Tia Mowry x Etsy Ceramic Berry Basket £25.20, 06. boofie™ mini Bean Bag Pouffe Floor Cushion £25, 07. Good Vibes Kit Vision Board cards £15, 08. JoJo Fletcher x Etsy 'Holiday Cliché Candle' £25.17, 09. Terracotta clay plate £15, 10. A Beautiful Mess x Etsy Stoneware Star Planter Set £47.19

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WELLBEING

g n i k c o St s r e l l i F

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care… and we’ve got unique stocking fillers to stuff them with – all sourced by amazing wellness and sustainable small businesses.

Just because most of these picks are small, doesn’t mean they’re not special. We hope you love these wellness and sustainable Christmas stocking fillers.

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01. Collapsible coffee cup by sasstainable £14.99, 02. Westlab Mulled Wine Festive Bathing Salts £6, 03. Doisy & Dam Christmas Bundle £22, 04. TeaPigs Winter teas £3.99, 05. CM La Vie Coconut Oil £9.99, 06. Stocking Filler bundle £31.99, 07. Pip and Nut Gingerbread £3.95, 08. Divine Chocolate Hot Chocolate £3.99, 09. TALA's Facecloth £5, 10. Planner Desk Pad Work £9

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FINDING GRACE WITH HANNAH

Kindness and self care for the festive season Be mindful and protect your energies ahead of the festive season

A

s we enter into the festive season we will be doing so after having the strangest year.

We’ve had a year of uncertainty, so the importance of entering into the festive season with lots of self care and kindness has never been more important or vital. Normally, the festive season can be an interesting one, with some people loving it and other people struggling with the obligation and busyness that often this season brings.

I suggest making it a priority that you are mindful with yourself over this festive season so you can find your own way to make it a joyous occasion with a positive experience. Despite all the joy this season can bring, it can be triggering. This can happen in various ways, for example food triggers, and being around other people, as we tend to do all the family stuff during this season, or in some cases it can be the opposite and lonely for some people.

First off identify your triggers. You may well be feeling more sensitive with the year that has just passed as it has been a lot. So figure out your triggers and work out which ones are non negotiable, this is a good self care practice. This is often easier said than done, and may not always be possible, especially with family stuff, but do your best to put those boundaries in place as it will really serve you and allow you to have a happier holiday season.

If food is a trigger make sure you talk to people around you so you have the support in place. For some of you, loneliness is the trigger so look at how you can

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support yourself with this one and find positive ways to ease some of this trigger. When we identify our triggers in life we immediately give ourselves better foundations where we feel safer because we’ve set things up to experience everything in a more positive way.

Safety is key for us to feel more settled and after the year we’ve just had if there’s one thing for sure, after all the uncertainty, we don’t want to feel unsafe ending the year. Lastly, look at what self care you can put in place over the season as it tends to be busy despite being a holiday.

Get things in place “Having things that that work for you and support us in our lives is commit to them, key to keeping us in our remember this will look different for everyone, center and feeling good” there is no wrong way.

This will serve you greatly in finding the balance, will allow you to enjoy the season and get the best out of it.

If we’ve learnt anything this year, having things that support us in our lives is key to keeping us in our center and feeling good. Doing the above is the best gift of kindness we can give ourselves, as it means we give ourselves the opportunity to get the best out of the season in a way that works for each of us.

I hope this is helpful to whomever reads this and I'm wishing you a joyful festive season. @thehannahwallace

WELLBEING

AFFIRMATION

"When I am kind to others it will allow me be kinder to myself."

Author bio

Find out more about Hannah, writer, blogger, and podcaster at @thehannahwallace or head to Hannah’s website to download her free meditation.

BREAKING MENTAL HEALTH STIGMA

with Emma Green phd

WELLBEING

M

y name is Emma Green, and I aim to help people build a healthy relationship with food, exercise and their bodies. That’s my goal with my social media content, my writing and coaching.

The idea is that by freeing up headspace from that stuff, we have the energy to do what makes us happy, and make a meaningful difference in the world.

I want people to feel relaxed about food.

It should be enjoyable and nourishing, mentally and physically. There are so many external pressures about what, when and how to eat. I try to help people detach from those messages, and tune into what feels good for them.

That often takes time to learn, because so many people are out of touch with their hunger, fullness and cravings but it is possible to get back in touch with them! I’m also passionate about allowing food to be celebratory, social and a source of comfort.

Food is so much more than fuel and I think we should embrace that!

“By freeing up headspace from that stuff, we have the energy to do what makes us happy, and make a meaningful difference in the world.”

AUTHOR BIO Emma Green is an anti-diet fitness coach and writer.

She helps people build a healthy relationship with food, exercise and their bodies Find out more about Emma Green here

Part of doing a PhD is learning to think more critically and challenging your assumptions. This has translated into me being much more thoughtful when creating content, and open to changing my perspective in light of new ideas and evidence.

In terms of the knowledge aspect, my studies highlighted the significance of social factors. I don’t think they get acknowledged enough, particularly in the health and fitness industry where there is so much focus on individual behaviours, but not the context that influences them.

WELLBEING

Three key misconceptions about or stigmas attached to mental helalth

1

Eating disorders can happen to people in all different bodies They don’t have a look and you don’t know if someone is struggling just by looking at them.

2

All struggles are valid It doesn’t matter who you are, what your background is, and whether you have a diagnosed mental illness or not, your struggles are valid. Please don’t delay seeking help because you think you’re ‘ not sick enough’.

3

Nobody is happy all the time Despite what social media might suggest, nobody feels positive 24/7. Even a person who has a ‘perfect’ life on paper will have days where they don’t feel good.

“My primary purpose for Instagram is to start conversations on topics within health and fitness that I’m passionate about. We can all learn and grow from each other” All of us need to acknowledge our privileges and work to make health and fitness spaces accessible, inclusive and diverse.

Instagram has always been my main social platform and it’s where I feel most comfortable. My page has changed as I have, both in terms of the messages and images used. It used to be very haphazard, with little thought about the pictures I was sharing or what I wrote in the captions. I never used to plan anything whereas now the vast majority of my content is planned weeks ahead.

My purpose for Instagram is to start conversations on topics within health and fitness that I’m passionate about. I want to hear about different experiences and perspectives. I welcome all constructive dialogue. We can all learn and grow from each other.

I will not lie, I have felt pressure for my content to look like other people’s and that has sometimes held me back from posting. But I try to just focus on my main message, create what is authentic to me, and allow my best to be good enough.

About our winners

Check our full list of winners here: creativeimpact.group/awards

WELLBEING

Everyday mental health

SOS

Practice self-acceptance: We often have so many ‘shoulds’ in our heads.

How we ‘should’ look, how we ‘should’ be spending our time and how many of our goals we ‘should’ be hitting.

Remind yourself that you are worthy exactly as you are right now.

Connect with others: With the pandemic, it’s been a lot harder to meet with friends and family in person but it’s so important to connect with others in any way we can. That might be a text, a phone call or maybe a video chat. No matter which it all counts!

Take time to switch off: There’s so much pressure to be productive that often our downtime can become work.

It’s important to take time each day to completely relax and unwind. Perhaps reading a book, listening to music or watching a TV programme.

No guilt attached!

CREATIVE IMPACT MAG | 81

YOUR GO TO WINTER SKINCARE ROUTINE

A

t UpCircle, we elevate leftover natural ingredients, bringing them back to life as beauty products your skin will love. Our products are natural, organic, vegan, cruelty-free, palm oil-free, sustainable, handmade in the UK and housed in 100% recyclable packaging.

But the key point of difference between us and other brands is that each of our products is made with a core repurposed ingredient.

“Natural” is the new “normal” – we go a step further with our waste-fighting formulations.

With a complete skincare range that uses 10 different repurposed ingredients, from all across the globe.

About our winner

Click to follow UpCircle on instagram @upcirclebeauty and don't forget to check our full list of winners here: creativeimpact.group/awards

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WELLBEING

FIVE STEPS SKINCARE ROUTINE

STEP 1

Cleanse skin - In the morning you just need to do a single cleanse, a double cleanse is necessary only at the end of the day. For a morning routine, take one of Chai Soap Bars (Cinnamon + Ginger is my fave!) Lather it into your hands and apply to face. You then simply remove with a damp muslin cloth (I’d recommend our organic ones) to reveal clean, fresh skin. If you shower in the morning, then this Soap Bar can also be used on your body.

STEP 2

Tone skin - With your skin now cleansed, it’s time to give it some love! Our Toner is great for hydrating and soothing skin at home or on the go. Made with hydrating residual water of green mandarin fruit, a by-product of the juicing industry, and skin-soothing chamomile stem extract, a by-product of the tea industry.

STEP 3

Apply eye cream - Before you apply your Face Moisturiser it’s good to give your eyes some extra care! Our Eye Cream is great for firming, brightening and protecting the delicate skin around your eyes. The maple bark extract is rich in antioxidants and Vitamin E and will help to protect skin through high levels of ellagic acid. The caffeine-rich coffee oil will help to reduce puffiness and dark circles and make eyes shine.

STEP 4

Moisturise skin - These last two steps are crucial, first up is Moisturiser! As a general rule of thumb - when moisturising, using the lightest, water-based products first when layering your skincare. Our Face Moisturiser has cocoa butter and aloe vera to soothe and nourish the skin.

STEP 5

Hydrate skin - For the final step in your skincare routine, use an oil-based, water-free serum (like ours) to deliver intense nourishment and hydration. Through a combination of linoleic-acid rich oils and vitamin C, our Face Serum helps to promote the production of collagen, keeping skin supple. If you’re headed outside, don’t forget to use spf!

CREATIVE IMPACT MAG | 83

WELLBEING

3

Coffee Face Scrub Floral Blend (100ml, £12.99) A longstanding staple in my skincare routine.

Formulated with repurposed coffee grounds, this scrub gently buffs away dead, dry skin to leave your face soft and smooth. The blend of chamomile and shea butter then nourishes and moisturises postscrub. It’s also perfect for the winter to use on dry, flaky lips!

Face Serum (30ml, £14.99) This is one of my all time favourite UpCircle products.

It’s a multi-award winning, certified organic and 100% natural. It can be used both morning and night, to boost collagen and keep skin firm. Rich in Vitamin C, the antioxidant-rich coffee and rosehip oils fade dark spots and brighten complexion. It’s a product that works for all ages, skin types and genders (beard-oil anyone?).

fa vo ur it e prod uc ts from th e ra ng e

Click on any Products to get the link

Chai-lent Night Giftset (£19.99) Perfect for chai-lovers this Christmas! Each product in the giftset is made with chai spices from our friends over at Henny & Joe’s, in Bath. Included is a Chai Candle, and a Cinnamon + Ginger Soap Bar, both are made with repurposed chai spices and smell as amazing as they sound. You also get a bottle of chai syrup for at-home latte making!

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INSPIRATION

"A dream is the bearer of a new

possibility, the enlarged horizon, the great hope.�

HOWARD THURMAN

Authentic vegan-friendly family recipe

100% natural & certified organic

CREATIVE IMPACT

FOODIE DID YOU KNOW? According to tradition, you should eat one mince pie on each of the 12 days of Christmas to bring good luck.

THIS ISSUE

Celebrations

FOODIE

CHRISTMAS FOODIE FAVOURITES

This is perhaps the most wonderful time of year but it can be a bit of minefield when it comes to buying foodie gifts for friends and family. Luckily, this year, brands have really risen to the challenge and there are some fabulous festive treats on offer that would make me SO happy to open on Christmas morning. Here are just a few of the best food gifts out there, and they’re all vegan-friendly.

WILD THING VEGAN PROSECCO AND SNACK HAMPER The latest hamper offering from The Goodness Project, this is the perfect bundle for snack lovers. With 15 vegan snacks as well as a glamorous bottle of Organic Prosecco (donation made for every bottle sold), the hamper is also sustainably packaged, supports small and local brands, is hand-picked and can be personalised. n Tap o duct o r p any get es to im a g li n k s s a le s

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DOISY & DAM CHRISTMAS BUNDLE

For the chocoholics, this bundle is the ultimate gift. The B corp uses no additives and is fully vegan-friendly, making their chocolate taste even better. Chocolate Zesty Jingle Ballers (think dark choc orange maltesers), salted smooth Dark Chocolate Truffles (better than a Lindt Lindor) and the Christmas Mix snack pack selection make delicious gifts.

FOODIE

JOE & SEPHS GOURMET POPCORN ADVENT

Tap here for sales links

Merry Poppin’ Christmas! For an advent calendar with a difference, why not try one of Joe and Seph’s magical advent calendars. They’re big and with 24 mini packs of their popcorn, every day is bound to be a big surprise.

Choose between the gourmet, vegan or the tipsy calendars - all handmade in Britain from the team with 65+ Great Taste Awards. Sounds good to me.

MINDFUL BITES VEGAETTONE AND BISCOTTI

Mindful Bites are celebrating “the better way to do Christmas” with their vegan selection of the classic Italian cake-bread, panettone. 100% plant-based, organic and palm oil free, there’s the classic or the chocolate flavour. Or why not bundle up and try their brand new Cantucci Almond or Chocolate Biscotti?

Crunchy, sweet and a firm family favourite.

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PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

D E S A B T N A PL S I E R U T THE FU

T

G N I Z A M A S E T S A T AND IT

hese days, we’ve never been more concerned for the health of the environment and the future of the planet we call home, and for very good reason. Just ask Sir David Attenborough, who’ll undoubtedly tell you, in his ever so soothing tones, that we’re on the edge of a climate crisis. So how do we begin to make a difference to a situation which seems far beyond the reach of individual human beings on the planet?

Ok, so I’m not going to tell you that by eating more pizza you’ll save the world (although, you’ll enjoy yourself so much more whilst doing so), but by making smaller changes, where possible and accessible, towards a more sustainable way of eating, we can begin to help turn the tide on climate change. The World Health Organisation states a “diet that has a lower environmental impact includes a wide variety of foods – with an emphasis on plant-based foods” going on to inform how “plant-based diets tend to produce less greenhouse gas and, overall, use less water than meat and dairy foods.” It turns out that we can make a huge impact to the future of the planet through the things we put into our body every day, sitting right there, at the

end of your fork, or in your grocery basket as you’re checking out. Feel empowered? You should do!

Plant-based foods have come a long, long way since the days when our co-founder, and my Dad, Mike, first went vegan just over 30 years ago. Back in those days, you’d struggle to find plant-based milk on the shelves of a supermarket, let alone plant-based cheeses or readymeals. The taste? Not so great either! But since the boom in popularity of a plant-based diet just over 5 or 6 years ago, you can buy almost any and everything you could ever want to eat, made using 100% plant-based ingredients. So now, there’s no need to compromise on the products you know and love when making a plantbased switch for Meatless Mondays or Veganuary. But what about the taste?

The taste, flavour, mouthfeel and enjoyment from what I eat matter just as much as the food’s eco-credentials. I eat plant-based foods not only because it does good for the environment, but because the new wave of plantbased cooking and the range of pre-made products available to purchase taste so unbelievably good that it doesn’t ever feel like I’m missing out. In fact, our favourite reaction to when customers try our plantbased pizzas for the first time is you’d never know it wasn’t real cheese or real meat on there. *jumps for joy* If the future of food is plant-based, and if you’re not a plant-based eater just yet, have no fear. There’ll be no compromising, no craving and no boring meal times to be had. Cardboard food and salad aren’t what plantbased eating is about. Nope, think again! Think cheezy pizzas, juicy burgers and juicy burger pizzas…

Joe Hill Co-Founder & Co-Owner, One Planet Pizza

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FOODIE

BLITZING ALL THE WAY TO SUCCESS

WANT TO TRY?

Turn the P97 for Calum's Spag Bol recipe

s i r r a H m u l a C h t i w

C

alum, otherwise known as Made by Blitz, is a 21 year old cook aiming to show people that you can make simple and gorgeous food out of purely vegetables. The recipes take care of the protein aspect of a plant based diet, one element that’s continuously criticised when eating plant based food. And all the while, he’s there to actually give you a minute's worth of entertainment.

Calum, your work on your social media channels is SO unique - where did it begin?

Firstly, thank you for recognising my content

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in that way, I appreciate it. So before I started this page, I had a vegan diet for a good year, a decision which I'm so glad I made. And in that time I basically had to relearn how to cook, what to eat, and find out what nutritionally and mentally works for me to eat. At the time, I couldn't find any pages that simply taught people who were looking to go vegan how to cook, and quickly. So I thought I'd give it a go myself and the rest is history.

What is the inspiration behind each recipe video you make?

My inspiration comes from absolutely loving the process of making videos and wanting to

make vegan food simple. I don't want to only make things that are trending dishes, but also things that you'd love to eat on a regular basis! In all honesty, I only get about 30 seconds to entertain and educate my followers, so my inspiration comes from knowing that, and wanting to make it the best possible video I can make, and doing that on a daily basis motivates me.

Can you let us in on a few "learning curves" or things that didn't go to plan in the past?

The ever changing landscape of social media for one. Humans intention spans are slowly getting faster and faster so I've learnt to

FOODIE

“In all honesty, I only get about 30 seconds to entertain and

educate my followers, so my inspiration comes from knowing that, and wanting to make it the best possible video I can make, and doing that on a daily basis motivates me� continuously keep my eye on that and make the content entertaining and enough to hook people's attention. Also working with brands is something that I've learnt to manage.

You can't say yes to every brand that throws a wad of cash at you, otherwise the people who stuck with your videos will lose trust in you. I've always prided myself on only working with people who are like minded and those who I actually love the product of.

Another thing was being consistent, I didn't think you needed to post regularly at first but you really do.

What have been your biggest achievements to date that you are most proud of?

Getting recognised by content creators that inspired me for one. I never thought in a lifetime I'd have the chance to get my stuff seen by Joe Wicks, BOSH, Gaz Oakley and loads more, so that's something special.

Hitting a million views on a video was a big one for me too, never ever did I expect that to happen the way it did. And although the numbers don't phase me and what I'm doing, a million people watching a video is a huge deal, and it's great to recognise that. A final little achievement was working with loads of cooks & content creators from across the globe on a series of live Instagram cook-offs.

Didn't think I'd get anyone for it, and so to have the likes of Emily's World & Picky Wops getting involved was a major thing.

What three things have you learned about yourself by putting yourself online so often and so openly?

This could be a list of 52 but to keep it short and sweet, 1. Be proud of what you post - we all get a feeling of doubt when we put ourselves out there, and worry about what people might think, but the only person you've got to please is you. 2. Be willing to try

new things - don't neglect methods of content creating like TikTok, livestreaming, or the newly created Reels just because it wasn't in your intentions at the beginning. The top creators, and no doubt your role models on social media, are where they're at because they continue to adapt to new trends, so be willing to do the same. 3. Be yourself - cliche isn't it? But it's a real fundamental, if you're going to put yourself out there, don't be someone who others want to see, or whatever fits the mould. To revert to the uniqueness you asked on above, the number 1 way of being unique is to be you. No one can replicate that.

What's next for 2021? What are your dreams for BLITZ? I've got a huge year coming up, and it's going to be consisting of more recipes, more ways of getting good, simple vegan food to the masses, meet ups with my new group of vegan lads (@plantboiis) and a YouTube channel. I'm just gonna keep doing what I'm doing, The dream is to be the one who people can rely on. When someone asks who to turn to for vegan food, the answer will be BLITZ. What is your number one tip to "blitz" a favourite recipe?

To blitz it, as in get it done quickly, make something with what you've got in the house and make what you fancy. Also watch out for the protein, make sure you're getting a great protein source in your recipe, it's not just for the gym goers.

About our winner

Click to follow Calum and his recipes on Instagram @madebyblitz Check our full list of winners here: creativeimpact.group/awards

CREATIVE IMPACT MAG | 93

IN THE

( PLANT-BASED )

KITCHEN with Tiffany Shirley

T

iff is a 27-year-old vegan foodie and content creator with a love for dining-out and creating recipes. After turning vegan in 2016, Tiff started her Instagram account, Vegan at Tiffs, and what started off as a food diary grew into sharing her vegan lifestyle with a growing audience. It goes without saying, meal times in Tiffs house are not to be missed!

Tiff, what is the driving force behind your social media page @vegan_at_tiffs?

I generally have a real passion for food and the hospitality scene. Growing up, I was often seen as a ‘fussy’ eater, however, I believe my taste buds have developed and matured in a way where I couldn’t be considered ‘fussy’ anymore! I love to try new foods, recipes and restaurants and share my experiences of these on Instagram.

Particularly with being vegan, I aim to provide inspiration both for those hoping to incorporate a more plant-based diet and for those who are already vegan but may be wanting new meal ideas. I want to debunk the myth that vegans eat ‘rabbit food’ and inspire others to try new food combinations and flavours.

Where did your journey to veganism first start and were any of your friends or family

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FOODIE

WANT TO TRY?

Turn the P98 for Shepherds Pie recipe

“Veganism for me, is a way of life. It’s a lifestyle choice. I want to stress the word choice here as it is a decision that is made on an individual level.

It’s not that I can’t eat animal products, it’s that I have made a conscious decision not to, based upon my beliefs” hesitant about your lifestyle choices?

I transitioned to a vegan lifestyle in 2016 when I made the connection of the torture that innocent animals endured for my five minutes of pleasure. My belief is that non-human animals have the right to life and so I stand against animal cruelty. My decision did come as a shock to my family, who thought it was a phase and would often try to tempt me with non-vegan foods. However, after over four years of veganism, some of my family members have adopted a more plant-based diet themselves which is great, and I’m happy that they could do so at their own pace.

What does being "vegan" mean to you?

Veganism for me, is a way of life. It’s a lifestyle choice. I want to stress the word choice here as it is a decision that is made on an individual level. It’s not that I can’t eat animal products, it’s that I have made a conscious decision not to, based upon my beliefs. And this is a decision that I am happy with! Also, veganism extends further than just diet and filters down into the clothing, cosmetics, and products that I buy and organisations that I support. For me, veganism gives me this feeling of oneness with all, with the animals, our environment, and my health.

Who inspires you to continue the amazing work that you do?

The overall community feel of Instagram inspires me! I don’t have tonnes of vegan friends in real life, so I feel like Instagram is a place that I can turn to where there are people who share similar values and beliefs as me! There is so much creative talent on Instagram, and many accounts that I’m inspired by, I would definitely recommend checking out @noporkiepies, @ambertheevegan and @rgveganfood, to name just a few!

Can you tell us three things that you've learned along the way about leading a plant-based lifestyle?

Yes absolutely, three things I have learnt are: (1) Nutritional Yeast is a thing! It’s well known as ‘nooch’ in the vegan community and is essentially yeast flakes that are often sprinkled onto pasta, soups and salads. Although it doesn’t sound the most appetising, it packs a cheesy, nutty flavour and it’s fortified with B12, making it a good way to get this vitamin.

(2) Mushrooms are great for meaty texture!

I’m a little obsessed with Oyster Mushrooms at the moment and have been known to

make veganised ‘ribs’, ‘scallops’ and southern fried ‘chicken’ out of them.

(3) Vegans do get protein! It’s definitely worth researching if it’s something that you’re concerned about, however there are many plant-based forms of protein such as broccoli, tofu and lentils.

As well as inspiring others with your delicious recipes, how else do you hope that your social media presence will help others and have a wider impact?

I hope that my social media presence will encourage others to explore a vegan lifestyle. It is also important to me to show up in the Instagram space as BIPOC are underrepresented in mainstream veganism.

I’d like to advocate for other vegans to embrace intersectionality and compassion for all and I’m exploring ways to include this more in my message.

About our winner

Click to follow Tiff and her recipes on instagram @vegan_at_tiffs Check our full list of winners here: creativeimpact.group/awards

CREATIVE IMPACT MAG | 95

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FOODIE

Recipes

B ROUG H T TO YOU BY

O U R AWA R D S W I N N E R S

Calum Harris Best recipes and food SERVES 1

Spag Bol recipe

COOK TIME 30 mins | EQUIPMENT Bowl, knife, Pan, sauce pan

INGREDIENTS • 1 onion • 2 carrots • 3 sprigs of rosemary • 3 sprigs of thyme • 5 sage leaves • 200g meatless mince • 4 plum tomatoes • 2 tbsp soy sauce DIRECTIONS 1 | Chuck olive oil into a pan and fry your onions and carrot up until soft.

2 | Then add your herbs and meatless mince, fry that till brown.

3 | Chop your plum tomatoes in half and throw them in, then deglaze the pan with the balsamic vinegar.

4 | Once reduced, add the soy sauce, garlic, crushed tomatoes, stock and lentils and bubble away until

• • • • • • •

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar 2 garlic cloves 1 can crushed tomatoes 200ml stock 1 can green lentils 250g spaghetti 1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)

everything is all smooth and it looks like a Bolognese sauce. 10-15 minutes on a high heat should do the job.

5 | Boil up some spaghetti in salted boiling water for 9-11 minutes.

6 | Once ready, chuck your pasta in a bowl, stir a bit of the sauce in, then top with more sauce (why not).

7 | Finish with a bit of nooch and go eat it, you've earned it.

CREATIVE IMPACT MAG | 97

FOODIE

Vegan at Tiffs

Best Vegan and plant-based lifestyle SERVES 4

Sweet Potato Shepherds Pie COOK TIME 60 mins | EQUIPMENT Baking dish, frying pan, sauce pan

INGREDIENTS • 850g sweet potato, peeled and chopped • 1 Medium Brown Onion, finely chopped • 2 Garlic Cloves, finely chopped • 2 Carrots, chopped • 1 Celery Stick, chopped • 450g Chestnut Mushrooms, roughly chopped • 1 Tin Green Lentils, drained and rinsed • 100g Frozen Peas • 1 tbsp Tomato Paste • 250ml Vegetable Stock • 30g Vegan Butter • 1 tbsp Dried Thyme • 1 tbsp All Purpose Seasoning • Salt & Ground Black Pepper • 1 tbsp Cooking Oil

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DIRECTIONS 1 | Boil the sweet potatoes in a pot until soft (roughly 25 minutes). Once soft, mash the potatoes with the butter. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 180C 3 | Meanwhile, in a large deep pan, heat the oil. Add the onions and garlic and allow to fry until fragrant.

4 | Add the carrots and celery to the pan and fry for a further 3 minutes.

5 | Then, add the mushrooms to the pan along with the dried thyme, all purpose seasoning, salt and pepper. Continue to

stir the ingredients in the pan and allow to fry for another 7 to 8 minutes.

6 | Add the lentils and peas to the pan. After 2 minutes, add the tomato paste and vegetable stock, mixing it all together.

Allow to simmer for around 15 minutes.

7 | Butter your baking dish, and transfer the mushroom and lentil mix into it and top with the mashed sweet potato 8 | Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, allow to cool before serving.

FOODIE

CREATIVE IMPACT MAG | 99

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