Hey all,
It’s Friday which means it’s time for another Slow Lived Growth on Substack post. I’ve been thinking a lot about courage and structure this week. Crossing t’s and dotting i’s on a project launching tomorrow.
Eeeeek - beyond excited to share more over at
.BTW - If you are not interested in my intentional growth stories here you can opt just to receive the other things I publish in your settings on the dashboard.
Being a leader
Ok, onto this week’s note and podcast. There have been a few times I’ve felt sick with anxiety whilst being here on Substack this last few months because growth is sometimes un comfy right? When I started here it was a place of self expression, somewhere to come and calm my nervous system and write to publish and get playful.
The butterfly and the cocoon analogy comes to mind. This week we were chatting about leaderboards and what they are in Notes. A lovely Substacker replied and said my publication was on a leaderboard for ‘Culture’ 1and I felt sick immediately.
My first thought was I don’t have thousands of subscribers, I’m not a leader, I don’t talk so much about culture here - that’s part of my career but I keep it separate to Substack.
My second thoughts were Culture is everything isn’t it - it’s in the fabric of the decisions we make in the way we show up online, in what we consume for entertainment, for education and more.
I don’t know what ‘it means’ being a leader but I’m not striving for ticks or leadership here I’m striving for creativity and that is courageous enough.
Creativity is an intrinsic reward
…and that’s why I’ve made a career out of it, that’s why I’m here and external validation clashes with that (for me) because I’m simply not used to it.
I’ve won three awards in my life - one for a colouring competition when I was 8 (I used a gold pen) and two Journal Culture Awards for my engagement work as a Creative Producer. All of them felt brilliant and uncomfortable and a complete surprise. So 411th on the leaderboard for Culture - that’s probably a nice complement but I make a note to look into ‘leadership boards’ to better understand the intent behind that.
I wanted to talk today about three things;
How I’ve been using Substack Notes and the growth it’s brought.
The shift in commenting culture I’ve noticed and my plans.
Design, customisation and growing into your creative space here.
I unpack these in the podcast above.
Listen in and let me know in the comments what connects for you?
- What are your Substack struggles this week and where are your blocks?
- What feels good and what feels terrifying in sharing your creative voice?
Substack Notes and replies on intentional growth I loved this week;
Sarah’s notes are also brilliant and evoke lots of discussion - join in here…
Something New and Something Surprising this Week
Customisation! Check out
for more - I'm excited (I think) tags have arrived and I'm wondering about how it will all help us find more brilliant folks to connect with... I'm not rushing to do anything with them.There are writers with huge followings here who have negotiated year long paid contracts2 and sizeable fees to write and move audiences here.
Hashtag ad springs to mind - more transparency on this please Substack and writers - we want to feel genuine connection!
An offer for you
I’ve decided to do one short mentoring session a month here so if you’d like to submit a question for a mentoring answered via public voice note/ podcast right here on Substack you can pop that in the comments or simply reply to this email to keep it anonymous - I can’t wait to hear from you!
Claire x
New on Substack or curious about growing your readership and community?
You might also enjoy my other posts on the topic of growing your community here soulfully and intentionally including;
Leaderboards are present for every category - you can choose two different categories when you set up your Substack and they publish the listing based on free, paid subs, growth and how often you publish… Only the first category is taken into account for leadership boards. More here.
Substack is a business after all and as transparent as they are they are a very different type of business to mine.
One I’m absolutely happy to be part of but would like to better understand of as I have investments here and we’ve been so burnt on social media platforms I take my creativity here seriously. Their Grow posts - https://substack.com/inbox/post/117874249 & my rabbit hole 🐇 search took me here where Rob talks about his $100k Substack contract quite openly -
Your Friday Email - Substack Tips. Your creativity loves structure (and courage...)