Beyond the Juggle: A More Soulful Way of Working

I believe business thrives through inclusivity, flexibility and a deep respect for life’s natural rhythms.

Nature doesn’t rush, yet everything unfolds in its own time. As creatives, we spend so much time drawing inspiration from the natural world that we become deeply attuned to its cycles, yet we often forget that we are nature too.

This way of thinking has shaped not only how I create, but how I work and live.

Flexibility and Freedom

Flexibility has been essential throughout my career and within the creative teams I’ve built around me. Like many women, I’ve navigated motherhood, neurodiversity, changing family dynamics, burnout, shifting priorities and the reality of trying to build meaningful work alongside real life.

I’m proud to support ambitious women and creatives who often find traditional corporate structures limiting. I don’t believe work has to feel like an uphill struggle or a constant “juggle” in an already fast-paced world. I think it can become more of a blend. A softer, more integrated way of living that enriches life rather than competing with it.

For me, family, home, work and creativity have always felt seamless. My life is a constant flow of creative energy. I inhale ideas through people, places, interiors, gardens, conversations, films, collaborations and visual imagery, then exhale through painting, creating, suggesting and bringing concepts into reality.

At work, I help bring the visions of others to life. At home, I create for myself, my family and friends. I genuinely believe that when we stop growing and creating, something within us stagnates. I’m naturally energetic, but that energy comes from working in my own rhythm rather than constantly forcing myself against it.

Life Changes and So Must We

Life is constantly shifting. The way I worked in my twenties is completely different to how I work now. For working parents, neurodiverse creatives, carers and many others, flexibility isn’t a luxury, it’s essential. The traditional corporate framework simply doesn’t suit everybody, particularly creative people whose energy and focus often move in cycles.

What I’ve found over the years is that when people are trusted to work in a way that supports their lives, they often produce their best work.

I’ve watched many talented women step away from corporate environments after children because they could no longer see how the two worlds could coexist. Others simply reached a point where the constant pace no longer aligned with the life they wanted to live.

There’s often a misconception that flexible working means people care less, when actually I’ve found the opposite. When people feel supported and trusted, they become deeply invested in building something meaningful together.

Nurturing Creativity

Many of the women I’ve worked alongside previously held intense corporate roles but chose a different path after becoming mothers or reassessing what mattered most to them. Some wanted more time at home, some wanted more creative freedom and others simply wanted a more soulful pace of life.

As a creative business owner, I’ve naturally developed flexible systems around that reality.

Of course, some areas of business remain structured and deadline-led, but creativity itself isn’t a tap that can simply be turned on and off at will. Some days I can work for fourteen hours straight without even noticing. Other days my brain simply won’t engage creatively, so I’ll paint, garden, walk or take an afternoon to recharge.

Over time I’ve learned that forcing creativity rarely produces meaningful work. Space often does.

Work Smarter, Not Harder

Remote working has been a huge shift, but blending work and life has become less about “work harder” and more about learning how to work smarter and more intuitively.

It allows people to stay focused while still delivering the quality, originality and depth they’re known for.

I’ve found some of my most productive moments happen during creative retreats, where we rent a beautiful house, cook together, immerse ourselves in ideas and work in focused creative flow. Those spaces feel both productive and deeply nourishing.

Honestly, I don’t think I could produce the quality of work I do if I were constantly operating inside the churn of a rigid 9-to-5 structure. Working more fluidly allows creatives to work at their own pace and produce quality rather than simply quantity.

Clients also love knowing they’re supporting independent artists and creatives directly. There’s often a much more personal relationship, which creates a lovely synergy between independent studios and larger commercial businesses. I often provide the kind of hand-painted, thoughtful design work that overstretched in-house teams simply don’t have the time or space to create internally.

Harnessing Creative Energy

Whether you work freelance or within a studio, creativity doesn’t switch off at the end of the day. It’s with you constantly, and learning when to harness that energy is incredibly important.

That rhythm changes daily, weekly and seasonally too. Personally, autumn is when I naturally go up a gear creatively, while December often becomes strangely productive for me when everyone else is slowing down.

People are unique, and I think that should be celebrated rather than managed out of them.

The Taoists speak about Wu Wei, the idea of moving with life rather than constantly forcing against it:

“True power lies not in force, but in flowing like water, moving effortlessly with the currents of life.”

The more I’ve learned to work with my own energy rather than against it, the more productive and creatively fulfilled I’ve become.

Often “the juggle” comes from trying to maintain old expectations and outdated structures during seasons of change. “The blend” comes from accepting life as a whole rather than endlessly separating everything into neat compartments.

As a mother of five, I’ve learned I can’t force life any more than I can force the tide to turn. Strangely, when I stop pushing so hard and start aligning with life more naturally, I actually achieve far more.

A big recent shift for me was stepping away from the relentless pace of the fashion industry. It came from recognising burnout approaching and knowing, deep down, that such an extractive industry was never going to feel truly soul nourishing.

It was a huge step to regroup and start again in my fifties after running a busy studio for thirteen years. Slowly, there was a creeping realisation that my work no longer aligned with my values or the kind of life I wanted to live.

For me, slowing down and focusing on thoughtful, slow design done well felt far more aligned. Working with brands who genuinely value beautiful design rooted in heritage, craftsmanship and timeless aesthetics feels much more meaningful than constantly chasing the next trend cycle.

I see many women in my collective going through a similar transition. A gradual awakening that life no longer fits quite right and something needs to change before burnout arrives, if it hasn’t already.

So many of us are trying to navigate the messy middle ground of unpicking years of choices, expectations and working patterns that no longer serve our wellbeing, creativity or family life.Because a disregulated nervous system and constant stress are not the foundations for our best work. Creativity needs space. It needs slowness, safety, inspiration and room to breathe.

A year on, both my own journey and that of the women within my collective has been challenging, emotional, uncertain at times, but ultimately a complete blessing as we slowly blossom into lives that feel more aligned, creative and nourishing within a supportive community.

Change takes courage. Often we stay stuck until the discomfort of remaining the same finally outweighs the fear of change itself. But having an incredible group of women to lean on, share honestly with and grow alongside becomes both a comfort and a catalyst.

I truly believe we are not meant to create in isolation. We flourish through connection, conversation, encouragement and witnessing one another becoming who we were always meant to be.

The New Work-Life Balance?

At Paper Fabric Story, I’ve realised that creativity extends beyond the work itself. It also lives within how we choose to work, collaborate and support one another. Creativity thrives in community. Having a sound board and a group of other women who 'get it' both on a personal level and a professional level.

As I’ve discovered, there’s very little a room full of creative women can’t solve.

As a creative director, I deeply respect the different strengths, limitations and life stages within a team. Some people thrive under structure, others flourish with flexibility. Some can hit deadlines in intense bursts, while others work beautifully around young children or neurodiverse energy patterns.

I’ve become an advocate for “The Blend” as a more grounded soulful and inclusive way of living and working. Not a constant balancing act where something is always about to drop, but a more sustainable and human approach to creativity and life.

Because when people feel looked after, trusted and respected, they naturally want to build something beautiful together.

If this resonates with you, you can explore more of my writing, interiors and courses through Paper Fabric Story or join us inside The Collective, a supportive space for creative women navigating work, life and creativity in a more soulful and sustainable way.