CREATIVE STRENGTHS

Philippa Craddock
  • 4.7 (33)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated weekly

Welcome to Creative Strengths, the business podcast for creative entrepreneurs who want to build a profitable, sustainable business, while honouring the way you naturally work. Hosted by designer and creative business mentor Philippa Craddock, the show is rooted in the belief that your greatest success comes from recognising and working with your natural strengths. Philippa grew her own design business from the kitchen table to a seven-figure global brand, and now supports creative business owners through her signature strength-led methodology. Each week, she shares practical, jargon-free guidance on pricing, marketing, mindset, and business growth, helping you charge with confidence, attract aligned clients, and build a business that supports your energy, creativity, and ambition. If you're ready to grow your business so it feels wholeheartedly yours, one built around your own unique creative strengths, this is where your next chapter begins.

  1. 147. WHAT YOU CAN ALWAYS CONTROL (EVEN ON THE HARD DAYS)

    2 days ago

    147. WHAT YOU CAN ALWAYS CONTROL (EVEN ON THE HARD DAYS)

    This is an episode I'd love you to save. For the morning after a 'No' you didn't see coming, For the week your inbox goes quiet and your mind rushes to fill the silence.  After all these years, those weeks still find me too. But there's one quiet idea I come back to whenever they do, not a strategy, not a tactic... And once you've really taken it on, the hard days stop knocking you over in quite the same way." IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL DISCOVER: ◼️ Why some days a huge setback feels strangely manageable, and others a tiny one floors you, and what actually decides which ◼️ The one thing in your business that's always, completely yours and why feeling its full weight changes everything ◼️ The second reading hidden inside almost every hard moment and how to find the true one, not a forced silver lining ◼️ The question Sara Blakely's father asked at the dinner table every week: The lighter way of carrying your own setbacks it points to ◼️ The single shift I lean on most: Turning one exhausting question into a far kinder one that leaves no room for self-doubt RESOURCES MENTIONED: Free Training: The Missing Piece: Free   This Week's Full Journal Post The Bright Line - Six Month Programme Subscribe: Weekly newsletter Website: www.philippacraddock.com Instagram: @philippacraddock Email: hello@philippacraddock.com  SHARE YOUR INSIGHTS: Do you have your own way of finding that second reading on a hard day: The steadier story underneath the first one? Send me a DM on Instagram or reply to the Thursday newsletter, I'd genuinely love to hear from you. NEVER MISS AN EPISODE: My weekly newsletter is where I think out loud. It's where you'll find my behind-the-scenes thinking, where I share the tools I'm currently trying/using, where new resources are shared first and where the conversations happen that often form future episodes. I'd love you to join the many creative business owners already signed up. "How you read what happens to you is the one thing that's always yours — and it quietly shapes everything that comes next." — Philippa Craddock

    17 min
  2. 146. THERE'S NO ONE RIGHT WAY TO MARKET A CREATIVE BUSINESS

    10 Jun

    146. THERE'S NO ONE RIGHT WAY TO MARKET A CREATIVE BUSINESS

    There's a quiet pressure almost every creative business owner carries, The sense that everyone else has worked out the right way to do this, and that you're somehow behind. Post more. Show up more. Be more visible. I spent a week going right to the source of one of those "shoulds", fully expecting to come back convinced. Instead I came back with something far more freeing: and a question I think changes everything about how you choose to grow from here. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL DISCOVER: ◼️ The low hum of pressure underneath almost all creative marketing, where it actually comes from, and why it has so little to do with whether you're doing enough ◼️ The question worth sitting with whenever something new seems to be working for everybody else and the instinct it quietly protects you from ◼️ Why two people could look at the very same business and give completely opposite advice  and both be entirely right ◼️ What I decided to do in my own business afterwards and why I'm choosing an order most people wouldn't expect ◼️ The single most effective way I know to grow a creative business  and why it's neither of the things everyone keeps pushing RESOURCES MENTIONED: This Week's Full Journal Post Meta Ad Library - search any business's live ads  The Bright Line - Six Month Programme Subscribe: Weekly newsletter Website: www.philippacraddock.com Instagram: @philippacraddock Email: hello@philippacraddock.com  SHARE YOUR INSIGHTS: How do you grow your visibility in a way that feels properly like you not the way everyone else seems to insist on? Send me a DM on Instagram or reply to the Thursday newsletter I'd genuinely love to hear. NEVER MISS AN EPISODE: My weekly newsletter is where I think out loud. It's where you'll find my behind-the-scenes thinking, where I share the tools I'm currently trying/using, where new resources are shared first and where the conversations happen that often form future episodes. I'd love you to join the many creative business owners already signed up.

    19 min
  3. 145. YOU BUILT A REAL BUSINESS: NOW LET YOURSELF RUN IT

    3 Jun

    145. YOU BUILT A REAL BUSINESS: NOW LET YOURSELF RUN IT

    A woman in my audience wrote to me this week, ready to take her website down and walk away from it all. Worn out, and quietly wondering whether any of it had ever really been a proper business at all. I've been turning her message over ever since, because I don't think that question was ever truly hers and I suspect you might recognise the voice behind it more than you'd like. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL DISCOVER: ◼️ The message that landed in my inbox this week and the question running underneath every line of it that I don't believe was ever really hers ◼️ Where that small, shrinking voice actually comes from  ◼️ Three women you'd recognise in an instant and the thing they quietly did that the rest of us are still told not to take seriously ◼️ The extra layer creative founders have to push through that founders in every other field simply don't ◼️ The small, fixable thing most of us never think to question and why changing it quietly clears the way for everything downstream: the offers, the pricing, all of it RESOURCES MENTIONED: The Missing Piece A FREE 45-minute live Zoom conversation on the underlying question beneath most things creative business owners are trying to fix This Week's Full Journal Post The Bright Line - Six Month Programme Subscribe: Weekly newsletter Website: www.philippacraddock.com Instagram: @philippacraddock Email: hello@philippacraddock.com  SHARE YOUR INSIGHTS: I'd love to know where you are with this right now? Still quietly wondering whether it's a real business, or standing fully in being its founder? Send me a DM on Instagram or reply to the Thursday newsletter, I'd genuinely love to hear from you on this. NEVER MISS AN EPISODE: My weekly newsletter is where I think out loud. It's where you'll find my behind-the-scenes thinking, where I share the tools I'm currently trying/using, where new resources are shared first and where the conversations happen that often form future episodes. I'd love you to join the many creative business owners already signed up.

    17 min
  4. 144. THREE THINGS I'M STUDYING RIGHT NOW (AS A BEGINNER)

    27 May

    144. THREE THINGS I'M STUDYING RIGHT NOW (AS A BEGINNER)

    There are three things I'm properly studying at the moment and being a beginner at all of them at once has given me a particular view on something I think is worth sharing. One of the course teachers opened with something I really didn't expect. What she said wasn't really about the subject I'd signed up to learn but it's the thing that's stayed with me longest. And I suspect it might be exactly what you need to hear right now too. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL DISCOVER: The three areas I am actively invested in as a learner right now and what's quietly driving each decision Why finding time to study something new can feel almost impossible to justify but why that resistance might be worth paying attention to The unexpected place this episode goes and the image one teacher used that reframes why certain things haven't worked yet Four beliefs that quietly determine how far anyone gets with learning something new and the one that most creative business owners haven't explored yet The single line I havn't been able to shake and why I think it holds the answer to more than just the subject I am studying RESOURCES MENTIONED: The Missing Piece A FREE 45-minute live Zoom conversation on the underlying question beneath most things creative business owners are trying to fix This Week's Full Journal Post The Bright Line - Six Month Programme Subscribe: Weekly newsletter Website: www.philippacraddock.com Instagram: @philippacraddock Email: hello@philippacraddock.com  SHARE YOUR INSIGHTS: Is there something you've been wanting to learn but haven't quite given yourself permission to start? Send me a DM on Instagram or reply to the Thursday newsletter, I'd genuinely love to know. NEVER MISS AN EPISODE: My weekly newsletter is where I think out loud, where I share the tools I'm currently trying/using, where new resources are shared first and where the conversations happen that often find their way into future episodes. I'd love you to join the many wonderful creative business owners who have already signed up. "The beliefs that got you to where you are won't necessarily be the same beliefs that take you to where you want to go next."  Philippa Craddock

    23 min
  5. 143. PERSISTENCE: WHY SOME PEOPLE KEEP GOING (AND OTHERS QUIETLY STOP)

    20 May

    143. PERSISTENCE: WHY SOME PEOPLE KEEP GOING (AND OTHERS QUIETLY STOP)

    Most people think persistence is a personality trait. Fifteen years of running creative businesses has quietly convinced me otherwise and I'd like to share why. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL DISCOVER: Why the real reason some people keep going has little to do with willpower or grit My Selfridges story: two years of no and what actually got me through and into store Why some no's take a little piece of you, and others don't  The honest question to ask yourself when keeping going starts to feel exhausting  Three patterns from real creative businesses that reveal where the answer actually lives RESOURCES MENTIONED: Free Live Session: The Missing Piece exploring the things that aren't quite working in creative businesses This Week's Full Journal Post The Six Month Programme - The Bright Line The Base Note Subscribe: Weekly newsletter Website: www.philippacraddock.com Instagram: @philippacraddock Email: hello@philippacraddock.com  Share Your Insights: Has there been a moment when clarity made the hard stretches feel different? I'd love to hear. Send me a DM on IInstagram or feel free to reply to the Thursday newsletter. Never Miss an Episode: Subscribe to my weekly newsletter for behind-the-scenes thinking, first access to new things, and conversations that don't quite fit into a podcast episode.

    22 min
  6. 142. WHAT YOUR CLIENTS CAN SEE THAT YOU CAN'T

    13 May

    142. WHAT YOUR CLIENTS CAN SEE THAT YOU CAN'T

    Most creative business owners already have more evidence about what makes their work exceptional than they realise. Many taking their strengths for granted and missing the signs, and more importantly, how to use them to their advantage. There are things about your work so natural to you, so automatic, that you can't see them as exceptional. But the people who choose you, pay for your services or products, and recommend you? They see those things crystal clearly and they've probably been telling you for years. Key Moments: [00:00] The rebuild inside The Bright Line that revealed something every creative business owner needs to hear  [12:30] Why the most valuable parts of your work are almost certainly invisible to you and why your clients have been pointing at them for years  [15:50] The thank-you messages and testimonials you've been reading wrong: What are clients really thanking you for beyond the deliverable and what clues are they giving you to improve? [23:49] 'The Missing Piece' Notable Quotes: "When you start really listening, you are gathering incredibly helpful evidence. The recurring words. The patterns. The things people thank you for that you'd never have quite realised or named yourself." Resources Mentioned: Free live session with Philippa : The Missing Piece, exploring what sits underneath the things that aren't quite working in creative businesses: Book Here Read: This Week's Full Journal Post Link: The Six Month Programme - The Bright Line Link:  The Base Note Subscribe to our Weekly newsletter Website: www.philippacraddock.com Instagram: @philippacraddock Email: hello@philippacraddock.com  Share Your Insights: What are the words your clients or customers keep using about your work, the ones you'd never quite use about yourself? I'd love to know what you're starting to notice after this episode. Come and find me on Instagram, or simply reply to my Thursday newsletter. I genuinely love these conversations! Never Miss an Episode: If today's episode resonated, sign up to my weekly newsletter where I share what's behind the work, the thinking, the patterns, the things I'm noticing. First access to new sessions and resources, and a little more of the conversation we've started here.

    27 min
  7. 141. WHEN THE INDUSTRY WOBBLES: AND WHY SOME PEOPLE DON'T

    7 May

    141. WHEN THE INDUSTRY WOBBLES: AND WHY SOME PEOPLE DON'T

    There's a pattern I've been watching for years. And the last few months have made it clearer than ever. Why do some creative business owners stay so calm when things shift and others don't? I think I finally know what the difference is. Key Moments: [00:00] What prompted this episode, and the pattern I have been watching for years [03:37] The story behind a major industry wobble, and the very revealing reaction it triggered [07:55]  The counter-example: people quietly flying with the very models others declared dead, and why they're thriving [14:11] What i would love you to take away from this episode Notable Quotes: "There is a really big difference between learning from someone, and outsourcing the question of who you are to them. The first one builds something durable. The second one builds something that depends on someone else's continued direction." Resources Mentioned: Free live session with Philippa : The Missing Piece, exploring what sits underneath the things that aren't quite working in creative businesses: Book Here Read: This Week's Full Journal Post Link: The Six Month Programme - The Bright Line Link:  The Base Note Subscribe to our Weekly newsletter Website: www.philippacraddock.com Instagram: @philippacraddock Email: hello@philippacraddock.com  Share Your Insights: This episode touches on something most of us have felt but perhaps haven't named. Have you noticed yourself borrowing someone else's model instead of building your own? Send me a DM on Instagram, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Never Miss an Episode: Subscribe to my weekly newsletter for behind-the-scenes insights, early access to new resources, and practical guidance for building a creative business around your natural strengths.

    16 min
  8. 140. WHAT TO AUTOMATE, WHAT TO KEEP HUMAN

    30 Apr

    140. WHAT TO AUTOMATE, WHAT TO KEEP HUMAN

    There's a question I've been hearing from many creative business owners lately, and I don't think most of the voices out there are answering it well. Once you accept that AI has a place in your business, the real question becomes, where. What do you hand over, and what do you absolutely hold onto? In this episode, I share a framework built on the same thinking that underpins everything I teach and it starts with getting really clear about what's genuinely yours. Key Moments: [00:00] Why this episode follows on from last week, and the question many asked next [04:25] The distinction that changes everything: work that is genuinely yours, and work that just needs to happen [07:36] Three questions you can run any recurring task in your business through to get a clear answer about where it belongs [18:00] Why AI means hiring differently, not hiring less and what to look for when you do [21:41] The leadership conversation most creative business owners have never been taught, and why it matters more than ever now [24:41] The reason most creative entrepreneurs are struggling with what to automate: Why the strengths work is the foundation for this decision Notable Quotes: "The work that sits on top of your strengths is the work that has to stay human. It's yours. And the work that surrounds it, that supports it, that enables it, this is the work AI can quietly carry for you." Resources Mentioned: Read: This Week's Full Journal Post Link: Previous must listen Episode 139 What Creative Businesses Already Have That AI Cannot Replace  Sign up: for Philippa's next conversation  Link: The Six Month Programme - The Bright Line Link:  The Base Note Subscribe to our Weekly newsletter Website: www.philippacraddock.com Instagram: @philippacraddock Email: hello@philippacraddock.com  Share Your Insights: Which tasks in your business are genuinely yours and which ones have you been holding onto out of habit? I'd love to know what shifts when you run them through the three questions in this episode. Tell me all about it through a DM on Instagram,  Never Miss an Episode: Subscribe to my weekly newsletter for behind-the-scenes insights, early access to new resources, and practical guidance for building a creative business around your natural strengths.

    30 min
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Trailer

4.7
out of 5
33 Ratings

About

Welcome to Creative Strengths, the business podcast for creative entrepreneurs who want to build a profitable, sustainable business, while honouring the way you naturally work. Hosted by designer and creative business mentor Philippa Craddock, the show is rooted in the belief that your greatest success comes from recognising and working with your natural strengths. Philippa grew her own design business from the kitchen table to a seven-figure global brand, and now supports creative business owners through her signature strength-led methodology. Each week, she shares practical, jargon-free guidance on pricing, marketing, mindset, and business growth, helping you charge with confidence, attract aligned clients, and build a business that supports your energy, creativity, and ambition. If you're ready to grow your business so it feels wholeheartedly yours, one built around your own unique creative strengths, this is where your next chapter begins.

Information

  • Creator
    Philippa Craddock
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    149
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2023
  • Show Website
    CREATIVE STRENGTHS

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