The Freak Show

Eva Couto
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Welcome to The Freak Show, a podcast for the weirdos of the service-provider world ready to go all-in on their brand — brought to you by Eva Couto, Ringleader at Flying Colours Creative. Gather round & step right up as we turn your unique personality into your biggest brand asset, and celebrate the bold, quirky & unconventional.

  1. 3 FEB

    040. If Your Brand Is Bold, Your Emails Should Be Too: Meet Flodesk

    You can have the boldest brand on the internet. The juiciest colour palette. A vibe so strong it makes beige, boring brands sweat. But your emails are more of an afterthought… Consider this your sign to change that! In this episode, I’m telling you about all the details you should NOT overlook when it comes to sending on-brand newsletters. And more specifically, the platform that’s become the only choice for brand-led business owners who are serious about their visuals *everywhere*: Flodesk. As a brand designer who can’t unsee bad spacing (and with a guilty pleasure for pointing out misprints in restaurant menus…), I need you to know that if your emails are hard to read, visually chaotic, or look nothing like the brand you’re so proud of everywhere else… your audience feels that too. So I’m breaking down the specific design choices that make emails easier to read, nicer to look at, and far more likely to convert, without turning your newsletter into a giant image ‘cause no one wants inaccessible, right?! Beyond making your emails “pretty”, we want them scannable & unmistakably on-brand. SPOTLIGHT MOMENTS ✦ Why your brand falls apart the second your tools can’t carry it ✦ The biggest deliverability myth about visual emails ✦ How to structure emails for humans (not algorithms) ✦ The design tips behind emails your audience wants to open ✦ Why waiting until you’re “ready” is the fastest way to never send the email TAKE THE STAGE 1. Set up your Flodesk account branding with your fonts & colours. 2. Build a simple freebie workflow (it can literally be just one email!) 3. Create a template to make sending your newsletter easier. 4. Then SEND. THAT. EMAIL. —— Mentioned in this episode: ✦ FLODESK: Get 25% off your first year (*partner link) ✦ THE COLOUR CIRCLE: Bring the Canva design you’ve been (over)fiddling with for hours Follow & Connect with Eva: ✦ Say hey on Instagram ✦ Check out my Website ✦ Get my Uncaged emails —— TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Welcome to The Freak Show 01:11 I used to hate sending my weekly newsletter 04:40 Deliverability depends on your design 07:47 Creating an end-to-end on-brand email experience 12:25 Stop waiting for the perfect moment 13:48 So… is Flodesk actually worth it?

    16 min
  2. 039. On-Brand Client Experience: Where Creativity Meets Systems, with Harriet Evans

    19 JAN

    039. On-Brand Client Experience: Where Creativity Meets Systems, with Harriet Evans

    Are you a creative person? Whether your answer was an instinctive “yes” (or a suspiciously quick “no”), then I invite you to tune into this conversation. ‘Cause somewhere along the line, we were sold that creativity is messy and chaotic and that systems look like boring, rigid, soul-sucking spreadsheets… And Harriet and I are here to flip that right-brain vs. left-brain script! In this episode, we’re pulling creativity and systems out of their opposite corners of the ring and letting them work together: since that’s when brands & client experiences become spotlight-worthy. We talk about how systems can be playful, how data fuels better creative decisions, and why the best client experiences don’t come from doing more, but from designing smarter, clearer & more human processes. From onboarding emails that don’t suck the joy out of your brand, to automations that hype YOU up as much as your clients, if you’ve ever felt like you had to choose between being organised or creative, this one’s for you. SPOTLIGHT MOMENTS ✦ The myth of “I’m just not creative” (and how it hurts your business) ✦ How to design onboarding that builds trust & **excitement ✦ Why one-email-one-task prevents overwhelming your clients ✦ Adding your personality & tone of voice to automations ✦ Why automations aren’t just about saving you time —— Mentioned in this episode: ✦ THE SECRET SET: The free monthly event for service pros, by Ceels Lockley ✦ WELCOME PACK TEMPLATE: Get your clients onboarded in style. ✦ FREE DUBSADO EMAIL TEMPLATES: Set yourself up for success with smart fields ready to use in Dubsado. ✦ OVERHAUL YOUR ONBOARDING CHALLENGE: Look like you’ve got your sh*t together. ✦ THE COLOUR CIRCLE: Bring the Canva design you’ve been (over)fiddling with for hours Follow & Connect with Harriet: ✦ Follow her Instagram ✦ Check out her Website Follow & Connect with Eva: ✦ Say hey on Instagram ✦ Check out my Website ✦ Get my Uncaged emails —— TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Welcome to The Freak Show 01:28 Harriet’s Freak Show Audition 10:34 The Common Ground Between Design & Systems 12:54 Creativity’s a Muscle & Requires Practice 16:00 Overthinking Tools, Systems & Shiny-Object Syndrome 18:52 What Great Client Onboarding Actually Requires 23:55 Injecting Personality Into Confirmations & Default System Emails 28:35 Why People Remember How Working With You Felt 36:52 Systems Aren’t About Time, They’re About Headspace

    39 min

  3. 6 JAN

    038. 3 Ways to Reset Your Brand That Don’t Include a Rebrand

    New year. Clean slate. Loud internet. Word of the year, vision boards, goal setting, reflection prompts… If January already has you feeling behind & scattered, you’re NOT alone. And whenever I start feeling out of control, I look at my circus & my monkeys. In this episode, I’m walking you through 3 simple, practical ways to reset your brand without a full-on rebrand. “Spring cleaning” belongs in the Spring, so think of this as an opportunity to clear the clutter and make your brand feel usable again right now, as it is. Because when your brand is easier to use and lighter to show up with, you feel prouder to share it & visibility stops feeling like such a heavy lift. Think of it as brand maintenance: Less “new year, new you.” More “same you, but with fewer tabs open.” (Also, take a shot every time I say “off-the-cuff”. Or don’t. We’ve got monkeys to manage.) SPOTLIGHT MOMENTS ✦ Why you’re never “too late”, no matter the time of year ✦ Why creating a brand maintenance habit keeps momentum going ✦ The brand folder system that’ll save you hours of faffing ✦ How to reset your website in under 15 minutes (no overhaul required) ✦ Creating social templates that make showing up feel lighter, even on low-energy days TAKE THE STAGE Pick one of the 3 resets from this episode and do it this week: Organise your brand assets(Quickly) update your websiteSimplify your social templatesThat’s it. One task. Then DM me and tell me which one you’re starting with: I’ll be cheering you on from the front row. —— Mentioned in this episode: ✦ ORGANISE YOUR CANVA WORKSPACE: Have your brand assets, templates and projects at your fingertips & save a lot of time! ✦ TUTORIAL: Automatically update the year in your website (in Webflow) ✦ BROKEN LINK CHECKER: Easily find broken links & get them fixed ASAP. ✦ UPDATE YOUR LINK IN BIO: Capture subscribers right from your social media profile (*affiliate link) Follow & Connect with Eva: ✦ Say hey on Instagram ✦ Check out my Website ✦ Get my Uncaged emails —— TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Welcome to The Freak Show 01:32 You’re Not Behind (And There’s No Prize For Starting on Jan 1st) 03:22 Reset #1: Organise Your Brand Assets 07:17 Reset #2: (Quickly) Update Your Website 08:54 Reset #3: Design Social Media Templates To Support You 12:10 Closing Thoughts & Next Steps

    14 min

  4. 28/11/2025

    037. How to Sleigh Holiday Content Without Looking Off-Brand

    The holidays are here, Mariah's singing "All I Want for Christmas" on loop, and the internet's a snowstorm of slapped-on Santa hats & Canva snowflakes. You want your content to feel festive too (and take advantage of this massive sales season), but your branding doesn’t exactly scream "eggnog and elves"… In this bite-sized, actionable episode I’m answering the question I get every single year: “How can we sprinkle our visuals with a bit of holiday cheer without it being off-brand?” I’ll walk you through 5 designer-approved ways to bring some holiday cheer into your Instagram posts, so you can plan your content for December in a way that feels creative, festive and intentional while staying unmistakably YOU. No rebrand. No last-minute panic. No meltdown required. SPOTLIGHT MOMENTS ✦ Starting with your brand to keep holiday content intentional ✦ How to nod to the season without going completely off-brand ✦ Using fonts & colours as your non-negotiable to anchor your visual identity ✦ Taking advantage of seasonal & playful language to give that Christmas feel ✦ Getting inspired by holiday themes to turn everyday posts into seasonal ones TAKE THE STAGE DM me your one of your holiday posts @flyingcolorscreative on Insta, and I'll slide in with feedback on how to improve it. Or if Canva's sounding like your idea of a nightmare before Christmas, join my free community The Colour Circle, and we’ll get it sorted together! —— Mentioned in this episode ✦ THE COLOUR CIRCLE: Bring the Canva design you’ve been (over)fiddling with for hours Follow & Connect with Eva: ✦ Say hey on Instagram ✦ Check out my Website ✦ Get my Uncaged emails —— TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Welcome to The Freak Show 01:48 Brand Consistency Isn't About Being Samey All Year Long 03:26 Tip No.1: Start With The Story 04:25 Tip No.2: Subtlety Wins 06:14 Tip No.3: Keep Your Original Fonts & Colours 07:22 Tip No.4: Add Festive Cues in Your Copy 08:48 Tip No.5: Bring The Season Into Your Concepts 10:13 Closing Thoughts & Next Steps

    13 min
  5. 036. Messy Action, Consistent Follow-Through & Working On Your Brand & Business, with Alice Benham

    11/11/2025

    036. Messy Action, Consistent Follow-Through & Working On Your Brand & Business, with Alice Benham

    We’ve all promised ourselves “next week I’ll get my act together.” And today, we’ll talk about how to actually make that happen. I’m joined by business strategist, best-selling author, speaker, and host of the Starting The Conversation podcast Alice Benham to dig into the truth about rebranding when everyone tells you you “don’t need to”. From learning to trust your business-owner gut, handling (unsolicited) feedback to juggling all the moving parts of this full rebrand — brand, website, marketing, wardrobe, and office — one thing’s for sure: what keeps things moving is implementation. We also get digress (as always) into picky girl-lunches, former monochrome palettes, running a business out of Post-it notes, and how to keep showing up in the messy middle of… well, everything. You’ll hear us talking A LOT about taking messy action and how real success comes from consistent implementation. But it can be difficult to find the time, structure & support to stay accountable to your goals. So this is your invitation to join me inside of ON IT, and finally prioritise your own brand & business. SPOTLIGHT MOMENTS ✦ The micro-frictions that tell you it’s time to rebrand ✦ Filtering feedback & separate useful community input from noise ✦ What no one tells you about capacity for all the tiny updates that come with rolling out a rebrand ✦ How to market during the “messy middle”: building in public vs. big reveal announcement ✦ Why business growth comes from steady & boring action —— Mentioned in this episode: ✦ ON IT: Cast vision, set goals, track progress & finally work ON your business *(affiliate link) ✦ THE COLOUR CIRCLE: Bring the Canva design you’ve been (over)fiddling with for hours ✦ Listen to “Forget Notion and Asana — Here’s My System for Staying on Track” on The Ordinary Business Podcast by Jess Freeman ✦ Listen to Alice’s “My experience of being bullied online” on Starting The Conversation ✦ Listen to how Alice suddenly lost 26K£ due to a software glitch on Starting The Conversation Alice’s rebrand team: ✦ Branding: Hannah May, Maybe Design Studios ✦ Web Design: Danielle O’Reilly, Finding Design ✦ Photography: Chloe Maxwell, Stories by Chloe ✦ Personal Stylist: Sophia Bayly ✦ Hair & Makeup: Nicola Beddoes ✦ Office Interior Designer: Francesca Toman, Ches & Co Follow & Connect with Alice: ✦ Follow her Instagram ✦ Check out her Website ✦ Listen to the Starting The Conversation podcast Follow & Connect with Eva: ✦ Say hey on Instagram ✦ Check out my Website ✦ Get my Uncaged emails —— TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Welcome to The Freak Show 03:52 Alice’s Freak Show Audition 08:20 How running a business on post-it notes can work 14:09 Micro-friction moments that added up to the big rebrand decision 20:23 How to deal with pushback on your rebrand & learn to listen to useful feedback 28:43 The engagement high vs. the come-down after the big reveal 32:49 Setting the right time & capacity expectations for after the rebrand 41:20 Showing up during the messy middle & creating momentum that lasts 54:36 Growth isn’t the strategy itself, it’s the implementation of it

    57 min

  6. 28/10/2025

    035. Why A Consistent Brand Beats A Pretty One Every Time

    Yeah, I’m not perfectly consistent. In fact, no one is. Even so, I felt ashamed, guilty, and dare I say even hypocritical for missing the past couple of weeks of the podcast. So what better way to make a comeback than… to TALK ABOUT IT? And while we’re at it, let’s talk about how we’ve got consistency all wrong. Because if we let it mean never missing a beat, we’re setting ourselves up for failure before we even start. Real consistency lives somewhere between “showing up every single day” and “disappearing for 3 months because life happened.” In this episode, I’m unpacking why your bounce-back rate matters more than never falling behind, the difference between consistency in marketing vs. branding, and how your visual identity can become the system that makes consistency easier (not harder). We’ll also dig into why so many entrepreneurs mistake a shiny rebrand for a solution to inconsistency… only to stall when it’s time to actually use it (you guessed it… consistently). So if you’ve ever felt guilty for dropping the ball, burned out from chasing the algorithm, or stuck in a cycle of redesign–retreat–repeat, this one’s for you. SPOTLIGHT MOMENTS ✦ Why “perfect consistency” is setting you up to fail ✦ The real reason beautiful brands gather digital dust ✦ How improvisation becomes the enemy of implementation ✦ What consistency actually looks like for solopreneurs (and why it’s not about posting daily) ✦ Why memorability > frequency when it comes to branding —— Mentioned in this episode: ✦ Listen to Ep. 002 “What If You’re Bored Of Your Own Brand?” ✦ THE COLOUR CIRCLE: Fix whatever design you’ve been (over)fiddling with for hours Follow & Connect with Eva: ✦ Say hey on Instagram ✦ Check out my Website ✦ Get my Uncaged emails —— TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Welcome to The Freak Show 00:33 The guilt of being perfectly inconsistent 01:46 Replacing “perfect streaks” with “bounce back rate” 03:21 The branding trap: beautiful visuals, no space for consistent implementation 05:56 Improvisation vs. intentionality (and why we default to winging it) 10:11 Social media frequency vs. brand consistency 13:07 Why consistent beats pretty every time

    15 min
  7. 034. Wicked Simple Copywriting Tips You’ll Wish You Paid For, with Sara Joelle

    02/10/2025

    034. Wicked Simple Copywriting Tips You’ll Wish You Paid For, with Sara Joelle

    If you don’t know what to write your newsletter about this week (or if writing anything for your business makes you wanna scream), today’s episode is exactly what you need. What do “The Unlikely Game Changer”, “The Embarrassing Moment”, “The Necessary Reframe”, “The Truth Comes Out”, and “The Unexpected Transformation” all have in common? They’re the topics inside Sara Joelle’s Swipe File (out NOW) for October!! And in this episode, she’s giving you a FREE, behind-the-scenes walkthrough of how to use it. Yep, you’re getting a front-row seat inside Sara’s squirrel genius brain as she turns one of the topics into a ready-to-go newsletter idea you can send today. And that’s just the opening act. Because Website Girl came to overdeliver, and once she gets going, every sentence is a strategy, and every tangent a mini masterclass. And this conversation is overflowing with copywriting tips & newsletter strategies, that’ll make you want to open a blank doc before the episode’s even finished. SPOTLIGHT MOMENTS ✦ Why “write like you’d talk to a friend" is not helpful copywriting advice ✦ How to turn boring stories into high-converting content your subscribers wanna read ✦ Free walkthrough of Sara’s October Swipe File (and ready-to-use newsletter ideas you can steal today) ✦ Newsletters vs. Sales Emails: including how often you should actually send them ✦ Why copy comes first and design comes second (always) TAKE THE STAGE Take “The Necessary Reframe” topic to write your next newsletter or blog post: Share about a time you were forced to change your perspective about something you’d previously never considered changing your mind on. This can be a shift in mindset, a change in routine, a new perspective about an industry topic, or even something as simple as starting to like someone or something that you previously disliked. Then grab Sara's brand-new Swipe File subscription ($31/month for 31 content ideas that fit any business) to get the other x4 topics, x6 angles per topic, and x7 subject lines per angle… It’s a no-brainer: https://evacoutodesign--btlcopy.thrivecart.com/swipe-file/ (*affiliate link) —— Mentioned in this episode: ✦ Keep listening to us on Sara’s podcast Point Of The Story: “Cold Pitches, Freak Magnetism, and a Brand Worth Using with Eva Couto” ✦ THE COLOUR CIRCLE: Bring the Canva design you’ve been (over)fiddling with for hours ✦ SWIPE FILE: Never worry about what to write on your newsletter again (*affiliate link) ✦ MAIN CHARACTER MOMENT: Confidently write about yourself in EVERY situation ✦ SITE SERIES SPRINT: An actually-easy-to-understand, self-paced website copywriting course ✦ SUCCESS STORY: 3-month group mentorship program for copywriters (*affiliate link) ✦ WRITE YOUR SITE: Co-working calls to help you start & finish writing your website ✦ WEBSITE COPY TEMPLATE: Wicked easy template for writing your website copy ✦ COLD PITCHING GUIDE: How-to guide to help you send the best, most professional cold pitch emails in the game ✦ Sarah Kleist, Sara’s Website Designer ✦ Mathilde Langevin, Sara’s Brand Photographer ✦ Smart, Pretty & Awkward newsletter, by Molly Beck ✦ The 3-2-1 Newsletter, by James Clear Follow & Connect with Sara: ✦ Follow her Instagram ✦ Check out her Website ✦ Subscribe to Tuesday’s Table Of Contents ✦ Listen to the Point Of The Story podcast Follow & Connect with Eva: ✦ Say hey on Instagram ✦ Check out my Website ✦ Get my Uncaged emails —— TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Welcome to The Freak Show 04:09 Sara’s Freak Show Audition 10:46 The Reality Of Writing Your Own Website 14:58 Why Overthinking Kills Your Brand’s Tone Of Voice 24:05 Inside Swipe File: Write Your Next Newsletter Now 28:51 How To Tie Everyday Stories To Tips Without Forcing It 33:29 Newsletters vs. Sales Emails: Frequency & Content 42:10 Selling Without The Girlboss Sleaze 45:48 Why Copy Should Always Come Before Design 51:34 Audacity As The Key To Success

    54 min

  8. 26/09/2025

    033. Scaling Isn’t The Only Path To Success

    I know Sharpay Evans said “bigger is better, and better is bigger”, but is that the ONLY path to success? Well… I don’t think so, and this game-changing realisation not only flipped my business upside down, but also redefined what growth looks like to me. What started with Paul Jarvis’ book “Company of One”, turned into me rethinking the whole myth of infinite scaling (and the pressures behind what it takes to make money while you sleep), the hidden costs of always chasing more & more, and why small businesses — like your local coffee shop or a two-person studio — often have more impact than corporate mega-brands. Which is why I’m forever inspired by the real stories of solopreneurs building thriving, human-sized businesses without chasing millions of followers or dollars. If you started your business to define success on your terms: whether that’s free time, mental health, or a community that hangs on your every word… then I invite you to listen to this one! (and I pinky promise you I’m not sponsored or endorsed in ANY WAY by Paul Jarvis, I just really like this book, it changed my life, and I recommend it to everyone). SPOTLIGHT MOMENTS ✦ Why “bigger is better” doesn’t fit solopreneurs ✦ The invisible costs of scaling: burnout, bureaucracy, and losing what you love ✦ How small businesses build trust and impact through intimacy and authenticity ✦ Real examples of solopreneurs thriving by staying small (and why it works) ✦ What if it’s about quality of life, not just revenue? TAKE THE STAGE ✦ Is growth really worth it, if the price is your creative life itself? ✦ If your business’s success wasn’t measured by its scalability, how would YOU measure it? —— Mentioned in this episode: ✦ Company Of One, by Paul Jarvis ✦ Emelie Sanders, from Pass The Queso ✦ Jess Freeman, from Jess Creatives, Thread Follow & Connect with Eva: ✦ Say hey on Instagram ✦ Check out my Website ✦ Get my Uncaged emails —— TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Welcome to The Freak Show 01:25 Why Scaling Didn't Fit My Business 04:27 The Trap of Infinite Growth & What You Lose With It 06:40 When Intimacy Beats Size (And Bigger Isn't Better) 08:52 The Practical Perks of a Human-Sized Business 12:09 How You Can Redefine Success

    16 min
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About

Welcome to The Freak Show, a podcast for the weirdos of the service-provider world ready to go all-in on their brand — brought to you by Eva Couto, Ringleader at Flying Colours Creative. Gather round & step right up as we turn your unique personality into your biggest brand asset, and celebrate the bold, quirky & unconventional.

Information

  • Creator
    Eva Couto
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    41
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Eva Couto
  • Show Website
    The Freak Show