Ellen Donnelly is the founder of The Ask. Her shift to solopreneurship? Training as a career coach, building her dream role, newsletters, and a north star bracelet guiding every step. Ellen has built a six-figure coaching & content business, changed career paths (twice), travelled and worked remotely living on four continents, and advises VC-backed startups on talent strategy. I went to her Talent to Money virtual summit for founders in 2022 — an excellent event.

PLUS: Meet the Creator: Marianne Lehnis “Jesse Cole’s presentation, linked to his book Fans First, was the best talk I have ever seen.” A takeaway from last week’s Creator Economy Expo in Cleveland, US, from Mark Masters, one of the most pioneering (and nicest) men in marketing I’ve ever encountered. Mark is the founder of You…

An estimated 50 million people are operating in the creator economy as of 2023, but most attention goes to the 1% who make big bucks and have audiences totalling over 1M. So called ‘middle-class creators’ — those earning money from a content business — get ignored. So, The Tilt has…

Weekly curated tools + resources for writers — thinkers, makers and builders ✍️ Here’s to the new smart villages in Italy.🍷 🇮🇹 A number of towns have launched travel incentives — and will pay you to work from there. Santa Fiora in Tuscany (the city of water and music) and Rieti in Lazio are both offering to cover up to 50% of your…

Why it’s ok to grow slow — Happy September! It’s good to be back at my hot desk with some entrepreneur energy, art, dogs, and stuff happening around me. I’ve missed it. Coastal Currents art festival opens today — fully independent this year, with no Arts Council funding — go Tina & team! 👏 I keep trying…

Crafting your big-hearted brand story First week back, and I’m struggling to open the laptop — just not feeling it. I want to be outside, offline, and hang out with Julieta — take her mind off next week’s exam results! Took the day off yesterday to go to Brighton. I’ve lost track of how many…

+ the books topping my TBR pile this summer Big news from Joe Pulizzi this week — Lulu has acquired The Tilt and its Creator Economy Expo (CEX) event. Lulu is a leading self-publishing platform that allows creators to publish and distribute books globally. …

I just queued for 15 minutes and paid £11 for two scones. On autopilot and about to swipe my card when my brain registered the price. “Is that right? £11 for two scones to take away?” The waitress nodded her head. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s the cost of the…

Great article this week by Mark Schaefer on ‘How to beat ChatGPT and the new wave of Content Shock’. Thanks to Mark @YATM for sending it on — it is a motivating rallying call for summer 2023. Read it here. We’re all becoming 80% replaceable with AI. “ If you’re…