When REST feels like GUILT or REBELLION 😬🫣


Hi Reader,

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve checked in, and I won’t lie — hitting pause has been good. Necessary, even!

Everywhere I look, people are juggling a lot right now — clients, students, life, family, the whole mix. And if you’ve felt like your brain’s running twelve tabs at once? Same.

Lately, I’ve been sitting with the tension between “doing enough” and “being enough.” My to-do list keeps growing, but my energy doesn’t always keep up — and instead of muscling through it (like I used to), I’ve been learning to slow down, pay attention, and choose what actually matters to me & lately that's been rest.

That part’s been harder than I expected. 😅

Our capacity isn’t static — it shifts with the season we're in. A few years ago, I could do more, faster. Now, I’m more aware of the trade-offs: a 'yes' to X is often a 'no' to Y. My bandwidth is different, and that’s okay!

Rest doesn’t always mean stopping though — sometimes it just means recalibrating. Listening. Choosing to make something work more sustainably instead of just 'survivable', and that means revamping some of my backend processes a bit and ⏯️ relying on my software to help support my workload in this season.

And while I still LOVE my work and my business, I’ve been trying to work toward giving myself some grace as I fumble a bit in this busy season — remembering that building a business is a marathon, not a sprint. (Even if my brain sometimes forgets that part. 🫠)

Anyway, here’s a teensy-tiny peek at what’s been happening behind the scenes while I’ve been recalibrating, revamping, reworking, responding, re-recording, etc...

🔴 No new post this week

I've legit had the video recorded for weeks now, but haven't had the time to edit it yet. Ridiculous, I know, but that's the hard truth because good video editors are hard to find without spending a fortune & editing myself takes HOURS per video. 😂

It's such a time-suck that I've actually been considering doing lives on YouTube instead of pre-recorded content just to keep my editing to a minimum & post more consistently. Hit reply & send a 👍🏻 or 👎🏻 emoji to let me know what you think about that idea!


⚡️ Course Updates

I've had my head down planning & creating ALL the updates I want to make to the Ultimate Client Portal System course, including methodically re-recording tutorials that don't mention Kitchen's newer features and adding new templates & more tools + resources to help you get shit done.

Goal → finish well before Thanksgiving! 🦃😬


📆 Upcoming: October Workshop in the Club (FREE)

🆓 Workshop: Add $1k to Your Web Projects with Brand Styling, with guest Kadie Smith of Drop Cap Design! This one is happening TOMORROW on Oct. 22nd at 11am Eastern, and is open to anyone who joins Freeloaders (the free group!) Details are in this post here.


🤩 Web Designer Flow Kit* for Dubsado

Don't forget about this KILLER resource! The goal of this kit ––created in collaboration with Cait Potter of Forms & Flows, is to give you as much copy/paste templates & guidance as possible, show you how to use it all together & implement it; then you’ll know how to customize it for yourself ––feeling confident to use what works & leave what doesn’t!

What's Inside:

  • ✔️ 22 tailored workflows built for web designers
  • ✔️ 9 code-free form templates
  • ✔️ 30+ canned emails
  • ✔️ Payment plans, onboarding systems & schedulers
  • ✔️ Full implementation training + bonus guest-tracking tools

It's a great place to start for newer businesses who want to use a CRM but are afraid to start with one because it feels overwhelming and you have no processes yet. This is your step-by-step guide!

This week's must-know-about resources:

⏯️

Recent post:

Feeling the pull to have 57 different marketing strategies? Chyeah. You're not alone!

🎨

Canva Basics Workshop

Replay is available here for All-Access Club members!

🤓

Live Co-Working Sessions

All-Access members in the Club have been scheduling live sessions to work together, brainstorm stuff amongst themselves & get shit done. 🤩

One is live until 12:30pm ET today & there's 2 more in Nov!

📣

Shoutout.io

If Senja* felt too expensive, or overwhelming, I just learned about a new option called Shoutout* that's a much simpler way to collect, display & organize client & customer reviews. It currently has a one-time payment for lifetime access so it's worth a look! 😊

📆

Breely

Created by the Founder of Acuity, I am continually surprised & delighted by what this cheap AF software can do. At $7/mo, it's HIPAA compliant and super flexible––it's not just a scheduler. I've been using it myself for a few months & still LOVE it! Try it for free, first.*

🎧

Sell the Damn Service

I've been listening to Emylee Williams' podcast lately & it's SO refreshing to hear someone remind us that we DO NOT NEED to change our business model to scale & grow. If you want to stay solo while scaling your business –this is a MUST-LISTEN/WATCH podcast or substack!

That's it for today!

Hope I see you at the workshop with Kadie tomorrow, Reader!! 😁

Katelyn

Web Designer & Educator
Thrivin' on coffee, community, cursing & carefully laid plans!


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Educator & Squarespace Web Designer

I’m the designer, educator, and unapologetic nerd who tames the chaos in systems & client processes for new & scrappy solo designers & freelancers. After years of freelancing myself with no clue, no real systems and a whole lotta self-doubt, I ditched perfectionism, leaned into messy action, and built a business that’s now supported HUNDREDS of creatives around the world. If you’re ready to get organized, get visible, and actually launch the damn thing? I’m ya girl. 💻⚡

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