Rare Seed Agency

13/11/2024

Absolutely in love with these photos from ! This woman is not only one of the kindest people I know, she is also a total legend behind the camera!

Thank you Katie for your support and for these amazing photos!

21/09/2024

It’s been quiet around this little corner of the internet and for a while I wasn’t sure I’d ever come back to this little biz of mine.

I’m currently in a full time role that I love deeply and planning on staying in for a good while yet, at the same time I am feeling the pull to reignite Rare Seed Agency.

It will be same, same but different from what it was in the past 🤭

All I will say for now is WATCH THIS SPACE 😉

Plans are hatching 🐣

13/01/2024

Make Business Systems that work for YOU!⁠⁠
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I’ve always been about “working smarter — not harder” and ensuring that I build systems that work for me and my business so I would get me to the desired outcome the easiest possible way.

But that used to make me feel guilty, like I was cheating 🫣 because i was raised on the rhetoric that to deserve good things, you need to work HARD.
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Since learning (at 36) that am Autistic and ADHD I learnt to appreciate my ability to recognise the patterns that allow for systems. And that seeing that and building the systems that mean a job that once took 4 hours can now take 2 is a valuable skill - not a source of shame.

I have also got comfortable with the fact that if I make my business tasks more visually appealing, I will be more productive 😍.

I used to feel silly and childish when I made my work feel fun in any way. Remember the work hard troupe - it was loud in my internal monologue🤨

But since then, I’ve learnt a lot about myself, read way too many psychology text books and researched productivity as well as watched the online business world shift in a big way away from the hustle culture.

Business is allowed to be fun. Work is allowed to feel easy and if you find ways to make it lighter for yourself - lean in!

If you need help working out business systems that work for your brain and your work style shoot me a DM and I can share with you how I can help you find your natural rhythm and the systems that align best for you!

11/01/2024

If you’re still in holiday mode - enjoy it.

If you took that job over pushing another year in your business - take pride in it.

If you want to push less and slow down on the hustle and grind - you don’t need anyone’s permission to do so.

It’s allowed to be easy.
You’re allowed to choose small.
Progress is allowed to be slow.

Let’s leave all the pressure of what we should be doing in 2023 and make 2024 when we allow ourselves a bit more EASY. ❤️

31/12/2023

So this is 38! The last two years have been a roller coaster of healing, change, self discovery and burnout.

In March of 2022 I decided to step away from my business to heal from a relationship breakup and be available to my kids as they made that transition. I’ve never got back to running the biz full time.

I spent most of 2022 in deep rest and recovery mode. Turns out real burnout doesn’t heal in a couple of weeks. Turns out I was beyond exhausted. Turns out learning I was Autistic and have ADHD was only the beginning, I had to do a lot of learning (and am still learning) what my brain and body need to thrive and how to give those things to myself without shame or guilt.

As far as work went I did the best minimum to pay bills and provide for my kids.

In 2023 I returned to work. Was given a few amazing opportunities both through the business and working as an employee. Things moved and changed quickly and did a lot of travel, found my feet financially and rediscovered joy in the work I do and the skills I have.

The end of the year has seen a deep settling, I have a full time role that I love and that challenges me in new ways, I’ve done some more training and am currently completing a few qualifications that I can’t wait to lean more into.

I turned 38 this week and I think this is the most comfortable I’ve ever felt in my own skin.

I’m excited for 2024 and I have some big goals but what you won’t see from me again is big, hard PUSHING! I’ve don’t with the GRIND.

I’m here for slow and gentle steps forward now.

I’ve got plans for Rare Seed Agency and I’m excited to share them but this week is all about being on annual leave and enjoying the slow moments of LEGO and puzzles and Mario kart with my little people.

Here’s to a 2024 that sees steady and peaceful progress, with pushing so hard it hurts. I’m really done with hurting myself!

📸description - 38 year old Caucasian woman in a black singlet is smiling softly at the camera. She looks tired but content and her dirty blonde hair is messy and all swept to the left side of her head. There are palm tree leaves in the background.

11/01/2023

Burnout sucks!

2022 was a total write off in so many ways. But in many ways it was also my very best of years!

I remember part way through the 2020 chaos of covid, family and working 14hour days I called it “The year you can’t hide from yourself” but it turns out it was just the beginning of a long process of self discovery and healing.

Cracking all of that open hurt so much but once I was it I couldn’t put the lid back on the box. Work was amazing but full on and I was really starting to get tired. My fibromyalgia was better than in 2019 but I spent many days working from bed, because sitting at my desk was too painful.

2021 I was diagnosed with ADHD and 6 months later Autism and while this was liberating and empowering I also went my through grief, frustration, anger, hopelessness and many other emotions. Family life was challenging, I was dropping balls at work that and feeling like a failure all round. I was drowning and whatever changes I made I could not come up air.

2022 promised to be different but after years of working to hold the family together my partner and I decided to part ways and tackling life as a single mum of three threw me through all new loops! I was tired, like to the bone. I swear the ends of hair hurt and my toe nails where exhausted. Every small task was HARD.

I started ADHD medication and was working with an amazing therapist so there was a life raft nearby but I couldn’t seem to catch hold of it!

I took a month off work to focus on REST. One month turned into 4 and 4 months turned into 9. I got a part time job so I could make rent and feed the family without having to dive back into the business. Every time I thought I was ready I would crash again.

So I focused on me. I slept, I danced, I made new friends, I read books and I slept some more.

I focused on my kids. We played more, we went swimming, we spent hours playing Lego or play dough. We read books, watched movies and when they’d let me I’d NAP!

It took a frustratingly long time to feel like I was getting anywhere other than more exhaustion. It felt like the more I healed and rested the more tired I felt.

My brain went on hiatus and no amount of coxing would bring it back to life.

So while every story in my head was telling me to fight harder, dig deeper and push back (or persevere) I chose to lean in and let go! I chose to slow the f**k down and really heal.

No more bandaids on flesh wound and just enough recovery to get back to overworking myself. I wanted to REALLY HEAL.

It sucks!

The world tells us to value productivity, to measure ourselves and our value against material things. But I did a lot of nothing in 2022. I am the worst financial shape of my adult life and that’s stressful and confronting.

But I’m so grateful for all the lessons and laughs (and naps) that 2022 gave me and that I gave myself by giving myself permission to STOP.

I know myself more than ever. I am more connected to my kids than ever. I’m ready to get back to work but I know that it will look incredibly different now. I trust myself more. I am excited for the next chapter.

And I’m still tired, but now it’s just regular old “raising kids” tired. I am taking deep breaths of fresh air and when the water gets deep in floating gently on my back.

I failed in 2022 in almost every way we are taught ‘counts’ but it really is the best year I’ve ever had and it set me up for an even better 2023!

22/11/2022

How are you going to manage social over the holidays? Are you worried about keeping up consistency while still enjoying some down time and allowing your tired brain to actually switch off?

We have a HOLIDAY MANAGEMENT OFFER for you to help you make the juggle work!

Summer Socials Management Offer:

👉🏼 content, scheduling and engagement managed from December 1st through to January 31st.
👉🏼 52 posts written and images created or sourced to suit your brand and your profile
👉🏼 all posts scheduled with final approval by Dec 10th so you can rest with confidence
👉🏼 daily checkins for comment and dm management

With over 12 years experience in social media management and content creation you can have your socials managed well this summer so you can really relax!

All this for $1,300AUD.

Only 4 spots available so be quick if this is something that will help your business (and your brain) this summer!

21/10/2022

So fun chatting with Brand You Magazine about running a business and going through ADHD diagnosis.

Elle’s Podcast: Neurodivergent in business

In this episode we chat all things:
💛 Seeking a formal diagnosis and what to expect once you have it
💛 How boundaries can support a neurodivergent entrepreneur
💛 The most powerful realisations about yourself
💛 How being neurodivergent can be a superpower

🎧 available now on all popular podcast platforms.

‼️

07/09/2022

Another update - because it’s been a whole lot of radio silence here lately.

In March-July this year I have been in deep burnout mode. I didn’t know how tired and unwell I was until I stopped, took sometime to rest, prioritised my body and my mental health and gave myself time to drop all the adrenaline that I’d been running on for so long.

Turns out I also had also zero iron in my body so the exhaustion was real on a physical level too!

Over the last month (and thanks to an incredible GP) I have been finding my way back to healthy, happy me. Im sleeping better, have more energy than I’ve had in years and I finally feel like my brain works again - I was worried for a while I’d forgotten how to do lots of the things I love most about my work.

As part of the change of pace I’ve taken a part-time J.O.B and while it’s not the plan I had for 2022 I am really excited about it.

Im working with and as their Business Development Manager and get to do all the fun things I love about helping small businesses thrive as well as work with a great team of people.

That doesn’t mean I won’t be working with clients and doing cool things with Rare Seed, in fact there are some amazing project in the pipeline.

What it does mean is I can be slower and more intentional about my next steps.

And I’m happy to be back here and sharing some of the journey with y’all!

06/09/2022

A lot had been happening behind the scenes of late, even though I’ve been quiet on the socials!

But the most exciting news of all is that I am teaming up with my little brother Dan to compete in the in May 2023!!

You can follow our adventures as we build our sh*tbox car, raise much needed funds for and throw some bloody fun events by heading to .sh*tboxteam.

I’ve put the links to book a ticket to our trivia night - Back to the 90s - and to donate to our team in our bio link.

If you’re a small business and want to hear about our corporate sponsor options (starting at $500) just send me a DM!

If I could be anything I wanted to when I grow up it would be a rally car driver, so May ‘03 I’ll get to live out a dream - and I couldn’t think of a better cause than cancer research! F$&@ CANCER!

# **kcancer

17/08/2022

Over the last few months (or year) life has been a lot but the number one focus through it all has been these three amazing humans who I get to do life with!

I’ve had to really reevaluate my values and priorities as I’ve untangled some of my own conditioning, better understood their needs and learnt more about how I can show up as a mum and in life as the best version of myself.

It’s meant we’ve made some hard decisions, it’s meant a few tears, and it’s meant a lot of self-awareness. It’s been deeply uncomfortable at times.

But it’s also meant so many amazing memories, I feel more ME than I have ever and we’ve have a lot cuddles and laughs along the way.

Being a mum is not something I “always wanted” and when I become a single mum at 23 I didn’t know how to align that with all my other hopes and dreams.

But 13+ years later the thing I’m most proud of in my life is my relationship with these three beautiful humans and the thing I’m most grateful for is everything they have taught me and continue to teach me about life and love and myself!

💛💛💛