Welcome
Start here to create your slow, gentle and profitable business
Hi, I’m Astrid.
I’m a recovering productivity ninja. I’ve stripped my life of productivity hacks, the need to be busy and the habit of overwork.
I enjoy stepping away from and questioning the norm—which is probably why I’m been so happily off social media since 2021. I have a PhD in English literature and am a published author and speaker.
I work with small business owners on the things that have made the most difference in my own life: setting up marketing channels away from social media; restructuring their business to allow for more rest; planning and prioritising and creating the business they crave.
There’s a slower, gentler and more profitable way of doing business. Female Owned is the place to discover how.
Female Owned is the newsletter and community where we change how we think, feel and talk about small business and freelancing, and kick productivity culture and hustling to the curb.
Female Owned is here to empower and support you to create a slow, gentle and profitable business—whatever that looks like for you. A business that fits around your life, your humanness, your needs and desires.
You’ll feel at home here if…
You’re burnt-out, tired of hustle culture, or feel like you can never keep up with what a business should look like;
You live with neurodivergence, chronic illness, care responsibilities that make business in the fast lane impossible for you;
You want to build and run a business that is slow and gentle—and makes the money you need it to make.
Join the gentle revolution
» Free subscribers get twice a month posts on business done differently right in their inbox.
» Paid subscribers also get access to the Female Owned community, a gentle, small and supportive space right here on Substack to support you as you craft the business you desire—with our monthly Accountability Club, behind-the-scenes posts, quarterly workshops and my answers to your business questions every quarter in the Office Hours.
“I have read and subscribed to many business coaches newsletters and Astrid's stands out as useful, unique, and wonderfully relevant in a time when women especially are encouraged to just do more, hustle harder, and burn ourselves out. Astrid has a different approach, one that embraces ease and intuition and I love that.” — Janelle Holden
📚 If you’re new here, these posts are a good place to start:
→ Marketing gently and sustainably, without social media | How new clients find me; Six lessons from two years without social media; The quiet power of marketing less (or browse all marketing posts)
→ Slow business | The thing about consistency; The most spacious decision I’ve made in my business; Is a slow and gentle business even possible? (yes it is).
→ Substack | Why I’m not relying on Substack for newsletter growth; How I make my Substack newsletter work for and in my business; Lessons, surprises and what’s next: reflecting on six months on Substack.
Curious about using Substack for your own small business? Check out my (ridiculously affordable) course Substack for small business owners, which will walk you from setting up, to writing, to growing.
Work + learn with me
Small business newsletter magic: your newsletter can be your most joyful and effective tool in your business—discover how in this self-paced course;
Substack for small business owners: my bestselling course on setting up, writing and growing your Substack newsletter for your small business;
Grow: your marketing can be effective, easeful and all you—discover how in this self-paced, lifetime access programme.
1:1 mentoring: hands-on support to help you grow the slow, gentle and profitable business you create. Discover my current packages and get in touch—I’d love to be by your side.
🗃️ Deep dive into my archives
Read | my full Substack archive and my blog on my website;
Listen | to my podcast mini-series;
Watch | my YouTube channel on small business without the hustle.
Joining the Female Owned community is like having a regular cup of tea (and cake!) with your favourite business buddies—for less than the price of a cup of tea + slice of cake a month. I’d love to have you on board x
Why small business owners, freelancers and creatives love Female Owned 💌
“Your materials are brilliant and very meaningful. You have helped me to take some important steps to this week, and there’ll be more to come. I can already feel the difference and I can’t wait to start putting your advice into action!” — Natalie Warner, knitwear designer, teacher and writer
“Your newsletter is one of the few newsletters I immediately open and read” — Alice Hibbert, jewellery designer
“I just received your latest email and it was a lovely read” — Sarah Phelps, letterpress and stationary designer
“I love your emails, thanks for sharing such thoughtful topics.” — Jo McCarthy, mentor for creative online shop owners
“Loved this, you have such a calming presence even via email.” — Jen Wright, slow business mentor