A Week in the Life of a Solo Builder (What I’m Testing, What I’m Promoting, What I’m Letting Go)

It’s been a full, heady week — and not just with work.

I’ve been reflecting a lot on the kind of creator I want to be, how I want to show up online, and where I’m putting my energy right now. The last few months have been fast-paced in the best way — building momentum, sharing more consistently, hosting weekly office hours — but I can feel myself craving more space. To think. To write. To make something heavier.

So here’s a peek inside this week — what I’m working on, what I’m stepping back from, and what’s shifting behind the scenes.

The balance between frequency, depth and quality.

This week, I read an essay from Alice Lemée on creator gravity that really hit me. It tapped into something I’ve been feeling for a while — a kind of internal contradiction.

For the first three months of this year, I made it a point to post a lot. Not overthinking. Not polishing. Just showing up consistently and building the muscle. And I’m proud of that. It’s helped me grow, build trust, and create more momentum than ever before.

I think the biggest challenge that it's helped me get over so far is the feeling of perfectionism that you need to have this perfectly polished essay and carousel and in product to show up online and I realized that that was keeping me from just trying and experimenting.

It’s easy to get addidcted to the momentum though and constantly want to track how things are growing.

But now I'm wanting to take a step back and A) assess how things are working, and B) just gut check if the balance feels good to me. Because as we know anything worth investing in truly takes time.

Alice said something that’s been echoing in my brain:

I’ve been talking about value nonstop — yet I’ve still found myself slipping into what she calls the Dopamine Dungeon: chasing short-form reactions instead of creating something with real depth.

So I’m experimenting.

This weekend, I’m taking a long break. Next week, I’m heading out of town again.

I’ve removed social apps from my phone. I’ll still use them for work, but my default is no longer to “post” — it’s to journal, reflect, and write.

Instead of scrambling to ship the next post, I’m marinating ideas. Letting them breathe. And honestly, it feels good.

Building Creator Diaries 2.0

This pull toward deeper work comes at a perfect time — I’m currently reimagining what Creator Diaries 2.0 could look like.

I had my first call this week with a designer I deeply admire — someone who’s worked on top-tier newsletters and understands the nuance of design, editorial, and identity. And even in that first brainstorm, I felt this pull back to myself.

A reminder that I’m not here to replicate anyone else’s blueprint — not Diary of a CEO, not My First Million.

I can love those formats and still do something totally my own.

What makes this work meaningful is my voice, my lens, my story.

That’s what I want to bring more of into the next evolution of this newsletter.

I’ll drop a mood board preview below — would love to know what you think. Does it feel like me? Does it resonate with how you see Creator Diaries?

🛠 In the Studio

Here’s a peek at what else I’ve been working on this week:

• ✍️ New for Beehiv: I published a new article on top newsletter platforms for journalists. It’s a quick, tactical read if you’re looking to start your own thing and want to learn more about your options. (Spoiler alert: I’m partial to beehiiv of course, but I also walk through what I think about Substack, Ghost and other similar platforms.)

• ✅ Tool I’m loving: Sunsama. I resisted it for a while but finally gave it a shot thanks to a rec from Lex Roman. It’s the only calendar/project system that’s actually clicked for me — especially in this season where I’m juggling multiple brands and priorities.

Here’s a screenshot from my dashboard. You can see how it brings in my tasks from all of my Asana boards plus keeps all of my deadlines and tasks in one place.

What I especially love are the features for daily planning/shutdowns — which allows me to journal-style my priorities and tasks for the day, but also sums up what I worked on and tracks my progress. I know here are a ton of apps like this, but this one just seems to work intuitively for me.

• 💬 Creator Office Hours: Still happening weekly (Wednesdays 1–3 PM London / 8–10 AM ET). Come hang. Bring your messy pitch idea, content strategy challenge, or just come to talk shop. You can book a slot here.

🎨 Inspo for the Week

Maybe I'm feeling more optimistic than usual because we're getting to sunnier longer days in London. But also in the process of identifying my brand and writing my manifesto, I do feel really inspired by the word "create" and the ability to create what we want - create the life we want, create the product that we desperately need.

That is what is so empowering about the creator economy.

I shared this tweet below from Jay Yang that I just love. This sentiment rings in my head every day: Create what you wish existed in whatever way that means to you. Create the community you want. Create the life you want. Create the business you want.

At the end of the day, this gives you agency in every decision.

I have a couple of other projects that I've been working on the side. I'm excited to share more info soon, but for now I'm looking forward to logging off, enjoying some time in sunny Italy, and we'll be back in two weeks with the next edition. 👋

Hope you all have a lovely, restful Easter weekend!