Jenny Pace, Author at Jenny Pace

Here's the thing: we're more powerful than we realise

I’ll be honest: there are times when the world of retail gets me down. Meaningless purchases that end up in landfill, a huge volume of plastic that our planet doesn’t enjoy, an increase of consumer debt… It can all add up to something that just doesn’t feel good.

I’ve been thinking recently about how to get more comfortable with retail again. I’ve been thinking about what’s important and necessary and meaningful.

And it strikes me that we’re more powerful as consumers than we realise. The money we spend tells companies what’s important to us, whether it’s environmental, aesthetic, cultural, idealistic or other factors.

I read an article recently which claimed women make 80% of household purchasing decisions so even if we’re not earning the money (let’s change that anyway), we’re highly influential. Imagine if 80% of household decisions were made based on where our food came from, how it’s grown, where our clothes come from, or whether those companies treated people well and supported women in the workplace – or whatever is important to you.

I guess I’ve been thinking about it recently because of the election, and because the world seems a little chaotic, and I have to hope it’s being shaken up so that we can create something better.

Yes, we can go to the polling station and vote.

But we can also vote for the world we want with the money we spend.

That’s a huge part of my belief in small businesses. I adore the Just A Card campaign – if we all purchased the cards and small gifts we love to give from small businesses, we’d keep an entire industry of creatives (and increasingly female creatives) in business.

And it goes for the bigger purchases too.

We get to put our money where our values are.

I’ve long been about quality over quantity – a single pair of good quality jeans over throw-away pairs that last a couple of months.

And I want to support people who are doing good in the world: lifting others up, creating unique work, showing up as themselves, courageously making the things only they can make, working towards healing and happiness. (Is this you? Tell me, and show me where and how I can support.)

I’m an advocate. I care about people. I care about the people behind the business, and I want to support them. Not only with the mentoring, retreats, courses, services and love I offer professionally, but also in the things I buy from them.

Here’s the thing

We each have our own set of values. They fluctuate from time to time, but we mostly know what we care about, deep down.

Let’s stand behind them, and allow the money we spend to speak for us (as well as our words and other actions).

Let’s make purchases from people we like, of products that we love and reflect our values.

Let’s ensure our decision-making counts.

Maybe even just your next purchase. Buy something from someone doing good work in the world. They’ll thank you for it, and so will all the people they support, and so on.

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PS If you need to find your own meaning, or at least a little more, join me on Thursday for an online mini retreat. Read and register here.

Here's the thing: dealing with uncertainty in business

We all know that being self-employed has its risks. When you step away from a regular paycheck, you miss out on the security of knowing how much you’re going to get paid and when. Someone else takes on the challenge of making sure everything’s in the black, and you get to show up, do your work, and get paid for it. Not all the time, because there can be uncertain times in permanent jobs for sure, but quite often.

When you run your own business or are freelance or whatever your preferred way to say it is, there’s much more uncertainty.

And right now, in my client circles and networks of online retailers, it feels like there’s quite a lot of uncertainty flying around. Perhaps it’s that sales are down, or that retail patterns seem to be shifting more drastically than they have before. Perhaps the market is shifting. Perhaps Brexit and world politics are changing consumers’ behaviour.

And perhaps not.

As I think about how I deal with uncertainty and how I help my clients deal with it, the first thing that comes to mind is one thing: data. What data do we have? Can we trust it? What does it actually tell us?

Because we can get wired up and insecure and swayed by anecdotal evidence. If you don’t read any further or get the printable worksheet below, at least take this:

Check what you know about what’s true for your business and your industry. Fact-check. Don’t rely solely on others’ opinions or anecdotes for data you’re going to use to make your business decisions.

You might do some of your own research. You might find some specific statistics. Or you might stop looking outward at other people and go inward, looking at your business. Make sure your information is good.

Here’s the thing

When I’m faced with decisions or situations coming up, I like to look at the options and possibilities so that I can see potential outcomes and plan what I’ll do if any of them actually happen. This also gives me the opportunity to check in on how likely each possibility is.

Ultimately, I make plans based on what I can control and influence, which gets me out of paralysis and worrying, and into positive action. And as my mum would say, “Where there’s clarity, make decisions.”

I’ve included a few prompts below, but I’ve also made this longer worksheet version that you can download and print so that you can use my own process for dealing with uncertainty.

What do I actually know about what’s facing me right now?
What am I worrying about right now?
Is there anything I’m ready to stop believing, because there’s no evidence?
How do I feel about my current situation?
How can I manage or deal with my feelings so that I can consider the situation from a practical point of view?
Have I been in a similar situation in the past? What happened then?

I hope this all helps. Uncertainty is not easy to deal with, but having the support of a network or mentor (hi!) can really help.

If you have questions or are still feeling stuck or worried, I’d love to hear from you. If there’s a video or course or blog I can offer to help YOU (yes, you), I’m all ears.

Until soon,

Jenny x

Here's the thing: respect and how to get it

Before we begin, let’s all have the R.E.S.P.E.C.T. middle eight from Aretha in mind. (Go here for a reminder.)

Now that that’s out of the way, I want to share that respect is something that’s been on my mind recently. How do we show respect to others? How and when do we want to receive respect?

You know what I’ve noticed? When people feel respected, they do better. They feel better. And when people feel disrespected, unnoticed, taken for granted, they get resentful. They act out, they’re less generous, they blow up out of the blue.

I’ve been there, on all sides. And these things happen in business relationships, in friendships, in family relationships – the whole spectrum.

Relationships all take maintenance, and especially working relationships require clarity, communication, and upkeep. It’s not often a one-off conversation that fixes things (though sometimes that can help).

And if you’re a kind, generous person who loves to help (me too), it’s even harder to ask for respect and hold your boundaries.

So, before I get to some questions for you to reflect on, let me tip my hat to the wonderful Randi Buckley and her upcoming course, Healthy Boundaries for Kind People. Because Randi has helped me exponentially with firming up my boundaries and get the respect I deserve without turning into a cold-hearted you-know-what.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I’ve been thinking a lot about boundaries given a) I’m now managing a team of around eight people and b) politically and morally, there seems to be so little respect going around.

We can’t force other people into respect, but we can demonstrate incredibly clear (and kind) boundaries on what is acceptable to us. We can also ensure that we’re given respect to others where it’s due. Because sometimes, when we’re really busy, it can be easy to forget.

So here’s the thing

I’ve put together some questions for you to consider. Maybe you’ll journal about them, or think about them, or discuss them with friends.

Who do you respect? Not envy or put on a pedestal, but actually respect? How do you show them?

What do you want to be respected for?

How do you prefer to receive respect? For you, what does respect look like?

How do you demonstrate your respect for others?

Are you allowing yourself to be disrespected by anyone? How can you show them, gently, respectfully, that it’s not acceptable?

And if you need help on that last question, or indeed any of them, my highest recommendation is to take Randi’s course which starts next week. If you want more clarity, less resentment, more confidence, and better conflict resolution, you won’t regret it.

Here’s the thing

Here’s the thing

So here’s the thing

Notes of Encouragement