“Be confident in who you are” with Lucy Critchley
Episode 2 of Do your thing hosted by Fliss Lee
If you enjoyed this podcast, please rate, review and subscribe with the podcast provider of your choice or leave us a Spotify review in the comments or an Apple Review here. Thanks!
What if you stopped trying to work the way you think you should, and started paying attention to what actually works for you?
In this episode, I’m joined by Lucy Critchley, founder of Untold Creative, a podcast and content studio.
Lucy started her business during maternity leave, five months after having her daughter and in the middle of the pandemic. What began as a VA business has since evolved into Untold Creative, working with purpose-led businesses on podcasts, social content, email marketing and other creative projects.
We talk about what Lucy has learned about herself through becoming self-employed, from finding a way of working that fits around family life to letting go of the presenteeism and working habits she picked up in employment.
Lucy also shares how her business and brand have evolved alongside her, what she's learned from working with the wrong clients, and why being more confident in who you are can help you find the people and work that are a better fit.
What you’ll learn in this episode
How Lucy has built a business and way of working that fits around her family and the way she works best
Why becoming self-employed can teach you so much about yourself and the way you want to work
How recognising what you enjoy – and what you don't – can help your business and brand evolve
Listen to the episode
Find it on your chosen podcast player here.
About Lucy Critchley
Lucy is the founder of Untold Creative, a podcast and content studio that helps purpose-led businesses share their stories through podcasts, social content and newsletters.
With a background in TV and radio production, Lucy combines creativity and strategy to help her clients find their voice and tell the stories that matter most.
Connect with, and follow Lucy
Follow Lucy on Instagram: @untold.creative
Connect with Lucy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucycritchley
Visit Untold Creative: https://untold-creative.com
Support the podcast
Do your thing is an independent podcast that I fund entirely out of my own pocket. If you enjoy the show and want to help keep it going, there are a few ways you can support it:
✅ Leave a review – it really helps new listeners find the podcast.
✅ Share an episode with someone you think would enjoy it.
✅ Follow or subscribe wherever you listen so you don't miss the next episode.
Want to be a guest?
Got a story or experience that could help other founders, freelancers or creative folk do things their own way?You can pitch to be a guest on Do your thing here.
Chapters
00:00 – Meet Lucy Critchley and Untold Creative
01:25 – Starting a business during maternity leave
06:45 – Figuring out how to become self-employed
09:40 – Building a business around family life
16:13 – Making work and family life easier
20:43 – Working when it works for you
25:01 – Self-employment as personal development
27:19 – Learning how and where you work best
28:59 – What working with the wrong clients taught Lucy
31:29 – Finding clients who share your values
35:06 – The freedom of being in control of your work
36:55 – Being yourself in your business
38:20 – Knowing when your brand needs to evolve
39:24 – From Lucy Critchley VA to Untold Creative
42:21 – Finding the common thread in your business
48:22 – What stops us doing things our own way?
51:36 – Why having a good community matters
Transcript
Fliss (00:00)
Lucy, I'm so excited to chat to you. Lucy's been helping me with this podcast and when we started planning it, I instantly knew she had to be a guest because of what she was telling me about her backstory. for anyone who doesn't know you Lucy, please tell us a bit about you and what you did before you started Untold Creative.
Lucy (00:23)
Now, thanks, please. Honestly, so thrilled that you've invited me on to be a guest in your first series. ⁓ So yeah, a little bit about me. I'm Lucy. I run a business called Untalk Creative. We make podcasts, support independent businesses to make podcasts. We do social media content, email marketing, other creative projects ⁓ and mentoring.
The people that I love working with the most are people who have a higher purpose without sounding too... I don't know, like a cult leader. I love the idea of working with people who have got a really big thing that they want to achieve and supporting them to get there. But before I did this, I worked in TV and radio production for about... Gosh, about 10 years altogether.
Fliss (00:57)
You
Lucy (01:18)
and then had a baby and decided I wanted to do my own thing. And here I am really.
Fliss (01:25)
So what made you decide you wanted to start your own business while you were on mat leave rather than just going back to what you were doing before?
Lucy (01:33)
Yeah, well,
yeah, it's a funny old time, isn't it? So when I was working in TV and radio production, the nature of the industry is that you are essentially self-employed. So you will be in a place for six weeks, three months, a year, whatever, whatever length of contract. But essentially, when that contract ends, it's up to you to find another
one somewhere else so you're always kind of like half in half out of a production company or wherever ⁓ and while I had a great time don't get me wrong I learned loads and I got to work on some really fun projects the thought of kind of I've got to rush to get into town on a morning after like you know nursery drop off I've got to rush to get back to pick her up I've got you know all these kind of things that I was seeing
from people that I worked with always just looking so stressed. I just felt like it wasn't necessarily the thing that I wanted to do with the family and I always had liked the idea of being more of a traditionally self-employed, like having my own business and doing my own stuff, working with different clients.
And that really appealed. really like the variety and the flexibility and that thinking about like, what could I do? Not forgetting that there was a global pandemic at the time that my daughter was born, changed like the landscape completely. there was, I'm not very good at sitting still with the fact that I want to be trying to like solve the problem or make a difference or whatever that is.
And so when it was the pandemic hit, my daughter was five months old when the lockdown was announced. No, she wasn't, that's the total life. She was three months old when the lockdown was announced, five months old when I launched my business. My husband works in sports broadcasting and obviously there was no sports. So we were in a really weird, difficult situation and it had its benefits in some ways because it meant that my husband could be around for our daughter more.
But then it also obviously was scary in terms of like finances and how would we make it work? How would we manage? And then I decided I'm gonna explore becoming like quote properly self-employed my own business and doing it that way. And it's been over five years now.
Fliss (04:25)
God there's so much in that isn't there? I mean I've got so much respect for anyone who's got a young baby at home and decides to start their business at that point. Because I remember when I started my business there's so much unknown in there. Did you feel like you were taking control after being self-employed do you think?
Lucy (04:39)
Mmm.
Yeah I think so. I think it was like... If anyone could... I think I was quite naive to it really because I just thought well I'll give it a go and if it goes wrong then it goes wrong and I've not really lost anything and because maternity leave as a self-employed person is small to put it politely I didn't take all that I could take because I've worked
I'd basically worked two jobs before I had my daughter, so I'd been able to save up some money. So I had a bit of a cushion and I felt like I had this plan before COVID and everything that I was going to have this like year off and I was going to be one of these mums who goes off to like baby sensory and has a coffee and you know it's in the cafe with
the baby and they're sharing a cake and all this kind of stuff, which I really wanted. That's the ideal that I had. And obviously that was not
reality.
But I felt so sure that really like making something of my own was going to suit me really well. That when the opportunity came about to start something, I just grabbed it with both hands really.
Fliss (06:10)
Mm-hmm.
Lucy (06:10)
And in some ways, if I hadn't been on maternity leave, or whatever you could call, whatever it was that I had, and my husband hadn't had a quiet time with work, then it might not have happened in this way. So I'm sort of weirdly quite grateful to have had that time, even though it wasn't what I thought it was going to be.
Fliss (06:25)
Bye.
God for the pandemic. No one's ever said that. Yeah, yeah. I mean, wow. Sounds amazing. like, how did you figure, obviously you've been self-employed before that, but obviously it was different suddenly to your own business. So how did you figure out your own way of doing things?
Lucy (06:34)
No, it's the layers! I mean the rest of was awful!
Mm-hmm.
So when I first was exploring it, I was chatting to my friend Holly, who was a virtual assistant at the time. She runs a different business now, but she sort of... So we weren't even friends, actually. I've like missed about three steps. I found her on Instagram and I made her be my friend is the story. ⁓ And she lives in my town. So I see her.
quite lot and I am certain I'll have walked past her a number of times before we met and became friends. But she was a virtual assistant and that's what I thought I wanted to do, what I set up as to begin with. I wouldn't say it's what I do now, but it's where I began. ⁓ And I asked her all the questions like, do I need to be qualified? Do I need to have, you know, what?
insurance do I need to have? What things do I need to think about? And she essentially told me not to overthink it, which was very helpful for a chronic overthinker that I am. I originally wanted to call my business a sort of a name that wasn't my name, and I was getting stuck on what that might be. This is well before Untold Creative became a thing. She was like, don't just call it your name and like be done with it. I was like...
Fliss (08:13)
Yeah.
Lucy (08:24)
yeah, okay, so I'll do that. So I was Lucy Critchley VA at the beginning. I also did some mentoring with a VA service provider. ⁓ And that was really helpful as well. I think a lot of it for me, was just getting the worries and things I wasn't sure about out. And then I could kind of just crack on then.
Fliss (08:27)
you
Mm-hmm.
Lucy (08:53)
Once I knew what the next thing was that I had to consider, I've always kind of tried to like be myself when it comes to work and things. I think in the workplace you can feel maybe a bit like uncomfortable doing that. Being self-employed, if anything, has taught me to embrace those kind of qualities and, you know.
Fliss (09:14)
you
Lucy (09:23)
be me because I think that's partly what attracts the right kind of clients. doing this and having my own stuff actually for me has been like one of the best things ever.
Fliss (09:40)
⁓ I love that, I love that. So obviously you had a five month old at home when you started. How much thought did you put into ⁓ navigating ⁓ work life and family life? Is that sort of something that you just figured out as you went along?
Lucy (09:59)
Yeah,
I mean, I put like no thought into it. My daughter at the time, obviously it was teeny tiny. She didn't really nap. She decided that naps were for chumps and she wasn't going to sleep during the day, which was an issue. But it meant that my husband, because he wasn't so busy, would have her, you know, I would have, in the beginning it was kind of like just snatching.
bits and bobs of time. And then as she got older, when she was one, she started to go to nursery for a couple of mornings a week. And then that sort of slowly increased and that became like very specific, like ring-fenced time. Until she started school, I worked Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Fridays. And we had Wednesdays off as a family, which was really nice. And the other days that I worked weren't like a
by any stretch a full day, you know, but it was maybe till like lunchtime or till three or something like that. And that, and then, but then I would inevitably end up on my laptop in the evening and you know, that sort of balance or blend of time was a bit of a blur to be honest, especially in those early days. ⁓ But now my business is basically as old as my daughter.
and she's at school now. So I've got much more structured time, I suppose. And that definitely has made a difference, I think.
Fliss (11:40)
Did you find that working shorter hours made you work in different ways to be productive?
Lucy (11:46)
Yeah,
I think so. And I think the sort of work I was doing, especially at the beginning, it was all just really exciting. You know, even if like, now I might think twice about, is that a project I want to take on or whatever. At the beginning, it was like, oh my gosh, someone wants to work with me. I'm so excited. like that genuine, like, I still have that now, but the genuine thrill of, you know, doing data entry or whatever it might have been at beginning.
Fliss (12:14)
you
Lucy (12:15)
just carried me through, you know, and that sort of like, I'm making this work, you know, it was just really special.
Fliss (12:24)
Did you feel like you wanted to make it work? I've heard parents say that they've, you know, people have said to me before I started my business because I wanted to do something that I could show that my son or daughter was, you know, you can do this. Did you have a sense of that as well, Lucy?
Lucy (12:37)
Mmm.
Yeah, a little bit. My mom was, ⁓ she was poorly, she was unwell, so she couldn't work. And when she was in the sort of spaces where she was well enough, she was, suppose for want of a better word, she was self-employed and she used to do sewing alterations for people. And I'd never really considered that she was self-employed until I actually was a guest on my friend Becky's podcast.
Fliss (13:08)
Mm-mm.
Wow.
Lucy (13:13)
she
was
about growing up with self-employed parents and I was like my gosh my mum is self-employed in a weird little way and it all sort of like made sense I
to me like
Fliss (13:22)
Yeah.
Lucy (13:24)
I would love for my daughter when she grows up to think that she can do you know she can have her own business she could do whatever she wants and she's always sort of because she's grown up around it I think it's really nice that she can ask questions about
whatever work that ⁓ my husband is also self-employed so he can often be at our laptops on an evening when she gets in from school just finishing things off and she'd be like what you doing? Can I write a word? You know like can I join in? So I think it's just part of our like situation and I sort of love the idea that she can see that we've been able to do this like around her.
Fliss (14:02)
Mm-hmm.
Lucy (14:11)
You know, I've not had to be at my desk, you know, nine to five or whatever. I can be around her while she's playing and, you know, doing whatever I need to do. And I think that would be really nice for her to grow up and see that.
Fliss (14:30)
That's really lovely to hear. I feel like there can be lot of guilt put on parents for working around their kids, can't there? But it sounds like you've found a really nice balance where she gets involved, like she's interested. It's not like, I shouldn't be doing this, shouldn't be doing this. Which sounds lovely.
Lucy (14:38)
Mmm.
Yeah.
that's it. I
yeah I mean I don't want to be doing it all the time, don't get me wrong, I don't want to be sat there on my laptop while she's asking me to play Barbies or whatever but ⁓ I think it's good for her to see that there's stuff that like I've got to do so I can then give her my attention if that makes sense. And I sort of think that that's for me as a parent I want
Fliss (14:53)
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
Lucy (15:18)
her to see that there's things that like we have to do so that she can have you know the things that she's got and that that's where it comes from.
Fliss (15:29)
really nice way of looking at it isn't it like it's she's understanding the world through you working and also I guess she's seeing that you're not just mummy you have a life as well and and that's really exciting. ⁓
Lucy (15:35)
Yeah
Yeah,
that's it. I want her to see that there's like possibilities, you know, and that she wants to be an artist, she tells me. So that if that is what she wants, and if that is what happens I mean she's five now, she could end up doing something totally different. But you know, I want to try and encourage those things that she enjoys and you know, see her play and do, you know, that kind of stuff because I think that's...
That's really important, especially at such a young age.
Fliss (16:13)
Yeah, yeah. that's so refreshing to hear. What types of things do you guys do or you ⁓ do to support your family life around your work?
Lucy (16:27)
that's a big question, isn't it? think it's definitely changed because my daughter's in year one now. Last year it was very different in reception. She didn't really do any like after school clubs or, ⁓ you know, those kind of activities that meant our days were longer or that our days were shorter, you know, whatever that might be. ⁓ We're very lucky that we can walk to school and that
Fliss (16:28)
Yeah, sorry, that's a big question.
Hmm.
Lucy (16:56)
I rent an office with a couple of friends and that is also in walking distance to school. So I think our sort of family work set up is very much, you know, walkable, making things easy. ⁓ When my husband is working for one of his clients, he has to go into needs for that. So the majority of like pickups and things will fall to me and that's fine.
Fliss (17:11)
Yeah
Lucy (17:25)
know um but then I get time on a an evening if I need it you know because they're by that point he's usually home and then he can do bedtime or you know that kind of stuff but now my daughter's in year one she's got like a couple of you know gymnastics after school and after school club on a Thursday so like Thursdays for me are like times where I can really focus and know that I'm not
I have an alarm that's like every weekday at 10 past 3 or something so it reminds me to get myself to school because I just always worry that for some reason I won't do that I don't even know what that is even though I absolutely have never been late. It's just a small low-level anxiety of like being at a pick-up or something.
But I think for us it's about making it as easy as we can. know, like whether that's easy for her and pick ups and drop offs and things, or whether that's easy for us with work. Like if I have to pick her up or Jack has to drop her off or, you know, like whatever just makes the next step, you know, simple. And that's kind of how we've planned it. And in some ways we're really lucky that we're both self-employed because
There's, you know, if I have to go away with my mentoring client, sometimes I have to attend in-person events and they can be all over the country. So then we have to work out what my husband's doing, what shifts he's doing, what shifts my, what shift, what's happening with Edie and her, like school stuff that day or whatever. So there's a bit of a balance to strike there, but I think if he was in a
Fliss (19:16)
Mm.
Lucy (19:22)
employed nine-to-five role that would be so much trickier to navigate.
Fliss (19:27)
Yeah,
it would fall on you.
Lucy (19:30)
Yeah, I think it probably would. So we have ⁓ a bit more of a ⁓ balance, I suppose. And on the other side of it, I think, is probably like playing to our strengths. Like, I'm more admin focused. I think I feel like a lot of people in my sort of position are. Whereas my husband is like the fun one. For want of a better word. You know, Edie is very much into...
like playing pretend and like roleplay stuff which I have to be so honest is not my area at all. I love a puzzle, I love a board game, let's play Uno, count me in, but I am so rubbish at like we're gonna play you know schools or something I just think ⁓ god it's not my area it's not my area at all yeah ⁓ but I think it is knowing that like
Fliss (20:04)
Yeah. Yeah.
Not you.
That's fine.
Lucy (20:30)
what you enjoy and what you get the most out of for like all members of the family and there's no point in doing something that is just not gonna suit you.
Fliss (20:43)
No, it's not going to work, it? It's not going to happen. There's always going to be a bit of friction there. You said about sometimes picking work up on evenings. ⁓ I think there's this like, obviously society tells you that you work nine to five or nine to six or whatever, ⁓ onwards. But like you work set hours and you don't work evenings because that's not allowed. But actually, I I sometimes pick work up on
Lucy (20:45)
No, exactly.
That's it.
Mm-hmm.
Fliss (21:13)
weekends and stuff because I have ⁓ like inspiration and stuff and it feels easier almost on a weekend. So do you find that you're an evening person and that works to your strengths a bit?
Lucy (21:23)
Yeah, sometimes. You know, do sort of... What's the word I'm looking for? When I work on an evening, for example, it's usually because I've thought, that's gonna really help move this thing along. Or I want to finish this thing off. I really used to be in the routine of like, it's bedtime, time to get my laptop back out again.
I'm definitely not in that headspace now. I think now it's like only if I, if the mood takes me or if I feel like actually this will help me tomorrow kind of thing. At the moment, for example, I'm mentoring on a Thursday morning. So 9.30 till 12.30 on Thursday morning is kind of out of the picture for me.
because I've got a peer group and I need to give my participants like 100 % in that time. But I don't, but with that in mind, I try and kind of clear the decks the night before so that I don't feel like I'm coming in on a Thursday morning, like mega stressed about, I've got three hours that I can see my to do list, but I can't touch it kind of thing.
So to me it's kind of working in that time is only if I think it's going to benefit me in the longer run if that makes sense and I definitely don't want to get back into the habit of it being like a regular occurrence. Especially like with the for example in the school holidays that's been one of the times where I've definitely found myself sort of leaning back on those ⁓ on that time but
Fliss (23:19)
Yeah.
Lucy (23:21)
It's a means to an end, I think. It's not for me a way of working that I want to like regularly do. It's just if it has to happen, has to happen.
Fliss (23:34)
Yeah.
Yeah, but it's really interesting that you've kind of, you'll pick it up to kind of make your day easier the next day, which I really like. As long as that's not happening all the time, it kind of helps.
Lucy (23:45)
Yeah. Yeah. Exactly, that's it.
Yeah, it does just definitely like clear the deck. Sometimes it's even just like organizing my inbox and making sure I know what I've got to pick up the next day or just planting the seed of like content that I've got to make for a client, for example. Whereas yeah, absolutely when Edie was younger, I'd be straight.
Fliss (23:58)
Yeah.
Lucy (24:15)
you know, I'd come down from bedtime and I'd just like whip open my laptop and crack on. I think I'd, you know, and I'd be, if it was a day that she'd been at nursery, I'd have been like on screens like all day. And that's just so unhealthy for me. Other people might thrive on that. I don't know, but it was definitely the time, like there was definitely a point where I thought I can't maintain this, you know, going forward and priorities.
change with clients as well and that balance definitely changes I think as you become more established in your business too.
Fliss (24:46)
Hmm.
Did you have to kind of get to know yourself and how you work, I guess, quite well?
Lucy (25:01)
Yeah, yeah, I think I say this to my mentees, but there is like no greater personal development journey for want of a better word than being self employed and thinking about yourself as like business owner Lucy. Because you so much stuff comes out that you've you know, when you've been conditioned to work a certain way in a company or
Fliss (25:09)
Yes. Yes.
Weird.
Lucy (25:29)
just general kind of... like I used to work in a production company and it would be kind of like who can be in the earliest, who can leave the latest. But what was I actually doing when I was in there? I don't even know what I was actually... like what my output was. I think it was just... what do they call it? Presenteeism? To like to just be there and be at my desk and show like I'm so busy and I'm so important.
Fliss (25:48)
Mm-hmm.
Presenteeism, yeah.
Be seeing.
You
Lucy (26:00)
What
was I even doing? I don't even know what I would have been doing. It was just to be there. And that's so not like who I want to be. And I think setting up my own business has definitely shown me that there's ways to be present when you're ready and like going with those sort of peaks and troughs of like who you are and
Fliss (26:26)
Mmm.
Mmm.
Lucy (26:28)
how
you might be feeling. For me there's never any pressure. Like when social media went with clients, you don't have to be on all the time. I'm not about that life.
Fliss (26:39)
God, I think we can all learn so much from that. Yeah, listening to yourself, I guess. ⁓ also if you've, you know, that's for everyone, even whether you've got a family or not. But I think listening to yourself and knowing what you need and your family need at any time is probably quite important, isn't it? I'd love to hear about what kind of
Lucy (26:45)
Mmm.
Mm-hmm. Yeah, absolutely.
Fliss (27:10)
I'm use the word mistakes you've made, like kind of things that have happened where you've gone, ⁓ that doesn't work. And what you might have like, how you figured out a better way of doing things. ⁓
Lucy (27:19)
Yeah, do
you know what I definitely have made loads of mistakes, I'm sure I have, but I can't think of any specifics on the top of my head. Maybe there's just been so many mistakes. ⁓ I think actually this is like a really small thing but it makes a difference. For the first couple of years of my business, given the state of the world, I worked from home all the time.
Fliss (27:28)
No, it's not.
Mmm.
Mmm.
Lucy (27:48)
And I
didn't have that sense of like space between home and work life. for me, think having like I rent an office, I've said, having that space or go into like co-working days or the co-work spaces and things has actually made such a benefit. It's made such difference for me. like yesterday I went to my office for the first time in a couple of weeks because I've been ill.
got so much done and the sort of like level of productivity when I'm in a place where I'm literally designed for me to be working, whereas when I'm sat at home and I'm working at the kitchen table or whatever, I think listening to that and like knowing that I need to do that has sort of been a bit of a lesson I'd say. Also like you know
Other mistakes I suppose would include working with people who weren't the right fit. ⁓ Probably for longer than I should have worked with them. I think we all have situations like that, yeah. ⁓ But I think again, like learning about what suits me in terms of how I get on with clients, what is a good kind of working relationship.
Fliss (28:59)
We've all done that, yeah.
Lucy (29:16)
me with clients. I think as a person I'm quite flexible and I like I love the variety of the different kinds of clients that I get to work with but for me it's kind of knowing that we the big thing is that it's a collaboration and that we meet in the middle. Like I am of course working for that client but I very much see it as we work together to achieve this outcome.
Fliss (29:33)
Hmm.
Lucy (29:45)
rather than I'm just pushing through tasks that they send over kind of thing. ⁓ Not necessarily even about the control, I think it's just being like an equal, in quotation marks, like partner and getting to like have a voice and help them make the decisions and be a bit more of a sounding board. I've definitely worked with clients in the past and I'm sure I will in the future where that hasn't...
necessarily been the case and it's taught me a lot about myself and what I enjoy and maybe what I find trickier to navigate. So I think that's probably one of the bigger levels of error, ⁓ lessons that I've learned. But I suppose maybe another one is like to actually feel comfortable enough to ask questions and not feel nervous or anxious about that kind of thing. I think.
Fliss (30:41)
Mm-hmm.
Lucy (30:42)
Sometimes when you work with people, you know, you can feel like you're supposed to have all the answers as the person they've come to, but they kind of, it has to be a joint thing, because how else do you get the information if you're not talking to them? So there's definitely something there. I think, I always say in my discovery calls, like, no question is a silly question and we can talk about whatever you want to talk about.
Fliss (30:59)
Yeah.
Lucy (31:10)
I think sometimes I have to remind myself of that.
Fliss (31:14)
Because you feel like you need to be professional but who is professional really? What does it mean?
Lucy (31:17)
Mmm.
Yeah exactly, that's it. What does it mean? How
do you convey that? And it might... it's different things for different people isn't it?
Fliss (31:29)
Hmm, yeah, yeah. I'm really interested in understanding more about that partnership with your clients, because I guess you have shared values with a lot of your clients, and I know that you've kind of got clients who have families and stuff as well. So how did you figure that out? Or is that something that you feel just came naturally to you?
Lucy (31:41)
Yeah.
Yeah, I think a lot of it has come quite naturally. One of my clients runs a platform for freelance parents. And I suppose as a freelance parent, we just got chatting on like Instagram DMs. And then eventually she said, I think I need your help. So that was really like lovely and organic and a bit of a dream really like I hadn't.
I wasn't having these conversations as a way of working together, it was just a genuine like, oh, have you seen this thing? Well, this made me laugh, I thought you might, you know, like a friendship for want of a better word. And then other clients, I suppose, like referrals and things. A lot of my clients are parents, or work with like one of my other clients is a Montessori practitioner.
that's kind of come like but she is a friend of a friend so I think there's just a lot of kind of yeah referrals or ⁓
Some clients I've worked with for a long time and they've gone through like different iterations of their teams but I've still sort of stayed a part of that which I really like. For me with clients it is that kind of discussion around like what are we, what are we trying to say this week, month, whatever, and building stuff that kind of tells that story.
Fliss (33:30)
Mmm.
Lucy (33:31)
And you can't do that on your own. Like that's got to be a joint thing, you know, we've got to work it out together. And, know, my clients now are all great and they all kind of really get the thing that, you know, we work together and we're working to this like joint, not joint, that's another word. We're working together towards this big goal. And some of my clients have quite lofty ambitions.
Fliss (33:56)
Hmm.
Lucy (34:01)
which are like so exciting to be a part of, whether that is reducing loneliness in the freelance parent community, or if it's one of my clients works in the birth trauma space. So there's a lot of work there on trauma-informed, compassionate care for women and birthing people. like, what an honor.
Fliss (34:14)
Mm-hmm.
Lucy (34:23)
to get to be a part of that team that's making a difference. Like honestly, I pinch myself that like that's part of my job that I get to do that. And there's so many others that are doing so many brilliant things and it's just, there's a sense of like alignment there in terms of what they do, but also who they are and how they're doing it. I've definitely had experiences in the past where those things haven't quite linked.
Fliss (34:40)
Mmm.
Lucy (34:52)
And I think for me that's where I know they're maybe not quite the right fit for me.
Fliss (34:58)
Yeah, yeah. What an absolute joy to be able to just love your job and get so much from it. Aren't we lucky?
Lucy (35:06)
Yeah, yeah.
And we are so lucky. The amount of like, Sunday scaries I used to have in other roles compared to now, like, the control of being able to say, actually, I'm going to focus on this thing today, or, you know, I'm in charge of my own diary, my own, like, my own stuff, and that appeals to me, like, greatly.
Fliss (35:14)
Yeah.
Lucy (35:36)
⁓ and I can't imagine... I hadn't imagined that, I would ever feel like that about work. I definitely was the sort of person who, like, like, lived to work, you know, I always liked my job. But I think there's something different about the one that being the one that's in control, getting to, like, make the decisions and...
Fliss (35:53)
Yeah.
Lucy (36:05)
So this is what I want to do. isn't quite right or whatever that might be. Absolutely not.
Fliss (36:08)
Yeah.
my God, it's so, when you start doing that, it's so freeing, isn't it? Yeah.
Lucy (36:17)
Yeah, it's a big learning
process though, think, to tell yourself that it's okay, that it might not work out and not feel kind of like, it has to, because I won't get any of the clients. Like you absolutely will, because there's always another client around the corner.
Fliss (36:34)
always another client and actually what I feel like you've done is you put yourself out there as you and that's attracted the right clients that actually really fit you. you, ⁓ did you find that the clients that weren't right for you, did they kind of impact on your life outside of work in any way or is that why they weren't necessarily right?
Lucy (36:55)
Yeah, I think ⁓ my aim has always been to try and be as much of myself as I can be and that has absolutely been a work in progress and I think will always be a work in progress. You know, I think we all, maybe I'm putting words in your mouth there, but I definitely worry about like, am I too much? Am I not enough? Should I be doing more of this? Should we be doing less of that? But when I've had difficult situations with clients in the past, I've definitely...
I take it all very much to heart, you know, like I love that I get to do this and I want to feel that joyful, you know, feeling every, you know, maybe not every day, but as much as I can of like, this is the right thing for me. And so when it's out of kilter like that, it definitely does, like I'm, you know, I'll worry about it on an evening. I'll be chatting to...
Fliss (37:51)
you
Lucy (37:52)
husband about it, it will take up brain space when you know other clients who are simple to work with and easy and straightforward just don't, you know, it's just not a thing. Whereas yeah when it's trickier I'm an over thinker so I'm doing that you know. And I think sort of lately
Fliss (38:15)
Yeah, yeah.
Lucy (38:20)
I think my business has gone through a bit of a shift and I've sort of been looking at my website and things like that and it's not quite where I want, you know, what I think I'm doing. I don't think they talk to each other, you know, they speak in different languages for want of a better like analogy. And I would like to kind of focus on that a bit more. That's kind of my next thing.
Fliss (38:33)
Yeah. Yeah.
Lucy (38:47)
is to make sure that what I'm putting out there actually just reflect what I want it to.
Fliss (38:48)
Hmm.
Yeah, I think our businesses evolve every two to three years. People might be listening to this going, my God. But we change as people every couple of, you know, we've got new experiences, our lives change, different things are going on. And you've already said that you started out and you Lucy Critchley, VA, and now you're Untold Creative. So like, tell me about this evolution and have you known when you needed to evolve it?
Lucy (38:59)
Mmm. Yeah.
Yeah.
Fliss (39:22)
has it kind of slapped you in face?
Lucy (39:24)
Yeah, yeah a bit of both really. think
quite quickly when I was a VA I had associates so I had people to work with me to complete client work and things and I really liked having a team, had some excellent associates and one of them still works with me now. She's called Caitlin and she lives in Wales, she's brilliant and she's been part of team, team untold for...
Where will we be now? About three and a half years. So she's been with me for a long time and I'm forever grateful to her. She's just excellent. Whereas I think in terms of like how the business has moved along, was sort of working with, I had maybe like a team of six at one point and it sort of, things changed and there was more work that maybe I...
was getting more work that I was better suited for perhaps, so I took some of that on myself and then I have Caitlin still and I have two podcast editors that I work with. One is my husband, so that's nice and easy. And the other one is a person called Elliot, who's fab. And we've sort of worked together on and off for the past couple of years. And that's been really good. But we're sort of at this point,
When it became Untold Creative, I kind of knew that I wasn't, the business wasn't just me and it therefore didn't feel fair to call it Lucy Critchley VA when I one didn't think I was a virtual assistant anymore. I also, it wasn't just me. So I worked with a branding expert called Julia. She runs a business called This Is Be Creative and we talked through kind of the branding.
side of things, what I wanted, and she helped me come up with Untold. Her handiwork is all over my social media and things. She created my logo, she helped me think about who it was that I wanted to work with and what sort of things I wanted to do for them, how I wanted people to feel when they worked with me, and I was naive I suppose in the run-up to that. I hadn't really thought about
Fliss (41:42)
you
Lucy (41:52)
those questions you know and so that was probably two years in when I rebranded and then I definitely have felt like in the past maybe six months to a year like a bit of a itch like something's gonna I want something to change but I couldn't figure out what it was you know when it's like on the tip of your tongue but you can't the words out
Fliss (42:21)
Yeah.
Lucy (42:21)
It's been, it's been feeling like that. and I think what's been important is for me to sit down and think about what I like about working with my clients, what's good, what kind of ties us all together. So I'm working at the moment on like how I re position what we do. I don't think any of it will actually change in that way in terms of like the services and things.
Fliss (42:34)
No.
Lucy (42:51)
But I've come to notice, like I said earlier, that a lot of my clients have this big mission that they are trying to accomplish this thing that they're trying to achieve. And I absolutely love being a part of helping them ⁓ vocalize that and make steps to achieving that through socials, podcasts, newsletters, whatever, mentoring.
Fliss (43:11)
you
Lucy (43:21)
And I really love it. And that's the kind of, it's that like next step, I think. But currently my marketing, well not my marketing, my website and my socials. My social is probably more that way, but my website is not. So that's my next step into kind of like, you know, making it meet in the right place.
Fliss (43:27)
Yeah.
Hehehehe
Yeah, I think you go, you slowly refine and refine and you kind of like, ⁓ not necessarily, I hate the word niche, but like kind of see kind of commonalities, I think. We'll use that. There's, there we go. That's the word, commonalities through things. And over time, when you've been working with clients and things shift a little bit, you kind of realize, ⁓ actually, yeah, I see it now. And ⁓ I love that your business name, Untold.
Lucy (43:47)
Mm.
Yeah.
Fliss (44:14)
just says so much about what you do. It's absolutely so perfect.
Lucy (44:20)
thank you. It was one of those. Julia and I were chatting for ages about names. She was brilliant at coming up with loads of different options. At first, we were talking more about like podcast production company kind of names that were more specifically like audio and whatever else. ⁓ But I didn't want to pigeonhole myself into that kind of world.
Fliss (44:26)
Yeah. Yeah.
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Hmm. Hmm.
Lucy (44:50)
we've kind of broadened it out and I suppose one of the things with clients quite a lot of the time is that they have all this stuff that they want to say that they want to get out there but they haven't been able to do that for whatever reason lack of time confidence ⁓ budget even you know whatever that might be ⁓ and so when they come to us if we get to work together and like figure out what those things are and like take that off their
plate and give them that space to really think about it. That is just so cool. As if we get to help people with that. That's just great.
Fliss (45:30)
Yeah, it's really cool. It means so much. And I feel like even with your refinement of your brand, it means even more with businesses with a purpose as well. Isn't it weird though how names just, you can struggle and struggle and struggle with a name and then all of a sudden it comes from a conversation.
Lucy (45:40)
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, I'm not, I think it was because, do remember that app? Oh gosh, that app that was, it was like Unfold and it was like a Instagram-y, designer-y type app. I was like, oh, Unfold sounds quite cool. And then obviously I realised, I was like, why does that sound familiar? And then Julia said, what about Untold? I was like, there it is. Like, I didn't even, I think, I didn't even like.
Fliss (45:56)
Yeah, yeah.
Mmm.
Lucy (46:19)
quite fast when I'm in an email conversation with someone, know, I'm replying, replying, replying. She literally sent that email and I was like, right, I'm going to secure the domain, I've got to do all these things. And that all just, like, it was a quick thing, you know, ⁓ when you know, know, and it was the right fit.
Fliss (46:41)
⁓ my god, yeah.
Yeah, mine came from a frustrating day at work. That's the one. Yeah, it's just amazing, but you've got to talk about it. You've got to talk it out all the time having it to get it. Yeah. Yeah.
Lucy (46:46)
Yeah! ⁓
Yeah, absolutely. I don't
think I would have done that by myself. I needed her to have these, you know, ask these questions and bring that out of me because I probably wouldn't have gotten there without her support.
Fliss (47:12)
I have learned so much from our conversation today. ⁓ I think the biggest thing that I'm gonna take away, which I know, but we all often forget this, is make things as simple as possible for yourself. Yeah. And ⁓ play to your strengths. And I think what's also really interesting is like...
Lucy (47:28)
Absolutely.
Fliss (47:38)
You started out as a VA but people would outsource to VA's and you don't do everything in your business now so you're obviously playing to your strengths in your business and I was chatting to a client this morning, she was like, I know I've got to do some things that I don't do. You don't have to, you don't have to, you can outsource or you could just not do it. Try wherever, I mean sometimes you have to do your bookkeeping stuff but ⁓ play to your strengths so I'm absolutely taking those two things away.
Lucy (47:47)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Fliss (48:07)
I've got a lot to think about on that. Thank you. This is why love these chats, I get so much from it myself. I would love to know a couple of things before we finish. In your experience, what is the biggest barrier to somebody doing things their way?
Lucy (48:12)
Happy to help!
Okay.
say this without sounding really blunt but I think it's like getting over yourself. think it's that. Years ago when I worked in the presenteeism production company there was a brilliant podcaster called Helen Zoltzman and she still makes loads of podcasts to this day but she came in and she was talking about how to get started making your own podcast. This was like
Fliss (48:36)
Do it.
Ha ha ha ha!
Lucy (49:03)
way before serial. And she, someone asked like how do I, what's the best advice to get started? And she was like, just start, like just starting it. And it comes, like we see this a lot in like mentoring as well, like doing is better than perfect, just give it a go, get, like just do it, for want of a better word. And I think often we can feel like,
Fliss (49:14)
Mm.
Yes.
Lucy (49:33)
what we see on Instagram or what we can see on LinkedIn or wherever. Even in person at networking events and things we compare ourselves to other people. I still do it, I'm like not, you know, I'm not fully healed from that by any stretch. But I think just realising that what we've got, even if it's totally different to the other people, like it's okay. And there is always someone out there who will...
Fliss (49:58)
Mmm. Mmm.
Lucy (50:03)
you know, appreciate what you've got to bring to the table. So hiding, what's the term? Hiding your light under a bushel, Keeping it quiet isn't going to get you in front of those people. So like, be yourself and feel confident in who you are. I think that's probably the thing that stops people from from doing it. It's like being anxious and nervous about what other people might think. But like...
Fliss (50:13)
Something like that,
Lucy (50:34)
just do it, give it a go. When I started my business, I didn't tell my family or my friends or anything, I just did it because I didn't want to worry about being like, what are you doing? she can't do that. You know, all that external noise, I just did it and that was one of the best things I ever did.
Fliss (50:36)
Yeah, JFDI.
Yeah, yeah.
my god, I, yeah, I love to, ⁓ I've got so much done this year from embracing messy action. Alice Benham talks a lot about messy action and I have really got so much done this year. And this, what we're doing now is part of that because when I did my first private podcast, I worked with you and I I would never get it done if I was just doing it on my own. was like, right, I want to do it. I'm going to get Lucy's help.
Lucy (51:01)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Fliss (51:19)
And so we never have happened. And then that's obviously led to where we are today. And I probably still would be worrying about doing this if I hadn't have just gone, right, I'm just doing it. So there's so much in that. ⁓ yes. And so what's one thing that's really helped you to do your thing?
Lucy (51:21)
Yeah, yeah.
Mm-hmm. That's it.
A good community, having great people around me, whether that's like pals that I've made from starting my business, my family, you know, having people that cheerlead for you and mention your name in rooms, put you forward for things. I always love like connecting people together. You know, if somebody says I'm looking for this.
Fliss (51:41)
Mm-hmm.
Lucy (52:07)
I would always be like racking my brains for do I know anyone that can do that? Can I help? And when like my name is the one that, you know, in other situations, if people recommend me like that, it's just ace, isn't it? So I always think that kind of having the right kind of people around you that support you and that want the best for you is just the way. And I feel like
self-employed community, they really do that. Like when you have the right pals they absolutely look out for you because they all understand what it's like to be self-employed and to do this thing. You know it's not always super straightforward but there's always someone that will understand what you're going through and that's really just all you can ask for really.
Fliss (52:58)
Yeah, yeah.
I totally agree. Get people around you who can help you laugh at the things that go horribly wrong. It really is. After you've cried, obviously. Oh, what a great way to end. Lucy, thank you so much. Where can people find you? Because I'm sure they would love to hear from you even more.
Lucy (53:08)
Exactly! ⁓ yes please, that's what you need.
you've had to cry, and then you can have a laugh about it.
⁓ thank you. tend to hang out mostly on Instagram. My Instagram account is untold.creative. ⁓ I'm on LinkedIn as Lucy Critchley. And then my website, which is in dire need of an update, is untold-creative.com.
Fliss (53:49)
Amazing, thanks so much Lucy.
Lucy (53:52)
Pleasure
If you enjoyed this podcast, please rate, review and subscribe with the podcast provider of your choice Leave a message in the comments on Spotify, or leave us an Apple Review.