Not only is this the first blog post I’ve published since the end of January, it’s the first post to appear on my shiny new website. Welcome! Have a look around, settle in and get comfy.

I suspect the main thing you’ll notice is that Love Audrey is no longer ‘just a blog’. I’ve finally transitioned from whispering quietly about what I do for a living to shouting at the top of my voice. It feels like a huge step, but I’m thrilled my blog finally has a purpose within the business it’s helped me build.

I’ve come a long way since Love Audrey launched in 2009, and even further in the six years I’ve been freelance. I can’t wait to start filling this blog with words and pictures again, to tell the kind of stories I want to write, and I hope you’ll want to read.

Creating and launching a new website is no small feat! Here are three things I’ve learned along the way…

  • It’s a Big Investment

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that a fancy new website doesn’t come cheap! Alongside the obvious financial outlay, they require a great deal of time and energy. Even though I’ve supported countless clients through the same process, I still found it hard to juggle working both IN and ON my business at the same time.

Striking the right balance between the two is a constant challenge when you’re self-employed. Rather than spend time building a strong foundation for the future, it’s tempting to focus on things that immediately put money in the bank. The irony is my business model relies on other people prioritising the kind of work I had been neglecting myself!

In the long-run, nurturing your business benefits both you and your clients. Rather than trying to squeeze in the odd task here and there, I found it useful to allocate time in my diary each week, setting aside an entire morning to work on the website. I didn’t want to rush the process but setting a deadline for completion forced me to hold myself accountable and GET SH*T DONE.

  • You Need the Right People for the Job

The last time I commissioned someone to redesign my website was in 2014. Launching almost 4 months later than promised, the process was long and painful. Worse still, I was never completely satisfied with the end result.

I learned a lot from the experience, including how important it is to trust your gut and work with people who care about your project as much as you do. You need someone who ‘gets you’, who understands how much is riding on your success.

This time, having worked alongside Becky Lord Design as a copywriter, I knew she would throw herself into the task at hand, using her knowledge and expertise to create the kind of website I’d been dreaming of. She’s professional, down-to-earth, incredibly stylish and generally fabulous. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her for all your design needs. I also need to give my cousin, Andy, a quick shoutout for his unwavering tech support in the last few weeks!

In terms of copy, you’d think I’d be all set. Turns out, even when you know your way around a keyboard, writing about yourself is hard. I constantly fantasised about outsourcing but accepted it would probably defeat the purpose!

However, writing my own website copy helped me appreciate the value of what I do for other people. I’m a fresh pair of eyes, an objective opinion, a cheerleader and dedicated hype woman. If talking yourself up makes you squirm, find someone who can do it for you without breaking a sweat.

  • Change Is Scary

Even when you know change is absolutely necessary, and essential in order to move forward, it can be terrifying. In the weeks leading up to today’s launch, I’ve found myself feeling more and more nervous about introducing everyone to my new online home. To be honest, I can’t remember the last time I willingly allowed myself to feel so vulnerable.

These fears have been less about how the site will be received, and more about what these changes represent for me and my business. In many ways, up until now I’ve been hiding behind my shoddy online presence. It allowed me to stay ‘small’, both literally and figuratively, minimising my role as a business owner, the value of my work and the impact it has on the lives of others. I excel at downplaying my achievements, and my reluctance to allow my business to take up space online is an extension of this.

Launching this website is the beginning of a new chapter. I’m no longer someone with a blog who does a bit of copywriting, I’m a Copywriter with a capital C! This is how I’ve been living and working for a long time, it’s just taken a while for my website to catch up.

  • Whether you’ve followed for years or stumbled across Love Audrey for the first time today, thank you for being part of my story. Let’s weather these changes together.

Love Audrey xxx

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Love Audrey
3 Things I’ve Learned About Launching a New Website
May in photos 🤳

1. Finally, some Franky weather. One of the best things about this month has been dusting off my summer dresses and being able to wear sandals ☀️

2+3. Coronation weekend. So many thoughts 💭 But the food was good! I made a vegan version of my mum’s famous coronation chicken and it was delicious.

4. Jesse staying upbeat during yet another trip to hospital. That steroid buzz though. IYKYK.

5. Some of the food served at the first meeting of Bristol Cook Book Club since 2020. It felt so good to get this going again. I can’t wait for our next feast!

6. Me among the cow parsley, snapped by Jesse.

7. I’ve been thinking about creativity a lot this month while working through the ‘The Artist’s Way’. 

8. Breakfast outside.

9. {Still} scrapbooking December. Fingers crossed I can finally wrap up this project in June 🤞🏻

10. Izzy’s final show at The Tobacco Factory. After tonight, she’ll be done with college {and compulsory education} forever 🤯

We packed a lot into this month. Enough to fill two carousels! This might explain why I’m so tired! I’m looking forward to June though. Everything’s better when the sun shines ✨
@_charlieswift has been raving about ‘The Artist’s Way’ by Julia Cameron for years. I finally caved, ordered the book and agreed to work through the course with her and some other artists. 

The book focuses on ‘guiding you through the process of recovering your creative self’ to ‘help you unleash your inner artist’. It’s early days {I’ve only read as far as week two and I haven’t even started my morning pages yet - IYKYK}, but I’m enjoying the process so far. 

Today I took myself on my first Artist Date - ‘a block of time… especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist’. I decided to treat myself to a solo cinema trip to see ‘Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.’ The film was brilliant and taking time out midweek to do something just for me felt… kind of naughty? And fun! It definitely filled my creative well {again, IYKYK}.

Have you read ‘The Artist’s Way?’ Where would you go on a date with your inner artist?!
Franky weather ☀️🌅🔆🌻✨

That’s it, that’s the caption.
April in photos 🤳

1. Our trip to London over Easter was a definite highlight this month. Here’s the obligatory ‘flowers outside Liberty’ shot.

2. Finally! Some sunshine! More of the same please, Mr. Weatherman ☀️

3. Dressed for a day of sightseeing in my new favourite pink jacket. It’s Boden and I bought it in the sale 💖

4 + 5. Scenes from a trip to the big Waterstones in Piccadilly. This poem by @charlycox1 floored me. Crying in a bookshop. Not awkward at all.

6. I was proud of these steps, so I’m posting them here for posterity 🚶🏼‍♀️🥄

7. The Easter holidays also featured lots of lazy days 🎮😴

8. We bought a nutribullet and I’m officially in my smoothie era.

9 + 10. Dinner and drinks at @thecoconuttreeuk with our IzzyBee. Taking your daughter out for cocktails is a season of parenting I’m very much enjoying.

Not pictured: a family funeral and the chest infection I’m still getting over 🤒 How was April for you?
Easter weekend in my hometown 💃🏼

No trip to London is long enough for me to see all the people and do all the things I want to do while I’m there, but we always manage to pack a lot in. It’s 17 years since I moved away, but somehow it still feels like coming home. Here’s some of what we got up to…

1. Being tourists.

2. Shopping at Westfield.

3 + 4. Hanging out and eating at Southbank.

5. Refuelling in Chinatown.

6. Enjoying the big Waterstones in Piccadilly.

7. Admiring the spring flowers outside Liberty.

8. Visiting the Imperial War Museum for the first time since I was a child.

9 + 10. Seeing Elton John at the O2 with my mama 👓🎹🎤🪩✨

I hope you’ve managed to enjoy the long weekend, whatever you’ve been up to! That sunshine though!☀️🤩
March in Photos 🤳

1. How it’s going…

2. How it started.

3. My in-laws were involved in a terrible car crash earlier this month. They’re very, very lucky to be alive. It was a horrible time, so I’m grateful there was a happy ending.

4. My husband sent me this photo of a photo from our wedding day while he was visiting his parents. Turns out his mum carries it in her purse ❤️

5. While I was waiting for news from Derby, I took myself out on a walk and ended up in @thesmallcitybookshop. It was like my feet knew books would bring me comfort.

6 + 7. Just spring things.

8. Vegan lemon and almond loaf and a green smoothie from @theorchardcoffeeco 🍰🌱

9. I bought it 🌸

10. Other music? I don’t know her. 

How’s March been treating you? Personally, I’m ready for April and spring PROPER!
There is a past version of me who cannot believe I get to do this every day 💭📝💻

She’s around 12yrs old, working on her first novel in a little ring-bound notebook, dreaming up stories, devouring books and trying to imagine a life filled with words. Everything that makes my business possible now barely existed then, so even she’d struggle to conjure up  an image of what my life looks like now.

I’m grateful that I get to do this, for the clients who trust me to find the right words, and I’m grateful to that past version of me too. Without her, I wouldn’t be here now. Sure, she’d probably want me to hurry up and get back to that novel, but I think she’d be proud of the business I’ve built and the way I’ve managed to create a life filled with words.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
Lockdown memories, three years on 🦠⏳

Very little of my life made it on to the grid in 2020, so this is the first time I’ve shared these images. They’re all from the first lockdown and most were taken between March and May. I think the arrival of spring will always remind me of this strange time.

When Boris made his announcement on the 23rd, our children had already been out of school for a week. Jesse, who was initially deemed clinically vulnerable, spent the next 6m shielding. He left primary school one day not realising he’d never go back. He did not see another child his age until the summer. Like many kids and adults in the same situation, the experience had a deep impact on his mental health. 

Izzy was in Year 10. As the pandemic raged on, she did most of her GCSEs online, celebrated her 16th birthday via Netflix Party, finished secondary school with minimal fanfare and missed out on prom completely. When she finally had a normal night out with friends in the winter of 2021, I cried quietly in the kitchen when she got home. Seeing her so happy and animated after a simple ‘cheeky Nando’s’ only highlighted everything she’d missed out on in the previous 18 months.

It’s easy to forget how little we knew about the virus in the beginning and how frightening that was for everyone involved. We had it easy in comparison to some, but I still marvel at the way we coped with it all. The way we isolated, home schooled and kept our businesses ticking over. My goodness it was hard! As my children often joke, I hope we’re done living through major historical events for a while.