Tired of sounding like everyone else on the internet?
Eleanor Mollie (aka Ellie Kime) is here to stage a full-blown messaging intervention. This episode is a joyful roast of the cool-girl copy era and your permission slip to ditch the corporate-speak, bring the weird, and actually enjoy talking about your business again.
We’re diving into what makes a truly magnetic brand intro, why enthusiasm is a power move, and how to show up online with an authentic voice… even if your inner critic is yelling “too much!” at every turn.
Plus: tea-making controversies, grandma-approved branding advice, and a spicy take on about pages that I am very much here for.
Before we could dive into the good stuff, Ellie had to audition for the show with three things that qualify her as a freak:
The milk-first thing sparked a whole debate about whether it actually matters (conclusion: it doesn't, unless you're making tea in fine China from the 1800s).
Her boyfriend's grandfather takes it even further — he eats dessert on the same plate as his main course to save water. His logic? Everything winds up in the same stomach anyway. We're not sure we agree with bypassing the whole taste buds argument, but we respect the commitment.
When you start a business, you begin with so much enthusiasm. It's new, it's shiny, it's your little baby that you just created and want to show the world.
But somewhere along the line, that light starts to dim.
Ellie thinks it's because we get bogged down in the 'shoulds'. We start consuming content about funnels and growth hacks and "how to get 1,000 followers in two minutes," and we forget why we started in the first place.
Then there's the whole "cool girl marketing" vibe that's dominated the online space — all beige, minimal, and carefully curated to look effortless. There's been this cultural pressure to dim yourself down so you're taken seriously, to not be too much, to keep things professional.
But enthusiasm is contagious. When you're genuinely invested in your business and having fun with it, your audience picks up on that energy. It shows up in discovery calls, in the way you talk about your services, in everything you create.
As Ellie put it:
"The more enthusiastic you can allow yourself to be, the more enjoyable business will feel. And then probably the better business will go as well because you're putting less pressure on it and you're actually following your heart with it."
One of the biggest fears people have about showing enthusiasm is that they'll come across as childish or unprofessional.
But there's a difference between childish and childlike.
Childish is acting like a child. Childlike is doing something that evokes childhood — like pursuing joy without worrying about all the stresses of the world.
If you told someone, "I'm going to do something that brings me loads of joy without overthinking it," they'd probably ask what you're planning to do, not judge you for it. That's essentially what we did as children (if we were lucky enough to have that freedom).
The problem is, we've been socialised to tone it down. British culture discourages enthusiasm. Creative work lacks external validation (there's no certificate that says "well done, you passed at branding today"). And if you've been socialized as a woman, society has spent your entire life telling you to be smaller and quieter.
When someone online criticises your enthusiasm, Ellie suggests interrogating that comment. Usually, it boils down to: "I wasn't allowed to do this, so you shouldn't be either." Or "This is embarrassing" — but if you chose to do it publicly, you're not embarrassed. That's a them problem, not a you problem.
There will always be tasks in business that we don't love. Taxes, invoices, admin work — it comes with the territory.
But you chose to be self-employed. You get to design your days. And if you're not building in things that genuinely excite you, what's the point?
Ellie's bigger why is helping people be more themselves — unabashedly, unapologetically, and unashamedly. That makes the annoying tasks worth it because they're in service of something she deeply cares about.
For me, I used to reward myself while studying my most hated subject in school by placing a square of chocolate at the end of each chapter. Same energy applies here: find the thing that motivates you to get through the boring stuff, because there will always be boring stuff.
Showing personality online doesn't mean you have to share everything.
You don't need to post your medical diagnoses, your family members' names, your postal address, or every vulnerable thing you've ever experienced. There's a middle ground between showing more personality and maintaining boundaries.
Ellie gave an example from her own life —she was quite ill a couple of years ago and alluded to it online, but never really spoke about it in detail. It would have been coming from the wound, not the scar. Having restrictions can actually help you show up more confidently because you have guidelines to work within.
We all wear different masks depending on who we're with. There's how you are with family, how you are with close friends, and how you are when you're completely alone. None of these versions is more "real" than the others — they're all you, just different facets.
The key is figuring out which version of yourself feels right for your business. And it doesn't have to be the same version you'd use when talking to your partner versus when talking to an investor (though imagine that conversation).
Ellie breaks down a good brand intro into three essential elements:
A good intro doesn't need to follow a rigid template. It can be done in a couple of sentences. But it should give people an impression of all three elements.
When the standard advice is to "be consistent and repeat the same five things," how do you navigate major pivots?
Ellie's been through this herself — she started as a wedding industry copywriter, then became a general copywriter, and now focuses on messaging. Each shift felt huge internally, even if the outside world saw more continuity than she did.
The key is finding the red thread that pulls everything together. If you feel like you do disparate things, there's something connecting them all — you're the one doing them, after all. For Ellie, the wedding industry taught her how to work with clients whose services aren't necessities, which translates directly into helping service providers explain their value now.
When you rebrand or launch something new, repetition is crucial. You post about it once and think everyone will immediately understand the shift. But some of Ellie's best friends still ask about The Wedding Enthusiast (her old business name), three years after she changed it.
I experienced this too when I rebranded from Eva Couto Design to Flying Colours Creative®. In my brain, it was a light evolution. In reality, I'd essentially launched a new business — new name, new website, new colours, new offers, new prices. My partner had to be the one to point out that of course it was going to take time to build momentum again.
Here's Ellie's spiciest take: your about page should actually be about you.
I know. Groundbreaking.
But seriously — there's been this trend of making every single page on your website about your client, which has bred a generation of generic about pages that read exactly like “Work With Me” pages but less exciting.
Your entire website is for your client. Otherwise, what's the point of having a website? But your about page is where people want to know who they're spending money with.
When people argue "no one wants to read about you," Ellie calls bullshit. She once listened to a physics student talk about his dissertation for 40 minutes at a house party — she hates physics, wasn't flirting with him, but was genuinely thrilled for his enthusiasm.
Whatever you have to say, someone will probably love hearing it.
The biggest takeaway here is: allow yourself to be more enthusiastic in life and in your online business.
If this episode reminded you why you started your business in the first place, or gave you permission to turn the enthusiasm dial back up, that's exactly what we were hoping for.
Be enthusiastic. Be yourself. And maybe reconsider what you're putting on your About page!
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This episode was co-produced with Adrienne Cruz.
Messaging Mentor & Copywriter
Over the last 5 years as a Brand & Marketing Designer, I’ve helped freaks like us design their unconventional brands so they can step onto the main stage & own their weird. Because if you wanted to be, look or sound like everyone else, you wouldn’t be where you are today. Now it’s your turn.
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