If you were with me live, you already know this one was different. No script, no teleprompter - just my handwritten piece of paper I’ve been adding to since my last review and a decision to talk you through it exactly as it happened.
For everyone who couldn’t make it, or wants the numbers to sit alongside the story: here’s the full debrief:
Where I started…
When I did my first 90-day review back in July, I was sitting around 440 subscribers and that felt like such a huge achievement. Every one of those subscribers is a real person saying yes to hearing from me. I will never lose sight of that, no matter what the numbers do next…
From there, I set myself a sequence of small, intentional goals rather than taking the fast track to burnout:
Focus on Notes until I hit 500 subscribers. I’d spent years starting things and getting distracted - shiny object syndrome - chasing the next idea before finishing the last one. So I made one promise: Post an intention every single day. That daily habit became the whole strategy. No overthinking, just being more spontaneous… seeing something on a walk with Cooper, take the photo, post it, keep moving.
Turn on the community chat at 500 subscribers. I chose not to do this before, because I didn’t quite understand it yet and didn’t want to add complexity before I had the capacity for it. At 500, something switched on - subscriber growth went from steady to 25, then 30, then 50 a day. Being intentional about where I focused my energy is, I think, the whole lesson of this phase.
Move from free to a paid tier that offers real value. One built on workshops, templates and the education from twenty years as a entrepreneur - delivered in a way that never felt salesy, spammy or too loud.
And then, on my birthday - the 8th of the 8th - I did the thing that changed everything…
The Substack Live Series: Starting From Zero
I took a leap of faith and launched a Live Series named after my publication: eight inspiring women, eight Starting From Zero stories, over eight sessions. Corporate-to-entrepreneur pivots. Moving across the world to start again. Health journeys that rerouted entire careers. Conversations about building community on Substack itself.
I handpicked every guest carefully… for the conversation to flow and honestly, for it to feel safe. You want to know the audience will get real value and that you’ll genuinely vibe with the person across from you.
One tip I implemented here was to guide the guest at every stage - even doing a Zoom 15 minutes before going live to ensure everything connected smoothly. Just the two of us, settling our nerves, walking through the Substack Live software if it was their first time, checking the sound and the camera. That fifteen minutes of preparation is, I think, why every single one of those conversations felt easy once we went live.
[Link each Series 1 episode here — Ellen Newhouse, Julie Marvel, Sinem Günel, Jennifer Villasante, and the rest — as you publish this]
The real numbers (audited, not vibes)
Here’s where the story and the data meet.
Profile totals, as of today:
1,400+ subscribers - up from 408 on July 10, roughly +990 in seven weeks
2,100+ followers
$2,156.58 Gross ARR from the paid tier’s first month
August grew nearly 3× faster than July and I know that’s not a coincidence. Every Live, every article, every subscribe link embedded in a guest conversation compounded on the last.
The note that changed the month:
72,729 Impressions
8,131 Likes
129 Comments
780 Restacks
156 New Subscribers, traced directly to that one note
I’ve genuinely never had anything go “viral” before… not on Instagram, not anywhere - and I want to be honest, I never chased it. But when 72,000 people see something you believe in enough to post - it definitely gives you a confidence boost and wave of excitement.
The record I didn’t know I’d set: going back through everything since April, I found my actual best-performing note wasn’t in August at all. It was July 25 - a text note about finding your people on Substack - which brought in 313 subscribers, more than double the August note. I’d never have known if I hadn’t gone looking. That alone is the argument for doing this every month instead of every quarter.
The insight that’s changing how I write: photo notes get roughly 3× the views of text notes. But text notes - the honest ones, about belonging and being understood - convert 6 to 8 times better per like. Photos get you seen. Words get you trusted. I’m using both, on purpose, instead of picking one.
Best days, updated: Weekends and Mondays now outperform everything else - 3.4 subscribers per note, nearly 5× the spring average. That’s a shift from my Edition No. 01 pattern of Tuesday and Saturday, and it’s exactly why I check this monthly instead of assuming last quarter’s pattern still holds.
I firmly believe that this is a great BIG experiment.
Tips & Takeaways, if you’re building on Substack too
Consistency:
Pick one focus at a time. Mine was daily Notes until 500 subscribers - one thing until it’s second nature.
Don’t overthink it. See something, feel something, post it. The unpolished ones consistently outperform the precious ones.
Growth:
Photo and quote-style notes reliably win reach. If you’re currently only posting text, try a caption-free image note - it’s restackable in a way text rarely is.
Text notes about identity and belonging win conversion. Use both formats on purpose, not by accident.
Celebrate milestones publicly. Let people be your cheerleaders - it isn’t bragging, it’s sharing awareness as your community don’t know what they don’t know.
Your best days are personal. Mine are weekends and Mondays now. Check your own data monthly; don’t assume last season’s pattern still holds.
Managing the inbox and your own energy:
Set up a dedicated email address just for your Substack subscriptions. I didn’t and my main inbox filled up fast.
Follow first, subscribe second. Don’t Oprah-hand out free subscriptions to everyone you meet - it adds noise that competes with your own focus. Get to know the content first, then subscribe with intention.
If you’re new here: not every Substack is paid. I genuinely thought this at the start and paid $80 out of confusion. Follow, read for free, then decide if paid is worth it to you.
Be ready before you switch anything on. Comments, replies, DM’s - they don’t stop when the article goes up, they start. Block time afterward, not just before.
Watch for burnout. It’s addictive to watch the numbers climb in real time. If you notice you’ve been refreshing too long, put the phone down and go for a walk. This is meant to be sustainable, not consuming.
Collaboration:
If you’re inviting guests onto a Live, hold a private prep call first. It’s the single biggest thing that made every one of my eight conversations feel calm instead of nerve-wracking.
Repurpose everything: the Substack Live becomes a video, the video becomes an article, the article becomes clips and if you credit your guest well, it becomes their content too, doubling the reach for free.
What’s now open inside the paid tier
The vision was always: every month, one genuinely valuable workshop lands inside paid - something you could use to build your own Live Series, or simply to build the confidence to hit “go live” for the first time.
The first one, Create Your Own Substack Live Series, is live now. Guest selection, structure, the private pre-call I mentioned above, the technical setup nobody warns you about, and how to promote a Live so people actually show up.
As part of my own launch campaign, I also included something special: for three days only, I offered a bonus $375 one-to-one strategy call to anyone who joined paid within that window. Eighteen people said yes.
That’s because it was a genuine, time-bound way for the women who wanted to go deeper to do exactly that, alongside me.
(That particular three-day window has closed - but if you’re reading this and want to know what’s currently open, ask me directly or check the paid tier page.)
What’s Next
For September and into October, I’m turning toward recommendations. Reaching out to the new connection I’ve been building here.
Reciprocal recommendations on our profiles. It’s one of the most underused corners of Substack and I think it’s about to become my next real lever for growth. I’ll walk through exactly how in next month’s review.
If you were with me live, you already know this one was different. No script, no teleprompter - just my handwritten piece of paper I’ve been adding to since my last review and a decision to talk you through it exactly as it happened.
For everyone who couldn’t make it, or wants the numbers to sit alongside the story: here’s the full debrief:
Where I started…
When I did my first 90-day review back in July, I was sitting around 440 subscribers and that felt like such a huge achievement. Every one of those subscribers is a real person saying yes to hearing from me. I will never lose sight of that, no matter what the numbers do next…
From there, I set myself a sequence of small, intentional goals rather than taking the fast track to burnout:
Focus on Notes until I hit 500 subscribers. I’d spent years starting things and getting distracted - shiny object syndrome - chasing the next idea before finishing the last one. So I made one promise: Post an intention every single day. That daily habit became the whole strategy. No overthinking, just being more spontaneous… seeing something on a walk with Cooper, take the photo, post it, keep moving.
Turn on the community chat at 500 subscribers. I chose not to do this before, because I didn’t quite understand it yet and didn’t want to add complexity before I had the capacity for it. At 500, something switched on - subscriber growth went from steady to 25, then 30, then 50 a day. Being intentional about where I focused my energy is, I think, the whole lesson of this phase.
Move from free to a paid tier that offers real value. One built on workshops, templates and the education from twenty years as a entrepreneur - delivered in a way that never felt salesy, spammy or too loud.
And then, on my birthday - the 8th of the 8th - I did the thing that changed everything…
The Substack Live Series: Starting From Zero
I took a leap of faith and launched a Live Series named after my publication: eight inspiring women, eight Starting From Zero stories, over eight sessions. Corporate-to-entrepreneur pivots. Moving across the world to start again. Health journeys that rerouted entire careers. Conversations about building community on Substack itself.
I handpicked every guest carefully… for the conversation to flow and honestly, for it to feel safe. You want to know the audience will get real value and that you’ll genuinely vibe with the person across from you.
One tip I implemented here was to guide the guest at every stage - even doing a Zoom 15 minutes before going live to ensure everything connected smoothly. Just the two of us, settling our nerves, walking through the Substack Live software if it was their first time, checking the sound and the camera. That fifteen minutes of preparation is, I think, why every single one of those conversations felt easy once we went live.
[Link each Series 1 episode here — Ellen Newhouse, Julie Marvel, Sinem Günel, Jennifer Villasante, and the rest — as you publish this]
The real numbers (audited, not vibes)
Here’s where the story and the data meet.
Profile totals, as of today:
1,400+ subscribers - up from 408 on July 10, roughly +990 in seven weeks
2,100+ followers
$2,156.58 Gross ARR from the paid tier’s first month
August grew nearly 3× faster than July and I know that’s not a coincidence. Every Live, every article, every subscribe link embedded in a guest conversation compounded on the last.
The note that changed the month:
72,729 Impressions
8,131 Likes
129 Comments
780 Restacks
156 New Subscribers, traced directly to that one note
I’ve genuinely never had anything go “viral” before… not on Instagram, not anywhere - and I want to be honest, I never chased it. But when 72,000 people see something you believe in enough to post - it definitely gives you a confidence boost and wave of excitement.
The record I didn’t know I’d set: going back through everything since April, I found my actual best-performing note wasn’t in August at all. It was July 25 - a text note about finding your people on Substack - which brought in 313 subscribers, more than double the August note. I’d never have known if I hadn’t gone looking. That alone is the argument for doing this every month instead of every quarter.
The insight that’s changing how I write: photo notes get roughly 3× the views of text notes. But text notes - the honest ones, about belonging and being understood - convert 6 to 8 times better per like. Photos get you seen. Words get you trusted. I’m using both, on purpose, instead of picking one.
Best days, updated: Weekends and Mondays now outperform everything else - 3.4 subscribers per note, nearly 5× the spring average. That’s a shift from my Edition No. 01 pattern of Tuesday and Saturday, and it’s exactly why I check this monthly instead of assuming last quarter’s pattern still holds.
I firmly believe that this is a great BIG experiment.
Tips & Takeaways, if you’re building on Substack too
Consistency:
Pick one focus at a time. Mine was daily Notes until 500 subscribers - one thing until it’s second nature.
Don’t overthink it. See something, feel something, post it. The unpolished ones consistently outperform the precious ones.
Growth:
Photo and quote-style notes reliably win reach. If you’re currently only posting text, try a caption-free image note - it’s restackable in a way text rarely is.
Text notes about identity and belonging win conversion. Use both formats on purpose, not by accident.
Celebrate milestones publicly. Let people be your cheerleaders - it isn’t bragging, it’s sharing awareness as your community don’t know what they don’t know.
Your best days are personal. Mine are weekends and Mondays now. Check your own data monthly; don’t assume last season’s pattern still holds.
Managing the inbox and your own energy:
Set up a dedicated email address just for your Substack subscriptions. I didn’t and my main inbox filled up fast.
Follow first, subscribe second. Don’t Oprah-hand out free subscriptions to everyone you meet - it adds noise that competes with your own focus. Get to know the content first, then subscribe with intention.
If you’re new here: not every Substack is paid. I genuinely thought this at the start and paid $80 out of confusion. Follow, read for free, then decide if paid is worth it to you.
Be ready before you switch anything on. Comments, replies, DM’s - they don’t stop when the article goes up, they start. Block time afterward, not just before.
Watch for burnout. It’s addictive to watch the numbers climb in real time. If you notice you’ve been refreshing too long, put the phone down and go for a walk. This is meant to be sustainable, not consuming.
Collaboration:
If you’re inviting guests onto a Live, hold a private prep call first. It’s the single biggest thing that made every one of my eight conversations feel calm instead of nerve-wracking.
Repurpose everything: the Substack Live becomes a video, the video becomes an article, the article becomes clips and if you credit your guest well, it becomes their content too, doubling the reach for free.
What’s now open inside the paid tier
The vision was always: every month, one genuinely valuable workshop lands inside paid - something you could use to build your own Live Series, or simply to build the confidence to hit “go live” for the first time.
The first one, Create Your Own Substack Live Series, is live now. Guest selection, structure, the private pre-call I mentioned above, the technical setup nobody warns you about, and how to promote a Live so people actually show up.
As part of my own launch campaign, I also included something special: for three days only, I offered a bonus $375 one-to-one strategy call to anyone who joined paid within that window. Eighteen people said yes.
That’s because it was a genuine, time-bound way for the women who wanted to go deeper to do exactly that, alongside me.
(That particular three-day window has closed - but if you’re reading this and want to know what’s currently open, ask me directly or check the paid tier page.)
Before you go
If this was useful, and you enjoyed the 90-day review before it subscribe, so you’re here for Edition No. 03 on October 1st. If you’ve been curious about going live yourself, the workshop is open now inside paid.
No pressure, no hustle, no expectation. Just keep doing the version of this that feels aligned and sustainable for you - the people who are meant to find you will find you.
Thank you for spending this time with me. I’ll see you October 1st. 🤍
From my heart to yours,
Starting From Zero has honest conversations about what it really takes to build a business, community and life that actually supports you in every season.
Talk Topics Include:
Build out loud - Sharing the real behind-the-scenes of creating a business, community and home on Substack, so you feel inspired to begin or grow your own.
Show up as the woman you’re becoming - with consistency, courage and self-trust, even when life feels messy or uncertain.
Build meaningful community - so the right people can find you, connect with your work, trust you and choose to stay.
Take intentional action - towards the business, visibility, income and life you know you are worthy of creating.
Free For Everyone
Start here if you would like to receive public posts, selected guidance and access to the Intentional Conversations.
✔ The Articles - Honest insights and reflections, once a month.
✔ A Daily Intention in Notes - Small prompts that keep you moving.
✔ Intentional Conversations - Live conversations about Starting From Zero and Redefining Success.
Become A Monthly Paid Subscriber - $8
If you want premium content and closer access to my best work.
✔ The Editor’s Letter - One deep-dive article every month that highlights the live interviews, insights and the honest take-aways of nurturing a sustainable business and lifestyle.
✔ A Daily Intention in Notes - Small prompts that keep you moving.
✔ Intentional Conversations - Live conversations about Starting From Zero and Redefining Success.
✔ The Annual Vision Board Workshop - A guided session to map the year ahead with intention. Takes place every January.
Annual Membership Special - $80
Pay Annually & Unlock Bonus Content:
✔ The Substack Live Series “How-To Workshop” - Join The Workshop on September 1 Learn how to create your own Substack Live Series. Includes a 30-day, step-by-step roadmap to create, launch and confidently host your own Substack Live interview series - complete with my guest outreach scripts, design templates, interview framework, promotion plan, behind-the-scenes process and everything I learned creating Starting From Zero.
✔ Exclusive Perks - Access the Substack Brand Kit Canva Templates + all new Perks added weekly.
✔ Quarterly Workshops - 4 x Members-only live workshops from dedicated Wellness Experts & Special Guests + all new themed workshops.
✔ Private Networking Sessions - Quarterly Substack Social, Annual-members-only Zoom to learn, connect, collaborate and meet other women doing great things.
✔ 10% off working with me 1:1 - When you’re ready for hands-on, strategic support, your subscriber discount applies to a Power Session.
★ LIMITED TIME OFFER ★
Upgrade to Annual Membership by Aug 22 and receive a 30min, 1:1 Strategy Call Worth $375.
