Every founder has a book inside them: a conversation with Amy Warren

Every founder has a book inside them: a conversation with Amy Warren

If you've ever had the idea of writing a book tucked away somewhere in the back of your mind, filed under someday, waiting for the right time, then this conversation might be the nudge you need to dust it off. My guest Amy Warren is the founder of The Writing House and TWH Press, and her journey from solicitor to self-published author to landing a book deal with Penguin is one of those stories that reminds you how much can change when you take that first leap. In this episode, you'll hear: * Amy's journey and the sequence of events that would never have happened if she hadn't taken one small risk * The three things that hold most founders back from writing their book, and a brilliantly simple solution to the biggest one * A new approach to publishing that's quietly disrupting the traditional route and solving a problem no one else has * The unexpected realisation we landed on mid-conversation that changed how we both think about writing and business * And a closing question that might just spark your next idea The big takeaway? You learn how to write a book by writing it, not by waiting until you feel ready, and certainly not by waiting for someday to arrive. Until next time, stay quietly disruptive. ### Connect with Amy Warren: Amy is the founder of The Writing House and TWH Press, helping founders write, finish, and publish the book they've always wanted to write. Website: https://www.thewritinghouse.co.uk/ [https://www.thewritinghouse.co.uk/] TWH Press: https://twhpress.com/ [https://twhpress.com/] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-writing-house/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-writing-house/] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_thewritinghouse [https://www.instagram.com/_thewritinghouse]_ ### Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds. Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else. Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact [https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact] Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo). Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com [https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com]

The 5 non-negotiables that protect everything in my business

Wanting to work differently is one thing but actually holding it is another, and that's where most founders come unstuck. It's not the big dramatic moments that pull you off course, but the small ones — the perfectly reasonable request that falls just outside your hours, the single yes that feels harmless, the instinct to fix something for someone at your own expense. Each one is a small negotiation with a boundary that was there for a reason. In this episode, I share my five non-negotiables and the specific decisions I've already made so I don't have to make them over and over again every time something comes along and asks me to move them. In this episode, you'll hear: * Why I'm sharing mine not because yours should look the same, but because hearing someone name theirs specifically might be exactly what helps you start naming yours * The one that surprises people every time I mention it * The one that took me the longest to hold, and the hard lesson that finally made it stick * Where to look in your own business to find the non-negotiables you might already be protecting without ever having named them * And why making the decision once and then holding it changes absolutely everything The big takeaway? Non-negotiables aren't rules someone told you to follow but are decisions you've already made, and when you hold them, everything gets simpler. Until next time, stay quietly disruptive. ### Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds. Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else. Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact [https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact] Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo). Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com [https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com]

What happened when I stopped working 8 hours a day

The eight-hour workday traces back to the second industrial revolution, so why are so many of us still working that way in the 21st century, in businesses we started specifically to do things differently? I did it for years. I worked eight hours, then ten, then twelve, and the days blurred into one long line that I didn't consciously choose. I was exhausted, depleted, and convinced that more hours meant more progress. It didn't. In this episode, I share what happened when I flipped everything and moved to a six-hour working day, covering what I expected, what actually happened, and why what I discovered surprised me completely. In this episode, you'll hear: * The fear I had going in, and why neither of the things I was worried about actually happened * What changed about the quality of my work, my decisions, and my energy when the window got smaller * The thing that fills a full working day that isn't actually work at all * And what the hours either side of my working day taught me about what makes the middle possible The big takeaway: Working less didn't make me achieve less . It made me achieve more, and it changed my understanding of what productivity actually means. Until next time, stay Quietly Disruptive. ### Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds. Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else. Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact [https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact] Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo). Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com [https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com]

The four things holding you back from building the business you REALLY want

You know exactly what you want to build, so what's actually stopping you? In almost every conversation I have with a founder who is ready to build the real version of their business, the same four things come up, and today I'm naming them out loud, because sometimes just hearing them is enough to take away their power. In this episode, you'll hear: * The four most common things I see holding founders back, and why they're not what you think they are * A reframe for each one that changes how you see it completely * Why these four things show up in nearly every founder conversation I have, and why you are absolutely not alone in experiencing them * And why I now see them as old friends who remind me I'm human and doing something brave, rather than reasons not to build the thing The big takeaway? None of these are reasons to stop. They're signs that you care, that you're building something that matters, and the first step to overcoming them is simply to see them for what they are. And if you would like to book your Onwards and Upwards Experience, book your session here: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/book-your-call [https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/book-your-call] Until next time, stay Quietly Disruptive. ### Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds. Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else. Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact [https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact] Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo). Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com [https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com]

The business you actually want is sitting in your someday folder

Is there a version of your business that you already know about, one that you can see, feel, and describe in detail to anyone who asks... but you haven't built it yet? That's what today's episode is about and why so many founders keep the business they actually want tucked away in a someday folder. In this episode, you'll hear: * Why I spent years building the safe version of my business while the real one waited patiently, and what that actually cost me in energy, momentum, and time * Why building the wrong thing is exhausting in a very specific way, and why no matter how hard you work at it, it never quite feels like enough * Why building the business you actually want isn't selfish but is the most honest thing you can do as a founder * And the question I'd love you to sit with: what would it actually take to move your someday business out of someday and into now? The big takeaway: The business you actually want to build doesn't get easier the longer you leave it. It gets heavier, and every year you spend building the safe version is a year the real one waits. Until next time, stay quietly disruptive. ### Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds. Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else. Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact [https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact] Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo). Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com [https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com]