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Welcome to Day 18 of the Christmas Advent Calendar Podcast, and today’s episode brings a beautifully creative, inspiring, and heart led conversation. I’m your host, Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui, Business Coach and Mentor, supporting women in the design industry to build businesses rooted in identity, creativity, and confidence. Today we are diving into the world of interior design, individuality, and the deep wisdom that comes from trusting your gut instinct.

Joining me is the incredible Briony Ace, a designer known for her intuitive approach, her creative boldness, and her commitment to helping people see the world through their own unique design lens. Briony brings an honest and refreshing perspective on what it means to build a career in design, reminding us that creativity is as individual as we are.

In this conversation, Briony opens up about:

• Why trusting your gut instinct is one of the most powerful tools a designer can develop
• The importance of tuning out the noise and listening to your own creative voice
• How individuality shapes the brilliance of the design world
• Why years of experience often sharpen rather than silence your intuitive sense
• The many ways creativity can be expressed
• Why using AutoCAD, SketchUp, or any technical tool is completely valid
• Why sketching in a notebook is equally valuable
• The importance of embracing who you are in your creative journey
• Owning your individuality as a designer
• How the design process can be a true wonderment when you trust yourself

Briony’s approach is a powerful reminder that there is no one right way to be a designer. Whether you rely on software, sketches, moodboards, or your intuitive read of a space, your creativity is enough. Your individuality is your strength. And your gut instinct is one of your greatest design tools.

Explore Briony’s world through her website HERE

Follow her Instagram HERE

Subscribe and find her YouTube HERE

Join the Design Boss Diary community on Instagram HERE and explore how you can work with me in 2026.

Join me in Birmingham on Friday 23th and Saturday 24th January 2026 for a luxury two day retreat designed to elevate your strategy, your creativity, and your confidence as we step into a new year of growth.
Find out more HERE

Watch this and all Advent Calendar episodes on our YouTube channel HERE.

Our Christmas Giveaway

To celebrate Season 2 of the Advent Calendar Podcast, I’m giving away six incredible prizes:

• 4 women will join me in London for a private in person strategy session, lunch in an exclusive location, worth £1,000 each
• 2 women will receive a fully paid ticket to The Visionary event in Birmingham, worth £540 each

To enter:

1. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
   
   
   
2. Screenshot your review
   
   
   
3. Share it on your Instagram Stories and tag @Design_Boss_Diary

Each review + share counts as an additional entry, with no limits.

If you’ve loved this episode, we would be so grateful for your review. And if you screenshot and share this podcast on your socials, tagging @Design_Boss_Diary, we have a special gift waiting for you.

See you in the next episode, you

Send us a text

Welcome to Day 17 of the Christmas Advent Calendar Podcast, and today’s episode brings a powerful, insightful, and deeply practical conversation. I’m your host, Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui, Business Coach and Mentor, supporting women to build profitable, aligned, and scalable businesses through strategy, mindset, and identity work. Today we are diving into the truths behind business growth, scaling, and the foundations every entrepreneur needs to understand before entering her next chapter.

Joining me is the incredible Samantha Hearne, a mentor, coach, and business leader who is renowned for her grounded, strategic approach to building sustainable success. Samantha brings clarity, honesty, and real world experience to the conversation as we unpack what it truly means to grow a business versus scale one.

In this episode, Samantha opens up about:

• Why growing and scaling are fundamentally different processes
• How to identify which stage your business is currently in
• The importance of strong foundations for sustainable growth
• Why community is the heartbeat of service based businesses
• The role of market research in aligning your offers with what clients actually want
• Why scaling requires a methodical and strategic approach rather than speed
• Common bottlenecks that occur when entrepreneurs try to scale too quickly
• How mistakes become valuable data for future improvement
• The importance of intentionality and conscious choice in your business decisions
• Why your business must reflect your personal values and long term goals

This conversation is an essential listen for any woman preparing for 2026, especially if you are ready to step into growth, scale with confidence, or rebuild your foundations with clarity and intention. Samantha brings a refreshing honesty that empowers you to choose your path rather than react to pressure or comparison.

Explore and Follow Samantha’s Instagram HERE

Join the Design Boss Diary community on Instagram HERE and explore how you can work with me in 2026.

Join me in Birmingham on Friday 23th and Saturday 24th January 2026 for a luxury two day retreat designed to elevate your strategy, your identity, and your business vision for the year ahead.
Find out more HERE

Watch this and all Advent Calendar episodes on our YouTube channel HERE

Our Christmas Giveaway

To celebrate Season 2 of the Advent Calendar Podcast, I’m giving away six incredible prizes:

• 4 women will join me in London for a private in person strategy session, lunch in an exclusive location, worth £1,000 each
• 2 women will receive a fully paid ticket to The Visionary event in Birmingham, worth £540 each

To enter:

1. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
   
   
   
2. Screenshot your review
   
   
   
3. Share it on your Instagram Stories and tag @Design_Boss_Diary
   
   
   

Every review and share counts as an additional entry, no limits.

This is your reminder that you always have a choice in how you grow your business, how you scale your success, and how you lead your next chapter.

If you’ve loved this episode, we would be so grateful for your review. And if you screenshot and share this podcast on your socials, tagging @Design_Boss_Diary, we have a special gift waiting for you.

See you in the next episode, you lovely lot. x

Send us a text

In this special recap episode of the Christmas Advent Calendar Podcast, I’m bringing together the collective wisdom from a powerful series of conversations with inspiring guests, each offering their own perspective on what it truly takes to build a sustainable, aligned, and successful business.

Across these episodes, clear themes began to emerge. Strategy paired with energetics. Systems that support rather than suffocate. The dismantling of limiting beliefs. And the essential role of self care, boundaries, and community in long term growth. This episode is not about doing more. It is about building better, with intention, clarity, and conscious leadership.

In this reflection, I weave together the insights shared by my guests to highlight one core truth. Business growth is never just about output or hustle. It is about creating a structure that supports your mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing alongside your ambition.

Throughout the series, guests shared powerful reflections and key insights across several foundational themes.

Strategy and Structure
Guests explored how clear systems, pricing, and processes remove chaos, increase confidence, and create space for growth.

Energetics and Mindset
Conversations highlighted how limiting beliefs, fear, and resistance quietly cap expansion, and how energetic alignment and self leadership unlock the next level.

Self Care and Boundaries
Guests reinforced that sustainable success requires protected energy, clear boundaries, and intentional rest, not burnout disguised as ambition.

Community and Networking
The importance of being in the right rooms, building meaningful relationships, and growing alongside others was a recurring and powerful theme.

Storytelling and Visibility
Guests shared how owning your story, your voice, and your lived experience differentiates your brand and deepens client connection.

Manifestation and Intention
Practices around clarity, vision, and conscious intention were explored as grounded tools for navigating fear and creating aligned growth.

Pricing and Worth
Transparent, confident pricing was consistently highlighted as a cornerstone of trust, professionalism, and self belief.

This episode is a grounded reminder that success is created through clarity, alignment, and conscious leadership, not pressure, comparison, or constant hustle. It is an invitation to reflect on how you are building, and whether your business is supporting the life you want to live.

Join the Design Boss Diary community on Instagram HERE and explore how you can work with me in 2026.

You can also join us in Birmingham for Strategy and Soul, a two day luxury retreat designed to support aligned growth, conscious leadership, and sustainable success.

Join me in Birmingham on Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th January 2026 for a transformational two day experience created to prepare you for your most powerful year yet.
Find out more HERE

Watch this recap episode and all Advent Calendar conversations on our YouTube channel HERE.