November 2018: #websitesdoneright campaign, my self-care rituals and winter sun in Malaysia

WOW, so many things happened in November, where do I start!?

MBA update.

Firstly, I’ve completed and passed my first round of MBA assignments — a financial analysis of a branding agency and an exam in financial decision making. Both of those undertakings have pushed me out of my control zone and challenged me a lot. I’ve studied for 2 weeks solid ahead of my exam and the entire world around me has stopped temporarily as there was so much to learn! I would not have done it without the support team that I’ve built around me. Massive thanks go to my assistant Pia, who is studying for her own business degree and was able to offer a helping hand, mind and a kick in the bum. My partner Orestis, who helped my brush up my maths skills. Finally, my designer Inka who held the fort at the creative studio and delivered everything to our clients without a fail! I am so grateful to all of them for helping me achieve this important goal.

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” — ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

I think I’ve always been a dreamer.

First, when I studied for a Hotel Management degree in Poland I dreamed about going to the UK to do my placement year — I made it happen. Then, when I studied for a Digital Media degree, I dreamed about becoming a photographer — I made it happen too. Finally, I dreamed about running my own business, so I combined my knowledge of management with my knowledge of digital and photography and Visuable was born!

I took my chance when seeing that the online presence within the Bristol based small business arena in general felt soulless, somehow corporate, lacked personality and any sort of differentiation.

Everyone seemed to use ancient, clunky websites that were held hostage by old-school developers who wouldn’t provide full admin access to their client’s. Moreover, these guys had no idea about digital customer journeys, purposeful design or the rapidly changing needs and directions of early stage companies.

I knew that this was preventing business owners from being able to express their true essence, develop the feeling of trust and familiarity within their audience and ultimately would cause them to fail to engage their online visitors, and I knew that I could help!?

At the time, online CMS platforms like Squarespace or Wordpress were growing in their popularity, and hard coded html websites were quickly becoming a thing of the past, so I saw my chance to become part of the digital revolution!

Getting to where I am today with my business was definitely a process of trial and error, but I love where that 2015 idea led me. I’m still incredibly passionate about helping people define their brands and provide them with a visual identity (may it be branding, photos or a fresh web-design) that actually represents them and that they can be proud of — I love that I made my passion my profession!

Throughout November, I’ve been running my #websitesdoneright campaign across all social media accounts, in order to help as many business owners as possible to improve their website presence. I’ve been sharing tips on branding and web design best practices and also offered FREE Website Feedback to anyone who shared their website url with me. I also offered FREE 15-min call slots to anyone who would like to to ask me anything specific.

The response has been overwhelming — so far, I’ve had over 50 business owners asking me for feedback on their website. I know that many of them already implemented my advice and it’s a great feeling to be able to share my knowledge with the world and make a difference to people’s lives just by simply improving their brands and websites.

My mission with this campaign is to transform the internet into a more functional and beautiful space, one website at a time! ?? ?

If you would like to receive feedback on your website, just head over to Visuable Facebook page and share your url in the comments of the pinned post and I’ll give you my feedback within 48 hours. I’d love to help you figure out what might not be working so that you transform your website from a work-in-progress into a functional business asset!

#selfcarerituals

HYGGE.

Have you heard about the Danish concept called “Hygge”? If not, it’s about time you learned what’s that about! With Denmark being one of the top 3 happiest countries in the world, there might be a thing or two we can learn from them!

“Hygge” (pronounced [hoo-gah]) is the concept of feeling cosy and content in enjoying the little things in life. Sounds good, right?

So how can you have more “Hygge” in your life? For me, it nearly happens naturally as the days get darker and colder. Here are my top 3 ways I get my “Hygge” on! ?

1. A lazy evening (or whole Sunday) spend on the sofa, cuddled up with my loved one, reading a book on my kindle or watching a movie.
2. Lighting some candles (or the fireplace if you’re lucky enough to have one!) and just enjoying the warm light.?
3. Spending a lazy afternoon at home, making a delicious meal, listening to music whilst enjoying a good cup of coffee.

MINDFULNESS.

… a word I’ve seen a lot on the internet lately. But what does it actually mean? And why everyone is talking about it? ?

The brief official definition of mindfulness is “the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something”, but the feeling itself might be slightly different for every single one of us.

Have you ever driven somewhere, and only at the destination realised that you blanked out on the whole journey? Or opened a pack of biscuits only for the content to magically disappear the next time you’re actively reaching for them? That’s everyday examples of mindLESSness. ?

It is scientifically proven though, that by practicing certain meditation, breathing exercises or yoga you can train your body and mind to be more aware of its surroundings, which in turn has amazing effects on different areas of your life!?

Studies show, that introducing mindfulness practices into the workplace has an overall positive effect on the perceived level of stress, and increases concentration and memory. What’s not to love about that?!??

FRIDAY — NO APPOINTMENT DAY.

One thing I’d recommend to everyone is keeping Fridays as appointment free as you can! That way you actually get the things done that have been piling up for the week, and maybe even get a head-start on the next weeks tasks.?

We all know how the mind tends to wander, and knowing that the important emails have been responded to, or that all the project work for the week has been signed-off and the next week has been planned can help to avoid stressing out about work during the weekend!?

So, how do YOU put the life in work-life-balance? Please let me know in the comments below!

Winter sun in Malaysia.

I’ve been fortunate to spend the last week of November 2018 in the amazing Malaysia. I’ve visited Kuala Lumpur and a tiny island called Langkawi.

KUALA LUMPUR

A city of sky scrapers, sky walks and sky pools. A city in which the extreme luxury exists right next to the extreme poverty. A place where having a foot massage is a common daily occurrence as you casually pass by one of the quick stop SPA bars. A city where modern architecture and some of the tallest buildings exist right next to a tropical jungle. A city that never sleeps.

Hectic, humid and always on.

LANGKAWI

A tiny island with so much to do! In Langkawi, rice paddies grow next to lush tropical rain-forests and secluded beaches set the scene for stunning sunsets. You can easily spend weeks or even months wondering around golden beaches while enjoying activities such as jet ski island hoping, kayaking, cycling, swimming, paragliding and trying delicious local food in the night markets or very many local eateries.

Hot, sweaty and definitely worth a visit!

(This article was first published on visuable.co )