All the books, and doing things differently
F*ck Business As Usual (FBAU), a six-week group exploration on what it means to be doing business - and marketing it - when the world is on fire (I guess I could also call it something like “How To Survive Capitalism When You’re a Thinking and Feeling Human Being with Eyes Wide Open”) starts 10th June. It’ll be a small, intimate group with space for generous discussion and figuring things out together. Come on in - and do share with friends!
What you might not know about me is that I have a law degree and a masters in arts management (and I’m also really tempted to do a PhD… maybe some day once I figure out how to fund that). I also worked in marketing for several years before starting my photography business. I feel weird pointing it out sometimes, like a law or a business degree is some sort of immutable indicator of intelligence, my way of saying “look I’m not just about pretty pictures”. I shouldn’t have to say that and yet here we are (something to unpack, perhaps, in another post). But also: there are so many kinds of different intelligences and wisdoms, some of which I simply do not possess, but I deeply admire people who do, degrees or no degrees.
What I’m trying to say is this: I’m very, very nerdy, I’m a lifelong learner and I LOVE books - and I’m totally in my element right now as I’m preparing to run FBAU for the first time. It’s my favourite part of making a course / mentorship / offering: all the research and the deep dives.
I’m so excited to share what I’ve been learning with others and get stuck into nourishing - and probably challenging - discussions and figuring stuff out together.
I don’t have all the answers. I used to think I did. I taught courses to photographers about running a successful business, diving deep into marketing and branding and pricing and time management. I still stand by most of the things I taught - and at the same time the more I learn the more I realise that I’ve been teaching what I’d call “girl-bossery”, which is basically a colonial, individualistic mindset that simply cannot serve any of us long term. I’m actively decolonising my mind, my body, my life and my business - and it’s not a straightforward process, or a quick one.
There’s a lot of experimentation, and there’s a lot of grey, and I’m learning to lean into it. There’s no certainty here, no quick recipes, no sure answers. I’m learning to embrace it all and forge a new path (and yes it’d be so much easier to just take the usual highway I’ve been on before, but I’ve taken the red pill now and I know that the highway leads to nowhere good, so through the jungle with machetes we go).
Anyway… I thought I’d share the books I’m looking at for FBAU, giving you a glimpse of what’s in store. That’s just one tiny change I’m making among many in how I do things. I used to keep my sources and inspirations close to the chest, wanting to be the person who held all the secrets, so people would come to me, because only I know the answers. I don’t want to do this anymore. You don’t NEED to sign up to FBAU, but I think you might want to!
(By the way, I’m not calling FBAU “a course”. I don’t know what to call it - a container? an exploration? - but it’s not a course. I’m not providing you solutions - I don’t think there are one-size-fits-all solutions. I think that conversation, not instruction is the best way to do this. A creative anarchy of ideas each of us will bring to the table based on our own experiences, that will take us beyond what any single teacher / guru / leader can provide. It requires more brainpower than passively consuming content, or following a recipe, sure. But the outcome is so much richer.)
Some of my book choices for this may be surprising, but again, that’s the beauty of it, borrowing from different sources to cover different things - there’s no ONE book or person that has all the answers.
And yes, I’ve read them all over the past 18 months or so (and no, you won’t have to read them to take part).
Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist by Kate Raworth
Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save The World by Jason Hickel
The Serviceberry: An Economy of Gifts and Abundance by Robin Wall Kimmerer
The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow
I’ll be pulling from these books for prompts to unpack our ideas about capitalism, anarchy, and the commons; to interrogate how to apply ideas of a doughnut economy and degrowth to our own businesses, and think about alternative ways of doing things - sometimes going back in time to BC (before capitalism) for inspiration.
This Is Marketing by Seth Godin
Doppelgänger: A Trip into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein
I’ll be revisiting Seth Godin’s marketing classics to see what we can take - and what we can leave behind when it comes to marketing our businesses, and looking specifically at ideas around personal branding from Naomi Klein’s work. One concept from Purple Cow that I forgot was there is the mantra “safe is risky” - and it very much ties in with ideas from the next few books.
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
White Women by Regina Jackson and Saira Rao
How to be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question by Michael Schur
We’ll read short-ish excerpts from these books to understand how we could use our voices to stand up for what’s right, why it might feel difficult and uncomfortable, and why it may actually be good business to do it.
There are also these books - and probably a few others, like basically everything by David Graeber - that I haven’t quite decided how and where they slot in, but I’m sure I’ll be pulling some ideas from them as well.
From What Is to What If: Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create The Future We Want by Rob Hopkins
Experiments in Imagining Otherwise by Lola Olufemi
Be A Revolution: How Everyday People Are Fighting Oppression and Changing the World―and How You Can, Too by Ijeoma Oluo
Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities by Rebecca Solnit
Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici
I seriously can’t wait to dive deep into all this with you!
But, here’s the thing: despite much initial excitement, sign ups for FBAU have been slow. I need to have at least 6 (ideally 10) people taking part in this not only for it to make sense financially, but also to enable rich and nourishing conversations and exchange of ideas, and allow for space for some people to miss a session or two (yes everything would be recorded to watch later - but if there are only 3 people and 2 can’t make it one evening, there’s not much exchange of ideas to be had). There are currently 3 people signed up. If this is something that is calling you but you have questions, or can’t do this day of the week, or think the pace is too intense for you, or think you’ll miss some sessions, or any other thoughts and feedback - please let me know in the comments or DM. There may be an opportunity to either add another group on another day, or change things up if enough people want to! I really want to make it work.
And, because I know going to websites for more information is just too much work for our overwhelmed brains, here are more details:
FBAU starts on 10 June 2025 and will run for 6 weeks, with our last session on 15th July. We will meet on Zoom every Tuesday evening, 7-8.30pm BST (London, UK time). All sessions will be recorded so if you miss a couple, that’s not a problem!
What will we explore?
This is the first time I’m running this group and I’m still finalising the structure and the prompts, but as a general guide, this is what it will most likely look like.
Week 1: Where are we at?
We will get to know each other and discuss the issues facing us right now as humans running businesses and needing to earn a living while existing within a toxic capitalist system. What feels icky? What is no longer serving us? What are we yearning for? What are we afraid of?
Week 2: Unlearning
Guided by selected readings and prompts, we will interrogate what we think we know and challenge existing “wisdom” around marketing and running a business. What can we take and repurpose for our own needs and what should we leave behind?
Weeks 3, 4 and 5: Imagining otherwise
We will continue unlearning while also getting inspired by feminist, anti-capitalist, anarchist and indigenous thinkers such as Robin Wall Kimmerer, Kate Raworth, David Graeber, Naomi Klein, Jason Hickel, and others. We will seek out examples of businesses and artists doing things differently, and discuss what we could borrow to apply in our own businesses.
Week 6: From ‘what is’ to ‘what if’
What have we learned? What will we do going forward? How will we support each other in doing things differently when the going gets tough?
Sound good?