Female Founder Feature: Felicity Lenehan
Female Founder Name: Felicity Lenehan
Business Name: A Way With Words
Website: https://awaywithwords.net
Tell us about your business. What products or services do you offer?: All things life story! I offer services to write a persons life story, or mentor them through writing their own. I have Life Story Kits, which include Life Story Writing Prompt cards and a gorgeous hard cover book to record the stories in. And I offer the Life Story App, which enables people to easily write and publish their own life story. I also run writing workshops and courses in the space, which are straight writing life story books or have a narrative therapy focus. My target markets are Youth and mental services, and the booming seniors market.
What inspired you to start your business?: I have grown up hearing my nan’s life stories, which she used to tell us at bedtime. They were, and still are, like a big family history hug, which held me tightly and safely in my place in the world. I also always journalled in a diary everyday but really discovered the benefits of the activity after we nearly lost our baby daughter when she was 6 months old, several times to pneumococcal disease. It was a long road to recovery and she was left facing a life living with a disability. I didn’t realise, but after our lengthy hospital stay, I was in a state of post traumatic stress for a long time. All I knew to do was write it down. The words had to get out of me. And it helped, enormously. Sometimes I would write furiously without a thought to the passing time and afterwards I would feel physically sick, as the emotions surged out of me and onto the page. It helped me recover a sense of balance in the world over time.
Both these periods of my life showed me the importance of life stories - of the effect of knowing your own life story deep into its history, and the narrative therapy benefits.
With my early career as a journalist, it was a natural progression to begin offering these benefits to others in the form of life story writing services. I now offer community courses to help others write their life stories too and am currently developing a social enterprise business model in the important booming seniors market.
How long have you been running your business?: Ten years! Ten years and over 60 life stories produced in that time.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a woman in business, and how did you overcome it?: My biggest challenge is myself not getting out of the mindset that I have to do everything - 100% effort into being a businesswoman, 100% effort into being a mother, housekeeper, community participant… Of course in your own business you have to do everything for a while - striking that balance with my personal pressures is hard and an ever present conversation with myself.
What has been your proudest moment as a business owner?: The launch of my Life Story App - man, I had to learn all kinds of technological wizadry, like plugging in Secret API's and locking down an AI platform! I'm also proud every time I see a client reap the benefits of their life story telling or writing experience. But one time in particular stands out, and that was where a client, who had suffered what the courts deemed the worst level of trauma, was advised by his psychologist to record his life story. He said nothing else worked but reading back his life off the page truly helped and he’d not felt relief like it across all the therapies he’d tried. Every time I write a story, the life lessons are mine, the human spirit is something to behold.
What strategies have helped you grow your business?: When I first started it was a good old letterbox drop with home printed pamphlets! Then it was word of mouth. Then I embarked on a period of marketing and advertising within communities - specifically Facebook groups for mothers. Since then it’s been word of mouth and repeat clients (adult children have both parents’, an aunty, a friends’ stories written). Now, with my new Life Story App, my next steps are developing a social enterprise model which offers the app and an online train the trainer Life Story Circles program, where individuals are upskilled to run life story sharing groups in their community, which is being launched and sold into communities through all senior service providers across Australia first, then internationally.
What tools or resources have been game-changers for your business?: Calendly was great during Covid when there was a hot demand for me to do one-on-one narrative therapy writing workshops with young people, to help with mental health. It went absolutely crazy, with tens of thousands of orders and Calendly was a life saver!
The Life Stories Australia Association has been an incredible community and resource provider. Not only does it throw work my way but it is also a community that helps each other rise, rather than see other members as competitors. I love it so much I became a board member! I love it so much I became a board member!
Can you share one key lesson you’ve learned about managing finances as a business owner?: That I'm definitely more about English than maths?! In all seriousness, this balance of skills has lead to my financial systems being very simple. I rarely do invoices as I have a shopping cart on my website and backend ordering system that collates the orders, therefore incomings. I have the odd spreadsheet to keep on top of the outgoings - all those pesky little subscription fees, insurance, and tech costs. But that's it - I definitely work on the KISS premise (Keep It Simple, Stupid!).
How do you balance the demands of your business with your personal life?: Hmm. Perhaps not very well?! My four kids help me keep it real, with a weekend full of sport to take them too and needing to stop and cook dinner every night (why, oh why do they have to eat all the time!). I try and keep body and mind fit by walking and doing yoga.
What leadership qualities do you believe are essential for running a successful business?: Patience, organisation, clarity, a strong vision you can communicate easily to others, and kindness.
How do you motivate and manage your team?: My team are subcontractors so them doing then getting paid for the work can be motivation enough! I manage them by offering clear guidelines and deadlines, and checking in all the time that they understand and are meeting these markers.
What role does mentorship or networking play in your business journey?: At the moment, as I dive into the world of social entrepreneurship and move into the national and international markets, networking is everything. LinkedIn is my best friend! I’m posting, tagging and attending events all over the place to get traction, contacts and opportunities, and saying yes, yes, yes to everything!
What trends do you think will shape your industry in the coming years?: Definitely the boom in the seniors market which is racing at us at a rate of knots. They are clued up on technology, have time on their hands, little patience for ageism (they will drop your brand after one small misdemeanor), and they have money to burn - incredible opportunities abound! The mental health space is also ever growing and changing; now it suffers less stigmatism, it is a space where brands with appropriate services and products can thrive, and I believe that space is not yet full, there is room for more, including my narrative therapy services.
How do you stay ahead of the competition in your industry?: There is so much work for life story tellers, and storytellers in general at the moment that the competition is low - everyone is busy. I do think as an industry we need to adapt to using AI - there are still some writers who are scared it will take their jobs, and it has done, but it can't be ignored. The Life Story App I developed could do me out of a job, it does everything I do, but is missing one huge element - human connection. There will always be a need for that. It’s working out that balance between offering human connection and using technology to give us time to offer that service. Staying ahead in the years to come will require using appropriate marketing and sales techniques to attract the biggest market share of the seniors market, and to a lesser extent the mental health market. Seniors is where it’s at though - I believe no one should ignore these customers.
Who or what inspires you in your business journey?: Other small business owners, particularly women with the unique way our brains work. Absolute superstars.
What books, podcasts, or resources have had the biggest impact on your professional growth?: The Spark Business offerings - and I’m not just saying that. I found Spark at the perfect time, when I needed to be uber focussed and intentional with the direction forward for my business. I’ve joined other communities, such as business mum communities given I’ve had such a lot of success with that market in selling my services, but I haven’t found anything with as high quality as the offerings Spark has. I’m very thankful!
What’s a fun fact about you that most people wouldn’t know?: I spent a large part of my working life as a fashion editor, swanning about in leathers and feathers, with supermodels and movie stars, champagne in hand. But, underneath all that, I’m a secret revhead - I love the purr of a V8 Supercar engine or the speed and danger of the Formula 1!
What’s one thing you wish more people knew about your business?: The incredible benefits of writing, or having your life story written. And the importance of it - for posterity, for healing and for fun.
Reflecting on your time in business, what is one piece of advice you would give to another woman to help her on her business journey?: Take a deep breath and look after your health and stress - if these fall apart, so does your business.
How can people connect with you or learn more about your business? (e.g., website, social media, etc.): Website: https://awaywithwords.net
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felicity-lenehan-0744b48/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/awaywithwords.writer.felicitylenehan
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awaywithwordsfelicitylenehan/
