Hello and welcome to the Brand Seasons podcast with me, designer, mentor and writer, Sarah Robertson.

Thanks for joining me for this candid solo episode — the final one of Season Two — where I answer your thoughtful branding and business questions.

With late summer leaning into autumn, it felt like the right moment to reflect on beginnings, balance, and what sustains us in business and this creative life.

I talk about starting my studio at 21, how I approach pricing and services, the role writing plays in my practice, and why confidence often comes through communication, process and boundaries.

Key themes:

• Starting a design studio in the early days
• Pricing creative + mentoring services sustainably
• Managing nerves and anxiety when beginning new projects
• Balancing creative freedom with business realities
• Setting and upholding client boundaries
• Why writing is central to my creative practice
• Favourite business and creativity books
• What’s next for Brand Seasons

Special mentions:

• Brand Seasons Clubhouse — seasonal voicenotes, co-creating sessions, private podcast + branding workshops
• Campfire Session — Friday 5th September, a three-hour journaling, workshop and co-working experience
• The Lookout — my new guided brand audit (early access included with the Campfire Session)

Thanks for listening, and for being here for Season Two. The podcast will now take a short autumn pause, but I’ll be back later this year with a bonus series, before Season Three in 2026.

Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and feel free to connect with me on Instagram, Pinterest and Substack, and share this episode with those who are curious about all things creativity and seasonality. You can learn more about my branding and design studio by visiting my website: These Are The Days.

If this resonates, let me know, and if you’ve found value in this episode, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or a rating on Spotify will help more creatives find their way here.

Today, I’m joined by artist and textile designer Yvette Kissi. Together, we explore what it means to shape a creative practice — and a business — through colour, culture and care.

We talk about trusting creative intuition, building slowly, and honouring the threads of family history that run through our work. Yvette shares how she moves between painting and textiles, and how each piece carries emotional, cultural and ancestral meaning.

We also speak about pigment-making as an act of noticing and reverence, the challenges of production in a small creative business, and what it means to share your story while staying grounded in your process.

One of my favourite moments is Yvette’s excitement about building her own pigment library — a slow, hands-on process of foraging and learning. Her joy is infectious, and it reminded me that colour isn’t just a visual choice, but a tactile, emotional and ancestral one too.

If you'd like to explore further, you might enjoy On Color by Stephen Farthing and David Kastan, and Make Ink by Jason Logan, both of which influence Yvette's creative practice. Also, keep an eye out for an upcoming post on Substack on the power of colour.

Explore Yvette's work:

Follow @itsyvettekissi on Instagram for glimpses into her creative process, pigment experiments and textile pieces.

Visit yvettekissi.com to explore her painting-led scarves, current projects and upcoming collections.

Subscribe to Rivulets — Yvette’s new Substack publication, where she’ll be shares behind-the-scenes stories and the personal threads woven through her practice.

Thanks for listening, and remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode. You can also visit Brand Seasons to find writing on curiosity, creativity and connection, plus articles on strategy, styling and storytelling.

Feel free to connect with me on Instagram, Pinterest and Substack, and share this episode with those who are curious about all things creativity and seasonality. You can learn more about my branding and design studio by visiting my website: These Are The Days.

If you enjoy tuning in, leaving a review would mean so much, and help others find the podcast, too.

~

This episode of the podcast is sponsored by heiter.

As the German word for cheerful or joyful, 'heiter' reflects the brand’s mission: inspiring you to live and style your life in a way that brings you joy.

This presents itself in the heiter print publication, their blog and newsletter, events and workshops, as well as The Heiter Society, a tight-knit and supportive...

Today, I’m joined by coach, breathwork practitioner and creative guide Calypso Barnum-Bobb. Together, we explore what it means to return to your truth, especially in seasons of uncertainty or transformation.

We talk about honouring your inner compass, reconnecting to your body, and creating space to feel and heal. Calypso shares her own path from fashion buying to coaching, and how burnout, community and intuition shaped her shift.

We also discuss breathwork as a tool for change, the power of queer belonging and how meaningful change often begins with the smallest step — especially when it’s witnessed in community.

Explore Calypso’s work:

Follow @calypsobarnumbobb on Instagram

Discover retreats at wearepeoplelikeus.com

Visit calypsobarnumbobb.com where you can download their free guide: 7 Questions to Ask Yourself When You’re on the Edge of Change

Thanks for listening, and remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode. You can also visit Brand Seasons to find writing on curiosity, creativity and connection, plus articles on strategy, styling and storytelling.

Feel free to connect with me on Instagram, Pinterest and Substack, and share this episode with those who are curious about all things creativity and seasonality. You can learn more about my branding and design studio by visiting my website: These Are The Days.

If you enjoy tuning in, leaving a review would mean so much, and help others find the podcast, too.

~

This episode of the podcast is sponsored by heiter.

As the German word for cheerful or joyful, 'heiter' reflects the brand’s mission: inspiring you to live and style your life in a way that brings you joy.

This presents itself in the heiter print publication, their blog and newsletter, events and workshops, as well as The Heiter Society, a tight-knit and supportive community space that encourages joyful moments through workshops, a book club and get togethers.

To learn more about heiter and how you can get involved, visit heitermagazine.com. Listeners can use the code BRANDSEASONS15 to receive a 15% discount on the magazine. Expires 31/08/2025.