The Founder's Playbook: Authenticity, Strategy, and Wellbeing with Michelle Adams
In an interview episode of The Content Mavericks Club, I had the pleasure of speaking with Michelle Adams, the founder of Chatty Cat's Care.
Michelle has built an incredibly impressive business, growing from a single client and a mere £200 startup fund to an impressive £250,000 in revenue.
Her impression of a cat saying hello alone makes the episode worth a listen.
But Michelle's success is built on a powerful combination of passion and strategic thinking.
So I want to dive deeper into three key learning points from our conversation that are invaluable for any entrepreneur, marketing professional, or content creator.
Listen to the Takeaway Episode of The Content Mavericks Club now on Spotify or Apple.
1. The Power of Authentic Connection
In our social media-driven world, especially with the rise of AI-generated content, there's a big debate raging about what authenticity really looks like.
Some creators are pushing back against the fast-but-bland, high-volume approach that seems to have gone into overdrive since ChatGPT launched.
When I talk about authenticity, I mean offering your audience, customers, and clients a window into a genuine part of you.
It doesn't have to be your whole self, but it needs to showcase what genuinely drives you, what you care about, and why you're in the business or career you're in.
These are the insights that tell people whether you're someone they want to engage with, collaborate with, or do business with.
Michelle excels at this.
“If you’re not passionate about your business or what you do, then it’s very difficult to want to continue it.”
Her genuine enthusiasm for her business and, quite simply, her love for cats, shines through.
For Michelle, Chatty Cats Care is about building something meaningful for herself and her clients.
While profit is essential for her lifestyle, she's clear that profit without meaning is at best unsustainable, if not just hollow.
Her entire enterprise is built on one simple fact: she loves cats.
"Yes, I definitely do,” she says.
“I think if you're not passionate about your business or what you do, then it's very difficult to want to continue it.
“Sometimes people just want to start something, make lots of money and then have an exit plan.
“But for me, this is definitely more of a passion, more of a lifestyle business and I'd love to continue this as long as possible."
This kind of authenticity is something we all instinctively grasp.
When you're truly motivated, driven, and excited by something, it's infectious.
It draws people in and creates a connection that goes beyond a simple transaction.
In Michelle's case, that connection builds trust with her clients and plays a key role in helping her business grow and thrive.
2. Mastering a Multi-Platform Content Strategy
This takeaway comes with a huge caveat: I'm not here to tell you that you must be omnipresent on every possible channel.
Quite the opposite.
Perhaps the most important consideration here is bandwidth.
If you only have the capacity to build an audience on one channel, choose the one most relevant to your target clients, stick to it, and focus on building an engaged audience there.
That said, Michelle's approach to social media offers some valuable lessons.
She tailors her content for different audiences on different platforms, and she has a clear purpose for each channel.
It's not just about cross-posting for the sake of presence.
Selling A Lifestyle
Michelle is strategic about which channels she engages with and how she uses them to further her business goals.
"I have two separate TikTok accounts”, Michelle explains.
“One is a personal account where I talk about travel.
“I've probably been to around 50 countries and it's something that’s very closely linked with my business, because we rely on people traveling and going to wonderful destinations - and then they book our services.
“If I can give travel inspiration, people then book travel holidays, and they also need a cat sitter.
“So I'm trying to sell a lifestyle, which I think is working so far.”
Michelle understands that different platforms have different strengths, demands, and audiences:
The Chatty Cats Care Instagram is perfectly developed for showcasing adorable cat videos and kitty pics.
She uses her personal TikTok account for personal branding, with her travel content acting as useful upstream marketing for her cat care business.
LinkedIn is where she connects with fellow professionals, building her network and exploring potential business opportunities.
Facebook is where she connects with her community and reaches an older demographic that is a crucial part of her client base.
Overall, Michelle takes a very considered approach that respects her resources and targets the right channels for her business goals.
3. Prioritising Self-Care for Sustainable Success
My third takeaway is something I haven't always excelled at myself, but increasingly recognise the need for - prioritising self-care.
As a recent convert to this mindset, I've become acutely aware of the cost of not giving appropriate respect to one's own needs.
Michelle's journey highlights the importance of looking after yourself, especially as a founder or any kind of solo creator or entrepreneur.
There's a persistent 5am culture that insists that hustling 24/7 is the only way to succeed, and anything less than destroying the gym before breakfast and closing a massive deal by 9am is a failure.
Maybe that works for some people, and if you're one of them, great - keep doing what you're doing.
For the rest of us, it's crucial to remind ourselves how easy it can be to get caught up in the hustle.
Burnout Is Real
This is something Michelle has bitter experience of.
“When I first started the business I felt obligated to work on my business continuously for it to be successful”, she says.
“I felt pressured to answer client emails straight away, even in the middle of the night sometimes”.
After an episode of burnout Michelle adopted healthier routines that prioritise her wellbeing - with the gym at its heart.
“I do it for my mental health, and it really helps me because I feel like I can get out any stress”, she says.
“And I feel like by pushing myself in the gym, it motivates me to push myself for my business, but also to have those strong boundaries as well, which is a discipline because it can be easy and very tempting to overwork."
Like Michelle, it's a lesson many of us learn the hard way - sacrificing our well-being on the altar of success.
Studies consistently show the toll this takes:
A 2024 report by Mental Health UK suggested that nine out of ten UK adults had experienced high or extreme levels of pressure or stress in the past year.
A 2022 study by LumApps found that 88% of the UK workforce had experienced burnout in the previous two years.
Whatever your goals, these figures are sobering.
Extreme stress and burnout aren't just bad for you.
They're bad for your business too.
So if you take nothing else from this episode, take a leaf out of Michelle's book.
Her commitment to self-care, setting boundaries, and prioritising her mental and physical health is what allows her to show up as her best self, consistently, in both her personal life and her business.
Your Founder's Playbook: Authenticity, Strategy, and Self-Care
Let’s recap the three key learning points:
Authenticity: Connect with your audience by sharing your genuine passion and purpose.
Multi-platform Strategy: Be intentional about where and how you show up online.
Self-Care: Prioritise your well-being as the foundation for sustainable success.
Get the Founder's Playbook Cheat Sheet!
To make it as easy and stress-free as possible for you to revisit these takeaways and put them into action, I've created a downloadable Cheat Sheet for you.
It summarises the three crucial insights and provides actionable steps you can implement today to build your own founder's playbook.
Download your cheat sheet now for zero pounds.
Want to dive deeper into Michelle Adams' inspiring journey?
Listen to the full interview or watch on YouTube now.
About The Content Mavericks Club
The Content Mavericks Club is a newsletter, blog, YouTube channel and podcast featuring creators and entrepreneurs who share their challenges and successes they navigate in their business and digital marketing.
It is a resource hub for content professionals and business leaders who want to accelerate the return on their digital marketing.
It’s mission is to provide entrepreneurs, creators and boot-strappers actionable content marketing insights.
With real-world lessons from real-world experience, The Content Mavericks Club won’t just help you raise your content game.
It will help you overcome personal and professional hurdles too.
Join The Content Mavericks Club today, and meet the content mavericks who get it right, get it wrong, and then get back in the game.
The Content Mavericks Club is created by Creative Kin CEO Jason Caffrey.
About Jason Caffrey
Jason Caffrey is the host of The Content Mavericks Club and CEO of Creative Kin, a content production and marketing company that drives growth for ambitious brands through the power of podcasting.
Jason's mission is to help businesses of all sizes craft compelling podcasts and fully repurpose them to elevate their content strategies.
Through The Content Mavericks Club, he shares insights from leading content creators and marketers, providing valuable takeaways for those looking to enhance their own content game.
