26 Lessons, One Life
I’m 26 today.
Which feels both extremely grown-up and also like my brain is still buffering on certain administrative tasks (tax, I’m looking at you).
I’ve also been running Angell Designs for 8 years. Eight. That means I started building this thing at only 18. That means I built it with the kind of confidence only an 18-year-old can have, because at that age you don’t yet know all the ways you could be wrong. No. You don’t know yet all the ways you are in fact wrong. You just know you want it badly enough to try.
So, this article is a small birthday candle of a thing. Not a list. Not a blueprint. Not a “here’s how to be successful in 10 steps.” Just a series of lessons I’ve learnt in real time, stitches together like patchwork. Some of them business lessons. Some are body lessons. Most, to my surprise, are both because what really separates my body from my business most days.
What “Sustainable” Actually Means
The biggest lesson for me has honestly been learning what “sustainable” actually means.
Obviously, when most people hear the word “sustainable” they think about the environment and going “green.” Of course, it does mean this but it also means “able to be maintained at a certain rate or level” (thank you for the definition Oxford Languages!)
When I was younger, I thought sustainable meant you needed to be consistent. Always posting. Always producing. Always improving. If I wasn’t doing those things, I assumed I was falling behind.
Now…
Now I think sustainable simply means repeatable.
Repeatable with my health. Repeatable with my nervous system. Repeatable when life is messy, or I’m in appointments, or I’m exhausted, or I’m simply another human being. Sustainability isn’t a vibe. It’s a form of structure. It’s the difference between building a business like a fireworks show and building it like a cosy, little home. It’s meant to be something that can hold you in every moment, not just your best ones.
Boundaries Aren’t Brick Walls
For the longest time, I thought having boundaries made me rude. Or somehow cold. Or something you only earn after you’ve “made it.”
Then I learnt that boundaries are actually often the kindest form of clarity.
Boundaries tell clients (and friends or family, or whoever) what to expect. They tell my future self what I’m protecting. They stop resentment from quietly moving into the spare room and eating all your snacks. Don’t let resentment live in your head rent free.
Professionally, this has looked like clearer scopes, timelines, communication windows, “what happens next” processes. Boundaries are the unglamorous scaffolding that makes work feel safe and steady for everyone involves. Personally, it’s looked like learning to say, “I can’t do that,” without needing to write an entire novel just to justify it to myself and others.
Lead, Not Just Cope
Health and wellbeing aren’t side quests in my life. Honestly, they’re kind of the main storyline and will always take precedence.
I’ve had to learn how to work with my body and brain instead of against it. I’ve had to learn how to listen earlier, not later. How to recognise the difference between “I’m a little bit tired” and “I’m heading toward the edge of a cliff and calling it ambition.”
And it’s definitely complicated. Mostly complicated because I fucking love my job. I love what I do every single day. Creative work can be almost intoxicating at times. It can make you forget time, hunger, pain, and the fact that you haven’t stood up in about 3 hours. But my body certainly always keeps receipts and eventually hands them back to me with added interest.
So I’ve learnt to treat health like another business priority. Because… well, it is one. Not in a productivity-bro way. In a “this is the vessel I live and work in” way. More rest. More buffer time. More care plans. More honesty.
Ultimately, it has to be less pretending I’m find when I’m not.
Trust Yourself
The real work has really been learning to trust myself.
Trust is a slow-built kind of thing though, especially when you’ve spent years doubting your instincts, over-explaining your needs, or trying to outsmart your own limits.
But over the last 26 odd years (and especially the last 8), I’ve learnt that self-trust doesn’t arrive as a lightning bold. It arrives as a thousand tiny decisions.
It show up as:
Choosing clients that aligns instead of those that drain
Saying no before the resentment kicks in
Quitting the “I should be able to handle this” storyline
Letting myself change my mind
Admitting when I need help
Doing the next right thing, even when it may be boring
Self-trust is built the same way a brand is built: by keeping your promises to yourself, consistently, over time.
Thriving Creativity
I used to treat creativity like a tap. Turn it on, make something great, turn it off, repeat.
Now I know creativity is more like a garden. It responds to seasons. It needs rest, nourishment, and space to be messy or experimental without being graded.
Some of my best ideas have come to me when I’ve stopping forcing them. Whether that’s been on a walk, mid-shower, while making a cup of coffee, staring off at a ceiling fan, or even half asleep at 3am. Creativity doesn’t always show up when I demand it. It shows up when I welcome it.
And when I look back at the work I’m proudest of, it almost always came from a place of steadiness. Not from urgency or panic or hustle.
It came from steadiness.
Consistency is Integrity
Running a business for 8 years has taught me that “consistent” does not mean “every day.” It actually means “aligned.”
Consistency is less about volume, and more about integrity. It means your brand looks like the experience you actually deliver. It means your tone matches your values, and your marketing doesn’t promise what your capacity can’t sustain. It means clients can trust that what they see is what they’ll actually get.
That’s what I care about when I say I design for humans. People deserve clarity and congruence. No surprise jump scares, confusing funnels, or DM based instruction. Just a steady, human experience from the first click to the final deliverable.
Community Over Strategy
I love strategy. I love a plan. I love a tidy system. But nothing has held me like community.
The friends who reminded me I’m not behind. The clients who treated me like a collaborator, not a content writing machine. The people who saw the human behind the work and invited me in. The small moments of connection that made the hard weeks survivable.
Business can be extremely lonely if you let it become a performance. I’ve learnt to build it as a relationship instead. A relationship with my clients, peers, audience, and myself.
Success Looks Different
If I could go back and tell my 18-year-old self anything, it would be this: You don’t need to burn to prove you’re bright.
You can build a business that fits your life, not one that replaces it. You can create work you’re proud of without sacrificing your health on the altar of “should.” You can be ambitious and still be gentle. You can be disciplined and still be soft. You can be professional without being clinical.
You can be deeply human, and still be excellent at what you do.
That’s the success I’m interested in now. I’m interested in work that feels like mine and a life that still has space for rest, care, and actual joy.
Turning 26 feels like a pause point for me. Not because I’ve magically figured everything out suddenly, but because I can see the shape of what I’m building for myself more clearly now. 8 years in business and 26 years in life has taught me that sustainability is structure, boundaries are clarity, creativity needs care, and trust is built through consistent integrity. My health has shaped my leadership, process, and commitment to designing experiences that feel human-first.
If you’ve been following along my journey, thank you. If you’ve worked with me, trusted me, referred me, shared my posts, or even just sent one kind message on a hard day – I carry that with me.
And if you’re building something while also managing your health, your brain, your life; I see you. You’re not behind. You’re not failing. You’re just human.
If you’d like support creating a brand that reflects that humanity (clear, calm, trustworthy, and built to last), you can book a discovery call with me.
You can also explore my services to see what working together looks like, or check out my store for various programs I offer.
And genuinely: If you’re going through a hard time personally, reach out to someone. A friend. A professional. A support line. Anyone. You don’t have to white-knuckle your way through it alone.
