Welcome to The Sustainable Solopreneur, a weekly newsletter from business coach and strategist, Jenni Gritters. Each week, Jenni writes about sustainable business strategy (and a touch of psychology) for solopreneurs and creative souls who want more out of life than the status quo. She also shares guest interviews with other entrepreneurs in Sample Paths and hosts a behind-the-scenes podcast about business experiments called Trying Stuff.
Jenni is a former journalist who spends most of her time these days coaching creative solopreneurs, hosting incredible retreat experiences, writing, hiking in the mountains and caring for her two young kids. Her goal is to build a human-first, anti-hustle, anti-capitalist business — and to help you do the same.
About The Sustainable Solopreneur
When you’re building a business, especially on your own, you’re told that there are certain ways you must proceed to find success. Like: “Hustle and embrace overwork to see the best results.” “Create a perfect funnel and you’ll have constant conversions.” “If you just make viral content on social media your business will grow rapidly.”
Sound familiar?
The Sustainable Solopreneur is about releasing all of those “shoulds” and leaning into seasonality, self-awareness and creativity. A sustainable business is one that lasts, one that doesn’t burn you out. And there’s no silver bullet that will get you those results. Or rather: You are the silver bullet. You’ve always been the answer.
If you’re here, you’re probably on a path less taken. If you’re here, you’re probably interested in choosing hybrid options (mother and business owner, ambitious person and creative soul, nomad and grounded homebody). You’ve always been uncomfortable being stuck in just one camp. You’re in this business ownership game because of the freedom it provides you. You’re here because you want to be at choice and in charge. You want to be able to change your mind and your circumstances whenever you’d like.
This newsletter includes stories, essays and lessons to help you thrive on this entrepreneurial path less taken. Consider this a map that guides you down your own path, but inspires solidarity as well.
Come for the practical lessons about perfectionism, imposter syndrome, procrastination, burnout, money, launch strategies, branding, content creation, marketing and beyond. Stay for Jenni’s authentic takes on the ups and downs of building a business that truly aligns with your life over many seasons. Walk away with a sense of community, permission to build a unique business, and momentum.
About Jenni
It’s so great to meet you!
At the present moment, I work as a certified professional business strategist & coach for solopreneurs who work in creative fields, like design, marketing, journalism, coaching, fitness instruction, and beyond. I offer 1-1 coaching and run a group coaching program called SUSTAIN that is a genuine breath of fresh air in a business coaching landscape that can feel overly capitalist and transactional.
I started my career right where you’re at: Over a decade ago, I got my dream job as an editor at Upworthy, the viral news website. Later, I went on to work editor for the New York Times publication, Wirecutter, too. But after a tough layoff, I refused to go back into the same situation. Instead, I launched my own writing and editing business. Within that first year, I partnered with many big-name clients like REI, Forbes, the Guardian, Outside magazine, and beyond. I also made six figures, nearly doubling my salary at my full-time job. When I started to talk about this big leap, my work went viral.
That was in 2018. In 2020, I added coaching to my business mix and co-founded another business: A podcast and membership community called The Writer’s Co-op. I exited that company in 2022, then officially opened a content and community agency called The Riverwoods Media Group alongside my coaching business. Along the way, I had two kids, survived the pandemic and postpartum PTSD, supported my little family entirely with my self-employment income, retired from husband from a toxic job, learned how to manage my hyper-vigilance with more ease, moved from the big city into a small mountain town and so much more.
If you hang out around here, you’ll quickly learn that I love novelty and change my mind a lot. I’ve finally built a business that makes space for that.
You’ll also find that I’m the same person in this newsletter as I am in real life. I’m deeply curious, someone who refuses to accept the status quo as a rule, and an enthusiastic entrepreneur. Since I was a kid, I’ve been building things and asking a lot of questions about why we do things the way we do. I don’t buy into the fact that the way things are is the way things have to be — and my guess is, neither do you.
This newsletter is a place for me to play, just like I did when I was young. And it’s a place where I get to ask those big questions about what’s broken in the way we work, and how we can fix it. I hope you’ll join me for this ride.
Why pay for this newsletter?
The Sustainable Solopreneur is mostly free!
Free subscribers get full access to this newsletter, which will teach you how to run a business that’s aligned with your values. Subscribing means that you’ll get my weekly newsletters (both my essays and our guests’ Sample Path interviews) sent right to your inbox. Subscribing for free is great, and I hope you’ll share what you’re reading with friends, or on social media, if it resonates with you. It really helps!
If my work does resonate with you, I also invite you to support The Sustainable Solopreneur financially. I also publish a monthly podcast through Substack called Trying Stuff that will take you behind the scenes with how I’m experimenting in my business. This podcast is mostly available to paid subscribers.
You should know that my goal is to make business coaching accessible to as many small business owners as possible. Often, 1-1 coaching is far too expensive for those who need it most; The Sustainable Solopreneur is my effort to change that. The things I teach in 1-1 sessions will change your life, and I’m not shy about sharing key frameworks and tools here, too. Your subscription (just $5/ month!) goes toward a scholarship fund to create coaching opportunities for those who cannot afford them.
