Business Pivots, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Mindset, Online Business

Doing What You Love In Business: How To Make Your Business Work For You

October 14, 2026
By itssophiebiggerstaff.com

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Doing What You Love Means Stopping "The Right Way" And Starting Your Way

Doing what you love in business sounds simple until you realise you have quietly built something that feels nothing like you. That is where I found myself recently, sitting in my apartment in Koh Phangan, Thailand, watching the rain, avoiding recording my own podcast for a whole week because the format I had been told to follow felt completely wrong. Not wrong because it was bad advice. Wrong because it was not me. And when something is not me, it stops working for me – full stop.

I have been asking myself the question “is my business working for me?” for five years. My business has gone through more iterations than I can count, and right now I am being radically honest about the one area that has not been landing: the way I have been showing up on this podcast. I had taken external advice, tried to structure things around keywords, done more scripted solo episodes, and followed a format that someone else deemed successful. Every single bit of that made logical sense. None of it felt like me. And the moment something stops feeling like me, it stops being an act of authentic branding – it becomes a performance.

That is the thing nobody warns you about when you leave the 9-5 and go all in on an online business. You do not just escape corporate rules. You can accidentally build an entirely new set of rules that feel just as suffocating. Doing what you love has to be the foundation, not an afterthought, and if your business is not built around that, it starts to feel like the exact job you quit.

Why Doing What You Love Is The Only Sustainable Marketing Strategy

Here is what I know after six years of building online, since I quit my corporate career in 2020 with £15k in savings and everyone thinking I had completely lost the plot. How to market your business is not about finding the platform with the most users or following someone else’s blueprint. It is about finding the channel where you genuinely want to show up, and then showing up there with everything you have got.

For me, that has been LinkedIn. I have had an Instagram account for nearly six years, and it has grown to just over 2,000 followers. I have been on LinkedIn with consistent, intentional effort and gained 10,000 followers in 10 months – because I love writing. Writing feels easy. Writing feels like me. Instagram feels like pulling teeth because I have zero interest in performing for an algorithm that rewards content I have no desire to create. The moment I stopped trying to make Instagram work and went all in on what I actually love, everything shifted.

That is not a coincidence. That is authentic branding in practice. Your energy is in your content. When you love what you are creating, people feel it. When you are going through the motions, people feel that too. If you are sitting there right now wondering how to market your business in a way that actually converts, start by asking yourself what you genuinely enjoy consuming and creating, and then build your marketing strategy around that. If you are ready to map that out properly, download The Freedom Founder Playbook – it is 80 pages of step-by-step guidance on building a business that actually fits your life.

Brand Authenticity Is Not A Buzzword - It Is How You Avoid Burning Out

Brand authenticity is the thing that keeps you going when the metrics are slow and the motivation dips. When I think about why I went all in on my own business after leaving Burberry – after years of waking up with extreme anxiety, crying in the toilets at work, calling in sick just to get rest – it was because I wanted to build something that felt like mine. Something I was genuinely proud of and actually wanted to show up for.

When I started following a podcast format that someone else decided was the right one, I started avoiding my own content. That is the red flag. That is the sign that authentic branding has been replaced by obligation. And obligation is where businesses go to die slowly. Here is what brand authenticity actually looks like in practice:

Marketing in the way you consume content yourself – I listen to podcasts on my sunset beach walks every single day, so creating a podcast made sense for me
Choosing platforms because they align with how your brain works, not because a guru told you to be there
Letting your personality lead, rather than contorting yourself around what an algorithm rewards
Being honest in real time about what is and is not working for you in your business
Allowing your content format to evolve as you evolve, without treating that as failure
Scrapping the script when the script stops sounding like you
Building consistency around joy, not discipline alone – because consistency born from joy is the kind that actually lasts

The businesses that work for you long term are not the ones with the most polished production setups. They are the ones built around genuine self-knowledge and the courage to act on it.

I Quit My Job To Build Something That Works For Me - Not A New Version Of The Same Trap

When I say I quit my job – I mean I walked away from a career that looked incredible on paper. Fashion buying for Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Kate Spade, Diesel. Managing a £380 million business. Presenting to boards. Travelling the world. People called it a dream job. By 28, I was a shell of myself. I left because I refused to spend the rest of my life doing what I love on paper while dying inside in practice.

But here is what I have learned since, and what I see again and again with the founders I work with. You can leave the 9-5 and accidentally recreate it. You can build a business so full of tasks you hate, platforms that drain you, and formats that feel performative, that it starts to feel just as soul-destroying as the corporate world you escaped. That is when people lose motivation. They lose resilience. They give up. And I have watched it happen too many times.

Doing what you love and building a business where everything works for you requires you to get brutally honest about what is actually not working. For me, that meant sitting with a script I did not want to read and finally saying – no. This is not how I do this. I am a relationship builder, a conversationalist, someone who thinks out loud and connects through real conversation. And if I am reading off a script, you cannot feel me. So here we are.

If something in your business or your career has been making you feel like you are banging your head against a wall, that is information. Ask yourself why. Not to punish yourself, but to redirect. That question is always the starting point. The Freedom Founder Playbook walks you through exactly that process of getting honest about what you want, what is not working, and how to start building the version of business that actually fits you.

Doing What You Love In Business - Your Questions Answered

Can you really build a business around doing what you love, or is that just a nice idea?

Yes – and it is not just nice, it is strategic. When you are doing what you love, your energy is higher, your content is better, your consistency is easier, and your results follow. The businesses that burn out fastest are the ones built around obligation and other people’s blueprints, not around what genuinely works for you.

How do I know which marketing platform is right for me when learning how to market my business?

Start by asking how you consume content. If you read, write. If you listen, podcast. If you watch long-form, make video. How to market your business authentically starts with understanding yourself first – your natural habits, your strengths, and the formats that make you want to show up rather than avoid.

What does authentic branding actually mean in practice for a small online business?

Authentic branding means your business feels like a genuine extension of you – your voice, your format, your values, your energy. It means choosing your platforms, your content style, and your offers based on what truly aligns with you, rather than what someone else said would work. When your authentic branding is right, showing up feels natural rather than forced.

I quit my job to start a business, but it’s starting to feel like another 9-5 – what do I do?

This is more common than you think. The moment you said I quit my job, you took an enormous step – now the work is making sure your business actually reflects the freedom you left for. Look honestly at every task, platform, and commitment in your business and ask: is this working for me? If the answer is no, that is where to start.

Is it too late to change direction if my business or content strategy is not doing what I love anymore?

Never. Pivoting is not failure – it is wisdom. Changing a podcast format, scrapping a platform, redesigning an offer, these are all signs that you are listening to yourself. Doing what you love is not a one-time decision. It is something you recommit to every time something stops feeling aligned. The courage to change is what keeps a business alive long-term. If you want support making that shift, the Freedom Founder Playbook is a great place to start getting clear on what that looks like for you.

The Bottom Line: A Business That Works For You Starts With Doing What You Love

Doing what you love is not a luxury – it is the most practical business decision you can make. Working for you, authentic branding, understanding how to market your business through the lens of your own joy and genuine strengths – these are not soft, feel-good concepts. They are what determines whether you build something sustainable or something you eventually resent. Whether you said I quit my job six months ago, or six years ago, the question to keep asking is: is this working for me? Because the moment it stops, you owe it to yourself to change it. If you are ready to get honest about what that looks like in your own business, The Freedom Founder Playbook will help you build the foundations the right way – your way.

meet the writer

I'm Sophie

Online business coach, podcast host, mental health advocate, speaker, founder of TINAH, community builder, full-time digital nomad, and general trailblazing, rule breaker…

I tried to live a “normal” life: I spent 11+ years working my way up in the fashion industry, working for brands like Ralph Lauren and Burberry. I had the apartment in the city, I lived for going out at the weekends, spent money on designer bags and holidays – until I realized this lifestyle DID NOT FULFIL ME – I was waking up with anxiety every day – surviving, but definitely not thriving.

So I quit. I left my 9-to-5 behind to start an online business that supported the lifestyle I actually wanted. Now that looks like slow mornings, daily beach walks, co-working with like-minded entrepreneurs, yoga, meditation, and lots of social connections.

Since 2020, I’ve built multiple online business offers – from online business coaching and consulting to online courses, digital products, and a mental health marketplace – all while travelling the world and living life, and earning money on my own terms.

Now… I’m on a mission to help more people break free from lives that don’t feel good for them and create more freedom through starting and growing an online business.