2.5 years on Substack, 10,000 sensitive subscribers and SO much gratitude.

And it all started with me deep in a spiral.

Grateful for my morning beach walks, which have supported me from spiraling from imposter syndrome and the fear of being seen.

I had to sit with this number for a few days.

Ten thousand.

I know it’s not about the numbers. But 10,000 just seems like a whole lot of people. Imagine us all in the same space?? OK, don’t do that. My sensitive nervous system is already freaking out.

I suppose I secretly wondered if I would reach this goal. But I never actually thought this would happen (or happen as quickly as it did). But here we are…2.5 years on Substack, and over 10,000 sensitive souls gathered in this little corner of the interwebs.

I can’t help but feel nostalgic about where this all began. Because the magic did not begin anywhere glamorous. In fact, it all began whilst I was deep in a spiral.

1 year ago…

I was sitting on a floor surrounded by boxes. Laptop balanced on my knees finishing a presentation. I was about to give a Substack training to 15 people I had never met. I had no job, no house, no plan, and a relationship of 6.5 years falling apart around me.

I was, to put it mildly, in the middle of a full life spiral.

All I had was this little newsletter. I had been writing on Substack in secret for 1.5 years at that stage, mostly as a lifeline. I was stuck inside a toxic agency job and a failing relationship, and writing was the only place I could breathe. It had been 8 years since I had let myself write. 8 years since I had let myself be seen at all, actually.

I had been slowly making myself smaller - pouring everything into a relationship and a career that were draining me dry, until my light was barely visible, even to me.

Substack was where I found my way back to myself. Where I started writing myself back to life.

“I was already in so much pain and discomfort - what would failing at another thing actually do to me?”

The first act of bravery that started it all…

So there I was on that floor. Desperate and a bit unhinged (I say this with love for this version of me). I ran the training and at the end, I announced a group cohort program. A program that did not yet exist.

That’s right. I made something up and sold it on the spot. I knew the only way I would build the damn thing, was to have other humans relying on me (thank you ADHD brain).

My voice was trembling. The imposter syndrome was in full gear. And to my shock and horror 50% of the attendees bought it. Seven paying students, right there and then.

Now friends, let me tell you, that when the universe sends you a signal like that, you listen.

Excitement and mostly terror after selling my Program (that did not exist yet)

So I built my Substack Sanctuary 8-Week Program and delivered it, week after week - while still in the middle of my personal breakdown spiral. Was it my best work? Probably not. Did I learn an extraordinary amount in the process? Absolutely.

That program became the foundation for everything I do today. It has now run four times. I’ve launched a mentorship program. I market everything through Substack - because I genuinely cannot stomach the noise on other social platforms and I refuse to perform on them anymore.

And I am almost afraid to say this, in case I jinx it but…

I am nearly earning the same as what I was in my corporate job. Which. Is. WILD.

You Don’t Have to Do This Whilst Spiraling

If any of this resonates - if Substack feels like it could be your thing but the whole platform feels like a spiral waiting to happen - I’d love for you to join me. Substack Without the Spiral is a free live masterclass where we strip it right back to the foundations. The principles that hold no matter what changes on the platform (or what erupts in your personal life either).

Now, some real talk…

The last 1 year since I started monetizing Substack was not linear. It was not tidy. There were launches that flopped. Things I tried (and quickly retired). Months where I genuinely wondered if I was building something real, or just showing up for my ‘pretend’ job every day.

But I kept going. Not from discipline. Not from a content calendar. Mostly from stubbornness, a whole lot of anxiety, and from a deep knowing that this place - writing, being seen, this community - was no one elses. And I wasn’t going to let it go without a fight.

The secret, if I had to name it? Simple. I found a problem I could solve. I tested it, and revised it, over and over again and I did not stop.

Not a funnel. Not a viral post. Just showing up, again and again, even when I wasn’t sure it was working.

“Find the intersection of what you’re passionate about, who you are, and what you’re competent at — your Ikigai. Build from there.”

Ten thousand sensitive souls found their way here because of that. Because something in what I was writing resonated - maybe the honesty, maybe the messiness, maybe just the permission to work your sensitivity and your nervous system into your strategy, rather than fighting against them.

And now I want to help you build the same thing. Not my thing - yours.

Substack Without the Spiral — Free Masterclass 19th May

Whether you’re brand new or you’ve been circling Substack for months feeling overwhelmed - this masterclass is for you. We’ll go back to the foundations. The stuff that doesn’t change. The stuff that actually works, especially if you’re a sensitive soul who wants to write without the frenzy of social media.

No performance. No hustle. Just you, your words, and a solid place to stand.

Thank you for being here. Genuinely. For reading, for subscribing, for replying, for the comments that reminded me I wasn’t just shouting into the void on the hard days.

You are the reason I keep showing up. The world needs more sensitive voices like YOURS!

I also want to give a special thanks to the wonderful sensitive friends, connections, clients and angels that have supported me on Substack over the last few years. There are way too many to include here but a special thanks to ✨ Prajna O'Hara ✨ Alicia Joyful Safe Space for Wobbly Humans Sinem Günel Midlife Mentor Betsy Messy Declutterer Isabelle Unapologetic Introvert The Poisoned Daughter Tertia Smit Michelle Smit🌙 Midlife Musings Carrie Allegretti The Rested Black Woman Natalie (Digital Fairy) Rebecca | Spark Joy & Flow Dr Elayne Daniels Note to Real Self Katie Lazzaro Benjamin Antoine Morgan Storm Ellie Nova Carol Oyanagi Mika Lila Sterling Robin Finney Lauren | Poptart Creatives 🎨 ThePrivatePracticePsychologist

In South Africa we have a Zulu term “Ubuntu”, which means I am because we are. Thank you for being this supportive network when I had very little else to hold on to.

With gratitude.
Andy x

P.s. If you like this, you might be interested in hearing my latest conversation with Sinem Günel dropping some truth bombs around the reality of being a sensitive creator! Or more about being a sensitive soul hanging on in the corporate rat race.