The Power of Saying No: Decision Trees and Business Boundaries with Katie Chappell

I am so excited to have today's guest back on the podcast after recording an episode with her a long time ago about my rejection challenge. Yes, it is Katie Chappell, who was the original inspiration for that challenge!

However, we are not talking about rejection today. Instead, we are talking all about Katie's incredible business as a Live Illustrator. Honestly, I love chatting to her; she is a total business powerhouse with so many brilliant ideas.

In this episode, we discuss how she runs her Live Illustration business, the membership and jobs board she has created to share overflow work, and how she manages her time and boundaries. I came away from this conversation so inspired, and I know you will too.

Key Takeaways:

• The pivot to online-only: Katie made the strategic (and initially terrifying) decision to stop doing in-person events and focus exclusively on online live illustration to better manage her stress and family life.
• Sharing the wealth with a jobs board: Instead of just turning down the inquiries she couldn't take, Katie created a paid jobs board on Substack to pass that overflow work on to other illustrators, creating a win-win for everyone.
• Dealing with negative comments: Katie opens up about the backlash and trolling she received regarding her jobs board and how she now views it as a "rite of passage" and a sign of increased visibility.
• The power of the decision tree: To avoid decision fatigue, Katie uses a "decision tree" managed by her assistant to automatically filter inquiries—if a job doesn't meet her specific criteria (like being online and within school hours), it goes straight to the jobs board.
• Live illustration is thriving: Despite doom and gloom in the wider illustration industry, Katie explains why live graphic recording is still a high-value, premium service that corporate clients love. ‌

Episode Highlights:

• 02:11 – Katie explains exactly what live illustration looks like and how she captures visual notes during events.‌
• 07:59 – How Katie discovered graphic recording in the library during her master's degree and realised it was like being a war artist, but for meetings.
• 14:26 – The moment Katie realised she needed to scale back her agency model and set a deadline to go online-only.
• 15:28 – How the "Jobs Board" was born from an abundance of inquiries she couldn't fulfill.
• 25:59 – Navigating "mild trolling" and the emotional process of dealing with negative comments online. ‌

About The Guest:</