Rising tides & new beginnings

And just like that, it's October.

And I haven't spoken to you since July. And we're meeting in a different place. The email looks a bit different. Our own domain exists. Everything seems a bit more mature.

That's how I feel, too. Like I've matured. Like 3 years have passed when in reality only 3 months have. I have done so. much. work. on myself and for myself that the results that have started showing up now are immense. I can't believe it.

In retrospect, could I have built all of this whilst continuing to publish newsletters? Probably, yes. But I felt like I needed the peace and quiet, and time, for myself. To hear my own thoughts. To give in to the feelings. To let go, be let free, and grow.

Thank you for waiting, and I hope I didn't disappoint. I hope Unsetting Expectations doesn't disappoint you either. I had to unset a lot of mine during the summer. And a lot of them were connected to you.

But, as I intentionally build my life and my business so that it supports me — my mood, my energy, my time; I've decided to do things depending on how I feel. And I didn't have the capabilities to show up for myself and for you and rebuild this. Often the decisions are a "pick two" triangle, aren't they?

I like to think that in choosing to rebuild this I also chose you because the whole reason for doing this was because of you. Your words, feedback, and comments have inspired me to build this to everything I know it could be, and then some. In doing so, I've realized this is quickly becoming something much bigger than myself, and I'm here for it.

So, what's changed?

Instead of an article every 2 weeks, we will publish articles 2 to 3 times per week. Now that there are more contributors, there are naturally even more topics — 14, to be exact! Choose the topics that fit you the most at this moment, and feel free to update them anytime. This helps us send you articles that are personalized for you. If you skip this step, that means we'll send you our full content!

As before, the articles published are a mix of my own writing and guest writers. You get them once you sign up for free.

Support through membership tiers

Other than the free tier, there are 3 more tiers that you can contribute to if you wish. Here's a simple breakdown:

FREE — you get unlimited access to all of mine and all of the guest articles

£9.99/m tier — you get everything as above, plus access to "Expert Talks" - articles from therapists, coaches & practitioners, as well as 2 monthly specials: "In conversation with UE Writers" & "Books & tools recommendation" of the month. You also get access to the Real & Raw video library.

£29.99/m tier — you get everything as above, plus weekly audio snippets directly from me, as well as 2 monthly specials: one about an unpopular opinion, and the other my personal check-in. You also get access to all "In conversation with Unsetting Expectations writers" articles. 😊

£59.99/m tier — in this biggest paid tier, you get all of the above, plus a monthly live Q&A with yours truly (👋), another 2 monthly specials - this time, "What I learned in therapy" and "Business & mental health", as well as monthly behind the scenes clips and access to our own, private Unsetting Expectations community space 🤗

By contributing to any of the paid tiers, you help me pay the bills and grow towards being able to pay the writers — something I'm diligently working towards being able to do. You can also pay for a yearly subscription (and get 2 months free!). Thank you for helping me do that.

I'm working on another model of supporting writers which will enable you to ask for a certain topic, and if you want, nominate someone to write it. You pledge how much you could contribute to the crowdfund, and once we get £100 minimum, we reach out to the author. Others can pledge towards your topic too! I'm hoping to publish this feature by the end of the month 👯‍♀️ More on this soon!

You can upgrade your plan in your account, or by clicking the Support us button floating in the lower right corner. Thank you 💛

Audio content at the ready

Today we premiered Real & Raw, our new series which is an interactive talk show hosted over on Clubhouse.

Every Thursday starting from October 14th, at 1 pm CET, we bring you women who have or are overcoming and defying expectations of themselves & society, and expert sessions to discuss practical tips & tricks to dealing with perfectionism, imposter syndrome, anxiety, and many more.

You are welcome to join in, listen, ask questions, and most importantly, reflect on your own experience of unsetting expectations.

All of our Clubhouse sessions are recorded and uploaded on our Unsetting Expectations podcast, so if you've missed any, tune in! We are present on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google podcasts & YouTube.

Where do we go from here?

I heard a sentence once saying:

"If you've launched something and there weren't any things you could improve, you launched too late".

And being a perfectionist, of course, I was inclined to making this the best possible website, experience, service, community, everything, ever. However, I stopped myself from doing so because thinking like that would get me nowhere, as I would keep postponing.

As a result, this page and the community will keep on advancing. The value will keep on giving. I have more plans and features to add in the future, but one step at a time. I feel what we have here is an amazing starting place, and I want to honor it.

I hope the topics we will bring out to you will help you in unsetting your own expectations, from relationship to politics, youth to parenthood. Don't forget to choose the topics that interest you - or do and receive them all.

Whatever you decide to do, I appreciate you being here. I also appreciate it if you realize this isn't a place for you anymore at this stage of your life. We're here for when you think it is again.

Sending you much love,

Franka

PS — We have our own Instagram now, too! Let's be friends there.