“My business doesn’t need a manager. It needs a midwife.”
We are constantly sold the lie that business is a problem to be solved with the right template or system. We buy the books, hunt for the shortcuts, and look for the saviour who will finally make our practice work. But when the 3AM exhaustion sets in, those rigid, performative strategies crumble against the reality of our actual lives.
The truth? You do not need more expertise or another playbook. You need to shift your posture from the hungry magnet trying to be seen, to the midwife who simply shows up to receive what is already happening. Expertise often gets in the way of true connection, while the willingness to stand in the flood with someone else turns a transaction into a miracle.
This episode is an invitation to stop articulating your work and start stepping into it. Instead of hunting for customers, you will learn to look for the person in front of you. By letting go of the need for validation and serving what the moment requires, you build a practice that feels like a natural extension of your own life.
00:00 - The Midwife and the Miracle
02:18 - Beyond Performative Presence
04:38 - Why Your Templates Crumble
06:22 - The Shift From Manager to Midwife
09:07 - Serving the Person, Not the Data Point
What we cover in this episode
The Myth of the Saviour: Why the pursuit of business nirvana through external shortcuts leaves you feeling empty and disconnected.
The Midwife Posture: How to stop demanding that life follow your plan and instead learn to receive what is actually happening.
The Problem with Data Points: Why viewing your audience as a conversion statistic prevents you from truly seeing the person in front of you.
The abundance of one: Moving away from the lonely, performative hustle of social media and towards personal, one-to-one connection.
The Weekly Practice: A simple, actionable exercise to step into someone else’s room without a hidden agenda.
Notable Quotes
“I was simply in the moment with him, responding to what was actually happening as best I could. Incomplete, imperfect, and exactly what the moment required.”
“My business doesn’t need a manager. It needs a midwife.”
“Artists are everywhere, but they’re not standing at an easel waiting for inspiration. They’re seeing and serving the everyday work at hand.”
Questions for the Campfire
Take a moment today and ask yourself these three things:
When you look at your business, are you trying to manage a result or are you serving the person standing right in front of you?
Where in your work are you clinging to a template instead of responding to what is actually happening?
If you removed your call to action, how would you change the way you reach out to the three people you want to serve this week?
Join the conversation: Read the full written version and gather around the campfire on Substack: https://www.unremarkable.co
Watch Chapter 1 of the series here:
#ArtLikeYouMeanIt #TheMidwifePosture #SmallBusiness #Authenticity #TheUnremarkableEntrepreneur
Practice Note
This week, don’t create anything new. Don’t post, don’t broadcast, don’t announce.
Pick three people. Step into their room. Let them know you see them.
Then do it again next week.
An invitation
If you’re already in the work, building with intention, and hard work doesn’t scare you - I’d love to have a conversation.
The Order of Unremarkable Creators exists to offer the fellowship, friction, and context many artists, creators, and solo-operators are missing.
It’s not something you can simply join, and membership is currently capped at 20 members (this is not a tactic, it’s about foundations before growth).
If you’re curious to know more, or if this stanza has raised questions for you, please reach out to me on dan@unremarkable.co.
Where We Are:
This is Week 23 of a year-long practice.
Movement 2: Empathy - eight weeks exploring kindness and respect for self and the power genuine connection.
Art Like You Mean It ← You are here
You Can’t See the View When You’re in the View
Click here to read the Overture and Movement 1.
