The Truth About Building a Business You Actually Love | Alice Benham

In this episode of Photography Adjacent, Tom Trevatt sits down with Alice Benham, business strategist, coach, and host of the Starting the Conversation podcast. Alice also happens to be Tom's own business strategist, which makes for an unusually candid conversation on both sides.What starts as Alice's origin story, leaving school at 16 and accidentally stumbling into freelance work, opens up into something more honest and searching. They cover burnout, the trap of endless diversification, and why making business look easy online might be doing more harm than good. There is also plenty here specifically for photographers and creative business owners, from pricing confidence to client experience and why your best marketing strategy might already be sitting in your inbox.TAKEAWAYS-Early burnout forced a reset that shaped everything after-29 services as a company of one is a warning sign, not a badge of honour-Business growth is simple in concept but genuinely hard in practice-Your past clients are your most overlooked sales strategy-A personal brand is not the same as your whole self-Share scars, not wounds-Vision is not a one-time exercise; it keeps getting clearerCHAPTERS00:00 Introduction to Alice Benham00:30 Alice's story from school leaver to business strategist03:30 Building a business over 10 years and what that arc looks like07:00 The three eras of the business10:00 Moving from marketing strategy into wider business coaching12:30 What Onnit is and who it is for18:00 Why community and environment shape what feels possible22:00 Limiting beliefs and what a photographer priced too low actually looks like26:00 Business growth is simple but hard, not complicated but easy30:00 The biggest personal challenge across 10 years35:00 Tying your identity to your business and why it backfires38:00 Personal branding, oversharing, and learning to curate online43:00 The podcast as the best business decision Alice ever made47:00 Practical advice for creative business owners52:00 Where to find Alice and what is coming up with OnnitLINKSWebsite: https://www.photographyadjacent.comInstagram Tom Trevatt: https://www.instagram.com/tomtrevatt/GUEST: ALICE BENHAMInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/alice_benham/Website: https://www.alicebenham.co.ukPodcast: Starting the ConversationPRODUCTIONKeenlii: https://www.instagram.com/keenliico/SUBSCRIBE AND ENGAGEIf you found value in our conversation, please subscribe for more insightful episodes. Comment and let us know what topics you'd like us to explore next.SUPPORT OUR PODCASTTo support the show and help us bring you more content, please consider leaving a review or sharing this episode with your photography-loving friends.ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY ADJACENTWelcome to Photography Adjacent, a podcast about photography and everything else. Each week we speak to artists, activists, writers, and the occasional photographer to learn about life through their lens. Join us as we explore more than just the art of photography — celebrating the voices shaping our understanding of the world, from the creative minds that capture life's moments to the change-makers who challenge our perceptions. Through these conversations, we hope to uncover experiences that inspire artistic and personal growth.