A woman sitting on a yellow stool in front of a dark gray brick wall with a large sign that reads 'Almost There' with an arrow pointing to the right. She is smiling, wearing a colorful shirt, a red jacket, blue jeans, and red sneakers.
A woman sitting on a yellow stool in front of a dark gray brick wall with a large sign that reads 'Almost There' with an arrow pointing to the right. She is smiling, wearing a colorful shirt, a red jacket, blue jeans, and red sneakers.

Mentoring for solo artists and small studios

You didn't start making things so you could chase invoices.

But that's where the hours go: pricing on gut feel, admin piling up, systems that feel like someone else's language. Your art is joy. The business wrapped around it is the headache and the handbrake.

That's the part I fix. Operations and technology are my background. Your creative business gets the benefit, one hour at a time.

What we work on

Whatever's actually in the way. Usually it's one of these:

  • Pricing strategy. Numbers you can say with confidence.

  • Admin that stops eating your week. Quotes, invoices, grants and residencies, follow-ups, kept track of and systemised.

  • Systems that run themselves. Notion, Google Workspace, Trello, Slack, Squarespace, Shopify, AI, etc. Whatever technology is in your business, I can help you find a better way to use it.

  • A plan you'll actually follow. What to do next, in what order, and what to ignore.

I'm the sort of person who brings donuts to a knife-fight. I'll be honest with you, but I won't make it heavy.

Mentoring is typically 1:1 and runs on your schedule. Start with a single Clarity Session and we'll work it out from there.

A box of colorful assorted donuts with pink, chocolate, and sprinkled toppings, held in a person's hand.
A woman with shoulder-length blonde hair, wearing a burgundy blazer and white top, smiling while sitting by a large window in a high-rise building with cityscape in the background.

“You showed me it's possible to have massive impact while still prioritising family. Your experience on boards and in business meant the advice was always grounded, never theoretical.”

— Camilla Roberts, CEO, Scale Impact

A middle-aged woman with blonde hair and glasses, wearing a black sweater with a white collar, standing against a plain off-white wall.

“My website hadn't kept up with where my practice had gone. I'd developed a real focus on sustainable design but none of that was coming through, so I wasn't leading with the thing that actually mattered most to me.

Aprill gave the site a proper makeover and suddenly it reflected who Studio Ester actually is now. That made all the difference. For the first time I felt confident sending people there, which meant I actually started marketing my business instead of avoiding it.

I've since brought Aprill back to help me get across AI as a tool for my practice. If you need someone who can make your work look and read like it should, she's the person”

— Anna Power, Principal, Studio Ester

A woman wearing a colorful geometric patterned top, a gold crown with red gems, and blue jeans standing against a dark gray brick wall.

  1. Secure your spot and choose a time that suits you.

  2. Pay $450 in advance. That holds your one-hour session and means I can come to you prepared.

  3. We meet on Google Meet, or face-to-face, if you’re in Melbourne, and we’ll get into what's holding you back. I'll capture notes, so you leave with something to act on. From there we'll know if ongoing mentoring or practical help makes sense.

How it works