Things We Find Incredibly Chic Right Now-- Curated Edit
B0LD Lifestyle + Business Series | Focus: "female founder lifestyle," "business strategy women entrepreneurs," "curated recommendations female founders," "strategic tools female-led businesses"
Elegance isn't frivolous. It's strategic. Here's what we're actually using to build B0LD—from the AI that writes our strategies to the hand cream on our desk.
We are not really the #girlboss aesthetic with its motivational quotes and colour-coded planners. Not the minimalist tech bro aesthetic with its standing desks and black turtlenecks. Something ... More intentional. A blend of strategic rigour and sensory pleasure that doesn't apologise for caring about both the business model and the hand cream.
At B0LD, we've spent years refining how we work, what we use, and what actually matters when you're building a niche agency serving female founders. Not everything. Just the things that compound—the tools that make strategy sharper, the rituals that make days sustainable, the details that make the work feel like yours instead of someone else's hustle imported wholesale.
This isn't a sponsored post. These are the actual things we use, love, and recommend without reservation. The business tools that changed how we operate. The lifestyle details that make work feel like living. The strategic choices are disguised as aesthetic preferences.
Consider this the BOLD edit: curated, intentional, and unapologetically specific about what makes the work both excellent and enjoyable.
Business: The Tools That Actually Changed How We Work
Let's start with the unglamorous truth: most business tools are bad. They're either over-engineered for enterprise clients or under-designed for actual founders trying to build something meaningful. The tools that actually matter are the ones that disappear into your workflow while making everything sharper, faster, and clearer.
Claude (by Anthropic) — The AI That Actually Thinks
What it is: An AI assistant that feels less like a chatbot and more like a strategic partner who's read everything, thinks deeply, and never gets tired of your questions.
Why we love it: We've tested every major AI tool—ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, you name it. Claude is the only one we use daily for actual strategic work, not just surface-level content generation.
The difference? Claude thinks in nuance. Ask it to help position a wellness brand and it doesn't give you generic marketing tactics—it asks clarifying questions, considers your specific market dynamics, and provides strategic frameworks that demonstrate genuine understanding.
We use Claude for:
Strategic planning sessions: "Here's our current positioning. Here are the market dynamics. What are we missing?"
Client work: Analysing positioning gaps, developing content architectures, stress-testing strategic assumptions
Research synthesis: "Read these five articles about [topic] and synthesise the strategic implications for [specific client]"
The conversations feel collaborative, not extractive. Claude doesn't just give answers—it thinks with you.
The chic factor: Using AI that's actually intelligent instead of just fast. Depth over speed. Strategy over shortcuts.
Where to find it: claude.ai — Free tier is generous; Pro is $20/month and worth every penny for serious strategic work
Gamma — Presentations That Don't Look Like Everyone Else's
What it is: An AI-powered presentation and document builder that creates genuinely beautiful decks without the soul-crushing hours in Canva or PowerPoint.
Why we love it: Client presentations used to take 4-6 hours of design work. Now they take 45 minutes and look better than what we used to produce manually.
But here's the real value: Gamma doesn't just make pretty slides. It forces you to think in narrative structure. You input your content, and Gamma arranges it visually in a way that actually tells a story—not just dumps information on slides.
We use Gamma for:
Client strategy presentations: Positioning frameworks, content strategies, campaign roadmaps
Pitch decks: When we're presenting B0LD to potential agency clients
Internal planning documents: Quarterly reviews, strategic planning sessions
Workshop materials: When we're running DWY cohort sessions
Every presentation looks cohesive, professional, and unmistakably not-PowerPoint, our designer can work with it and focus on the details and on the feels that make the difference. Clients notice. They comment on it. It positions B0LD as the agency that cares about details.
Where to find it: gamma.app — Free tier available; Pro is $15/month
Notion — But Used Correctly
What it is: You already know what Notion is. Everyone uses Notion. But most people use it wrong.
Why we love it (when used right): Notion is powerful when you resist the urge to build elaborate systems you'll never maintain. We use Notion for exactly three things:
Client project management: Every client has a workspace with strategy documents, content calendars, campaign plans, and meeting notes. Everything in one place.
Content library: Every article we've written, every framework we've developed, every resource we reference—searchable, tagged, organised by topic and client relevance.
Strategic planning: Annual goals, quarterly priorities, monthly milestones, weekly focuses. Simple hierarchy, no elaborate dashboards.
That's it. No aesthetic vision boards. No complex habit trackers. No productivity systems that require maintenance.
The chic factor: Using powerful tools simply. Restraint as sophistication.
Where to find it: notion.so — Free tier works for solopreneurs; Plus is $10/month for collaboration
The 90-Minute Work Block — The Only Productivity Hack That Matters
What it is: Not a tool. A protocol. Two 90-minute blocks of deep, uninterrupted work per day minimum.
Why we love it: Every productivity system promises you'll get more done if you just optimise harder. The 90-minute block is the opposite: get the right things done by protecting time for deep thinking.
During these blocks: phone on airplane mode, email closed, Slack off, door closed (literal or metaphorical). One task only. No meetings. No interruptions.
These hours per week generate 80% of B0LD's strategic value. Everything else is maintenance.
The chic factor: Knowing that productivity isn't about doing more—it's about protecting space to think deeply about what actually matters.
Where to find it: Your calendar. Block it now. Protect it fiercely.
Actually Listening to Your Team — The Unsexy Strategic Advantage
What it is: Not a tool. A practice. When your team (or contractors, or partners) tells you something isn't working, you actually listen and adjust.
Why we love it: At B0LD, Edgar manages most of KXN (our B2B partnership arm) and provides operational support. When he says "this process is creating bottlenecks," I don't defend the process—I redesign it.
When our Digital Assistant says, "these content briefs are missing critical context," we improve the briefs.
When our Ads Specialist says, "this creative direction isn't working," we change direction.
Most founders hear feedback as criticism. Smart founders hear it as intelligence from the people closest to the work.
The chic factor: Ego-free leadership. Recognising that the people doing the work often see what you, three levels removed, cannot.
Where to find it: Your next team meeting. Ask: "What's not working that I'm not seeing?" Then actually listen. Then actually change it.
Lifestyle: The Details That Make Days Sustainable
Business tools handle strategy. Lifestyle details handle sustainability. You can't build something meaningful if you're running on fumes, resentment, and the fourth coffee of the day because you forgot to eat breakfast.
These are the small, specific things that make the work feel human instead of extractive.
Basil Hand Cream from Le Labo — Because Your Hands Are On Your Keyboard All Day
What it is: A $42 tube of hand cream that smells like fresh basil, absorbs instantly, and makes you feel like a person instead of a productivity machine.
Why we love it: Your hands touch your keyboard, your phone, your notebook, your coffee cup—thousands of times per day. They deserve better than the generic lotion you got at CVS.
Le Labo's Basil hand cream is herbaceous without being cloying, moisturising without being greasy, and the scent lingers just enough that you notice it throughout the day. It's a tiny luxury that compounds: every time you apply it (which is often), you get a small sensory reset.
Plus, the tube is beautiful enough to leave on your desk. Details matter.
The chic factor: Treating your most-used body parts with the care they actually deserve. Small luxuries that make work feel like living.
Where to find it: Le Labo — $42, lasts 2-3 months with daily use
Merit Beauty Minimalist Eyeshadow Stick — The 90-Second Face
What it is: A cream eyeshadow stick that you swipe on in 15 seconds and somehow look pulled together for Zoom calls.
Why we love it: We're not doing full glam for client calls. But showing up looking like we crawled out of bed at 8:58am for a 9:00am meeting isn't the vibe either.
Merit's eyeshadow sticks (we love Tiger's Eye and Cava) are the perfect middle ground: one swipe across the lid, blend with your finger, done. You look awake, polished, intentional. Total time investment: 90 seconds.
Pair with the Ilia Super Serum Skin Tint (more on that next) and you've achieved the "I'm a professional who also sleeps adequately" aesthetic without the 30-minute routine.
The chic factor: Looking polished without performing it. Effortless effort. The minimal routine that still signals you take yourself seriously.
Where to find it: Merit Beauty — $24 per stick
Ilia Super Serum Skin Tint — The Foundation That Isn't
What it is: A tinted serum that evens your skin tone, provides SPF 40, and somehow makes you look like you have great skin instead of looking like you're wearing foundation.
Why we love it: Foundation feels heavy. BB cream feels dated. This feels like nothing—while providing coverage, sun protection, and skincare benefits.
We apply it in 30 seconds before calls or meetings. It evens out redness, provides a subtle glow, and most importantly: doesn't look like makeup. It looks like you just have really nice skin.
(When paired with the Merit eyeshadow stick mentioned above, you've achieved full polish in under two minutes.)
The chic factor: Skincare that happens to provide coverage. Multi-tasking that actually works. Looking put-together without the performance of "getting ready."
Where to find it: Ilia Beauty or Sephora — $52, lasts 3-4 months
A Full Tea Collection — For Every Mood, Meeting, and Moment
What it is: Not one tea. A curated selection of 8-12 teas that serve different functional and emotional purposes throughout the day.
Why we love it: Coffee gives you one note: caffeinated energy. Tea gives you range.
Our current rotation:
Morning: Ginger tea (warming, digestive, grounding)
Mid-morning focus: Green tea with jasmine (alert without jittery)
Post-lunch: Peppermint tea (digestive, refreshing, afternoon reset)
Afternoon wind-down: Chrysanthemum tea (gentle, liver-supporting, calming)
Evening: Chamomile with lavender (sleepy time, non-negotiable)
Winter warming: Jujube and goji tea (nourishing, sweet, restorative)
When stressed: Rose tea (calming, centering, gentle)
When depleted: Bone broth (technically not tea, but serves the same ritual purpose)
Each tea signals a shift: time to focus, time to digest, time to wind down. The ritual of making tea—heating water, steeping, waiting—creates natural breaks that coffee's 30-second pour doesn't provide.
The chic factor: Treating different states as valid and worth supporting. Range over consistency. Honoring your body's actual needs instead of caffeinating through all of them.
Where to find it:
Rose tea (Art of Tea) — $14
Snack Plates for Hormone Support — Because Your Blood Sugar Affects Your Business Decisions
What it is: Small, beautiful plates with 3-4 hormone-supporting snacks, prepared in advance and available when you need them.
Why we love it: Here's what nobody tells you about running a business: low blood sugar makes you make bad decisions. You get irritable during client calls. You say yes to projects you should decline. You skip the strategic thinking because your brain is running on fumes.
Snack plates solve this. Every morning, we prepare a small plate with:
Almonds or walnuts (healthy fats, sustained energy)
Dates or dried figs (gentle natural sugars, fibre)
Dark chocolate (because life is short and dark chocolate supports mood)
Sliced apple or pear (fresh, hydrating, easy to digest)
The plate sits on the desk. When energy dips between meals, you have something nourishing immediately available. No deciding. No ordering delivery. No skipping food entirely and wondering why you're irritable by 3pm.
The chic factor: Preparing your environment for success instead of relying on willpower. Preventive care disguised as an aesthetic arrangement.
Where to find it: Any beautiful small plate you love (we're partial to ceramic or wooden boards)
Coconut Wax Candles — Because Your Office Should Feel Like Yours
What it is: Candles made from coconut wax (cleaner burn than paraffin, more sustainable than soy) in scents that actually smell like what they claim to smell like.
Why we love it: Your workspace affects your work. A space that feels sterile or institutional produces sterile, institutional thinking. A space that feels intentional, warm, and distinctly yours produces work that feels the same.
We keep rotating candles:
Morning focus: Eucalyptus or peppermint (clarifying, energising)
Afternoon work: Sandalwood or cedar (grounding, warm)
Client calls: Unscented (professional, no overwhelming fragrance)
Friday wind-down: Vanilla or amber (cozy, signals transition from work to weekend)
The ritual matters as much as the scent: lighting a candle signals "work begins" in the morning. Blowing it out signals "work ends" in the evening. The sensory marker creates psychological boundaries that digital work otherwise erases.
The chic factor: Making your workspace feel like a place you want to be, not a place you're obligated to inhabit. Intentional environment design.
Where to find it:
Brooklyn Candle Studio — $28
P.F. Candle Co. — $24
A Morning Walk Before The Work Begins — The Non-Negotiable
What it is: 15-30 minutes of walking before you open your laptop, check email, or start client work.
Why we love it: You cannot think strategically from bed to desk. Your brain needs transition time. Your body needs movement before sitting for hours. Your nervous system needs to shift from sleep state to work state gradually, not through the violent jolt of email at 7am.
The morning walk serves multiple functions:
Physical: Gentle movement, circulation, vitamin D if there's sun
Mental: Time to think without screens, often where best strategic ideas emerge
Emotional: Regulation before the day's demands begin
Strategic: Problem-solving happens here (we keep voice notes app ready for ideas that arise)
No podcast. No phone call. Sometimes music, usually silence. Just walking, thinking, being in your body before you're required to be in your head.
The chic factor: Protecting your best thinking time by creating space for it. Recognizing that strategy happens in stillness, not in back-to-back Zoom calls.
Where to find it: Outside your front door. Right now. Before you open email tomorrow.
Marketing: The Strategic Tools Female Founders Actually Need
Now the tools that specifically affect how you position, market, and grow a business. Not everything. Just the things that changed the game for B0LD and our clients.
A Real Photographer Every 6 Months — The Investment That Compounds
What it is: Hiring an actual photographer (not just using your iPhone) every 6 months to create brand imagery.
Why we love it: Stock photos look like stock photos. iPhone selfies look like iPhone selfies. Professional brand photography looks like you take your business seriously.
Every six months, we book a 2-hour session with a photographer who understands B0LD's aesthetic: clean, warm, slightly editorial, unmistakably feminine without being cutesy.
We get:
Headshots for website, LinkedIn, speaking bios
Workspace shots for behind-the-scenes content
Lifestyle imagery for blog headers, social media, newsletters
Product shots if we've created new digital products
These photos get used for months. They elevate every piece of content. They signal professionalism. And they remove the friction of "I need an image for this article" every time you publish.
The chic factor: Investing in how your brand looks, not just what it says. Visual polish that compounds.
Where to find it: Local photographers specializing in brand photography (budget $500-$1,500 for a 2-hour session depending on your market)
Saying No to Most Marketing Channels — The Strategic Restraint
What it is: Not being on TikTok, not posting daily to Instagram, not running a YouTube channel, not doing all the things every marketing guru says you "must" do.
Why we love it: B0LD exists primarily through:
SEO and blog content (37,500 monthly visitors from strategic articles)
Email newsletter (3,200 highly engaged subscribers)
LinkedIn (strategic thought leadership, not daily posting)
Selective Instagram (2-3 posts per week, no pressure)
That's it. We're not on TikTok. We don't have a podcast. We don't run Facebook ads. We don't do daily Instagram stories.
Every marketing channel requires time, energy, and strategic focus. Doing three channels excellently beats doing seven mediocrely.
We chose the channels where our ideal clients (female founders and wellness brands) actually spend time looking for strategic marketing help. We ignored everything else.
The result: higher ROI from fewer channels. Less overwhelm. More focus. Better work.
The chic factor: Knowing what you're not doing is as strategic as knowing what you are doing. Restraint as sophistication.
Where to find it: Your calendar. Delete the marketing tasks for channels that aren't serving you. Protect the time for channels that are.
Actually Tracking What Works — The Unsexy Necessity
What it is: Using Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and email analytics to understand what's actually working—not what you hope is working.
Why we love it: Feelings lie. Data doesn't.
We track:
Which blog articles drive the most traffic (then write more like those)
Which articles convert visitors to email subscribers (then optimise those for conversion)
Which email subject lines get the highest open rates (then use similar frameworks)
Which services get the most consultation requests (then emphasise those in marketing)
Which referral sources send the highest-quality leads (then invest more in those relationships)
Every month, we review these metrics. Not obsessively. But enough to know whether our marketing strategy is actually working or just feels like it's working.
The chic factor: Basing decisions on reality, not aspiration. Strategic rigour disguised as boring spreadsheets.
Where to find it:
Google Analytics — Free
Google Search Console — Free
Your email platform's built-in analytics
The Philosophy: Why These Specific Things Matter
You'll notice a pattern in everything listed above.
None of it is about optimization. None of it is about hustle. None of it promises to 10x your productivity or scale your business to seven figures in 90 days.
These are tools, practices, and details that make the work sustainable. That create space for strategic thinking instead of constant reaction. That honor the reality that you're a human building something meaningful, not a machine optimizing for output.
The business tools eliminate friction from strategic work.
The lifestyle details make the days feel human instead of extractive.
The marketing strategies focus on depth over breadth, quality over quantity.
All of it serves one purpose: building a business that feels like yours. That honors your actual values. That doesn't require you to perform someone else's version of success.
At B0LD, we work with female founders who are tired of the hustle narrative. Who want to build businesses that generate revenue without destroying their nervous systems. Who refuse to choose between strategic rigor and aesthetic pleasure.
These tools, practices, and details are how we do that for ourselves—and how we teach our clients to do it too.
The Invitation: Build With Intention
If you're a female founder building something that matters, you don't need more productivity hacks. You need strategic clarity, sustainable systems, and permission to care about the details that make the work feel like yours.
DIY Path:
Our Positioning Sprint in a Box ($199) includes the frameworks we use to build positioning strategy, content calendars, and marketing systems that actually work—without requiring you to be on every platform or hustle through burnout.
DWY Path:
Our 90-Day Positioning Sprint ($1800) is where we build your marketing strategy together—identifying which channels actually serve your business, which tools support your work style, and which practices make growth sustainable.
Month 1: Strategic positioning and audience clarity Month 2: Content and marketing architecture Month 3: Implementation systems and sustainability practices
Limited to 8 female founders per cohort.
DFY Path:
Our agency retainers ($2,500-$7,500/month) include complete marketing strategy and execution—SEO, content creation, email strategy, brand positioning—so you can focus on running your business while we handle the visibility.
We work with 5-8 clients maximum. Quality over scale. Depth over breadth.
The Final Word on What's Actually Chic
Chic isn't about expensive things. It's about intentional things.
It's Claude over ChatGPT because you value depth.
It's the $42 hand cream because you use your hands all day and they deserve care.
It's the 90-minute work block because you know real strategy requires uninterrupted thinking.
It's saying no to TikTok because your ideal clients aren't there.
It's the morning walk because you can't build something meaningful from a depleted nervous system.
It's the tea collection because different states deserve different support.
It's professional photography every six months because visual polish compounds.
Chic is knowing what matters and investing there—while ignoring everything that looks impressive but doesn't serve you.
That's not just taste. That's strategy.
And it's exactly what we teach at B0LD: building businesses that are both excellent and sustainable. Strategic and beautiful. Rigorous and human.
If that's the business you're building, these are the tools that support it.
Use what serves you. Ignore the rest. Build something that feels unmistakably yours.
That's the most chic thing of all.
More from B0LD on building intentionally:
The Year the White Rabbit Caught Me: What Happens When Perfect Isn't Aligned
What I Learned in the Mining Deal Room: Why Female Founders Need to Stop Waiting for Invitations
Niche Email Marketing: Building a Small List That Generates Big Revenue
Subscribe to Bold Dispatch for weekly insights on building businesses that refuse to choose between strategy and style, rigour and pleasure, excellence and sustainability.
The most successful female founders aren't the ones who optimise hardest. They're the ones who build with intention—choosing tools, practices, and details that make the work both excellent and enjoyable.
