The Joy-Led Business Creation Collective

A community of purpose-led women business-owners stepping into their creative power for these times

Your invitation to become a founding member

Earlier this year I offered a 90-minute workshop called Joy-Led Business Creation. Perhaps you were there.

Women arrived tired of being told ‘this is the way you must grow your business.’ But beneath that, there was something else:

A deep desire to create. To contribute. To bring their work forward in ways that feel alive and meaningful.

Offering this peep into the world of Joy-Led Business Creation has sparked the next phase of this work.

This work wants to live inside a community of practice. A space where women gather regularly, to support one another in bringing their work to life.

What I’m feeling called to steward now is the next evolution of that idea.

This is the invitation to be part of it.

Why I am following the call to create this…

We‘re part of an industry that tells us: You need the right niche. The right messaging. The right funnel. The right expert. And if you just invest in the next programme, the next formula, the next system…Then things will finally work.

But it doesn’t. I know that. You know that. That’s why I’m writing this, and you’re reading it.

I also know our resistance to this bullshit extractive cycle is divine data. It’s our highest, wisest, minxiest, sovereign self – our inner Goddess, Queen, Sage and Diva all rolled into one.

She knows there’s another way to be in this business of sharing our transformational work, and she’d be right.

A way that honours our creative power, and leadership, rather than subjugating it to some external authority.

The Joy-Led Business Creation Cycle™

The way out of the extractive cycle the coaching industry perpetuates, involves structure held inside community.

Not the ultimate blueprint, five-step hack, this-is-the-only-way-to-do-it kind of structure.

But the best kind. The liberating kind. The kind that’s like a trellis around which our highest work can bloom! The kind that invites us to trust, expand and embody our creative power as women in service of the work we're here to do.

It’s led to clients I adore, corporate gigs that make my heart sing, and a growing, thriving community of women with whom sharing my work feels like coming home.

This structure, The Joy-Led Business Creation Cycle™ holds us as we move through six different phases:

Commune – connecting with our creative source and deeper intention
Witness – being seen and heard as our ideas and work begin to take form
Create – bringing new offerings, experiences and ideas to life by giving our ideas shape that lands with our people
Invite / Offer – sharing what is emerging and welcoming people into it
Lead / Embody – holding space for others through the work we are here to do
Become – allowing the process of the cycle to shape who we are as leaders and changemakers

At the centre of the cycle, holding it all, is our life-force, our joy. Sometimes known as Eros.

Yes, Eros.

Rather than forcing ourselves through rigid strategies, this cycle invites us to move in rhythm with the natural creative process, and honour our divinity and humanness along the way.

The result is work that feels more alive, more authentic, and more deeply aligned with the people we love working with and the bigger mission we’re here to serve.

The Collective: how it will work

The Joy-Led Business Creation Collective will be an evolving community offering. If you join, you will be part of how that goes. And to begin with it will look like a small circle-based community where we gather regularly to work this powerful cycle together.

To begin with, the Collective will consist of one circle of up to eight women.

Yes – we will start small. My experience tells me that the best things in life (and business) often do.

Each month we will gather for:

1) Two Facilitated Group Calls (90 minutes):

These sessions will be guided by me and will include:

• Working with the Joy-Led Business Creation Cycle
• Facilitated conversations and exploration
• Occasional training or teaching where useful
• Shadow work and visibility healing where needed
• ‘Love seat’ sessions where members bring real challenges or creative edges to the group

You might bring:

• a workshop idea you want to develop
• messaging or copy you’d like witnessing or feedback on
• a visibility edge you’re navigating
• an offering you’re preparing to launch

Together we will explore, witness and support what is emerging.

2) A peer-led practice call

Once each month the group will gather without my facilitation.

Using simple structures I will introduce, members will support one another through coaching, witnessing and shared reflection.

This part is important. It allows leadership to be shared and cultivated within the group. We have enough gurus. We need more leadership from the field.

You will also be paired with a buddy to support your journey.

3) Coaching exchange

This part I’m particularly excited by. Each member will contribute one coaching session per month to the group coaching pool and will receive one in return (from someone else – not the person they are coaching).

Much like a babysitting co-op, this structure allows us to support one another’s expansion while strengthening our skills as coaches.

The suggestion is that we will work in three-month cycles with one coach, then switch.

4) Member-led spaces

As the Collective evolves, members are warmly encouraged to create additional spaces together.

These might include:

• co-working sessions
• morning practices
• creative experiments
• collaborative projects

The intention is that this becomes a living community, not simply a set of scheduled calls.

We will stay in touch via WhatsApp to begin with – and in time this may move to a different community platform.

If you wish to access my one-to-one support, this will be available at a discounted rate on a pay-as-you-go basis, subject to my capacity allowing for it. Both in-real-time coaching/mentoring and asynchronous support will be available.

What becomes possible through this practice

Over time, working with the Joy-Led Business Creation Cycle, in community, creates powerful shifts.

For example:

• Evolving our work in ways that feel creatively liberating and deeply fulfilling
• Discovering new offerings through experimentation and obtaining live feedback from clients
• Gaining clarity about the people we most love to serve
• Healing ‘visibility wounds’ by sharing work that genuinely helps others, and being compassionate with ourselves as we do
• Stepping into our leadership more confidently
• Feeling less alone on our creative journey

Perhaps most importantly:

We begin to experience ourselves not just as business owners, but as the powerful creators we are.

We have a lived experience of what we can bring into form in our business without subjugating our power to any external expert, guru or gatekeeper.

Who this collective is for

This space is designed for women who:

• are already doing transformational work in the world, and hold a recognised professional credential (e.g. as a certified coach)
• are at least a couple of years into their coaching or facilitation journey
• are deeply purpose-led in their work
• are tired of formulaic business advice, and committed to stepping into their own creative power
• sense they have something meaningful to contribute but hold themselves back
• long to feel more creatively alive and less alone in their work - and resonate with the idea that ‘together we rise.’

It is also likely they have experienced:

• investing in programmes that didn’t deliver what they hoped
• a push-pull relationship with visibility
• a desire to lead in ways that feel more embodied and authentic

It is not for women who:

• are looking for someone else to do the work for them
• want easy answers and quick-fixes
• are wanting a guarantee of a particular outcome

Becoming a founding member

To begin with, the Collective will open with one founding circle of eight women.

Monthly membership for the inaugural, founding circle will be £175 per month + UK VAT, payable monthly.

Membership will include:

• Two facilitated group calls each month
• One peer-led practice call
• Participation in the coaching exchange
• Buddy partnerships
• Access to the Collective community space (via WhatsApp)

Logistics such as the day of the week, and time, for our group calls will be set in collaboration with the founding members and time-zones will be a major factor in deciding this.

The invitation is to join for a minimum of six months, allowing time for the practice to unfold and the relationships within the group to deepen.

As the Collective grows, additional circles will open, though the price will likely be slightly higher.

If you feel called to join

If something in this invitation speaks to you, I would love to hear from you (claire@clairemackinnon.com)

You are warmly invited to reach out to explore whether this space might be a good fit for where you are now in your journey. If we already know each other, it may mean simply swapping emails! If we don’t, then we would have a quick call to check that this is a good fit. You can book that here.

My intention is for us to begin our work together as a collective towards the start of May, and the 8 places will be allocated first come, first served.

I look forward to hearing your reflections and questions!

As I think about the beautiful work that will be birthed into existence through the power of this Collective I feel deeply inspired.

Our transformational work is needed now more than ever.

The invitation and opportunity is for us to offer it with joy, abundance and deep care in ways that nourish others, ourselves, and the ecosystems we are part of.

With love, and in creative power,

Claire ✨

About Claire

Claire Mackinnon is a transformational coach, creative catalyst, and women’s leadership guide devoted to supporting women to step into their creative power – so they can bring forward the change only they can make.

Before founding her business in 2015, Claire spent 15 years leading large-scale organisational transformation across financial services and the social impact sector – including senior roles at Barclays and as Director of HR for one of the UK’s largest social housing mergers.

An ICF PCC-certified coach with more than 2,000 hours of coaching and facilitation experience, she has supported hundreds of leaders across industries including technology, retail, professional services, and education – as well as an ever-growing community of mission-led women entrepreneurs.

Claire is the founder of The Joy-Led Creativity Collective, a community of women leaders and changemakers stepping into their creative power and reclaiming their voices, and creator of The Joy-Led Visibility Salon, a pioneering programme for women business owners ready to make their work visible in life-giving, soul-led ways.

She's currently completing her debut memoir, Finding Aphrodite: One Woman’s Dance from Shame to Aliveness, through which she hopes to spark a wider cultural conversation about women’s creative power – and the urgent need for leadership rooted in aliveness, truth, and joy.

Claire's website is currently undergoing a refresh, but you can join her email community here to be kept up to date about her offerings and community events.

Praise for Claire’s work with mission-led business owners and The Joy-Led Business Creation Cycle…

“The Joy-Led Visibility Salon has been transformative for me and my business. It’s helped me share my work in ways that feel genuinely enjoyable and service-led, rather than forced or formulaic. Within the first three months it led directly to three new long-term one-to-one clients as well as referrals, recommendations and people signalling they’ll want to work with me when the time is right for them.

My workshop was richer and more impactful than anything I would have created on my own, and I feel genuinely excited about applying the approach I learned to design and lead new workshops and experiences in the years to come! What Claire teaches is both deeply creative and incredibly practical. If you want a tangible, sustainable way to grow your business without selling your soul, I couldn’t recommend the Salon more highly.”  Elaine Atkinson, Coach and Founder, In Wonder Coaching. 

“Before the Salon I was overwhelmed by all the ‘expert advice’ about how I should grow my business. The Salon helped me trust myself again – creatively, intuitively and joyfully. 

I designed and led a workshop that both me and my participants loved, created new offerings with far more spaciousness, and have already welcomed new one-to-one clients as a result. 

The structure Claire provides is supportive, never restrictive. The whole experience woke something up in me. If the invitation speaks to you, say yes – you won’t regret it.” Sharon Maddy-Patel, Coach and Founder, Wild Ambition

“At the risk of sounding like a total fan girl, I will share that I *cannot* say enough good things about The Joy-Led Visibility Salon. It was nothing short of transformative.

The Salon wasn't just about creating a new workshop – although I indeed did that. More broadly, it led me uncover the deeper body of work I’m actually here to do in this world and that has made a HUGE difference in how I feel, how I carry myself, and what's possible for me from here on out. This is priceless! And I'm seeing my own business miracles – big and small – crop up now like mushrooms after the rain. So grateful. 🙏

And not at Claire's request, but of my own volition, I'll share that I'm happy to chat 1:1 with anyone who's considering signing up. I believe so strongly in this work.” Vanessa Baker-Rodriguez, Coach and Founder, Bravely Aligned