The Life-Friendly Business Mentor

The Life-Friendly Business Mentor Erin Thomas Wong | Helping female solopreneurs build a life-friendly business that works around real life. https://www.lifefriendlybusiness.com/links

Anti-hustle mentor, podcast host, author and Top 100 Female Founder . I’m Erin Thomas Wong, The Life-Friendly Business Mentor, and a leading voice for life-friendly entrepreneurship in the UK. I help female solopreneurs and micro business owners create sustainable success on their own terms by blending strategy, self leadership and anti hustle principles that honour their real lives. I champion women who have been made to feel they are failing in a world that still expects them to work as if they have no caring responsibilities and care as if they have no work. This space exists to show you that nothing is wrong with you. The traditional model was never designed with women in mind, especially those carrying the invisible load. There is another way, and it can feel both spacious and successful. With seventeen years of experience growing five businesses during the caring years, I understand the lived reality of building a business around motherhood, family and fluctuating capacity. My work focuses on helping you gain clarity, build confidence and grow in a life-friendly way that works for your circumstances, not against them. I host The Life-Friendly Business Podcast, lead The Cocoon membership, offer 1 to 1 mentoring and run uplifting in person events for women across the UK. Every space I hold is designed to be warm, supportive and rooted in compassion, because women thrive when they feel truly seen and supported. If you want to grow without burnout, feel more in control of your business and build something that supports your life, you are in the right place. Discover more at www.lifefriendlybusiness.com

This was a lovely Google Alert to wake up to this morning!
29/09/2026

This was a lovely Google Alert to wake up to this morning!

'To be recognised nationally for that work means a great deal'

“It has been an absolute lifeline this week.”Someone said this to me during Friday’s Open House drop-in, and I haven’t s...
29/09/2026

“It has been an absolute lifeline this week.”

Someone said this to me during Friday’s Open House drop-in, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it.

She told me she rarely responds to Facebook adverts, but something about mine felt authentic enough to give it a chance. She was in the middle of a big change in her working life, with so much happening at once that her thoughts felt like a snow globe.

What she needed wasn’t another person telling her to push harder. She needed space to think, practical guidance and a room full of women who understood what it’s like to build a business alongside everything else.

She said running a business can feel lonely, and that hearing from women in different kinds of businesses had been brilliant. She also told me she feels more comfortable in smaller groups, which is a lovely reminder that you don’t have to be the person with your hand up on every call to get something from being there.

I’m sharing this with her permission, anonymously, because I suspect someone else needs to hear it: if your head feels full and you’re trying to work out your next move, you don’t have to do it all on your own.

Thank you to everyone who came to Open House and helped make it such a warm, generous space. This is exactly the kind of support I want women to find inside The Cocoon too. 💜

28/09/2026

Finding an online female business community that feels like being in a room of friends is hard to find.

Awena found that in The Cocoon 🩶

PS - The price is going up this October. Lock in the current price by joining now.

You do not need another library of business advice making you feel behind. Most women I work with do not have an informa...
28/09/2026

You do not need another library of business advice making you feel behind.

Most women I work with do not have an information problem.

They already know a lot. They have saved the posts, bought the courses, listened to the podcasts and written plenty of plans.

The problem is working out what applies to their business now, within the life and capacity they actually have, then following through consistently enough to create a result.

That is why The Cocoon is different.

You are not joining to consume everything. You are joining to create a rhythm of:
• stepping out of reactive mode
• deciding what will genuinely move the business forward
• taking focused action
• getting help when you become stuck
• reviewing what is working and adjusting without beating yourself up

The new Life-Friendly CEO 90 Day Pathway gives you a clear place to begin. The group mentoring, community and expert Vault are there to support the particular decisions and skills you need along the way.

Katherine has been running her business for 20 years and describes The Cocoon as “game-changing”. It is not only for beginners. It is a place to keep thinking, learning and growing as your business evolves.

This is not more noise. It is a structure for turning what you know into a business that brings in clients, sales and income without taking over your life.

I have added something brand new to The Cocoon: the Life-Friendly CEO 90 Day Pathway.This is not another course to add t...
27/09/2026

I have added something brand new to The Cocoon: the Life-Friendly CEO 90 Day Pathway.

This is not another course to add to your list. It is a guided route through the work that helps you become the CEO of a business that works with your life and makes money.

The Pathway is based on my book, the way I have supported clients for years and the approach I use in my own business.

Across 90 days, you will move through five essential stages:
• OWN where you are and what you really want
• ALIGN the business with your life, values and capacity
• SIMPLIFY your priorities, offers and ways of working
• SHINE so the right people can see, trust and buy from you
• EVOLVE through reflection, data and decisions that fit your next season

You will not be expected to do everything at once. The Pathway helps you focus on the right work in the right order, supported by group mentoring, planning sessions, community and our Vault of expert masterclasses.

As Keri says: “I love The Cocoon for just being there when I need to dip in.”

The Cocoon price will increase on 2 October. Join by 11.59pm on 1 October and you can begin the new Pathway at the current price of £25 a month or £225 a year, which you will keep while your membership remains active.

Today I was sitting in Costa with tears streaming down my face, surprised and embarrassed by the wave of emotion that ha...
26/09/2026

Today I was sitting in Costa with tears streaming down my face, surprised and embarrassed by the wave of emotion that had come over me.

A toddler in a pushchair had caught my eye and wanted to play peekaboo. Every time I turned back to what I was doing, he gave me another cheeky grin, so of course I played again. I got chatting to his parents and told them my son had just gone to university. I felt a lump in my throat, but managed to hold it together until they left.

Seeing that little boy catapulted me back to when my son was that age.

Those days feel like yesterday and a lifetime ago all at once. Some days felt endless when I was living them. Now I’m wondering how they went by so quickly.

I’ve spent those years raising this wonderful human, and now it’s time for him to spread his wings. I’m so proud of him. I’m proud of myself for getting us here, too. But I’m also sad for the days that have passed, and still finding my feet in this next chapter.

I expected to feel emotional when we said goodbye at university. I didn’t expect a game of peekaboo in Costa to bring all the complex emotions rushing back.

To the mums whose children have just left for university: does it catch you off guard too? One minute you’re going about your day, and the next you’re feeling pride, sadness, grief, love and a little bit of disbelief all at once 💔

p.s. And that Costa advert on TV with the girl going to uni gets me every time at the moment 😢

The goal is not to become better at coping with overwhelm. The goal is to run your business in a way that creates result...
26/09/2026

The goal is not to become better at coping with overwhelm.

The goal is to run your business in a way that creates results without requiring you to override your life.

And Cocooners tell me that this approach has a tangible effect on their businesses:

“I love The Cocoon! It’s played a huge part in the growth of my business this year.” Nina

“I have even had clients approach me through the group, so it has been well worth the membership.” Emma

“The networking is welcoming, friendly and I have made some great connections leading to exciting partnerships and projects.” Lisa

This is what life-friendly business growth can look like. Not squeezing more tasks into your week, but knowing which work deserves your limited time and energy, then having the group mentoring, structure and community to help you follow through.

Calmer is part of the outcome. So are better decisions, stronger visibility, more confident selling, clients and meaningful business growth

The new-look Cocoon Members area is going down well with current members.Inside The Cocoon, you'll follow my proven Life...
26/09/2026

The new-look Cocoon Members area is going down well with current members.

Inside The Cocoon, you'll follow my proven Life-Friendly Business Framework

Over 90 days, you'll work through a step-by-step framework designed to help you build a business that supports your life - not one that takes over it.

The Result?
A calmer business. Better decisions. More confidence. More headspace. Greater visibility.

And a business that supports your life, instead of competing with it.

Members achieve real lightbulb moments, like Belinda's 💡

Come and find out more...

The Open House has created something many women in business rarely give themselves: space to step back, think properly a...
25/09/2026

The Open House has created something many women in business rarely give themselves: space to step back, think properly and decide what matters.

But clarity on its own is not the finish line.

The real change happens when you keep returning to that clarity, protect time for the actions that grow your business and have somewhere to turn when real life knocks the plan sideways.

That is the rhythm we create inside The Cocoon.

It is not about doing more or keeping up with everything. It is about regularly asking:
• What matters most now?
• What can my current capacity genuinely hold?
• Which actions are most likely to create clients, sales or meaningful progress?
• What support will help me follow through?

If this week has helped you feel clearer, imagine what could change if working this way became normal rather than something you did once in a while.

The Cocoon is where we keep going together.💪

This morning I’ve been sharing my Become a Life-Friendly CEO training as part of The Cocoon Open House.And one idea sits...
24/09/2026

This morning I’ve been sharing my Become a Life-Friendly CEO training as part of The Cocoon Open House.

And one idea sits underneath everything I teach:

- Capacity before Strategy -

When I talk about capacity, I don’t just mean how many hours you have available in your diary.

I mean your time, physical and emotional energy, responsibilities and how much headspace you genuinely have available once real life has taken its share.

Imagine that every bead in these jars represents some of your finite time and energy.

When family life needs more beads, fewer are available for the business jar. At other times, the business might need more from you, which means something else has to give.

This is why the same strategy can work brilliantly for one person and feel completely unrealistic for another.

It’s also why the strategy that worked for you in one season of your life might not fit the season you’re in now.

That doesn’t mean you’ve lost your ambition or need to try harder.

It means your strategy needs to account for the woman behind the business.

Becoming a life-friendly CEO means learning to step back, recognise the capacity you genuinely have available and make intentional decisions from there.

So before deciding what you “should” be doing next, ask yourself:

**What capacity do I genuinely have available right now?**

Then build your plan around the honest answer.

If this is how you want to run and grow your business, this is exactly what we practise inside The Cocoon.

You can join by 1 October for £25 a month or £225 a year and lock in that price for as long as you remain a member.

Which jar is taking the most from you at the moment?

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The Swish Shop, 167 Seabourne Road
Bournemouth
BH5 2HH

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