Fay Harris on Burnout, Boundaries and Building a Business That Finally Feels Like Her
Photo: Fay Harris
Fay Harris has built (and rebuilt) her business more times than most people dare to try once. From social media management to accidental agency owner, from digital products to launching a course she quickly realised she hated, Fay has spent five years figuring out what she actually wants. The relaunch she completed earlier this year (under her design studio Socialuxe UK) is the first time, she says, that her business has genuinely felt like her. We talked about burnout, boundaries, money anxiety, and why the messy middle is actually the most important part.
Let’s start at the beginning. How did SocialuxeUK start?
FAY: COVID happened and I lost my job overnight. I was 23, living comfortably paycheck to paycheck with no savings. I ended up on Universal Credit and got a credit card to cover my rent. Then about a month or two into lockdown, I had this realisation: everyone is on their phones right now. Whatever I do, it has to be on social media.
It started with helping a friend manage her Instagram for her coaching business. That led me to think I could do this for multiple people. I set up an account, posted tips and packages, and it just took off. The prices were so cheap (I can't believe what I was charging) but it grew really fast. I remember calling Universal Credit and saying I didn't need it anymore and the man on the phone was like, are you sure? That's quite fast. I was like, no, it's fine, take me off. I remember thinking how cool that was.
What did the business turn into?
FAY: It kind of ended up becoming an agency. I had people helping me but I was still the main point of contact for everything. Clients were on five to seven posts a week. I was working until 1am most nights, seven days a week. I wasn't eating properly. My mental health crashed. I burnt out completely and had to move back in with my parents. It got really bad… I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, couldn't function.
I remember sitting at the table with a bowl of cereal, crying, because I genuinely didn't know how I was going to eat it. That's how bad it was. Every day felt like a battle just to get through it. That was the shock of my life. I'd never been that unwell before, mentally or physically.
What changed after that?
FAY: I stopped everything. I didn't want to feel that way again. I spent time in nature. I focused on just getting through each day. And in that period, I got to know myself again: what I actually liked, what I valued, what made me feel calm. I think that's where my love of cosy, rainy autumn days came from. I'd never really noticed it before, but in that period of recovery it was just so peaceful. Since then, it's been such a strong thing in my life.
I also realised I had been running my business with zero direction. I'd started it just to survive a crisis. I hadn't thought about what I wanted or why I was doing it. It was just money. And it turned out that wasn't a strong enough reason to keep going when things got hard.
You went through another pivot after that though… digital products, then a course?
FAY: Yeah, and honestly the digital products period was genuinely good for a while. I was making around £4,000 a month just from Etsy. But I got so obsessed with passive income that I stopped doing the creative work I loved. Then I launched a course teaching people how to sell digital products, which seemed like the logical next step - you do something successfully, then you teach others. But I hated it almost immediately.
I felt like I had people's financial outcomes on my shoulders, which nobody had actually put there… it was just me. And the way I had to show up online to sell a course felt completely wrong. I'm a private person. I don't naturally share loads about my life. Suddenly, I was talking about my income and filming my day and being super open about everything. It wasn't me. I was playing a character.
How did you realise it was time to step back again?
FAY: I bought a mini course from another coach. It was brilliant… she was so articulate and you could just tell she loved what she was doing. And I watched it thinking, I could never be this because I don't enjoy this the way she does. It wasn't about self-confidence. It was about alignment. This is not mine.
So I stopped promoting the course. I thought about closing the business entirely. I felt like I'd built the wrong audience, that the people I loved working with had all left. I just stepped back. Spent more time in nature, became really protective of my energy, and eventually started taking design bookings again very slowly.
Then I made this little cosy content account, just for me, as a creative outlet. I was posting like three times a day because I genuinely wanted to. Videos of my home, walks, warm autumn vibes. And I remember thinking, I need to figure out how to make my work feel like this. Because I'd never be looking for something else if it felt this joyful.
How did the relaunch come together?
FAY: It took a long time of just sitting with it. I knew what I enjoyed: design, working with clinics and beauty brands. I knew I wanted it to feel premium and recognisably mine, not like everyone else's templates. I'd noticed that the style I'd been making had become really popular and copied, and I wanted to move away from it. I wanted people to see my kits and immediately know they were mine.
So I created a whole new range (social media kits, branding kits, academy kits) all designed specifically for aesthetic practitioners who want elevated, professional content. I also offer personalised design and VIP days where I revamp the kits entirely with someone's personal branding in one or two days.
And then I also have my lecturing at the London College of Fashion, which is part of University of the Arts London. That's full circle for me because my former tutors are now my colleagues. It gives me the social and creative energy I need in a way that doesn't drain me… I get my dose of connection, then I come home to my desk and my cosy work environment.
What does balance actually look like for you now?
FAY: It looks like boundaries. I don't work weekends. I stop replying to messages after a certain time. I work with my energy, not against it. I journal most mornings. I prefer ambient music over podcasts: café sounds, piano, rain. I make a nice tea, put something calm on in the background, and ease into my work.
I used to work till 1am trying to do it all. Now I close my laptop and enjoy my evening. That's success to me. Feeling lucky in my everyday life.
The pricing journey has been a big part of this too, hasn't it?
FAY: Yeah, I was charging £350 to £850 a month for social media management that included graphics, strategy, reels, engagement. Like three full-time jobs in one package. It was ridiculous. And even when I was rebranding, I really struggled to increase my prices. That's been a theme my whole journey. Imposter syndrome, I think. I can reel off everything I've achieved and still not feel it in my body.
But something has shifted. I'm charging what I should be now. I'm not afraid to say no. And I've stopped feeling money anxiety in the way I used to. I used to be terrified of losing money and then I lost it anyway, and I was fine. It came back. That taught me something. Now my attitude is just: I'll figure it out. I always do.
What would you say to someone who's stuck in the messy middle right now?
FAY: Don't rush to bounce back. I think we're sold this idea that business is a movie… you start something, it goes well, it all goes wrong, then you rise again and it's fine forever. That's not what happens. You stop, you pivot, you panic, and then you try again. And again. And each time you learn something you couldn't have learned any other way.
Every part of my journey made sense in the end. I wouldn't know how to do certain things if I hadn't gone through what I did. And in the moments where I felt so lost and had no idea what to do - if I'd only known then that it was all going to lead here.
The most important thing is just to keep going. Not because someone told you to. Because somewhere inside you, you know it isn't finished yet.