Why I'm saying 'no' to the so-called 'need for a niche'.

Reflections on embracing my whole, complex self - in life and writing.

I am many things: A woman, daughter, sister, friend, mother, psychologist, partner, granddaughter, home-owner, nature-lover, self-carer, content creator...and the list goes on. And right now, I’m also perimenopausal.

Yet, since I set up my Instagram account in 2019, for my Psychology business Mind Body Soul Psychology, I’ve been hearing the messages - “you need a niche” or “your content needs to be more niche [to gain followers, likes, engagement, etc.].”

And I get that. I do. I understand (a little bit about) algorithms, and I know that they look for patterns across what we all post, so they can put us into a category, and recommend us to other people that they perceive to also be in that category. I’ve also seen accounts that DO commit to a niche grow - often quickly and exponentially. So yes, there is a part of me that wants to niche, a part that wants to have a simpler message, to please the algorithm - a parr that wants to grow followers, reach & engagement, quickly. I am human after all!

It’s just that every time I create content, I find myself inspired by a different aspect of my life. And I can never seem to switch off all but one ‘niche’ stream of creativity and inspiration. Believe me, I’ve tried - and I have found my creativity so stifled that I have lost all spontaneity and enjoyment of the process. Not ideal.

What I seem to love talking about, thinking about, learning about & sharing about in this world is … well, everything.

Here is an example of some of the themes, off the top of my head, that I’ve used to create content since starting my business Instagram account: Being a psychologist, being a human, being a person in therapy myself, being a mum, mindfulness, meditation, the ‘inner critic’, self-compassion, shame & shame-resilience, social & systems psychology, psychology of the unconscious, health psychology, mindset psychology, vulnerability, courage, emotional trauma, connection, nervous system regulation, motherhood, prenatal challenges & joys, postnatal challenges & joys, birth trauma, breastfeeding, mind-body links, spirituality, relationships, friendships, loss, grief, guilt, anxiety, stress, burnout, matrescence, maternal rage, mental load, feminism, love, swimming, activism, creativity, photography, journalling, walking, nature, food, cooking & eating out, parenting, self-care, overwhelm, reminiscing, growth, perimenopause, circadian rhythms, seasonal changes, my menstrual cycle, schooling, education, reading & books, high sensitivity & neurodivergence, the importance of rest & relaxation, how engagement with social media can help or hinder our mental health, emotional expression … and the list goes on.

I am intrigued by all of these topics, and every single one of them has touched my life in some way, so all of them are relevant to who I am, what I do, and what I write & create. This is my experience, and my truth. And maybe its perimenopause talking, but I am no longer interested in silencing parts of myself so that I can better fit a mould that someone else (or even worse, some computer algorithm) would prefer me to be in.

I’ve also recently realised that I really only have an interest in writing about the topics that I have some lived experience of. I have often wondered about why this is, because it is a new idea for me, and it seems that the reasons for this are at least two-fold:

1. As a psychologist, I’ve long been in the business of helping people explore & understand themselves more, and helping them to use that new awareness, to make positive changes in their life. I believe in the power of a good, safe therapeutic relationship to provide that help, which I offer to clients in my business.

I also know that not everyone can access therapy, and I feel a pull to be helpful people beyond my therapy room.

To this end, I believe in the power of people’s personal stories to inspire real change in the readers of those stories - more than lectures, or textbooks, or abstract theory and research, I think that people gain more understanding of themselves, feel less alone, and are most moved to make positive changes in their life, when they read something personal, written by another human, and feel they can connect with it in some way. I know I am inspired to change through my love of reading personal stories, and I want to begin paying that opportunity forward to others, as I put my own creativity out into the world.

However (here comes more complexity!), because I am a clinical psychologist, and because my academic career began very much in the trenches of theory, science and research, these angles will also feature in my writing I’m sure. But for now I’m intentionally committing to only writing essays & articles that also draw on a personal angle.

2. My creative process feels more nourishing for me when I am drawing on my own experience. I want to enjoy, and be nourished by, my creative process. So, more and more recently, I’m choosing to have joy in creating, and tap my more personal stories & experiences in my content creation. Both for me, and for you.

As well as an overlap in the topics that interest me day-to-day, there is also always an overlap of the various aspects of who I am, and therefore the perspectives that I write from: For example, I cannot talk from the perspective of being a mother, without simultaneously talking from the perspective of being a psychologist - I’ve never been a mother without also being a psychologist, so I simply cannot honestly speak to the experience of either without simultaneously speaking to the experience of both.

I’ve also realised recently that I can’t speak from the perspective of my perimenopause without also talking from the perspective of becoming a mother - I was 40 years old when I gave birth to my son, and (I had no idea for years, but now looking back) I was almost definitely in perimenopause that whole time - through fertility challenges, prenatally, postnatally, and right through to the present day, as the mother of a now 4 year old.

Nope, it’s just no good, me trying to ‘niche’ myself - My creativity springs from a big, wonderful, complex, beautiful mess of all that is important to me in my life. And I’m glad that it does. I’ve grappled with this often over the years, trying out different styles of creativity, and no doubt I’ll experiment more into the future. But for now, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

And I guess that is it isn’t it? “All that is important to me, in my life” - perhaps that is my niche. Perhaps I am my own niche. And within that, then nearly* everything is on the table as inspiration for content creation (*keeping in mind, of course, that I will be holding tight to some aspects of my life - those that are very intimate, private, and kept sacred just for me & my family).

If this un-niched style of creation means it takes longer for me to build following, so be it. I believe that embracing our wholeness, our complexity & our multitudes is integral to our mental health and wellbeing. So I’ll chose me, and my complex authenticity, over my apparent ‘performance’ online, any day.

Its taken a lot of inner work, good therapy, honest reflection and courage-building to get here, but honestly, now: I’d rather lose all my ‘followers’ online, than lose touch with me, and what’s important to me, in my actual life.

Jenny X

NB. This essay - both its existence at all & its ‘declining the niche’ subject matter - is inspired heavily by Annie Ridout . I have toyed with the idea of creating a Substack for some time, but currently working though her online course The Creative Way has provided the learning, knowledge, impetus & confidence I have needed, to finally get it off the ground. In addition, Annie’s similar ‘I am my niche’ stance, in her own writing, is wonderfully permission-giving* for me (*permission I clearly felt I needed, but did not know I needed, until reading her work) and so she has given me the confidence to hoist my flag in this writing space in a similar un-niched territory. Thank you Annie x

My views on the powers of personal stories for connection and positive change are largely influenced by the work of Brené Brown, and my belief that embracing our complexity is good for our mental health is based on my experience, over more than a decade, of supporting people to overcome poor mental health, and is bolstered the writings of many: Gabor Maté & IFS founder Richard C. Schwartz, to name just a couple.

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