Welcome to The Solopreneur Spellbook
Practical systems and workflows for solopreneurs who’d rather build it right than hold it all in their head.
I never planned to do this.
Before The Tech Witch existed, I was a translator – but that was only ever part of the picture. Over the years, I’ve been a project manager, a customer support lead, and the person who quietly builds the systems that make entire teams run smoother. The one who looks at a messy process and sees the structure underneath. That’s always been my thing – not the glossy front-end work, but the backbone. The operations. The “how does this actually function when nobody’s looking” part.
I was good at it. But here’s the irony: I was building organised systems for everyone else while my own business ran on memory, panic, and a prayer.
Then the pandemic hit and I was working completely alone for the first time. More clients than I could handle, but I was missing deadlines, losing track of invoices, copy-pasting my life away. I looked successful on paper. Behind the scenes? I was barely holding on.
I had built all those systems for others, but when it came to my own business, it took an impulse from a friend to systematise my approach. I took it from there – and kept building. What started as a simple spreadsheet got more sophisticated over time, designed around how my brain actually works instead of fighting it. The relief was instant – and something clicked. Not about the systems themselves, but about what they do. They hold you. They carry the weight your brain was never meant to carry alone.
That shift changed everything about how I worked. I stopped drowning. I stopped overcommitting. I started breathing.
And then one day, I saw a course advertised for becoming a tech VA – someone who builds backend systems for other people’s businesses. And I thought: Wait. That’s already what I do. That’s what I’ve been doing my whole life.
So here I am. Sabrina. The Tech Witch. And this is The Solopreneur Spellbook.
Why this exists
I already write a newsletter called The Held Entrepreneur. That’s where I explore what it means to run a business without losing yourself in the process – the philosophy, the feelings, the messy honest bits.
But I kept bumping into a problem: I’d write about why systems matter, and people would ask how. How did you build that? What tool did you use? Can you show me?
The Held Entrepreneur isn’t the right place for that. It’s reflective, not instructional. So I built a second space.
The Held Entrepreneur is the why. The Solopreneur Spellbook is the how. You’re welcome in both, but you don’t need both. They’re designed to stand on their own.
The problem I keep seeing
Here’s what I notice, again and again: solopreneurs trying one productivity system after another. A new app. A new template. A new method someone swore by on Instagram. And none of them stick.
Not because those tools are bad. But because they weren’t built with your specific problem in mind. There’s always something slightly off – a workflow that doesn’t match how you actually work, a structure that assumes you think in straight lines when your brain runs in spirals. So you abandon it, feel like a failure, and start the cycle again.
The fix isn’t finding the right template. It’s building something that fits you – or finding someone who can build it with you. That’s why I love Notion so much, by the way. It’s not a system. It’s a material. You can shape it into almost anything. And when a system is designed around your actual problem instead of a generic best practice, you’re far more likely to actually use it.
Who this is for
This is for you if:
You’ve tried more productivity tools than you can count, and none of them stuck
You’re running a business and you’re carrying the entire thing in your head – every deadline, every follow-up, every “I should really get to that”
You’re AI-curious, maybe already experimenting, but you don’t know where to start or what’s actually useful vs. hype
You have a persistent feeling that there has to be a better way of doing this
You want to finally let go of some of the load
That last one is important. Mental load isn’t just for parents running a household. It’s for every solopreneur running a business out of their head. The constant scanning, remembering, figuring out from scratch – that’s weight. And systems can carry some of it for you.
What to expect
I’ll be honest: I’m still figuring out the format. This blog is new.
What I know is this: every post will start with the problem, not the tool. Because the tool doesn’t matter if you don’t understand what you’re actually solving for.
Some posts will be walkthroughs with screenshots and step-by-steps. Others will be more like “here’s the framework and the thinking – now make it yours.” I’ll show you what I build, how I think about it, and why I made the choices I did. You’ll get the recipe, not just the finished dish.
I’ll also talk about AI – honestly. What I use, how I use it, what works and what doesn’t. No hype, no fear. Just the real experience of a systems builder who uses AI as a tool, not a replacement for her own brain.
The honest bit
I’m building my own business at the same time I’m helping you build yours. I’m not writing from the summit. I’m writing from the trail.
I use AI tools, and I’ll tell you exactly how. I use Notion for almost everything, and I’ll show you why. I’m neurodivergent – autistic and ADHD – and that shapes how I think about systems. Not because ND brains are broken, but because we need systems that work with us, not against us. If that resonates, you’re in the right place.
I’m also a maker. I knit, I bake bread, I’m renovating my house with my own hands. I approach tech problems the same way – hands-on, practical, iterative. Build it, test it, fix what doesn’t work.
No gatekeeping. No jargon. No selling you a dream without showing you the mess behind it.
What’s next
The next post will be about the seven systems every solopreneur needs – the foundation that everything else gets built on. Think of it as the table of contents for this whole blog.
If you want the philosophical side – the feelings, the burnout, the slow rebuilding – that lives at The Held Entrepreneur.
If you want the practical side – the builds, the workflows, the actual how – you’re in the right place.
Let’s get to work. 🔮
Stay in the loop
If you want more of this – the real how-to, the honest process, the systems thinking that actually sticks – subscribe to The Solopreneur Spellbook. New posts land in your inbox so you never have to remember to check back. No spam, no fluff, just the practical stuff.
And if you want the behind-the-scenes in real time – the half-built systems, the renovation chaos, the walking-and-thinking content – come find me on Instagram: @sabrina_thetechwitch. That’s where the day-to-day lives.
