I arrive a bit early for my first performance review. Nice, hot coffee in hand. Excited to see the results of my first 3 months “on the job”.
I sit down, open my laptop and a clean slide deck appears on screen. I checked the numbers, the feedback, and gathered my reflections, as one does for a performance review.
I joined Substack exactly three months ago. Being the Girlboss I am, we’re not moving forward without a proper review of what worked, what didn’t and how we continue this journey called Substack.
Welcome to my Q1 Performance Review.
What You’ll Learn From This Post:
What strategies worked for me in my first 3 months on Substack.
Why feedback beats metrics in your first 3 months.
Mistakes I made that you might be making too, and how to overcome them.
What’s coming next on AI Meets Girlboss, and how do we grow our Substack brands further together.
Let’s Start With The Numbers.
Here’s the overview of my Q1 metrics, everything I achieved in my first 90 days on Substack.
Month 1 closed at 144 subscribers
Month 2 closed at 321 subscribers, 1 paid subscriber, 1 free tool delivered
Month 3 closed at 455 subscribers, 8 paid subscribers, 1 client, and 2 products are work in progress.
Biggest growth week: 8-15th December 2025, from 69 to 158 subscribers (+89) in a week, thanks to a visual rebrand.
Published a total of 23 posts.
No viral spikes or overnight success. But there is a visible, steady upward line and the confidence that comes from knowing why it moved.
5+1 Things That Worked
1. Finding The Lane
I originally came to Substack to learn about AI and then I started writing about it. The first three months were messy by design. I wrote about experiments, prompts, tools, things I was trying and testing. Basically anything that caught my attention.
Then I did the thing I’m actually good at “in real life”: I built a brand for my Substack. At first, I just wanted to announce the new look and instead, that single move repositioned my entire publication.
Without planning it, I stepped into a clearer lane: branding, visual systems, and identity built with AI.
That first post on the topic took the channel from 64 to 200 subscribers in two weeks. That’s when I knew I was onto something. Interestingly, it wasn’t my most successful post. But it was the turning point.
2. Figuring Out Why People Actually Subscribe
My highest-performing post made me realize people subscribe when they feel three things:
This helps me actually build something
There’s proof it works
I can see the steps and replicate them
The takeaway was people subscribe for traction, clarity, and receipts. Which is what I now aspire to deliver with every single post.
My TOP post checks all three (I’ll link it below). It’s still getting views four weeks later. It’s crossed 1,000+ views with a ~50% open rate. Read it here:
3. A Word on Collaborations
In my first three months, I did 13 collaboration posts with 30+ creators.
Collabs are fun, they’re energising and they absolutely help with visibility. But the biggest value for me wasn’t growth. It was learning how not to burn out.
Watching how strong Substack creators think, pace themselves, and stay consistent taught me more than any growth hack ever could.
I am going to be forever grateful to have met and worked with these amazing creators in my first 3 months here: Caitlin McColl 🇨🇦, Calder Quinn & Kristina Bogović, Natalie Nicholson, Jenny Ouyang, Karen Spinner, Daria Cupareanu, ToxSec, Dr Sam Illingworth, Anna | How to Boss AI, Mia Kiraki 🎭, Karo (Product with Attitude), Elena | AI Product Leader, James Presbitero and the one and only Dallas Payne.
My most viewed collab post on my channel is a simple lookbook post with 10 amazing creators I absolutely look up to. You can read it here:
4. The Accidental Social Currency Play
Creating social currency was something I stumbled on by accident.
My ChatGPT Wrapped post landed at the perfect moment. People shared their outputs because it said something about them. I enjoy building prompts that feel playful, especially when there’s a visual layer.
The best part is watching the community try them, remix them, and share what they learned. That feedback loop is the fun part.
My lesson was, if content doubles as self-expression, it travels. You can read the ChatGPT Wrapped post here:
I also launched the Visual Distinctiveness Test, that helps Substack creators measure their visual brands and get actionable next steps how to make it more recognizable. This free CustomGPT also gained a lot of attention and resulted in social currency. If you haven’t tried it, I’ll link it below:
5. I Built a Feedback Vault
At around ~100 subscribers, something changed. People started telling me what they were doing because of my posts.
They told me they had:
rebranded
simplified their visuals
finally started building
used my posts as reference points
I started saving all of it in a Feedback Vault I created on Notion.
Why?
Feedback is the first thing doubt tries to erase.
It shows you exactly what people find valuable.
I now tag feedback by:
value delivered (clarity, direction, confidence)
use case (bio copy, sales page language, product ideas)
Metrics tell you what is happening. Feedback tells you why it matters.
That distinction changed how seriously I take this space.
The Feedback Vault Notion copy-paste template is available for my paid subscribers. Get clarity on your brand positioning and start building your own Feedback Vault!
+1: I Took On My First Client
Manisha reached out to help develop the visual brand for her Substack, AI Family Network. I was excited by the opportunity to help a peer but also see what I’d learn from the process.
That project taught me something important: AI visual branding needs a creative brief, just like a real-life creative agency would. AI cannot build a visual brand based just on prompts. When the brief is fuzzy, the output is too.
That learning set me off on a mission, to create systems and tools that will help other creators build their visual systems too with AI. My work with Manisha turned into a structured 6-step workflow. The system can be reused by anyone to gain clarity on their visual direction to build their own visual brand.
Three Moments When I Effed Up…
Here’s the honest part. The feedback has been incredible. And alongside it, impostor syndrome and a whole army of doubt also walked in.
1. I lost sleep, quite a lot of it.
My first 2 months on Substack, I was up until 2 AM each night brainstorming ideas, replying to comments, drafting notes... then going to work and starting my Substack shift at 7 PM. I was getting minimal sleep. Until I read this post from Anna | How to Boss AI and realized this wasn’t sustainable.
2. I drafted a paid tier after my first 2 weeks here.
I thought I should launch the paid tier as soon as possible, because people will surely want to buy it. I had this whole idea and concept prepared. The problem was, I wasn’t even sure what I was offering. This was before I found my lane of branding with AI. Looking back, I am so glad I decided to scrap it and wait until I was more clear about my value promise.
3. My first paid subscriber freaked me out.
When my first paid subscriber notification popped up, I actually thought it was by accident. I hadn’t launched a paid tier and still someone subscribed. What? I spent three days overthinking and nearly launched a whole new series that would have doubled my workload. I decided to reach out to them and ask, why did they subscribe. Turns out they were happy with the content and didn’t have any extra expectations.
I stopped myself and asked one question: What would I do if none of this attention existed yet?
I’d keep the same pace
I’d prioritise what feels fun
I’d celebrate milestones without immediately raising the bar
I’d stay playful and keep experimenting
So that’s what I’m doing. I’m letting AI Meets Girlboss grow without turning it into pressure.
I also stopped checking Substack comments every spare minute. Highly recommend. Sleep improved instantly. Thank you Anna | How to Boss AI!
Still check metrics daily, obviously. Let’s be real.
5 Things To Expect, Queens.
Next quarter, I’m keeping the rhythm that feels good. Here’s what’s coming to AI Meets Girlboss:
1. Branding Experiments Weekly
I’ll keep sharing new branding challenges using AI. They’re designed to be doable in ~10 minutes, useful and fun! You can follow them under Prompt Reviews and Branding with AI.
2. Real Rebrand Stories Bi-Weekly
I’ll continue featuring real visual journeys from the community. I’ve had the honor of telling:
Dallas Payne’s story on building a visual world around a metaphor,
Caitlin McColl’s story that circles brand easter eggs and daily wonder,
Manisha’s story about how to build when you have no idea where to start.
And I am excited to tell you that none other than Elena | AI Product Leader’s rebrand story is coming this Thursday!
The difference in the Real Rebrand stories going forward: I’ll add more commentary around why certain choices work, where taste ends and branding begins, and how to reuse the thinking in your own projects.
3. Girlboss Branding Lab (Paid Tier)
I’ll start sharing more of how I approach branding with AI when I’m actually building, not just the outputs, but the decisions and trade-offs behind them.
In the coming months we’ll be exploring videos, non-character based brands and building brand assets (logos, icons, etc.)
What you get:
step-by-step breakdowns of how I build visual brands with AI
the actual workflows, not just outcomes
access to the AI Meets Girlboss Prompt Vault (all my visual branding prompts, updated as I go) and AI Meets Girlboss Branding Templates.
4. I’m opening 10 Limited Front Row Seats
I am launching 10 limited Front Row seats to work directly with me on your visual brand. The Front Row paid tier includes guided brand build session where we create your visual brand system together.
This is for you if you:
are clear on what you want to say
get stuck translating that into visuals
want a system you can reuse long-term
5. What We’re Building in the Background
Beyond content, I’m working with two excellent developers Gamal Jastram and Dheeraj Sharma on two branding products that make brand building with AI simpler, repeatable, and even more accessible. More soon!
1-Minute Reader’s Survey
AI Meets Girlboss is growing, but I want it to grow in the direction the people who made it feel like home in the first place want it to go. Which is exactly why your input matters. I’ve added a short form below because I want to know:
what you want more of
what you’d actually use
where you’re currently getting stuck
Let’s shape the next quarter together.
Talk later, Girlbosses!
Pinkie🩷🦩
That is such an amazing summarization Pinkie, a lot to learn. It is an inspiring yet grounded journey for anyone starting on Substack now. I would read @Anna article soon because I lateyly seem to have started to feel the burnout even though I keep off on weekends now to immediately stop that feeling.. Excitingly looking forward to our collab product!! And glad to be part of this journey with you..
So much value in here Pinkie – what I love about your page is there is truly "no gatekeeping": you're all about sharing what you know, learning out loud, and lifting people up along the way. Your content is genuinely so helpful (and also, really FUN!)
Might have to consider a sort of "feedback vault" myself, i can see how that would be very useful. Glad you're taking sleep more seriously too! Every Girlboss needs her rest 🌙💁♀️