My go-to business tools
as a Creative Female Founder
Running a creative business as a self-employed woman isn’t just about passion — it’s about systems, tools, and support that help bring that passion to life without burning out.
As the founder of Darling Stock — and a mom running a business while raising a family — my days are a beautiful blend of motherhood and entrepreneurship. Between content curation, editing, creative direction, team organization, and staying deeply connected to our incredible community of women, I wear many hats. To keep everything flowing with clarity, flexibility, and ease, I rely on a suite of tools that support both the vision and the day-to-day execution of my brand and life.
This blog post is for you if you’re a content creator, coach, creative entrepreneur or service provider looking for tools that actually make business feel smoother, lighter and more aligned.
Let’s dive into the tech stack that supports my business behind the scenes — the tools that truly help me stay creative, focused and organized in a feminine and intentional way.
1. Adobe Lightroom – For Beautiful, On-Brand Editing
Lightroom is my go-to for photo editing, especially when I want to keep the look of Darling Stock collections cohesive and color-true. I use it to apply consistent presets that reflect our soft, modern aesthetic and brand mood.
It helps me maintain visual consistency across all platforms and collections, and gives every photo that signature Darling glow — soft, clean, and elevated.
2. Adobe Photoshop – For Visual Perfection and Detail Work
Photoshop is where I go for fine-tuning and design-heavy visuals. From removing small distractions to adding delicate overlays, creating promotional assets, or crafting mockups — Photoshop gives me total creative freedom.
It’s especially valuable when I’m working on visual storytelling pieces that need precision or layering, like Pinterest graphics, ad visuals or launch materials.
3. Adobe Premiere Pro – For High-Quality Video Edits
So much of my content is video-based — whether it’s vertical stock clips for our Members or curated Instagram Reels. Premiere Pro is my professional video editing space, where I can bring stories to life with intention.
I use it to cut, color-grade and format videos for social media, our website, and special seasonal campaigns. It’s powerful and robust, and once you find your editing rhythm, it becomes a creative playground.
4. Dropbox – For Organized, Shareable Storage
Every Darling Stock collection — photos, videos, bonus content — lives in Dropbox. It’s where I store, sort, label, and deliver all assets to our Members. The cloud-based accessibility means I can upload and manage content from anywhere, and collaborate easily with team members.
Having our entire content universe organized in one place gives me peace of mind — especially when launching new collections twice a month.
5. Asana – For Planning, Delegating & Staying Sane
Asana is where my creative chaos becomes organized clarity. I use it to:
Plan and schedule all our stock photo & video collections
Outline content calendars for social media, newsletters & blogs
Delegate tasks across the team (design, editing, backend)
Track project timelines and seasonal launches
Batch planning in Asana has been a game-changer. It helps me zoom out when needed and still stay connected to every detail.
Yes — I use my own Membership, and I couldn’t run my business without it.
Whenever I plan content (Instagram, newsletter, blog, sales page), I go straight into the Darling Stock library. With hundreds of curated, feminine stock photos and vertical videos, I can always find visuals that match the mood, tone, and energy I want to express.
It saves me so much time, removes decision fatigue, and keeps my entire brand presence cohesive — without needing to book a new photoshoot every month. The collections feel like an extension of my voice, and that makes content creation feel natural and joyful.
Want to simplify your own content creation with beautiful, ready-to-use visuals?
👉 Become a Member here
7. PhotoBulk – For Quick Resizing & Renaming
Before uploading or organizing content into collections, I use PhotoBulk to quickly resize, compress and rename multiple files at once. It’s one of those tiny tools that saves hours over time, especially when dealing with high-res content.
If you regularly work with images or need to prep files for web — this one’s a quiet powerhouse.
8. Movavi Video Converter – For Fast & Flexible File Conversion
Some video files arrive in formats that aren’t social-media ready. That’s where Movavi comes in. It helps me:
Convert videos to vertical or square format
Compress files without losing quality
Standardize content across all platforms
It’s especially useful when preparing multiple video clips for one collection or optimizing for Pinterest, Instagram and mobile viewing.
9. Canva – For Fast, Beautiful Designs
When I need to move quickly and beautifully — Canva is my go-to. I use it to:
Design Instagram carousels, Stories & promo graphics
Create Pinterest pins & blog headers
Build email visuals, freebies & content upgrades
I love that it saves my brand fonts, colors and templates — so every piece of content stays visually consistent, even when I’m creating fast.
10. Flodesk – For Aesthetic, Aligned Email Marketing
Flodesk is the heart of my Member communication. It allows me to:
Design beautiful, branded email newsletters
Send collection updates, promos & love notes
Create powerful automations for onboarding & nurturing
The interface is stunning, the experience is intuitive, and the results? Consistently high open and click rates — because the emails feel good to open.
Want to try Flodesk for your own business?
👉 Click here to sign up with my Flodesk partner link and get 50% off your first year of Flodesk
Final Thoughts: Build a Toolkit That Supports You
None of these tools are about doing more — they’re about making space for what matters most. They allow me to run Darling Stock with clarity and heart, without losing myself in busywork or burnout.
As a founder, your tools should serve your vision, your time, and your energy. These are the tools that support mine — and if they resonate with you, I hope they help you build your own rhythm too.
If you’re curious how I use any of them in more detail, or if you’re looking to simplify your workflow — my inbox is always open 💌
With love,
Sophie
Note: This post contains affiliate links. I only recommend tools I truly use and love.
Download our 40 stock photos & videos for free now!