Hobby To Hustle Podcast · Gemma Dillon & Candace Lam

Dealing with negative reviews | Ep. 18

·26 min·1 clip

Candice admits one washi tape review exposed a real product problem, and she took the listing down.

Negative reviews set the Halloween mood. Candice uses the theme to name the thing business owners dread: a customer saying something went wrong. She and Gemma do not react to that in quite the same way. Candice says retail feedback often lands on her calligraphy or artwork, which can feel a little separate from her. Gemma's workshop feedback would feel closer to home because it points at her teaching, her setup, and the experience in the room. Gemma has not had that review yet, so the conversation turns into a rehearsal before the awkward moment arrives. Candice asks what useful criticism would actually sound like. Gemma does not want a vague complaint. She wants to know whether the problem was the content, the teaching, the tools, the expectations, or the venue. If a student expected one kind of calligraphy lesson and got another, she would rather hear exactly where the marketing and the workshop failed to match. It is not glamorous advice, but it is useful: a creative business owner needs details they can do something with. Venue feedback gets the same treatment. If students at the far end of a table cannot hear, the teacher needs to know because that changes the workshop. Candice keeps pressing for the wording, which makes the episode feel less like a neat policy talk and more like two owners trying to make criticism usable. The close points listeners back to their earlier episode on negativity, while this one stays with the customer side: how to give cleaner, more helpful feedback.

As heard by us

A calm, useful discussion of criticism that turns dread into something manageable.

Negative reviews are treated as something that can unsettle business owners, and the discussion stays grounded in that reality. Gemma and Candice compare how criticism lands differently for workshops and artwork, then keep returning to the part that matters most: making…

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Want a steadier way to handle a negative review?

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