A half day Soulful Shoot with interior designer and health coach, Michelle Wilkie, in her incredible jungle like apartment in Hackney… followed by some portraits amongst the beautiful Magnolia trees in Victoria Park. Michelle has just birthed her new business 'Interior Self', which blends holistic health coaching with interior design.
A gorgeous one hour Soulful Shoot with Nutritional Therapist Livia Lai in south west London. Livia helps people take control of their chronic health issues through nutrition, natural medicine and lifestyle changes so that they can live a happier and more fulfilling life.
A half day personal branding Soulful Shoot with Zoe of Burton’s Blooms last week in Wimbledon. Zoe is a wedding florist and offers a young, fresh and modern perspective on wedding flowers. She loves putting together moodboards and working with couples to create floral arrangements which totally exceed their expectations.
A September Soulful Shoot with psychotherapist, poet and writer, Siomar Ballan in west London. Having recently won a publishing contract Siomar was in need of some creative ‘author’ portraits alongside some headshots to use within her private psychotherapy practice.
A gorgeous morning spent with Melissa Maouris on a personal branding shoot, exploring some picturesque spots in the Waterworks Centre Nature Reserve on Leyton Marshes.
Isolation stories: week eight
Stay alert, go to work, don’t go to work… wtf Boris? seriously WTF?! We were all very confused about lockdown and what we should and shouldn't be doing. Matt Lucas summed it up perfectly with his spoof that went viral.
Everyone is desperate for a haircut! On BBC 6 music, Lauren Laverne dedicated one of her morning shows to people’s hair dilemmas, and in our house Michelle got her hands on Charlie’s fringe! Headscarves seem to have made a bit of a come back and I’m personally loving all the time I’m saving not washing my hair, or wearing makeup everyday for that matter. In fact, according to this Huffington Post article the average woman spends 55 mins per day on her appearance (that’s two weeks per year!) and £47,000 on her hair in a lifetime! That’s obscene. All hail the natural look.
This week the parks were jam packed… Clissold Park in Stoke Newington was full to the brim with people eating ice cream and having picnics from 2m apart. I met up with my amazingly talented (and very funny) pal Jenni Sparks to catch up and receive a belated birthday present… an Aries print she’s illustrated! Jenni is working her way through the entire zodiac (illustrations that is!), so go take a look at her Instagram as this woman has some serious drawing skills!
Extinction Rebellion were back on the streets of Hackney, flying their flags with a socially distanced bike ride to highlight that as lockdown eases, traffic levels are rising sharply and affecting London’s air quality once again. I stopped to chat with a mother and her two cute little girls, plus a couple of ladies gave me some sunflower seeds to plant in the garden! Lots of lovely community vibes going on.
I enjoyed a coaching session with the brilliant Melissa Maouris… it never fails to amaze me what comes up through a powerful coaching conversation. Some of you might not know, but I’m also a qualified transformational life coach and I have a couple of coaching spots becoming available soon. So if you’ve been feeling like you’d benefit from some support during this time, or perhaps you’re considering making some changes in your life and need to gain more clarity, or maybe you just want to find out more about coaching then do drop me a line… I’d love to hear from you.
In exciting news, I received a handwritten reply to the letter I sent last week! So it’s official… I have a new pen pal and we shall be sending letters back and forth just like the olden days. Highly recommend buying some stamps and giving it a go, totally made my week!
In our house, the aroma of Sauerkraut drifted through the air as Mike was putting together jars of his immune boosting fermented cabbage. Keep an eye on his Instagram over the coming weeks if you fancy getting your hands on some, it’s super tasty! We also discovered that Eira (the pup) is a total sun worshiper… wherever there’s a small sunny spot on the floor, she’s guaranteed to be lying in it. She’s Maltese, so I guess it makes sense!
We ended the week with some (very strong) Margaritas in the garden… and the rest is all a bit of a blur!
Week eight in photos... I’d love to hear what you think so please do like, comment or share any thoughts below and thanks so much for taking the time to read.
The thought of sitting behind a desk working in marketing forever was terrifying, but the idea of quitting my job and venturing out into the unknown filled me with complete fear.
Dolly Parton as 'Doralee Rhodes' in Nine to Five (1980)
After an agonising twelve months weighing up the pros and cons, I eventually gathered up the courage to resign and then as fate would have it, I was made redundant. Initially I was shocked, but ultimately it couldn't have happened at a better time. I was free!
In the run up to this day I'd been in a battle with myself (and probably bored my friends to tears!) over whether leaving my job was the right thing to do. What was I going to do instead? How would I pay the bills? What if no one would employ me? I'd started to panic and think I should just stay put, or that another marketing job might make me happy. I'd always thought this, but the new jobs came and went and they were never "the one".
I decided I needed to find another way. That I didn't want to settle for this life. So here's how I escaped the 9 to 5...
▫️ I signed up for Escape The City, joined their London Facebook group and went to one of their Monday morning workshops, where I met a whole bunch of people who were feeling just like me! Knowing I wasn't alone, was so reassuring.
▫️ Through Escape The City, I found Amanda Devine, a life coach offering free sessions at the time. Amanda helped me break things down into smaller pieces, made everything feel more manageable and gave me confidence in knowing I was making the right decision.
▫️ I started saving as much money as I could ready for my escape.
▫️ I talked to likeminded people, those I knew would understand, and avoided those I thought might pass judgement. I was surprised how many people I started to meet who had either quit their jobs or were thinking about it.
▫️ I broke the news to my parents and hoped that they would be supportive - luckily they were!
▫️ I began saying out loud to friends "I'm going to quit my job!" and then it started to feel real and I knew it was the right decision.
▫️ I immersed myself in the book The Artists Way by Julia Cameron, taking myself on weekly artist dates and writing morning pages each day in hope of rediscovering my creativity.
▫️ I took some time out in London to reflect, make space for myself and just be.
▫️ I booked a two month trip to Asia to travel and visit my sister.
▫️ I contacted friends about freelance work so I had some money rolling in each month. Amazing opportunities turned up and I found myself gaining great new experience.
In an ideal world I'd have known my next career move beforehand or volunteered alongside my job to gain experience elsewhere, but I didn't have the answers at the time, so when redundancy came along it gave me the chance to take some much needed time out.
There have been some highs - travelling for extended periods of time and sunbathing in London parks when everyone else is at work, and some lows - having no money to afford meals or gigs with all my mates. But overall the excitement of not having my life mapped out in front of me replaces my fears, and even though I'm still exploring what comes next, one thing I do know is that I'll never regret leaving my 9 to 5 job.
