Page 19 - Demo

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW 17 FROM PAGE 15 Your website always says you want to help other women live their best lives. What is the definition of a best lived life? How does one achieve that? Balanced. I’m a big believer in finding your balance, and this looks different for everyone. I do truly believe we all have a few different things in our week that we really love, and that makes us feel our happiest and most fulfilled. But for some reason, we starve ourselves of those. When I come back into balance, and structure my week around putting into place all the things I enjoy – for example, Mummy and Taj day, date night with hubby, training times, friend time, me time, self-care time, work time, etc – I really do feel my best. On the other hand, if I have a whole week of a heavy workload and don’t feel the connection with my loved ones or have time to look after myself, I don’t feel as balanced and happy. Talks us through a day in your life – how you live your best life. My mornings used to be really fast paced but since 2020 and COVID-19 hit, I feel we were all forced to slow down. So, now my mornings starts with Taj coming in and kissing us ‘good morning’, then we all snuggle in bed for 45 minutes, after which time I stretch, get hydrated, and we head off for a walk. Normally I spend a few hours hanging out and then get stuck into some work or meetings for the day, and then family time again in the evening. Every day is very different. Some days I’m just on my laptop, or driving to my Baseline warehouse, having sample meetings, planning new collections, photoshoots, content creation and future planning. Other days are spent with my app team on new changes we’re making, and time spent connecting with my app girls in our private forum. How do you juggle family, relationships and career? What’s your secret to maintaining a healthy balance and having time for everything? Time management and planning. I’m a pretty structured person and believe if I wasn’t that way, I wouldn’t manage it so well. It’s more of a blend rather than a juggle, as different aspects of my real life, work life and various businesses are related and connected in some way. So, even if I’m on my social media platforms discussing my activewear brand, Baseline, you might see my son Taj in the background as my husband and I work from home a lot of the time and he’s always here with us. Steve \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\[my husband\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\] and I both work across all our companies, so we work together on fitting it all in. As a leader in fitness, what are the latest fitness trends? How can a retail pharmacy assistant maintain fitness (or add a daily exercise routine) despite a busy work schedule? A good night-time routine will help you create a good morning routine. I get all my activewear out ready before I go to bed, so I don’t have to waste time thinking about what to wear. I try to go to bed at a reasonable time, so I can get a good night’s sleep and still have time to exercise in the morning. What’s your advice for staying motivated with fitness goals in winter? A good way is to commit to exercising with a friend. Whether that’s a quick 30-minute walk, a gym session or an early morning exercise class. When you’ve already promised someone that you’ll meet them, you’re suddenly accountable, which is a good thing. It will help you to be consistent, and consistency is the key to achieving your fitness goals. In fact, it’s the key to attaining most goals in life, really. It’s no secret you’ve had your fair share of controversies and challenges. You’ve also spoken openly about dealing with trolls and bullying on social media. How did you overcome these challenges? How did you overcome the trolls and the bullying? It was very overwhelming for quite some time, and shifting that feeling of being under siege took a lot of work and effort. At the time, I didn’t really feel strong enough to go on that journey of self-reflection. My instinct was to hide and run away. It was a very hard thing to have to face and deal with at the time. I had a lot of help from some amazing coaches who worked with me to shift my perception and my mindset. They helped me to look at things from a different perspective. Perspective is so important in life. What’s your advice to others who may be experiencing bullying online or in the workplace? Don’t try to deal with it alone. Speak to your colleagues, your manager and your friends. Get professionals to help you navigate towards a solution. This isn’t something you have to go through alone. What’s your advice to retail pharmacy assistants who may be dealing with stressful workplace competition? Run your own race. Stay in your lane. Don’t compare or compete. Just do the best you can – that’s more than good enough – and be proud of that. Self-worth is so important. Be proud of what you can do. Don’t focus on what you can’t do. As a woman in a position of influence, what’s your advice/message to retail pharmacy assistants who may have big career goals? What’s your secret to success and a winning mindset? Believe in yourself. Ditch the negative self-talk and switch instead to positive self-talk. Careers aren’t built in a month or a year. Be patient and do one thing every day to take one step closer to where you want to be. Look back at how far you’ve come and know that every day you’re getting a little closer to your goal. What’s next for you? What are your goals for the rest of 2020 and beyond? I feel this year has been and will continue to be a big year of growth for me on every level. I’m excited for so many new ranges being released this year with my activewear label. My Raw and Real podcast is doing so well, and I have so many amazing guests lined up for this year that I know audiences will love. Plus, I’m launching my new ‘Balance’ health, fitness and wellness app, which I know is going to help so many women wherever they are in the world. As always, spending time with my little family and those around me who I love will always remain a priority, no matter which year or decade it is. RETAIL PHARMACY ASSISTANTS • AUG 2020