Inspiring, Dreaming, Pegging.

Hello pal

Happy Wednesday!?

It has been a very full two weeks for me - how about you??

I was recently introduced to a fantastic organisation Young Enterprise Scotland . Their mission is to inspire and empower young people in Scotland to learn, develop and succeed through enterprise and financial education. I was invited to be a apart of their #femaleboss program by sharing my thoughts on mental health & wellbeing - check it out here

Then last week I was asked to go to YES headquarters near where I live to be a “judge” on a panel that was giving out funding to help these young women grow their businesses. I was absolutely inspired from the second I arrived until the second I left.?

First of all the location for the event was in one of my favourite parks and I had no idea it existed, yet hidden behind lots of greens trees & a rainbow of flowers is this Entrepreneurial hub! I love how nature is so interconnected in this space, I really believe we need more spaces like these to enhance creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation. I know from personal experience most of my best ideas and thoughts have been inspired in nature! ?

I have such fond memories of coming to this park as a wee girl with my Gran & Granpa, it is filled with pure peace and beauty. So it was an honour to come to this place and listen to these young women share their businesses. I was so blown away by their courage, mission and what they were creating. One of my observations was that most of these businesses had some sort of social or environmental impact even though that wasn't part of the criteria so that filled me with a deep sense of hope.?

I dont get paid to do these things but I always say YES! Because being with young people is always so inspiring. They remind you of the basics, simplicity and what is important. They dream SO BIG and I find that is something we lose in society as you know as well as I do, a few crappy experiences in life & business can create doubt and fear so easily. But young people alot of the time are blessed to not have those… and so I find it so important to tap into this more - to remind myself to dream big and that anything is possible!?

?If you or your children are in Scotland/ UK and ever get the opportunity to work with YES then take it - they are a phenomenal group of people doing wonderful things to support and cultivate entrepreneurship!

Edinburgh ~ The City of Dreams

I have started calling Edinburgh “The City of Dreams” because for me I keep getting drawn there for really big and impactful work. And let's be honest, it is such a dreamy city, the castle on the main high street, the old buildings, the ancient history and nature weaved through it all at every corner.?

I was here last week and had such great conversations with people about creating things that have never been done before - now that stuff excites me! Especially when I know these things are going to have such a positive impact on people and this place. You see “place” I am finding is such an important thing - when you go to a different place to work it inspires you, even if it is your fav coffee shop, or local park, or even an entirely different city, town or country. Try it out - if you are feeling a bit uninspired - change your environment - it most definitely will inspire something in you. A feeling, a thought or idea!

As I sat on my last evening reflecting on all the conversations and what is going to happen over the next few months, It filled me again, with such HOPE… and excitement. I encourage you to keep those big dreams and goals of yours alive, what I have realised over the years is that when you dream so big, incredible opportunities, people or resources will come into your life - things you didnt even expect. The trick is to keep the BELIEF in your dream. That anything is possible and you dont need to know everything about how to make it happen, you just need to take the next step.?

?Whilst in Edinburgh, I unexpectedly was sent this invite for a book launch and I decided to go along with a friend. "May East - What if Women Designed the City?"? This question sounded fascinating to me and defintely not a question that I have ever asked before or heard anyone else so I went along with a curious mind to learn more. And boy, did I learn more! May is a consultant and educator -I highly recommend you check out this piece of research and her book! In lock down she walked with and interviewed over 200 women across Scotland's major cities about how the city was designed. The results were fascinating and the main outcome was that if women did indeed design cities then they would be more suited to EVERYONE, including women and girls.

Jazzle Dance Comp - The "Masters"?

At the weekend I took part in my third dancing comp with Jazzle Dazzle and it was honestly such a buzz! I never thought at 39 years old I would be doing dance comps with a bunch of dance mums but here we are - sometimes you just got to embrace that inner child and do it! I honestly felt like a 15 year old - the costumes, the make up, the red bows with the hair tied back so tightly it was like having a face lift for the day! ;) What I loved the most is that our team of “Masters” has grown - last year a few other dance Mums saw us perform and really felt inspired to dance too! So this year we not only had more team members, we also had more tricks! And of course we won!! Hip Hop and Pom! YAY! Roll on the next comp in a few weeks time! :)

Pegging at Dance Comps

I discovered something new at the dance comp this year! ?“pegging” Basically there is this tradition where before the comp, all the dance schools spend time writing words of encouragement on pegs and throughout the comp day they peg them on people's bags, t-shirts, sometimes hair… with the person not knowing! So when I got back to my seat after we danced I had two pegs on my bag and I wondered what it was! This makes me love dance even more! What a wonderful thing to do for others and what a wonderful thing to be teaching our young people! Imagine we all went about our every day lives “pegging” people with love and words of encouragement? Perhaps we should start a peg revolution! What do you think?

Arbonne Flashbuy Offers

A wee reminder to my Arbonne preferred clients in Australia, New Zealand and the UK - you have a wee flashbuy offer on when you place a qualifying order for products - it will be added to your shopping cart - only available until Thursday 23rd May. And if you aren't a preferred client yet and want to grab this offer drop me a message & I will sort you out :)

I've got your back,