Today I want to talk about influence, the quiet kind that creeps into your life when you least expect it.
I don’t know if you know this about me, but I love to watch vloggers, and one of my favourites is a wonderful chap called Rewilding Jude. He lives in Scotland, and every Sunday he uploads his video diary from the week he has had, showing everything from what he has learnt to what he has created. These range from building polytunnels to refurbishing a room in his old cottage and making jams. What I admire most about him is his vulnerability in telling us that everything is self-taught and that he is learning on the job, which I find truly inspiring.
That said, my favourite project is one that started just over three months ago. He has shared his journey of single-handedly building a chicken coop. Yes, you read that right, a chicken coop.
Every Sunday without fail, my kids and I have tuned in for 25 minutes to watch him make a door, a roof, a ladder, and then an outdoor space for the rescue chickens he wanted to welcome. It has been a journey that has made us giggle with excitement and gasp with pride. What has struck me most is that it is not only me who has been influenced, but my children too. They are learning from Jude just as much as I am. They can see that if you really want something, you need to work hard, be patient, and keep going. What is so wonderful is that the honesty and hard work hasn’t scared them; it has inspired them. My son, who is only nine, now insists that when he grows up, he will move from Brighton to Scotland, refurbish a house, and build a chicken coop of his own. I am still deciding if I should be worried or proud, but it makes me smile every time he says it.
What I really admire about Jude is that he is learning on the job and is never shy about saying so. He laughs at his mistakes, owns them, starts again, and keeps going. Last Sunday was a glorious episode: the chicken coop was finally finished, and it is truly spectacular.
Then today, what inspired me to write this: I opened Instagram, and there it was the very first egg. Haha. You might think I would just scroll past, but no. Fifteen minutes later, I was still trying to compose myself. I have never cried over an egg before, but today I did.
Why? Because it hit me. Here was someone who had a dream, stuck with it through storms and setbacks, never gave up, stayed honest and true to himself, and now there it was, the egg. Proof of the dream coming true.
It made me think about my own journey with Olive & Joyce. I dreamt of this business, of the people I wanted to help, the planet I wanted to nurture, the community I wanted to make, the advice I needed to hear and the products I wanted to create. Through the mistakes I made, the challenges I have faced (Brexit and more recently the new American taxes), I kept my focus. Like Jude with his chicken coop, I reminded myself of why I was doing this.
Just as his egg was his moment, mine is all of you. Every single one of you who reads this newsletter, buys a cleanser, or shares kind words with me. You are my egg, my reminder that the dream is real and worth every bump in the road.
So thank you for being here, and thank you for being my egg. In this case, what came first, was it the chicken or the egg? Truly, it was you.
With love,
Emily xxx