It was the summer of 2011, and I had finally landed my first full time interior design job after graduating with my masters degree a few months earlier. I had dreamed of a "real" full time corporate job for so long! All throughout my college years I had struggled to find even an unpaid internship based on the state of the economy, so this job was a long time coming. I was eager to be creative, help people to have homes they love, and ultimately have an impact in the interior design world through sustainability. << (all my school reports as a kid were about saving the rain forest)
It wasn't long into my first job, that the true colors of my boss (and of the industry) started to show. At first I noticed the degrading way she talked to the secretary, who would vent to me often and I would assure her I didn't think she did anything wrong. Then slowly it started transitioning to me. She would blow up at any task I didn't do fast enough, and snap at me in front of clients. It evolved into a regular occurrence, until eventually I would go home in tears, and lay awake sick to my stomach thinking about what I could have forgotten or not done well enough for her, what storm would I walk into the next morning. But, I suffered through for months, telling myself I needed this job to gain experience and succeed in the field.
Finally there was the last straw. I had gone out to run some errands for a project we had going. It was nearing the end of the work day, so traffic was heavy. Naturally I had become accustomed to rushing as one less reason for her to get upset. However, when I returned later than expected and explained I was stuck in traffic, she lost it, called me a liar, and chewed me out in from of a customer. I left that day, a Friday, had the weekend to mull things over, chat with family and friends, and on Sunday I notified her that I would not be returning to work. Was it shocking or typical of her that she did not respond... I'm not sure.
That day left me with no job and no plan, but I was happy to be free. And by some miracle, about 2 weeks later, I found myself with a referral and a job offer to travel the country representing a car manufacturer. This was a real job? I took it as a temporary gig while I looked for my next full time corporate design job. Fast forward 6 years and I never found that next design job, but what I did find was some insight.
I was striving for something I thought I wanted. A full time, M-F, corporate job with a big design firm. But I had such a great 6 years doing something that was not remotely related to design and that I had never in a million years thought I would do. And what I realized was that I wasn't really asking myself what I wanted. I was clouded by the expectation and influence of what was seen as "normal" and "successful" by our culture. I started to learn to listened to my own desires more often.
After 6 years on the road, I started to miss some creativity in my life. I began by repurposing furniture for myself, friends, family and offering small design services as well. I volunteered at a maker's space and was eventually offered a part time job. I evolved my creativity through sewing, laser engraving, woodworking, and teaching project classes to members. I was learning, collaborating, experimenting, and teaching others to do the same. It was now clear to me how to live from the heart, because I saw I could find happiness in life even if I wasn't living up to certain "norms". I also learned that I didn't need to go along with the main stream, we need to live our lives according to our version of our ideal lifestyle instead. And then one March day, met Dan at the shop- we hit it off immediately. Life was good. Until I lost the job- another blessing in disguise.
This next life transition sparked a conversation between us. We both had left our original fields (me interior design, him wellness) because of feeling unfulfilled in the jobs we had. But we both still had interest in pursuing them in a deeper way that made an impact. We both grew up with a love for nature, were actively pursuing a healthy lifestyle, and had a desire to help people and the planet. Is there a way we can work together to help people create homes that also make them healthy? Endless conversations and research began.
During this time, I bought my first home (a major fixer upper) and we moved in. As a result of our new found passion for "wellness design" and listening to our hearts, we took this house as an opportunity to take actions in our life and in our home that truly aligned with us and our values- we wanted a beautiful home that was minimal and peaceful. We have done all our projects ourselves with recycled, second hand, and/or eco-friendly materials. We have decorated a large percentage of our home with resale pieces. We got rid of years and years of past possessions that had no place in our new life. We looked at materials, ingredients, and packaging of everything we purchased. We started feeling lighter, happier, and more fulfilled. We were inspired to help others create healthy homes to align with their ideal lifestyle.
Our plan was to start spreading the word about wellness design, so we creating the concept of Pure Living Collective and launched a basic website. But we didn't stop there. We continued studying how mental health, physical health, and the health of planet Earth is all interconnected. We combined our passions, research, and personal experiences to create a 3-step process to help people achieve health, happiness, and sustainability in their homes like we did.
Here was our dilemma...
How do we offer this life changing service to as many people as possible in an affordable and efficient way?
We decided that the answer was to create an online course that would make it really easy to spread our message and help as many people as possible. We chose to call it “Holistic Home Revival”. We thought if we could create something that would make it possible to give people an easy way to make their home a healthy place to live that supports their ideal lifestyle, we’d be really happy. After several months of full time work, we created our first online course, Holistic Home Revival and are making it available to other health conscious, mindful people like you.
As a result of all this we were able to achieve the following:
With our simple 3-step process we are able to help people get in touch with their true selves, identify their ideal lifestyle and live a healthy, sustainable life that is full of joy.
After creating Pure Living Collective and Holistic Home Revival, I was not only able to work for myself (no more bully bosses), while being creative and helping people and the planet, I’ve also been able to stop giving my time and money to people and things that don't align with my values, because I can now make choices based on my heart.
And in the end, all of this means I’m now able to live my ideal lifestyle and help others do the same.
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