Mother, wife, nurse, manager, a serial university graduate, entrepreneur and queen of the Quarter Life Crisis, Emily Bucknell founded Your Life Awesome in 2018. From the lowest point of her decade long Quarter Life Crisis, Emily stumbled upon mindfulness and within 6 months had completely transformed her life into the seriously awesome one she always knew she deserved. Through Your Life Awesome she is now fulfilling her absolute passion; empowering young women to confidently create the fulfilling lives they crave.
Hey Emily, can you introduce yourself to us?
I’m Emily, a fun-loving, super happy farmer’s wife (city girl I totally didn’t expect that one!) and mum to a 2-year-old and 3 months old. I’ve had the innate desire to create something really significant of my own for as long as I can remember and have spent years playing around with many, many, many business ideas. I have had a fantastic career in nursing which I’m incredibly proud of but finally, with Your Life Awesome, I have found a business that is aligned on the deepest level with who I am and what I know I’m here to do.
Can you take us through your journey to where you are now?
I spent about a decade in my 20s to early 30s in one big old Quarter Life Crisis which was the defining event of my life. I had always just assumed that my adult life would turn out exactly how I thought it would; in a career I loved, with a husband, a house and family of my own and just generally having a really happy awesome time in life.
When at that magical age of 30 I still had none of those things, panic set in. Looking back now, I can still feel those feelings of frustration and confusion that I just couldn’t get life to work for me. It wasn’t until the guy I was convinced was my future husband disappeared on me that I snapped into action and put every ounce of myself into figuring it all out, starting (and ending!) with my mindset and how I was approaching life.
Slowly but surely my life started to reflect the changes I was making in myself and within 6 months I was working in my dream job, had a new boyfriend (who is now my husband) and plans to move to the country. I had finally figured life out.
It’s only been in the last year that I’ve realised that through this experience I have an absolute wealth of information to share with young women, stuck where I was, wanting to have the life they want but that just keeps eluding them. I started Your Life Awesome in May 2018 to do just that and since then have been focusing on building a super empowering and supportive community and developing various online courses and coaching programs.
How much research did you do on the market prior to launching Your life Awesome?
I did fairly basic market research prior to launching Your Life Awesome, which included research into the prevalence of Quarter Life Crises, similarly focused business online and made contact with a few industry leaders asking a few general questions regarding their view of the market. I also spent some time on social media researching topics, groups, hashtags, and related threads. I also reached out in a few vaguely related Facebook groups that I already belonged to, pitching my business idea. I had also already conceived the basic outline of the online course that I have now written and offered free coaching using that as a basis to anyone that was interested within these Facebook groups. It was the best way to get out there ASAP and start helping people but it also gave me some incredibly valuable feedback and knowledge of my future audience.
Can you tell us more about the brand DNA and ethos of your business?
I created Your Life Awesome to help people first and foremost. It is 100% about empowering and supporting young women to create lives they love in the most down to earth, open and loving way possible. It may sound a little corny but I believe there is a lot of power in living a life that is deeply aligned with who you are. The more people that I can help find that the better the world will be.
Can you give us 3 tips to help us feel back on track when we are feeling stuck in our career?
I can give you 3 somewhat unconventional tips that will work if you’re feeling stuck in any aspect of your life, career included. This is also how I went from a job I found completely blah to my dream one.
- Don’t worry. I know that to a lot of people this may sound both overly simple and unachievable but there are a ton of strategies you can implement that will totally transform your perspective on things. And it’s only through inner work that getting unstuck will happen.
- Be happy! Again this sounds super simple but the more happiness, love, and gratitude you can pour into life now, the more of that will come flowing your way, career included. I’m still amazed at how life-changing this can be.
- Take action. You may not think you know what action you should take but deep down you know exactly what to do. This isn’t about trying to force an outcome but following those little intuitive nudges, we call get to reconnect with that friend from college, apply for that course, have lunch with that work colleague, go to that event. Follow these nudges and have faith that your path will become clear. An action is the fastest way to gain clarity.
Where can you see yourself within the next 5 years?
This question just got me all kinds of excited! I want to have empowered thousands and thousands of young women to create lives that they absolutely love and through that be making the most positive impact I can on the world. More specifically, I’d love to have a team of coaches, a series of online courses, live events and retreats and a really positive and powerful community established to support young women during the transition to adulthood.
What outlets do use to promote Your life Awesome?
I’m all about building my business on social media at the moment.
What gives you ultimate career satisfaction?
Helping people is the big fat number one reason I’m here. It’s why I went into nursing and that same desire has now morphed into Your Life Awesome. There is nothing better than knowing you’ve made a positive difference in someone’s life.
What challenges have you seen to have been presented during the growth Your Life Awesome?
The biggest challenges I’ve encountered with the growth of Your Life Awesome have all been within my own mindset (which is really where all challenges come from anyway!). Making the move from a very stable and traditional career in nursing to a personal brand based business has definitely been a fantastic test of my faith in both myself and what I’m building with Your Life Awesome. As an introvert, it hasn’t always been easy putting my story of struggle out there and I’ve had to work hard to quiet those standard worries we all have from time to time about what people will think of me and how I’ll be judged.
I always come back to the deep knowing I have that what I offer through Your Life Awesome can, and will, positively impact the lives of thousands and thousands of young women across the world. That to me is bigger than anything I see as a challenge and I know that if I keep that the focus then my success is inevitable.
Which other leading entrepreneurs and pioneering game changers do you also admire and why?
James Wedmore all the way! I’m for sure one day going to have him coach me because his approach to business is incredibly refreshing and speaks to me on such a deep level. He’s all about your mindset in business being the key to your success, not how hard you work or hustle. It’s that approach that enabled me to realistically envision being a balanced, happy mumpreneur, not one headed for a nervous breakdown! I purchased his Business By Design course last year which has been an absolute game changer for me and the reason that I am where I am right now with Your Life Awesome.
Kathrin Zenkina (Manifestation Babe) is another of my ultimate favourites. I’m currently working through her Rich Babe Academy course and am totally blown away by not only the value she provides and results in her students achieve, but also her genuine, caring and no BS approach. She has also built the most amazingly engaged and supportive community and I would love to emulate her success in Your Life Awesome.
I first stumbled upon Natasha Steward (Business Jump) two ago, just after I had my daughter when I was yet again Googling how to get my entrepreneurial journey to take off. Having left/been let go (for being a mum!) from her corporate career to build her own online business, Nat’s journey immediately spoke to me. She was the first example I had come across of someone so like me (she lives just near my parents where I grew up) who is where I can completely see myself in a few years. She also recommended checking out James Wedmore’s podcast so I do have a lot to thank her for.
Top 3 go-to Podcast channels?
- James Wedmore’s ‘Mind Your Business.’
- Kathrin Zenkina’s ‘Manifestation Babe.’
- Oprah’s ‘Super Soul conversations’ because the life lessons and value crammed into one of her podcast episodes is immeasurable. Listening to this podcast is seriously life-changing and a lot of the episodes I’ve listened to multiple times they are that good.
How do you define your own success?
I measure my success by how happy I feel. And what makes me happy is positively impacting the lives of my clients and achieving a beautiful balance between my family life and work.
What does #BEYOUROWN mean to you?
This is huge for me. It has taken me years to really, deeply understand how important it is to be yourself and true to who you are and finally with Your Life Awesome, I can say with total conviction that I now embody this. #BEYOUROWN is the only way to true happiness.
Finally, what are you working on throughout 2019?
My focus for 2019 is really on building the most empowering, loving and epic community of young women to support each other as they figure out life. I will also be building my coaching clients and online course participants and have planned a ton of free content to get out there so anyone that comes across me can learn how to start living their most epic life now.
Instagram: @yourlifeawesome
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourlifeawesome/
Website: https://yourlifeawesome.com/
