#BEYOUROWN VICKI PSARIAS

Meet Vicki Psarias the brainchild behind the multi-award winning blog Honestmum.com. Now peaking at the heights of 80,000 page views a month, Vicki’s largest audience is in the UK, followed by America, Australia, Europe and the rest of the world. Setting up her blog in November 2010, Vicki is now regarded as a pioneer in her field. Her expertise as a multi-award winning Filmmaker and TV Director pre-blogging provided the ideal basis upon which to build her own personal brand and platform.

Vicki regularly presents and also features on TV as an expert. She is a regular on ITV’s Good Morning Britain and has appeared on BBC1’s Sunday Morning Live, SKY News and Ch 4’s Too Many Cooks. Vicki has collaborated with many TV Chefs including Jamie Oliver, James Martin, Dean Edwards and Antonio Carluccio, and regularly collaborates with brands in the family, food, lifestyle, fashion, hair and beauty, and travel sectors. Her work as a digital ambassador for the airline Jet2.com and Jet2holidays made blogging history and Vicki has most recently worked on campaigns for Coca-Cola, McDonald’s UK, Land Rover Discovery, TransPennine Express and Robinsons to name but a few. Vicki is also a proud ambassador for Herbal Essences.Vicki has also written online for Marie Claire UK, Grazia Daily, Woman, The Huffington Post and Good To Know.

A passionate foodie, Vicki loves to create bespoke recipes for her site.Vicki has also garnered exclusives with a great many stars as part of her popular Wonderful Women series, interviewing Emma Bunton, Anastasia, Alesha Dixon, Cerys Mattews MBE and many more. We caught up with Vicki to find out what else is in the pipeline since her debut book Mumboss-How to Survive and Thrive at Work and at Home becomes available for pre-order and hits the shops in May 2018.

Hey Vicki, can you give us some background information on your career prior to where you are today?

I’m a full time blogger and vlogger, and mum of two. My debut book Mumboss is out on May 3rd too which is exciting. I set up Honest Mum (my parenting and lifestyle blog) whilst on maternity leave from TV directing in November 2010 after suffering from a traumatic birth and craving a creative space to call my own.

Honest Mum is the magazine of my life, a place where I share my thoughts, work-life and mumboss advice in one creative place. I’m staggered by how much it’s grown over the years and love how empowering and flexible blogging has proven to be.

You are a multi-award winning screenwriter, director and professional now blogger, how do you find the time to evenly distribute your energy over each aspect of your career?

I was a director but now I direct content and campaigns that I also feature in, in my role as a blogger and vlogger. I do have TV format ideas and a feature film screenplay I hope to make into a movie one day too though. The dream is to combine this digital based job with directing.

What originally sparked your interest in to become a screenwriter and director?After graduating with distinction in your MA in Screen Drama from Goldsmiths, University of London at 21, did you always know this was the avenue you specifically wanted to take?

It was MA which gave me the impetus, hands-on experience and confidence to launch as a director. My MA Graduation film Rifts won awards all over the world including a peace prize and Broken my professional short screened at film festivals globally, and was even on TV again recently.

I love how diverse directing is, you steer the ship with your vision which that affects every aspect of the finished film. I loved losing myself in writing screenplays too. The digital world is democratic and liberating though. You write, publish and connect immediately.

Congratulations on becoming the recipient of many incredible awards including the prestigious Channel 4 4Talent Award, The World Spread’s Square Mile 30 Under 30 London Talent Award in association with CNN and being featured in The Observer’s Courvoisier The Future 500. What would you say has been the highlight of your career so far?

Thank you, these awards as a director meant a lot to me and continue to. As a blogger I was the recipient of the BritMums Brilliance in Blogging Awards Best of the Best in 2016 which was the highest blogging accolade obtainable. The Oscar of Blogging, if you like. That was a very proud moment for me especially as BritMums have been part of my journey since the beginning.

My nomination for their awards back at the start, gave me the confidence to return on set and direct after my first baby. There have been many blogging highlights over the years but the biggest reward has to be being stopped in the street or receiving emails from women saying that my blog has helped them set up businesses and change their lives.

Talk us through your new book ‘Mumboss’?

My book Mumboss, published by Piatkus/ Hachette hits the shops on May 3rd. It’s my guide on how to survive and thrive at work and at home and will hopefully empower many women as I share what I’ve learnt over the years and candidly write about the juggle. You can preorder it here: amazon.co.uk/Mumboss-Honest-Guide-Surviving-Thriving/dp/0349416699

Can you take us through the journey of how the blogging came about and how you combined it?

I started blogging at my lowest point, after a traumatic birth. My close friend, filmmaker Amancay Tapia encouraged me to start a blog to share my new life as a mum and at a time very few were blogging. I returned to directing when my son, Oliver turned 1 but soon enough, blogging took over my work and by the time my second son Alexander, was born, it had become a full time job for me.

How do you handle pressure?

Yoga is a life saver and I’m a big believer in being honest about my feelings (especially as I hid how I felt after the birth of my first child for a long time) so now I talk, cry if I need to, but remain resolutely positive. I’ve seen adversity over the years but trust that things will always work out in the end.

How do you handle criticism?

I’ve developed a thick skin over the years thanks in part to sadly experiencing libel, trolling and naysayers. I’m lucky that I have a group of close blogging friends I’ve known since the early days as well as my best friends, a supportive husband and family who buoy me up and keep me strong. I also have such supportive followers. Importantly, I always forgive those who have hurt me. It’s vital to.

What is the best advice you have received recently?

Not recent but advice from my Mum not to expect everyone to understand or like me!  Once you liberate yourself of that need for validation from others, you’re able to truly fly!

Best advice you can give us entrepreneurs who aspire to make a career within the digital industry?

Be your authentic self, work hard but make self-care a priority. Health and happiness is the most important thing.

What does #BEYOUROWN mean to you?

Being true to yourself. Know your strengths but also your weaknesses too and be kind to yourself.

Finally, what can we expect from you in 2018?

My book! I hope you love it!

Twitter: @honestmum | Instagram: @honestmum

Website: http://honestmum.com