Spiritual Me
I’ve always known, since being young, that my joy in life comes when I feel like I’m helping people or serving people in some way. Not when I’m expected to but when I’m free to help people in my own unique way as and when the universe brings people into my life.
I started reading anything that I could find that would give me answers to my questions, Who Am I? Why Am I here? What’s my Purpose? ...all the normal everyday questions people ask, right! … I started on my own doorstep with Hindu and Vedic philosophy and trying to understand my own culture. I found the knowledge quite liberating and also at the same time limiting as the very essence of Hindu Philosophy is to be exclusive and not inclusive of any one philosophy. I decided to look at other philosophies and religions for more answers. This led me to Buddhism , Taoism (many eastern philosophies) and then the more western based philosophies such as the Greeks to Romans and Egyptians and Mayans and the list goes on…
I went through a period in my life that my learning wasn’t something I was initiating but was being helped by the people and books I was coming across on random trips or places I was at.
The beautiful women of Agunda Village in North India where I spent some time working with the villagers and looking at livelihood re-generation.
All of this happened in my final year of University where I entered a kind of ‘flow’ with my work. Everything just felt effortless and all the idea’s and work I was producing almost felt like it wasn’t mine… but was coming through me… an experience I'll never forget and one that got me to a first in my degree from a failure just months before this ‘flow’.
Fashion & Me
I was studying Fashion Design at the time at Uni and I was close to giving it all up as it just wasn’t feeding my soul but as it was the final year and final term I decided to just complete it otherwise the past 5 years would’ve been a total waste, not just of time but of money too which my parents were so kind to invest in.
Fashion has always been part of my life, with my mum always dressing us in the coolest and finest clothing. I started choosing my own clothes from a very early age and ever since have always received compliments for my style. This flattery really helped enhance my love and appreciation of Fashion which became my passion in life.
Being creative with my appearance and having a channel to express my creativity has always been very important to me. My motto was ‘If i look good, I do good’ and this has been a great fun way to look at my experience in Fashion without it feeling too superficial and mundane.
I went on to work for one of the world's number one trends forecasting companies and from there I fell in love with the world of trends and predicting what kind of styles and colours were going to be popular in the future. I could see through their analysis of world trends and patterns that the conversation about Sustainable Fashion was going to become very BIG in the years to come and with this I managed to combine my love for the bigger questions in life and the desire to help people with my passion.
Inspired by the Dress of the Women in Agunda Village, North India.
I set off to India on a one way ticket to see if I could work with women's organisations and advocate fair wages and ethical practices using my knowledge and experience working in Fashion for so long.
After 9 months in India I eventually came home to build a foundation and my love and passion for Sustainable Fashion.
My First Up-Cycled Collection of Handbags made from Vintage and Pre-Worn Leather Shoes and Boots and Jackets.
Health, Wellbeing & Me
During my time in London working with the trends company my motto ‘If i look good, I do good’ shifted primarily from an external standpoint to a more internalised way of being… it was fairer to say ‘If I look good, I feel good, If I feel good I do good’ and this manifested with a real interest in my health and wellbeing.
This was the time when my love for alternative ways of healing took shape, firstly Ayurveda and then Homoeopathy and bach flowers and later energy healing like Vortex healing.
I completed a year of Natural Nutrition training with a well renowned teacher called Barbara Wren and at the same time I was also taking a Practical Philosophy Course and becoming more and more aligned with my purpose of wanting to help others in some way.
Farmers Market - Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Over the years I’ve had the privilege to experience and meet with so many amazing teachers, practitioners and healers who have all helped guide me forward on my path.
Cooking & Me
During this time I also started cooking and experimenting with many different vegetables and herbs and spices. I found that I was intuitively cooking for my constitution before even learning about Ayurvedic principles.
Traditional Spice Tin with all the Basic Spices used in most Indian Recipes
My infamous Paneer Starter with Coarsely Chopped Fresh Garlic, Ginger and Chilli
I was lucky to learn how to cook and measure spices and herbs from one of the best cooks in the world, my mum. She taught me everything I know today and for those of you who have tasted my cooking know that my mum was an amazing cook. But the most important lesson my mum taught me was that no matter what and where she was cooking she always cooked with love and because of this her food always tasted divine.
Cooking gives me so much personal joy too. It feeds my need to be creative as I enjoy cooking on the spot with random ingredients and making something amazing from almost nothing but also I’ve loved over the years to combine western and eastern herbs and spices and tastes to make healthy recipes.
Buffalo Mozzarella and Vine Tomato Salad with Fresh Basil from the Garden
Teaching & Me
I never thought, when I was younger, that I would ever want to be a teacher but reflecting on my life and all the experiences I’ve been through it was almost inevitable that I would eventually train as one in some capacity.
Working in an international boarding school opened up a love for different cultures and highlighted to me how many people in the world wanted to learn English to better themselves and provide them with more opportunities in their lives. What a privilege we have in our lives here in the UK and not even know it.
I also had an opportunity to teach Sustainable Fashion to students which was the perfect first step into teaching and eventually I decided to train as a TEFL teacher and now teach English through many of my passions.
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