Our Kin: Lucy Green | Melbourne, Australia
From burnt-out to creating a life that allows for growth of a passion project, the founder of Homebody Club shares her story.
Burnout really made me into a shell of a human. I completely lost sight of what balance was.
I was working full time in what my younger self would have deemed a ‘dream job’ in the corporate fashion world. I loved what I was doing, but work started to creep into more of my personal life. I started waking up at 2am in a panic thinking of all the emails I had to send the next day. I was perpetually stressed. Outside of work I was too tired to see anyone, I just wanted to go home and go to bed. I was always on an emotional wave and super reactive to anything someone would do or say.
One day I was listening to a podcast about creating your ‘dream life’ and realised I didn’t really know what I wanted out of life anymore.
I realised that what I had been working towards, was more out of ego for being successful in a ‘glamourous’ industry. I had lost sight of my initial ‘why’ - because I loved fashion - and I decided that I needed to create some space to work out what I wanted out of life moving forward.
I started to question if I died today what would my legacy be?
I couldn’t just quit my job and move to Byron Bay (a girl can only dream!), so I started to consider going part time. This was a really scary thought for me, as a self reliant girl who had all the usual adult expenses. I had to sacrifice salary and lifestyle for my own mental wellbeing. Within about a week of deciding this, I received an alert for a part time job which ticked all the boxes for me.
Transitioning from a full time to part time was a lot harder than I anticipated at first. I was so used to being productive and busy 24/7, that I forgot what it was like to not rush and have white space in my life. It took weeks for me to not feel guilty about slowing down and not ticking off a huge to-do list every day.
I started listening podcasts and read lots of health and wellness articles. Because I was alone at home for a majority of the time in my new job, I started to feel isolated and lonely. I was craving that group interaction which I was used to in the workplace.
I had previously followed lots of international blogs that were able to create a community online and also create connection in real life. I wanted to influence how women look after themselves mentally and physically, even if it’s just starting with a 5 minute mindfulness self-care practice. I wanted to show women that there’s a space for them to feel heard, where they can belong and feel connected.
Launching Homebody Club took months - this isn’t because the actual work was hard but because I had huge imposter syndrome. All the mental blocks and reasons why I shouldn’t start something came up and it led to this ebb and flow of activity and stagnation. After many pep talks to myself I finally launched, but didn’t put my name to it. It was my secret project that only my partner knew about and I kept it that way for months. Although this isn’t a conventional way, it gave me time and space to really knuckle down on what my vision was for Homebody and how I was going to execute it.
Looking back I’ve learnt that as humans we tend to overcomplicate things. We don’t launch a passion project for fear or it not being perfect. I see so many people spending a huge amount of money on designers and consultants - not because they don’t have the ability to do the work themselves, but because they’re using it as an excuse to not get started.
Currently inspired by:
Podcasts: The Thrive Global podcast with Arianna Huffington - specifically S3E1: Sophia Bush Is a Masterpiece in Progress. I also love Offline the Podcast by Alison Rice.
Books: For business and marketing, I love anything by Seth Goden. Non fiction, I’m currently reading the Female Persuasion (from the Homebody Book Club).
Where I seek rest:
When I’m feeling overworked I really introvert (yes it’s a verb) and stay home to gain back energy. I have an arsenal of things that can make me feel better: EFT tapping meditation, magnesium foot soaks, diffusing essential oils, journaling, taking time off social media, or talking out my stress with my best friend and a coffee in hand.
Explore Homebody Club here.
Now I am rewarded with the community I was seeking, and get to build Homebody Club while working part time. My community is the best. I love connecting with so many smart, generous, like minded people.