Latest / Project Emerald Collective / What If Buying Less Could Change Your Life? | Hazel Law on Style, Identity & Circular Fashion
Transcript
- Eve: My name's Eve McIntyre and I'm the founder of Project Emerald, which originally started as a marketplace but has grown to a movement of women coming together to live more intentionally. I have the pleasure today of interviewing Hazel Law, who's the director of the Circular Fashion Festival. Hazel, for those of you meeting for the first time, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Hazel: Yeah, of course. my name's Hazel. I have three very beautiful young children and in the midst of that chaos I decided to start two businesses. so if that doesn't tell you a bit about me, then I don't know what will honestly. Eve: like a lot of Hazel: Yes. Eve: us do as mums. what are the different hats that you wear these days, Hazel? Hazel: So I am the director of the Circular Fashion Festival, as you mentioned, and I also run my small business, The Curated Wardrobe, which is essentially a styling business that helps people to, mainly women, to get more out of what they already own and to really kind of start to analyse their style so that when they do buy with intention, like you said, and with kind of A feeling of certainty that they're actually gonna wear these pieces and love them and re-wear them, and you know, they're gonna make them feel confident and the way that they need to feel in their everyday lives. I just love it so much. It's such a fun job, I love being able to help women to gain that clarity when it comes to their wardrobes because I think you know that's what we all need. Eve: Yeah, absolutely. And sometimes it's not a whole new wardrobe. It's it's just, you know, little additions and more fun brought in with different accessories, which I know you're a big fan of. Hazel: I am, as you can see by my giraffe's butt brooch. Eve: I love that. looking back over your Hazel: Wait. Eve: life, Hazel, what would you say are the three pivotal moments that have shaped the woman that you are today? Hazel: Wow, that's a great question. I would say definitely the first one, which is, you know, real part of my founder story, and it's something that I tell whenever I do a masterclass, whenever I work with a client, I started this business and subsequently the circular fashion festival. As my love letters to Circular fashion. But the reason I came to this life is essentially when I was pregnant with my first child, it was 2019 and it was the black summer here in Australia. There was so much devastation that was happening due to the fires and everything that was going on in the world with regards to the climate crisis. And I had a kind of extension existential. like meltdown in my pregnancy thinking, my God, what am I doing? Bringing someone into the world in this state. And what is it that I'm actually going to do to try and save our planet? And unfortunately or fortunately, the way that my brain works is I kind of see something and I can't let it go once I've seen it, you know? So it was when my daughter was born, we moved into COVID and after kind of the lockdowns were were Raised here in WA, I started to volunteer with the Conservation Foundation and with the Wilderness Society because I absolutely loved what they did in terms of you know the conservation of our planet and our incredible biodiversity here in WA and all of the things that I love about living in the world, they are there to protect. And they have such incredible volunteer programs that what I really learnt with them is The power of positive impact, anyone who has children will understand this that when you tell someone not to do something, they immediately want to do it, or they want to do the opposite. It's kind of like you come up against that tension where if you tell someone not to do it, they they're just gonna shut down basically, they won't listen to you. And the way that they create their volunteer programs is teaching people how to Help people make a difference without telling them what not to do, but really leaning into telling them what they can do. And that individual action does make a difference. And that by taking action in whatever way, big or small, we can start to actually create that impact. And that impact creates ripples and the ripples create ripples. we're all connected. We're all interconnected in so many different ways. I think that the world wants to teach us that individual action doesn't matter, but it actually does. so that was definitely one something that shaped me. and when I really started to think about where I wanted to place my positive impact, it was in the world of fashion. So fashion is the third largest polluter in the world after agriculture and oil and gas. And I was like, that's You know, something that I love. It's something that I have always been passionate about. I've always shopped secondhand and that's something that I can move forward in the world with and teach people how to do and how to enjoy that and how to, not necessarily listen to the voices of the, advertising companies or, that kind of of capitalism saying you must do this, you have to do this as a woman. It's like, no, we don't. I'm just gonna do what I want to do and have a nice time. So thanks. Thanks for the advice. I will not be taking it. Eve: Mm. Hazel: yeah, so I think I mean that's definitely something that led me to where I am now. Eve: I love that. That sounds like you've had, all of those past experiences have led you to where you are today and it's come full circle, which is just so great to see and you're making such a positive impact by doing, the work that you do but also inspiring everyone that attends the festival or hears about the festival to shop second hand and just to take those small steps, whatever living intentionally looks like to you, if you do embrace it, it will make a difference. Hazel: Yeah, definitely. And I just love that idea about the ripple effect. I have people message me quite a lot saying, I've always got your voice in my head saying, You don't need that. Don't buy it, those kind of things. And I I find that surprising, but I also love that that's great. Like what I'm kind of shouting out into the ether on Instagram is resonating with people. They tell their friends and they tell their friends. our vision from the Circular Fashion Council is to make circular fashion mainstream. And Eve: Mm-hmm. Hazel: the only way of doing that in my eyes is to kind of use capitalism's tools against it. You have to use those things that it has developed and spent millions and billions of dollars on developing to get people to engage with the products that they're selling and use Eve: Yeah. Hazel: those tools in a way that helps. other people see there's another way, there's other choices. Eve: Yeah. Hazel: There's, you know, there is this community out there that is full of people that is just so excited to be in this community. I've felt supported in basically every step of the journey. I felt supported by the other amazing people who are in this community. we gotta just use those tools and turn it around, I think. Eve: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. it's not okay that we don't feel good in our bodies and that we're, conditioned almost to follow the trends that are coming out, season after season like enough already. if it was turned on its head and you could just be you and radiate from the inside out and feel empowered to make your own choices as to what suits your body and what your style is and what your colouring is and not feel unworthy for not being like everyone else. I think that's, where the real power lies as females. Hazel: Hundred percent. it's interesting when we start to recognize it. It's like once the veil has been lifted, it can't be unseen. It's like we get conditioned in a certain way to dress, act, feel, you know, decide certain things. And once you see actually, I have freedom of choice here. I have Eve: Mm-hmm. Hazel: a will of my own and just because this is the way that everyone else is doing it, doesn't mean it has to be the way that I'm doing it. I just went into my husband before to just be like, I'm recording your podcast. don't come don't disturb me. He was like, What are you wearing? Are you the queen? And I was like, Yeah I am actually. Eve: Yeah, absolutely I am today. More queens out there, I feel, need to emerge. Yep. Hazel: More queens, more vintage silk like pieces with shoulder pads, why not? Eve: Exactly. Everyday fashion. So at what point did the curated wardrobe begin to emerge? Hazel: So as I mentioned I had three children and when I don't know if this happens to you, Eve, but definitely when I'm pregnant I get this like real burst of creative energy and I don't know whether it's somehow the pressure of knowing that, I might not be able to do stuff for a while after the Eve: Yeah. Hazel: baby's born. but when I was pregnant with my middle child, I was, just filled with this kind of ambition but also excitement about creating a a business around all the things that I'd learned from, you know, from the Conservation Foundation and from the Wilderness Society. And I started to think about different ways that I could engage in a business like that. And so what I had done is I'd started to think about creating curated like pre-lov boxes of clothing for people. That was my first iteration of what the curated wardrobe was. And when I started to look at it, I was like, this is gonna be so much work. Even though it'd be so fun and it would, you Eve: Yeah. Hazel: know, really fill me with joy. to actually get it right, to have to do it for Eve: Remotely. Hazel: a client that wasn't here with me would actually be something that would be quite challenging. So It actually started as a business where I went into people's homes and helped them to organize their wardrobes and organize, those places that we don't really like to organize much, the pantry and all of those things. And I I really love doing that and it's really fun, but it is a lot of hard work. Eve: you've worked with so many different people over the years doing so many different things. And what have you learnt about our relationship to clothing? Hazel: it's a tricky one, isn't it? what I've learned really is that our relationship to clothing is almost purely emotional, So I believe that because, you know, there's situations in our lives where something can make us feel incredible even if we're not. feeling the best or when we put on something, it has the ability to change our relationship to ourselves and to how other people see us, both positively and negatively. You know, I am not someone who's going to sit here and say every time I get dressed, it's a joyous experience. Like it's absolutely not. But it's those times where I'm feeling stressed. I'm like, I need to look a certain way, I can't find the right thing. my children are all talking to me and asking me questions and I'm you know feeling very frazzled. It's at that point where I get to say, no, I get to choose how I'm gonna feel about this. And yes, like my years of being a woman in this world and and experiencing as a millennial all of those situations where we were told we weren't good enough, we weren't skinny enough, we weren't, you Eve: Mm. Hazel: know, whatever it was And for me to be like, actually no, I have autonomy over the way that I feel about myself and the way that I feel about my clothing. And I have the ability to actually choose something that's gonna make me feel great. we also shop emotionally when we're not feeling great about our bodies. We tend to shop. And often what I find when I work with my clients is that, those pieces that they've shopped for when they're feeling not so great are pieces that never get worn. They're pieces that Are still in their wardrobes with the tags on and they have this feeling of guilt. And I think there's so much f there's so much guilt when it comes to our clothing. And that's really what I want to be able to offer a different perspective on and a different option for is that the we shouldn't feel guilty about our clothes. I just want to give people the permission to really let that go and And let go mindfully of the pieces that no longer work for them, you know? And that idea again just kind of carries on into all of the events that I do It's like fashion is supposed to be fun and it can be fun and it can be guilt free if you allow yourself Eve: Yeah, absolutely. Australia is the highest consumer of fashion in the whole in the world. that's just blows my mind. And why do you think that is? is it because we're disconnected from ourselves and we're just trying to fill the void? Hazel: Yeah, I think I think you really hit the nail on the head It's really about it's like people are on a treadmill of overconsumption and we can't see it until we can see it. So when I when I launched the curated wardrobe, what I did was I did a year of no buying. So I did 365 days of not buying anything new or secondhand. And I did that because I wanted the lived experience of what it felt like to make the most out of my own wardrobe without buying anything new, in order to give my clients that opportunity too. And, you know, I didn't want to be someone who was, talking the talk but not walking the walk. And what I learned in that time is that I truly was buying pre-loved clothing on a fast fashion. Timeline schedule. Like I would buy things at the op shop or on Depop or you know wherever it was. And I would maybe not wear them ever, wear them once or twice. And then I would donate them back to, somewhere. And I thought, yeah, amazing. I'm being sustainable. And it's like actually what that 365 days taught me, and as my research went on and on into, you know, the fashion waste problem. Is that I was not being sustainable at all. There's absolutely no guarantee that those pieces that I was donating were actually being sold in any way. And that really like in order to love what we have and buy what we need, we need to get analytical about our style. And while we're on that treadmill of buying and buying and buying and buying, because that's what we've been told that we need to do. people spend billions of dollars on on trying to get us to buy. Like it's very hard to step back from that. But when you do, again, it's like another veil lifts and you can't unsee it, you can't go back. Eve: Yeah. Hazel: and without getting analytical about what it is that we actually want to wear, how we want to appear, how we feel in our clothing, like physically, mentally, emotionally, all of those things, we're not gonna get right. Like we're just not. And it's an ongoing process, you know, it's not something that c that happens overnight. I think when I work with my clients one-on-one, it's kind of like, yeah, I have to go through this idea that actually It might take up to a year for them or longer for them to kind of, you know, nail it every single time. But here are some tools that can help you get on the right track. here's some ways that you can actually start to think about all of those different things and start to just disrupt a little bit. Disrupt that, you know, that treadmill mindset and that treadmill. way of being that isn't our natural way of being And once you start to disrupt, then then you're away, you know? You can you can start chipping away at it kind of thing. That's what that's what I believe anyway. Eve: Yeah, that really resonates. we all have the power and the agency to do that. and it's about so much more than just fashion. we all get dressed every single day. So we all make the choice of what we're gonna wear, how we're gonna feel, you know, what we're buying. Is fashion it is just fashion, but it's not at the same time. Hazel: Yeah, Eve: just touching on letting things go, which you brought up earlier, so why Hazel: Yeah. Eve: is it so hard for people to let things go, do you think? Hazel: it just comes back to guilt. I think there's a lot of guilt that we that we kind of feel when it comes to our clothing. And it is a guilt, it's guilt around the time, energy, and money that we have spent on items. it's kind of like that scarcity. mindset where we're like, well, I've already spent my time, money, energy on something which potentially have bought in an emotional tizzy and not something that was considered. And we're then left with that item and left with the guilt of what to do with it because we're not wearing it. And I think freedom comes from Not feeling that guilt is amazing, but it's also hard because, from my perspective and I'm sure a lot of your listeners' perspective and your own, it's like the guilt actually comes from being able to mindfully get rid of it in a way that you know that it will be used again. that's where the guilt comes from for me. I'm like, I spent my time, money, and energy. That was past Hazel, We forgive her, we move on, we do something else. But Eve: Yeah. Hazel: like The the real guilt when it comes down to it for me is that I want that piece to be used and I want that piece to be loved and I want that piece to be, treasured. Like I treasure all of my treasures, you know, my jewels and my not literal jewels, but like the jewels in my wardrobe. Eve: Yeah. Hazel: and I think that that is hard. But when it comes down to it, you know, things like Project Emerald, when you have one-to-one sellers, that's where those pieces are going to be loved and treasured the most. And it's where that kind of relationship with the clothing can be passed on and continued. we don't know when we donate something, who's gonna buy it or if it's gonna be bought at all. It could always end up in landfill or being shipped to another country to become, someone else's issue. There's all sorts of Things that happen to pieces, but I think that one-on-one selling or swapping is probably the best option because in that moment that person loves it and hopefully they're gonna love it and wear it. also in that same breath, if you haven't worn something, why? Like try and get analytical with it. Why haven't you worn it? Is it because it fit makes you feel a certain way every time you put it on. Is it one of those pieces that, you put on and then you just take it straight off? Or is it the way that the the material feels on your body? Or you need to have think about what it is and then you're not going to make that mistake again. Because that's when the guilt really sets in, right? It's like when we're in when we're a repeat offender. Like we're Eve: Yeah. Hazel: buying similar things again and again and again and they're not working every single time. And it's like why? You need to know why. I think that's the that's the that's where everything can change. Eve: Yeah, absolutely. And I feel like that quote is appropriate. Like when you know better, you do better. And Hazel: Yes. Eve: if we can forgive ourselves for, what we've done and the choices that we've made in the past and then learn from them and make better choices in the future, then that's the best outcome, right? Hazel: Yeah, definitely. And what's so interesting is that the biggest things that came from my 12 month wardrobe freeze wasn't like it it that genuinely it changed my life. Like genuinely it changed my life, changed my style, changed the way I thought about everything. But what I really found is there's two key things that were like a real surprise to me. One is that I had so much spare time. I had so much spare time that I was using ineffectively At the time by going into op shops and just having a browse and having a look, I basically built the curated wardrobe business in the spare time that I had created by not going shopping, not going free love shopping for a year. Eve: Mm-hmm. Hazel: that in itself is quite astounding. I love perusing an op shop, you it's one of my favourite pastimes, just knowing how much time I actually had left over once I stopped doing that was quite an eye-opener. And then the other thing is that, for twelve months I was only wearing clothes that fit me, that were in my wardrobe. And I wasn't trying on clothes every weekend at the op shop and finding some fitting and some not, and some just looking absolutely, you know, ridiculous. I wasn't having that experience. So what actually kind of happened over that twelve months is that my body my personal body image greatly improved because I wasn't constantly being challenged about how it should look and all of those things because the things I had just fit my body. And, there's so much to be said in that. Eve: absolutely. I love that. So they're I guess they're the hidden benefits of that ban on shopping for a whole year had. Which is really cool. Hazel: Yes. Yeah. Eve: what are the biggest misconception people have around secondhand fashion, do you think? Hazel: That's interesting. I think there's the obvious one is that it's still kind of preconceived that pre loved shopping is for people who I guess can't afford to shop retail, which is a bit of a it's a strange one because the idea that something has to be brand new for it to have value is like very odd to me. Eve: Mm. Yeah. Hazel: and as someone who has always shopped pre-loved, it just it wasn't something that never occurred to me. Never occurred to me. But then, you know, as I kind of talk to the different people, I think there is some some levels of that. And often I re I read this book, it was about fashion psychology and it was really interesting. It said that some people don't like to buy or wear pre-loved clothing because it imbues the essence of the person that it belonged to. And that apparently is a really big barrier to some people buying and wearing pre-love clothing, which again is something that I never thought about. when I do think about it now, the complete opposite way where I'm like, what cool person wore this. You know, it's not like a it's not something that I think is a a negative. But I found that really funny and interesting when I read that in the book. Like when I started, I do some sustainable style tours. So I take people on tours of op shops and vintage shops and consignment shops and all sorts of different pre loved shopping in person to teach them how to buy things that are gonna work for their wardrobe second hand. And when I did this the first time, I did a test with a few of my friends and I had this great Tour line up. I think we had five or six stores over three or four hours, which for me is like a dream. And I took my group of friends and went into the first shop, and by the end of the first shop, their eyes, were like wide and their hair was all wild and they looked like they've been dragged through a hedge backwards. And I was like, guys, what's wrong? And they're just like, We're just really overwhelmed, which was really interesting because, again, as someone who has always chopped that. I hadn't put two and two together that being in that space was going to be overwhelming, like and and not having the harmony of a homogenized like visual merchandising was going to be affecting their brains and their eyes and their nervous systems so highly. So From that test, I kind of realized that actually I needed to create something a bit more gentle to ease people in who have never been pre-love shopping. So for for example, now they they have two very specific tours that I do. One's in Fremantle where they have an abundance of amazing vintage stores and one's in Subiaco where they have an abundance of amazing consignment stores. So I take people and there's op shops peppered in, but I take them to something that feels the most like a traditional retail store first to get them in the the zone to get them kind of prepped and prepared and and to test it out Eve: Mentally ready. Hazel: exactly to get them mentally ready for what it feels like to then walk into a standard op shop and what I teach as well in some of in my how to shop pre-loved masterclass is actually like how to decode the merchandising in different stores And that you can, think like a stylist. You can always call ahead and speak to them and be like, hey, I'm looking for this. people forget that that they can do that. Like you can if you're looking for something specific, why waste your time, money, energy like trawling around when you could actually just, you know, pick up the phone and give someone a ring and be like, Hey, w do you have a blazer in a size twelve or whatever it is? so Eve: Yeah, absolutely. And I guess that comes back to knowing, what your style is and what you're actually looking for. sometimes I feel like that's easier for children, like for us, to think about for dressing our children. And one of the things Hazel: Yes. Eve: that I really that I feel like is the biggest opportunity for Project Emerald the marketplace is that I want to encourage those call outs for, what you're actually looking for so that we can put that out to our community. And then for someone that's not using, that size ten blazer, navy, they can pop it on the marketplace and then we're just act as the connector so that we're already utilizing all of those garments that are in circulation because, the alarming stat that there is already enough garments in circulation for the next six generations. Just blows my mind. So I feel like there's a massive opportunity there to use what's already in circulation and if you know what your style is and what you're actually looking for, then you know what to ask for. Hazel: Exactly. And that is such an important part. And I think this is something that really changed my idea again on mindfully donating things that no longer served me is that I looked at it like I was hoarding resources. Like exactly what you were just saying is like I'm not using it. It's essentially, you know, just something that's taking up space in my house when someone else might really love and cherish and use it. I love that you're saying that and I think that's such an interesting concept and it's kind of like building on more traditional ideas of what community is and I love that so much because that's how we're going to change the status quo when it comes to all of the things in the world that are, too big for their own boots, to put it nicely, is like to go back to that community space. What is it that you need that I have? What can I swap, borrow? You know, all of those things. That's that's where it's at. Like I love that. It's so cool. Eve: Yeah, absolutely. And for me, seeing transactions happening within the marketplace, it's just brings me so much joy to know that, that person's listed their item. another person wants that item so you're sending your money to another person that has no longer a need for that item. And that just l just lights me up and I feel like if more and more people adopt that secondhand mindset, then that can happen, more and more. once you start, it's just making a start, I think, and realising, what you have in your wardrobe, what potentially you're missing, those key pieces, and then, learning to buy and sell second hand. And the more and more Hazel: Yeah. Eve: you get confident with it, the easier it gets. Hazel: Yeah, definitely, definitely. It's something like I always this is what I say to all my clients, it's like flexing a muscle. Like you're Eve: Mm. Hazel: not gonna wake up one day and be like, now I know how to wear my clothes every single day in a way that's gonna feel great. Like you don't, that you're not gonna get it right every time. That's that's and that's totally fine. But the more we do it, the more that we share our pieces or with our community, or the more that we try to dress in a certain way or the more that we think about how we wanna buy our clothes so that we don't buy things unnecessarily, the better we're gonna get at it. it's just like going to the gym, just like anything that we have to practice at. I think people want this overnight fix and that's what the fashion industry has sold us that yes, you're gonna buy this pair of pants and they're gonna fix your whole life and you're gonna from now on never feel like anything is gonna go wrong in your life ever again. But that's not true. That's not the way things work. Like we need to get used to getting things wrong. Number one, to get used to learning from those mistakes and to get used to flexing that muscle until we are so like confident that we can do it, that it happens Eve: Mm-hmm. Hazel: on autopilot. Like that's how we get good at something. Eve: Yeah, it's the whole behaviour change that needs to happen to then allow this change to occur. this podcast is about, some conversations will resonate with with some people, some they won't. But it's just Hazel: Yeah. Eve: planting the seed to then start the movement towards not living on autopilot. Hazel: 100% I know it's hard. We both are very busy and lots of women I know are very busy. we need to just get clear on what it is that we want to be intentional with and start there. It's like we don't need to do everything. You know, when I started my kind of activism journey, I was like, I'm gonna solve all of the world's problems Eve: Yeah. Hazel: and I'm never gonna have any waste in my house and I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna do that, and it's like Great, love that for me, but also that's not achievable. But some things Eve: Mm. Hazel: are achievable. And I think like Eve, it's so incredible what you're doing about, just having these conversations with different people about what intentionality means to them. Because once we know what it what it means to us, we can really lean into that and make that one of our focuses in life. And it doesn't feel hard when it's something that we love and it doesn't feel overwhelming when it's You know, that one thing that really lights us up. I think that's important. Like we can't fix everything, but we can do the things that we like to do. Like, why not? Why wouldn't we? Eve: if you could change one thing, Hazel, about the fashion industry tomorrow, what would it be? Hazel: Mm. Look, this is extreme and lots of people would not agree with me. But my one thing would be like just pause production. Just pause. Like maybe pause for a year and see Eve: Yeah. Hazel: what happens. Like, and I've said that to people out loud before, they're like, whoa. And I'm like, yeah, I know, but what else is gonna make a change like that? Like the change that we need is not gonna come from doing the things that we've been doing before. Eve: Mm. Hazel: I would be so excited to see the kind of creativity and the resistance of of the industries that would come from using what we already have. You know, if we just literally blanket law across the world, no more fashion production. I think it would be quite cool. So, you know, people could come at me and hate me for that one, but that's what I think. Eve: No, I actually think that's what I would choose as well. I think only good can come from it. So if I had my magic wand in action, I that's what I would choose. As well. So Hazel: Yeah, great. I I love that we so aligned on that. Eve: Hazel, in closing, what does take your power back, which is the phrase of Project Emerald Collective, mean to you in a nutshell? Hazel: I think that it really just is recognizing that we have free will. it's recognizing that we have agency and we have autonomy, but mostly that we have agency. we're constantly told that. One person can't make a difference, but I'm one person, you're one person. Everybody that we work with in our ecosystem is one person. And we've come together because of the things that we love and that we're passionate about and that we care about. And and that is like that is so so powerful in the individual action that we've taken, but also in the collective action that we are now able to take because we have met each other. Like the people that I work with. Not the Circular Fashion Festival, like I met two of them on Instagram. Like ridiculous. What? but it's because we're on Eve: Well. Hazel: Instagram talking about what it is that we love and talking about what it is that we care about. And you know, without that we wouldn't have made those connections. So yeah, I think that's that's what taking your power back means to me. Eve: Yeah, that's awesome. what advice would you give younger Hazel? Hazel: Think like for me, I think it's just something like just keep being tenacious. I was that willful child who never took no for an answer, and I have that child myself now, and I'm like, this is challenging, but also like it just means that as an adult, it's the same. I don't I don't take no for an answer. No to me when it's something that I love and something that I'm a passionate about. It just means find another word. And that's what it meant to me as a child as well. My poor mum, just find another way of doing it. but yeah, I think my advice to younger me would just be don't lose that tenacity and don't be afraid of being authentic as well. I think I spent a lot of my life not being inauthentic, but trying to fit in, trying to fit into worlds that I didn't necessarily need to. And the more authentic I am, the more authentic it allows other people to be in my circles and and you know again it's just that ripple effect. It's like if I'm myself, you can be yourself and someone else can be their selves in their incredible, magical way that they are and not feel like, I have to, be like this, be different, be a corporate person that I'm not, in order to to succeed. And that's I think a real belief that I held for a long time is that I had to act and look and be a certain way in order to succeed. And that's like That's actually the opposite is true, so Eve: Yeah, I'm a firm believer of, not fitting in and but fitting out. because Yeah, the times that I've tried to fit in Hazel: Yeah, fitting out. I loved that. That's awesome. Eve: in my life just don't have not gone well. So I'm at a point now where I like you, I'm just like, No, I'm just gonna be me and the more authentic I can be, the bigger my light will shine and the right people will, you know, come into my path, which yeah, I hope inspires other women as well. Hazel: Yeah, definitely. It just feels like the most expansive version of us is the most authentic version. Cause then we don't waste time, energy and money trying to pretend to be someone else. Like then what's the point in that? That's ridiculous. We, have a finite time on this planet. Let's Eve: Exactly. Hazel: just be our weird selves. Eve: Yeah, absolutely. That's right. Hazel: Mm. Eve: if every woman listening today, Hazel, remembered just one thing from this conversation, what would you hope it would be? Hazel: I think just challenge the things that we're told and keep challenging them. Keep thinking, you know, every time you think, I must do something this way or that way, just have a have a little talk with yourself and think, Why am I thinking like that? Like what actually what what what do I actually want to do? Or how do I actually Eve: Mm. Hazel: wanna dress or how do I wanna be in the world? It's not it's not about just going along with the status quo, that's not gonna get us anywhere. We need to we need to start challenging that and and just let our own personal magic shine, I think. Eve: And embracing the rebel within is something that dawned on me recently. And I think that we're always taught, not to be a rebel, not to be hard work. But you don't have to be hard work, it is a rebellious act, in life that how we're conditioned, just to be yourself. So I say power to the rebels. Hazel: Yeah, definitely. Like my mum is the ultimate rebel. I am not very rebellious in lots of ways. I have to constantly challenge myself to do that. But my mum is just like she's just like the the icon of like being a rebel. And she's just like, nah, this world I'm not engaging in that. That's just not what I'm doing. I'm like, yes, mum. We need more women like you Eve: Yeah. Hopefully she can come along to the circular fashion festival too. Hazel: Yes, yeah, she would love it. She I actually got most of my style from her. She wears patterns that do not work together in a way that somehow works and that has she's has always had this amazing style and I just love I love it. Eve: that. Well, thank you so much, Hazel. I really have loved this conversation and for all the women out there listening, hopefully this has sparked something within you to think differently about the choices that you may be making on autopilot and take your agency and your power back and live more intentionally. these episodes come out every Friday. So please subscribe and follow along the journey. Hazel: Amazing. Thank you so much, Eve. I've had the best time. Eve: Thank you.