I’m very excited to have been asked to be a niix ambassador.
1. How do you juggle work, motherhood, friends, fashion and
fitness, particularly whilst being busy?
Being totally honest, I don’t think I do juggle this particularly well. I’m
often sat at my desk at midnight trying to get work done. I think because I
work from home with my own business it’s very hard to switch off at home and
even at the weekends. We try and keep Sunday for family time – a roast or a
barbeque and generally keep that day free for the 4 of us to regroup after
what’s generally been a busy week! Friday nights are usually our nights for
seeing friends and going out and I try (try) to get my work done during the week.
I have pretty dedicated, allocated slots for fitness – normally a Monday and a
Wednesday and then I walk the dogs every day and I try and fit in what I can
around that depending on what the week holds.
2. What are your favourite family time hobbies?
Well because we have two dogs, at weekends we tend to do some pretty long dog
walks. We live near to a lovely reservoir so we can easily go down there and as
we are in the countryside we love cycling as well!
3. What are your favourite places to travel?
Last year we did a backpacking trip to Columbia while my husband was on
gardening leave. We took the kids out of school and it was just the most
amazing thing we have ever done! The children learnt so much from it and just
to have so much time together was fantastic. On a more normal basis we all love
snowboarding and skiing so we always make a trip to the mountains. In the
summer we will usually go to Ibiza, we have been going there for years and it
just has everything we need there. It’s laid back, fun, the kids love it, food
is great – we love it!
4. Being a fashion blogger what are your favourite clothing
brands both high street and designer?
I love high street shops! I think they produce some amazing things and really
tick all the boxes. Zara would probably have to be my favourite followed by
Topshop! My favourite designer – this is hard, I don’t have loads of designer
clothes but I love Ganni which is not hideously expensive, there are lots of
small designers I like – Ridley London, Valle + Vik and then going much bigger,
Chloe would be my favourite but there’s not many Chloe pieces in my wardrobe!
5. Your ideal way to unwind and relax?
Probably doing some exercise! This might not be everyone’s first response but
it really clears my head & makes me feel relaxed after I have done it, a
close second would be having a glass of wine in the evening or a bath!
6. How have you found exercise beneficial in terms of dealing
with stress and mental wellbeing?
For me exercise is my best medicine! It clears my head, makes me relax and it
gives me some sense of perspective. Even after a dog walk I come back and feel
calm and happy and able to think things through clearly.
7. Tell us more about your motivation for working out and your
upcoming coast to coast challenge walking 315 km in 7 days.
So very sadly last year we lost my cousin to cancer. She was only 36 and it
really gave us the motivation to try and do something positive. We decided we
wanted to raise some money for Marsden (https://www.royalmarsden.nhs.uk) which we have done for a few years now, but we wanted to
up our game this year. We are walking from the West of England over to the East
of England and we are hoping to do this in 7 days. In order to do that, we have
got to have a really good level of fitness as we are going to hopefully be
doing 50 km a day. We really need to be on top of all of our fitness in order
to finish it!
8. How will you be preparing for the huge physical challenge?
I have upped my regular exercise, I am doing longer walks on the weekend and we
are really trying to keep it up and sustain it – we have until July so we still
have some time. That was what really motivated me to get the niix app as I
think in-between the dog walks and the long walks, I can then fit the app in as
and when I have a spare 20 minutes in the evening or between work and children.
9. What advice would you give to your 18-year-old self?
Definitely, without even thinking about it, to have done more exercise! I feel
so much better physically and mentally at 40 than I did as a teenager. I think
exercise has such a great effect on your mental and physical wellbeing that I
definitely wish I had done more when I was studying – there’s a lot going on at
that time, growing up, studying, stress and I think exercise, had I done more,
would have really helped to improve that.
10. Which women inspire you?
Without sounding too cheesy – my mum has always been my inspiration! She has
always worked and she has always worked hard. She is now (and I hope she
doesn’t mind me saying) 76 and she is the youngest, most amazing 76 year old I
know. She still has her own business, still works really hard and is slim, fit
and healthy despite having gone through cancer twice. She is an amazing woman
and I really admire her, I hope I’m like her when I’m 76!
