January 4

How I Rose from Rock Bottom

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Throughout the years, many people have asked how it all started for me, and how on earth I came to be doing what I’m doing today. The truth is, I am totally an accidental entrepreneur. I’ve frequently reinvented myself and changed things up almost every decade. But the real catalyst for finding my way to success? Well, hitting rock bottom. 

In this episode, I share my journey from the early days of life as a bookish farmer’s daughter in Northern England, how I grew into a confident university student and the corporate career in fashion I worked my way up in. I take you through the days of meeting my now-husband Jason in London to relocating to his native Australia. Navigating the challenges of starting my life in business from scratch in a new country was hard – however, the worst was yet to come.

I take you through the pivotal moment we hit rock bottom: Jason’s loss of his corporate job resulting in us eventually having $50 left in the bank. This came at a time when I was exploring my dreams of starting a business, and I asked myself what right I had to put my family at risk. However, it was Jason’s unwavering belief in me that reignited my vision to leave the corporate world and start out on my own. 

Fast forward 12 years, and I’ve built and sold businesses, authored best-selling books, spoken on stages around the world and even received an honorary doctorate. The key to rising from rock bottom came down to this: owning my own brilliance, expertise, imperfections and particular experience of life.

I hope by sharing my journey, you’re given permission to know that you have everything inside you to unleash your own brilliance. Ask yourself these questions: Who are you not to be more brilliant? Who says you can’t be more brilliant? What will change when you embrace your brilliance? 

Join me as I inspire you to become your most exceptional self, no matter the challenges life throws your way.

LINKS:

Elevate with Janine

WebsiteInstagram | LinkedIn | YouTube

Transcript
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Hello, my lovelies.

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How are you?

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Welcome to a new episode

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of unleashing brilliance.

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And today, what I thought

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I'd share with you is a

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little bit of my backstory.

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I'm often asked, I've received

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so many emails over the years

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from people saying, where

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did it all start Janine?

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How on earth did you

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get to be doing what it

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is that you're doing?

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My response to that is I am

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totally an accidental and if

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you actually look at my life,

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I reckon every 10 years, I've

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pretty much reinvented myself.

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In fact, my speaker agent,

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often refer to me as the

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queen of reinvention, which

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I remember at the time

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hearing it, having a little

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giggle and going, really?

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And it was only on

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reflection of my story that

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I went, actually, yeah.

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I have changed things up

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every decade pretty much.

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So, in response to all

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of those that have asked,

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this is what today's

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episode is all about.

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And I hope that by sharing

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my journey to here, it will

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give you permission to know

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that you have everything

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inside of you to become more

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brilliant tomorrow than you

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are today and to give you

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the courage and the bravery

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to unleash your brilliance

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even more to the world.

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So where did it

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all start for me?

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Well, I was actually born

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into a farming community

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in the north of England.

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My dad was a farmer

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and my mom pretty much

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was a stay at home mom.

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And I grew up with, lots of

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words of wisdom from my dad.

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He used to say where there's

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muck, there's brass love,

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which essentially meant,

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if I work really hard then

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the results would come.

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And on those days where

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I'd come home from school,

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it'd be like, Oh my God,

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this is the worst day ever.

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He'd go, it'll be reet.

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It'll be reet.

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Which pretty much went,

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you know, you know, put

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on your big girl pants

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and you'll be fine.

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school was, pretty

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average for me.

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I was a real bookworm.

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And I was teased quite a

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lot at school for, know,

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being probably a little bit

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quiet, had mousy brown hair,

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lots and lots of freckles.

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I was a bit of a slow

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developer on the puberty side

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of things and you know, found

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me with my nose in a book.

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So I was teased quite a lot

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until, around the age of 17 or

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18 when I discovered Madonna's

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fashion style, Princess

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Diana's or Lady Diana's

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electric blue eye shadow and

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mascara as it was at the time.

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and of course, hair

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dye, you know, hair

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dye changed my world.

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And through school, I was

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getting really great results.

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And I remember a teacher

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saying to my parents at

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a parent teacher evening

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one night, you know,

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your, your daughter

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should consider applying

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to Oxford or Cambridge.

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Now, as a North of

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England girl, it didn't

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even enter into my mind,

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into my psyche at all.

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And in fact, what I did

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is I instantly went into

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that box of, why would

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I want to go there?

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And why on earth would

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anyone accept me?

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So from an early age,

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this lack of self belief,

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really started to...

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take root in terms of

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the decisions that I was

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actually making for myself.

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But what it did do is it

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triggered off a curiosity.

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And, because nobody

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in my family had ever

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been to university.

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And so we'd never really

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had those conversations

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around the dinner table.

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But this conversation

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with the teacher triggered

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off a curiosity for me.

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And I, so.

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I started applying and I

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actually got into, Aston

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University in Birmingham

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to do a Bachelor of Science

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degree and, super excited.

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I had to achieve certain

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results at A level, but

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we faced another challenge

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then because as a family

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we couldn't afford to

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send me to university.

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So thankfully at that time

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the UK government, offered out

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a grant system and I applied

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and I was fortunate enough

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to be given a full grant, to

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be able to attend university.

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There's no way I would

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have been able to go if it

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hadn't have been for that

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grant system at that time.

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And I'm forever grateful for

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that because, that pretty

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much changed the trajectory

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of my world prior to that, my

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dreams had been on a certain

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level, subsequently to being

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given the opportunity to go

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to uni, everything changed.

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And so at the age of 18,

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I packed my backpack, and

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off I went in England.

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Those of you that are

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listening that are from the

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UK know that in England,

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we tend to leave home and

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we go and live on campus.

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And at the age of 18, I left

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home, and never returned.

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Uni was brilliant.

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I graduated, you know,

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after four years with a

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bachelor of science degree,

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a whole heap of memories.

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Thank God, social media wasn't

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around then and a hell of a

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lot of debt at the time, or

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a big overdraft at the time.

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And this time I packed my

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backpack and I headed off to

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London to start a graduate

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training scheme at a company

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called Coats Viyella.

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So I started my corporate

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career working in

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the fashion industry.

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And in fact, only the other

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day I received a note from

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two incredible women that I

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met on that very first day

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of that graduate training

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program saying, Oh my God,

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it's 30 years since we

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started day one, it's like.

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Goodness me.

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So yes, 30 years ago,

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I moved to London and

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I started a graduate

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traineeship at Coats Viyella.

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And over the course of

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the next seven or eight

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years, I worked my way up.

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I ended up in the position

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of group marketing manager.

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And it was at this time that

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I'd met my now husband, Jason.

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So we met on the shop

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floor, we met at work,

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we fell in love, he was

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an Aussie, he was from

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Perth or he is from Perth.

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And I.

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decided to move to Australia.

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my backpack again, and this

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time I arrived in Melbourne.

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I arrived in Melbourne with

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the trusted backpack, my

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permanent residency visa,

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a resume and my husband.

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And that was pretty much it.

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And suddenly I had to rebuild

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my career in a country where

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I had zero social proof.

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I had to rebuild my network

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in a country where I knew no

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one and apart from you know,

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my brother was here and I

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had to rebuild my life, which

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let's be honest, my vision

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of my life in Australia had

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been created from watching

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endless episodes of Home and

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Away and Neighbors at uni.

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So I had a certain view of

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what Australia was going to be

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like, but to say it was scary,

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is really an understatement.

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I reckon it's one of the

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scariest things I've ever

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done, to be honest, moving

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to a country where I

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thought it would be easy.

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you know, we speak English.

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My understanding was it was

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pretty similar to where I was

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from, but it was one of the

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hardest things I've had to

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do in terms of rebuilding my

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career, rebuilding my network,

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rebuilding my confidence here

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and learning to navigate,

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the different cultural

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norms that existed here.

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So, over the next 10 years,

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those of you that are really

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smart will be working at

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my age by now, but over the

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next 10 years, I rebuilt

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my corporate career and

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I ended up becoming the

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group marketing director

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at Oroton Group looking

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after two incredible brands,

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the Ralph Lauren brand.

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I was looking after that

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here in Asia, Asia pac and I

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helped, relaunched the Oroton

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brand, its website and worked

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with the creative director

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at the time to take the

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Oroton brand into Hong Kong.

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But at that time, I still felt

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there was more, you know, I

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had three awesome children.

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At the time they were, I

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think three, five and seven.

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I've still got them by

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the way, but they're a

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little bit bigger now.

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You know, had a home,

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had a career, but I felt

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like there was more.

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I was giving a lot to

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other people, giving

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a lot to my team.

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To, the EC, the executive

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committee, the executive

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board at Or to Mr.

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Lauren over in the U S to the

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media, to key stakeholders.

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I was coming home and then,

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you know, giving a lot of

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my time to the children, to

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my children, to my husband.

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And to be honest, in

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all of this, I felt like

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I was losing myself.

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I knew I was great

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at doing my job.

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I could do it

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standing on my head.

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I loved it.

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I, I loved playing around

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the edges and, creating

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and launching brands

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and rejuvenating brands.

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I loved everything about it.

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I was traveling the world

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going to Fashion Week in

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New York twice a year.

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It was fabulous, but

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something was missing.

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I felt like my brain, wasn't

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being challenged in the way

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I wanted to challenge it.

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And so I decided that there

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was more and that, I had to

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take ownership of that more.

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And it's a whole other

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story, which you'll hear in

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future episodes, :but I left

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my corporate career and,

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guaranteed set out on my own.

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And I started building

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my first business,

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LBD Group, a women's

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networking organization.

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It was totally bootstrapped,

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totally self funded.

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And about two years into

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that, the big hit came in

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that my husband, Jason,

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lost his corporate job.

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So the company that he

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was working for went

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into receivership.

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We had zero cash coming in.

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The company was still

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bootstrapping and we were

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racking up credit cards.

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Quite frankly, it was,

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you know, everything was

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going on the credit card.

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And it got to a point one

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day where, Jason told me

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we had 50 left in the bank.

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And.

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that evening, it just

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hit me and it hit me.

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right do I have to

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follow my dreams?

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What right do I have to

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pursue something different?

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I can go and get a job.

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I can turn this around.

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What right do I have

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to put my family and

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my children at risk?

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And they were at risk

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because we'd had to move

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out of our house into the

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shittiest house in the street.

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We'd had conversations with

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the kids about Christmas

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and birthdays are on pause.

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Don't ask us for

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milkshakes at the weekends.

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We'd even spoken.

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a little bit in jest, but

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also a little bit seriously

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to some friends about we might

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need to camp in your backyard.

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Things are getting

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quite serious.

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And the reality of the

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50 left in the bank hit

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home and I just lost it.

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I just, burst into tears

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and Jason found me crying

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my eyes out at my desk.

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And I said to him, I'm

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going to go and find a job.

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I'm going to go

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and find a job.

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What right do I have

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to put you to put the

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children under pressure?

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What right?

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I can go get a job.

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I can do marketing

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standing on my head.

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And he turned around to me

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and he said, don't you dare.

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Don't you dare do that Janine.

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I believe in you.

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And those words, I believe in

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you was all that I needed to

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relight the fire in my belly

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because I went, you know what,

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if he believes in me, if my

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husband believes in me, then

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I've got to believe in myself

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and it relit this fire in me

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and over the next 10 years

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since then, 12 years almost

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now, I've built and I've

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sold the LBD group, so I've

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built and sold a business,

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I've run a non for profit

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where over five years we,

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created a gift giving circle

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and supported an incredible

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community of women and

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kids, here in Sydney to help

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break the cycle of poverty

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and prostitution and drug

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dealing being the only jobs.

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I've written three

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bestselling books.

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I've traveled the world,

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speaking on stages

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with incredible people.

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and I now work with

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individuals to help

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them unleash their

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brilliance, to achieve

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the growth that they want.

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I also, a couple of years

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ago, I got invited back to

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my university to be given an

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honorary doctorate of science.

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And to give the speech at

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that graduating ceremony

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this year, that is a moment.

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Honestly, when I got

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that letter from the

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UK, another moment where

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I burst into tears.

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So that moment where Jason

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said to me, I believe in

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you changed everything.

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And the reason I'm sharing

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this is not about, Hey,

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look at what I've achieved.

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Hey, look at how I've,

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grown myself and grown

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this business out of being

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on the brink of disaster.

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How I turned, you know,

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a 50 left in the bank to

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a seven figure business.

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It's not about any of that.

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The reason I want to share

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this story is because of the

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personal learning that I had.

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You see, for so long, I

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was striving and proving

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that I was good enough.

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This relentless quest to

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prove that I was good enough

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left me often exhausted on

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the brink of burnout and

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constantly battling imposter

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syndrome because I had

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this crazy fear failing.

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And it was only when I

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stopped, it was only when

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Jason said to me, I believe in

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you, it was only that moment

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where I stopped and I realized

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that around me, everything

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is constantly changing.

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Everything is constantly on

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the move and we're seeing

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it right now, aren't we?

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We're seeing this constant

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change around us economically.

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Where we're being challenged,

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in terms of, our businesses

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and where the money's

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coming from, we're being

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challenged financially in

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our businesses, but also

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financially at home, we're

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being challenged in terms

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of all of the uncertainty,

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politically and globally,

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we're being challenged

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with what we're reading

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and seeing in the media.

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We're being challenged from

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a health perspective on

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the back of the pandemic.

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And now we're being challenged

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socially, in terms of how all

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of this is filtering down.

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So the reality is there's

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change is constant.

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It's happening at a macro

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level and it's happening for

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all of us at a micro level.

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And I realised at

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that moment that Jason

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said, I believe in you.

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That despite all of this

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change, I faced it before,

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despite all of the change at

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that time, I faced it before

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and what I realised is the

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only thing that is constant

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amongst the chaos is you.

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Who I was being, who I

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wanted to become, and

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the same is you, right?

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Since I owned that, since I

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went, you know what, who am I?

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Who am I being

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every single day?

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And who do I want to

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become since I owned that?

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Since I stepped into

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owning me, into owning my

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brilliance, into owning my

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expertise, into owning the

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fact that I can experience

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heartache, tough situations,

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I can pull myself out of it,

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owning the fact that I have

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this experience of life.

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It was only when I started

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being intentional about owning

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that, about stepping into

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my brilliance, about knowing

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the impact that that makes

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every single day, only by

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doing that did things change.

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And I want you to think

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about this because the

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same can happen for you.

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Everything around you is

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changing all the time.

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Businesses are changing,

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your clients are evolving,

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the economy is evolving.

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Everything is changing.

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But the only thing that

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is constant is you.

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Who are you?

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Who are you being and who is

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it that you want to become?

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When I started owning that.

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When I started stepping into

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my brilliance, that is when

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everything around me changed.

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That is when I

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started becoming the

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author, the speaker.

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When I started owning

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the clients that I

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wanted to work with.

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When I started really

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committing to the business

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that I wanted to build, but

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also building it on my terms.

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Committing to the life that

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I want for myself, for Jason

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and for my three children.

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I want you to imagine

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what more you could

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achieve if you could step

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into your brilliance.

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The questions I want to

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leave you with in this

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episode are Who are you

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not to be more brilliant?

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Who says you can't

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be more brilliant?

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And the second question I want

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you to consider is what will

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change when you are brilliant?

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Because here's the thing.

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Undertaking any meaningful

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endeavor requires each

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and every single one of

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us to be exceptional.

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It requires you

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to be exceptional.

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And when we can accept

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our own imperfections and

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stop beating ourselves up

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for what we don't have.

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When we can start

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accepting our limitations

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and stop making excuses

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for our mistakes.

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When we can start owning

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who we are, who we are being

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and who it is that we want

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to become, accepting those

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imperfections, accepting

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those limitations, when we

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can do that for ourselves,

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we give permission to those

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around us to do the same.

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Stepping into this

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space is a choice.

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It is a practice and

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it is a discipline.

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And I want you to think about

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because who you are, who you

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are being, and who you want

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to become is all your choice.

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Thank you for listening

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to this episode,

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where I've been.

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I wanted to share

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with you my story.

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It hasn't all unicorns

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and rainbows and

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champagne popping moments.

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There has been a lot of

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challenge, a lot of picking

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myself off the floor and

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a lot of really digging

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deep of deciding and

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making the choice around

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who am I in this moment?

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Who am I working to become?

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And who am I being to

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everyone around me?

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Until next week, enjoy

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and have an awesome week.


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