Few people actually end up living out their childhood dreams, either because the dream changes or life does. But, enchanted by the glossy pages of the first fashion magazines she ever read, Justine Cullen made it her mission to conquer the extremely competitive, coveted and convoluted ladder of the publishing world and ultimately landed her dream job as Editor in Chief at Elle Magazine. Her journey reinforces everything I love to say about being open to whatever pathway might get you to your dream and being patient with the steps along the way. But, it’s her journey from there and into her new role as Editor-in-Chief of Jones Magazine that I found most interesting in how it forced her to untangle her identity from the prestige, title and everything that satisfied her former self to build the next chapter for the new person she had become.

As well as the existential crisis of success and the beauty of being a beginner, she also dishes up some juicy stuff that we all love to hear about how Editor life isn’t just swanning about and definitely isn’t always easy – I was a tiny bit satisfied by that. And as a Mum of four, she is more than qualified to share some words on priorities, balance and humility. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did!

>>> VISIT THE SKINNOVATION HUB HERE <<<

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Justine Cullen // The blood, sweat, tears and facial oil of (out)living your dreams

A lawyer turned funtrepreneur's investigation into how some of the world's most inspiring people find their "yay", whether it's through work, rest or play and any other pearls of wisdom they have along the way.

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Welcome to the first episode since the arrival of our little Teddy! It’s been four very special weeks today since he rushed into the world a few weeks early - even as a tiny little newborn he just couldn’t wait to seize his yay!
So it makes sense for this first one back to cover our birth story and the postpartum journey so far, snippets of which you may have seen on socials but this is the first time I’ve articulated his actual delivery - it actually felt really weird to open my laptop again and interact with the outside world again but so lovely to look back on the past month with a bit more lucidity. We only recorded a few days ago and I already can’t really remember most of what I said in the haze of the newborn bubble (so apologies in advance for my incoherence - it’s a huge achievement if I shower these days let alone produce a sentence that makes sense) but it’s all been the most magical few weeks and I now can’t imagine our life without him. 
As Ang is away but also, as I now know, only a parent can truly understand the chaos of the first few weeks postpartum to know what questions to ask, I thought I’d bring in the big guns and we’re so lucky to have Sophie from Australian Birth Stories on the other side of the mic today hosting the interview (you may remember we interviewed her last year and she’s been a guiding light through pregnancy and birth). This will be shared on her incredible podcast too so it’s structured in her style and includes a bit of background at the start about our conception and earlier loss which you have already heard so feel free to skip through to get to the details of birth. 
I’m still technically on mat leave but Teddy’s one month anniversary and also April being Caesarean Awareness Month made it feel right to emerge momentarily for this. But again, I can already think of so many things I left out or didn’t get to between my verbal diarrhoea and rambling plus you also submitted some questions online that we didn’t get to in Teddy’s nap window so I’ll do a follow up episode next (whenever that may be). I hope it all makes sense and thank you so much for sharing in our excitement and joy in this chapter of our pathYAY.﻿

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Our birth story with Australian Birth Stories // Welcome to the world, Teddy!

Kind of weird to release this now he's already here, but this is the last episode of #yaysofourlives that we recorded while I was still pregnant just reflecting on how it felt, what we were excited about and what we hoped for the next little while. Will have to do a follow up with what ended up happening in between!!
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Last #yaysofourlives before baby YAY-vidson... except he came early!

Hello lovely yayborhood, hope you’re having a wonderful week! I think we were originally scheduled for a #yaysofourlives episode after last week’s guest (which Ang and I have actually recorded) but as that’s probably our sign off for a short break while we wait for Baby Yay-vidson to arrive, it made more sense to pop this week’s guest in first particularly as she has CARRIED us through the past few weeks. 
I’m talking, of course, about the incredible co-founder of The Memo and founder of The Blow, Phoebe Simmonds, who I have been fangirling for many years and am so excited to share with you. If you’ve been anywhere near my socials, you’ll know how heavily I’ve leaned on Phoebe and The Memo during our pregnancy and how much they’ve taken the stress and overwhelm out of preparing for a little one leaving room to fully enjoy and get excited about what’s to come.
We’ll cover, of course, how The Memo has absolutely revolutionised an industry that has traditionally and somewhat inexplicably been pretty functional and daggy, making it beautifully aesthetic, carefully curated and user friendly with lifesaving lists – it feels like the Mecca of the baby world! Which makes sense given that’s where Phoebe started off on her incredible pathway to living and breathing brand building which you’ll also hear about taking her from Mecca to LVMH around the world to Benefit Cosmetics and then her own two businesses.
The second part is then a Q&A based on yours (and my) questions about some of the biggest decisions when preparing for a new baby – Phoebe gives SUCH valuable advice I was mainly asking questions for myself haha (you might also notice a bit of a sound change – her AirPods died at the perfect interval). We will definitely be needing a follow up part 2 (if not a full series) as we just scratched the surface so stay tuned for that but in the meantime I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did.

FOLLOW PHOEBE HERE
SHOP THE MEMO HERE
THE MEMO SHOPPING LISTS
FIND OUT ABOUT THE BLOW HERE

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Phoebe Simmonds // She got The Memo!

Happy International Women’s Day, one of my favourite days of the year! While of course, we deserve to be celebrated every day of the year, I always love the way this day encourages amazing conversations, displays of support for each other and even just telling someone in your close circle that you love and appreciate having them in your life. This year, it’s meant even more to me as I tippy toe right on the doorstep of motherhood - I’ve always been a raging feminist but I’ve never had more appreciation for the strength and resilience of women than experiencing pregnancy. We are fierce, powerful and even more so when we unite together so happy IWD to you all and to the allies who love and support the women in their lives.
Even though we dropped a chaotic #yaysofourlives ep just a few days ago, I’ve got a special guest for the occasion patching in from stateside! As you know, we’ve been lucky to partner with Sunpower and have had the most amazing transition to solar energy, so today we have their Chief Legal & Sustainability Officer on the show, Lindsey Wiedmann. Not only does she have a fascinating, unpredictable way to yay as you know we love from a Bachelor of Science to a postgrad in Law to project finance at a law firm before her current role, she also has fascinating insights on life as a woman in the traditionally male dominated energy sector. I’ll let her tell you the rest herself, but hope you enjoy!

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SUNPOWER HERE

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Lindsey Wiedmann // International Women's Day chats on sustainability, solar power and supporting women to succeed

We spontaneously went live to record this one and what a BLAST! Absolutely no structure or plan whatsoever, but as always, chaotic fun with Ang!

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Justine Cullen // The blood, sweat, tears and facial oil of (out)living your dreams

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