Each month, #DoingItAnyway celebrates one inspiring individual, living their life to the full and giving Multitasking a capital M. For all you women, men, girls and boys who, even though it’s hard or scary or a huge undertaking, are Doing It Anyway.
Doing it with: Sophie Everard
Tell us what you…
Do for a job? I live and work for my passions, I am a writer and also manage my own platform, the Mad To Live Blog, run women’s surf, fitness and adventure retreats, Mad To Live Retreats, and teach fitness.
Do for fitness? I am a big fan of mixing up my training, I like to stay fit, healthy and strong for my own physical and emotional well being, and for the sports that I love to do which require good levels of fitness, including surfing, boxing and snowboarding. I love to box, train frequently with weights, do circuits when pushed for time, get outside in nature running, cycling and swimming, and practice yoga.
Do for fun? My passion for travel, adventure, exploration and surf are where I have the most fun, as often as I can I strap on a back pack and go off on an adventure.
Best adventure you’ve had? I feel lucky in that it’s hard to choose one, I’ve had so many epic ones! Making my way through a forest at night in the middle of a hardcore blizzard to get down the mountain, to finally make it to the clearing and snowboard down the most insane powder field ever stands out, as does a heart-racing 5 day trip on some pretty shonky high speed boats in the middle of no where with my best friend in the San Blas islands in Panama, bunking down with the local Kuna tribes and embracing some serious Robinson Crusoe vibes was epic, and surfing with my best friends in Costa Rica as the sun sets scoring amazing waves will always be some of my best memories.
Best adventure you’d love to have? I am incredibly adventure hungry and love to explore the world, sport is so incredible in that it allows you to have the most amazing experiences – I am dying to go to Peru and Bolivia, I am a total archeology dork so would love to see Machu Pichu, surf the longest left in the world in Peru, and head into the Amazon jungle.
Tell us about what you do: I started Mad To Live Blog in 2015, I wanted to create a portal that shared all my different passions and pursuits that I work across including writing, fitness, collaborations and creative projects. I also wanted to share my ethos of how incredible it feels to live a a life of adventure, sport and creativity, how rewarding it is to stoke your brains out! I then established Mad To Live Retreats, to combine this ethos with my passion for teaching fitness, and sharing with women, in a safe, and amazing place, this way of life, and teach them new skills including surfing which I believe gives you SO much, including the physical benefits, the awesomeness of connecting with nature and the psychological rewards.
How did you start? It started with an idea. I am a strong believer in acting on your gut instinct and following through creative visions. I wanted to establish the blog and for it to expand. I actually brought them to life quite quickly after deciding mentally I wanted to do it. I carefully plotted and created my plans meticulously.
Why did you start? I am a voracious advocate of living this life of adventure, exploration and creativity, and particularly how rewarding sports like surfing can be. I love for women to be able to experience the physical and mental benefits of this, for them to realise what they can capable of with their bodies and cognitively, and how amazing it makes you feel.
Biggest love? It is enabling me to live a life of travel and adventure that I so love and need, and I have never had so much job satisfaction as seeing women strive, learn and be rewarded by mentally focussing and achieving. Seeing and being a part of ladies at my retreats catch their first wave, climb a hill on a bike, finish a fitness class – these small hills are actually huge achievements in my eyes in terms of equating it to how good you feel afterwards and psychologically how it makes you realise how much you are capable of.
Biggest challenge? The biggest challenge is time management and sticking to a plan where possible, and not trying to burn out and do everything which can be hard when you are a sole business owner.
Fun fact about yourself: I have an awesome pet snake called Naya who I have had for 11 years!
Top tip for someone wanting to start a business: Don’t let sparks of brilliant ideas go forgotten, write them down. Listen to your intuition and act on it, carefully create plans and be brave and resilient, follow your passion!
Doing it with: Adrienne
Tell us what you…
Do for a job? Personal Trainer, Fitness Blogger, Model
Do for fitness? I really enjoy running, but my workouts also include resistant training, HIIT training and stretching.
Do for fun? I love music, I listen to music 24/7! Oh and dancing.
Best adventure you’ve had? Motherhood.
Best adventure you’d love to have? Oh there are so many. I’d love to explore more of the world. There are so many places that I’ve never seen. I’d love to run (literally) around the world!
Tell us about what you do: I share my love of fitness and wellness over on my blog, adriennelondon.com. I lead fitness events and motivational talks. I’m also a featured fashion columnist in UK Women’s Health magazine.
How did you start? I started writing posts about my training, active style and healthy recipes.
Why did you start? I wanted to share my ideas and also to inspire other people to live a more active life. I never expected to gain so much from writing a blog, but it has lead me to meet some wonderful people and I’ve had so many incredible opportunities.
Biggest love? I love encouraging people to be the best version of themselves – whether it’s a fitness goal or a career/life ambition. I’m lucky that as a personal trainer I get to meet lots of people and I enjoy coaching them to reach their goals. Last year I was invited to do a motivational talk about confidence. I absolutely loved it and I’m planning to do a lot more.
Biggest challenge? The biggest challenge for me is managing my diary. I have a young son and so family commitments take first priority. I am a ‘yes’ person so sometimes I take on too much. The work/life balance can be tricky.
Fun fact about yourself: I used to be a professional dancer and I performed in the West End musical ‘We Will Rock You’ for two years.
Top tip for someone wanting to start blogging: Do it your own way. Never compare yourself and never imitate others. There are no rules, it’s your blog so make it whatever you want it to be.