If you haven’t heard, my crowdfunding campaign on Pozible for Adapt Relax successfully hit its target! I am so ecstatic and cannot wait to get Adapt Relax into the hands of all the wonderful supporters who backed my campaign.
I have been working online for over 12 years now and during this time I have met some amazing people online, many of who I have had the great fortune to meet in person and now call friends. Throughout the Pozible campaign, I was truly lucky to have the support of so many online friends. To show my deep gratitude I have put together a list of amazing Australian people you should know. Not only did these kind folk pledge to my campaign but they also used their own online networks to share my campaign and create further awareness of Adapt Relax.
This list also includes amazing people I have met in person but the list isn’t the only people I want to show my sincere thanks to for their support – many of you don’t have public online profiles that I can link to! Throughout the entire campaign, I felt like I had my own cheer squad helping to push me over the line. I consider myself to be incredibly lucky – thank you so much to all of you who helped, it was truly appreciated.
To assist with navigating the list I have curated it by categories. If you have a particular area of interest, click on the link to go directly to that category:
Health and fitness
Shroom to Improve – Adam is the founder and we met in person for the first time in Aug 2019 at a conference where we were both in the early stages of starting up our online businesses. Shroom to Improve sells the most amazing quality 100% organic medicinal mushroom and root supplements – they are adaptogens too! Like myself, Adam truly believes that nature can really help us combat the negative physical and mental health impacts of modern day life.
Operation Move – Zoey is the founder of Op Move and I have known Zoey for nearly all my time I have been online! Back when we started blogging neither of us were runners and it has been awesome to see how much we have changed over this time and are both now running obsessed! If you wanted to get into running or get back into running, I couldn’t recommend Op Move highly enough.
Zoey has options for everyone, whether it be Run Club with a free 14 day trial or a program for those who are getting back into moving with a free 8-week program featuring structured walking workouts, an introduction to strength training and creating positive habits for change. You can find them all here.
Potenital Psychology – Ellen has a life purpose to help others live, learn and flourish. Ellen is also based in Ballarat (where my drink will be made) and I was lucky enough to catch up with her for a walk around the lake in Ballarat in that short period between the Melbourne lockdowns when I was visiting Brink Drinks! Ellen has a very calming presence and voice – perfect for podcasting. I have previously recommended a number of episodes of her podcast but I couldn’t help but choose this episode to recommend for this blog post – Adapting to Change with Professor Andrew Martin.
Body be Well – are a husband and wife power duo running a fitness and food coaching business. Diana has a great energy and shares lots of practical and fun tips across their social media platforms on how to combine health and wellness within the reality of family life. They have a great range of online programs you can join and they sell the above resistance bands which are fab. I am using mine twice weekly at the moment, as I am working on strengthening some areas of weakness – I can highly recommend them!
The Merrymaker Sisters – I can still remember the first blogging conference where I met these real life sisters – they have so much energy, enthusiasm and kindness. They have been on quite a journey since they quit their day jobs in 2014 to create their very own space on the internet and build a community around The Merrymaker Sisters.
Head to their website to check out their super tasty and healthy recipes and they also have MerryBody Online Studio where you can take online yoga and pilate classes. They have such a great mindset towards exercise and have a free 7 day experience you can sign up for here.
CrossFit Oxygn – Andrew and Holly set up their gym in Ringwood in February 2019. I met this power couple at my time at my CrossFit gym and they are such a hardworking and committed team. I was lucky enough to present a session on meal planning at their gym last year – the gym is so well set up and has such a great community. While they are not currently open in their normal capacity at the moment due to COVID-19 restrictions they are open for personal training and I can highly recommend checking out the gym when restrictions lift if you live in the area.
Tempo Journal and Running Things Podcast – Riley Wolff is the editor of Tempo Journal and host of the Running Things Podcast and also a founder of the running group I am a member of. Riley is an amazing photographer and he lives and breathes not only running, but the running community. Through both the journal and the podcast Riley helps share the amazing stories behind the athletes and running communities all over the world. They cover the sport of running in a way that is totally unique to what else you see online. Some of my highlights to check out:
Tomboy – Catriona Bisset explores gender and femininity in athletics.
Hair doesn’t seem like a big deal, but I found that cutting my hair short triggered questions about who I am, especially my sexuality, within the athletics community.
CATRIONA BISSET
When running is a life source – Gumbofit are expanding the narrative on Chicago’s southside.
We’re able to give people the opportunity to be in a race maybe for the first time, or to do a race that they haven’t done before.
COURTNEY PHILLIPS
Laser-focused with Shelby Houlihan (Podcast) – Shelby Houlihan is one of the most accomplished middle distance runners in the world, and represents Nike and the Bowerman Track Club in Beaverton, Oregon. It is great to hear how she keeps herself focused in times of uncertainty.
Yosh – I also know the founders of Yosh through my running group. Yosh are the makers of athletic apparel, specifically cycling and running. They strive to use the most technically advanced and sustainable materials in their garments. The Spirit singlets pictured above are made with an ultra-lightweight, moisture wicking, Italian recycled micro-mesh for breathability and comfort.
Fashion and homewares
Styling You the Label – I have mentioned Nikki from Styling You many times on this blog before – she is fabulous and always promotes other women and small business to her audience. Styling You the Label is Nikki’s creation and it is about helping women have the basics in their wardrobe without them being boring! Most of the pieces are made in Australia and they were the first Australian fashion label to feature size 8-18 models in their shop photos.
The latest collection is called Checkmate (pictured above) and features the very on trend gingham! If you like the look of the Bec Technical Shorts, I would recommend getting in quick because this style always sells out – it has rave reviews for comfort and the ability to dress them up or have them for a more casual look.
Valerie Khoo – Artshine Playground – I first met Valerie in her capacity as CEO of the Australian Writers’ Centre (AWC) and taught a blogging course for them (it is now run online and you can find it here!). Valerie is still at the AWC but she is also pursuing a career as an artist. Valerie currently has a new collaboration with Artshineplayground who are licensing some of her artwork for a range of lifestyle products. As you can see above!
Family
A Fresh Legacy – I have known Kyrstie, the talented creator of A Fresh Legacy since I was in kinder! Our worlds then merged again when Kyrstie started working online to help families grow their own food. Kyrstie has a fabulous book Grow Just One Thing – which inspired me to do just that. I have Kyrstie to thank for having a steady supply of spinach for my smoothies and mint to garnish food and drinks!
Kyrstie has a fabulous Kitchen Garden Box which takes away all the hard thinking about starting your own veggie garden. In the box you have the seeds you need split into seasons and planting and growing information for each seed type. You can also head to her blog to find her delicious recipes like these healthy chicken burgers!
The Modern Parent – Martine is the founder of the popular parenting site and book of the same name. I did a full review of Martine’s book on the blog here – short version of the review – buy the book! I know many readers did buy the book and have found it super helpful in managing online time with their kids.
Martine is also running a webinar on Thu 22nd Oct about weaning the kids from the screens as we back our way out of COVID-19 restrictions and they can start to do more off-screen activities. You can find the full details here.
Hello Sydney Kids – Seana has been giving you the low down on the best things to do in Sydney with kids for many years. If you are new to Sydney or are lucky enough to be able to travel to Sydney, you should definitely check out her mega post – Top 25 Things To Do in Sydney With Kids.
Be a fun mum – Kelly has been blogging at Be a fun mum for almost as long as I have been blogging on Planning with Kids! Kelly shares great tips on how she manages her family of six, lots of crafts for the kids and easy family friendly recipes. With Christmas sneaking up, you might like to check out the free download she had for these cute Christmas name place cards!
Style and Shenanigans – Vanessa completely lives up to the name of her blog, sharing lots of fashion and homeware style tips and plenty of ideas of how to have fun with the family. I have shared before her guides for traveling overseas with kids, which is obviously on hold for most of us now, but she has some great ideas on how to keep the kids entertained at home and locally with posts like this one – Twenty Five + Awesome Board, Card & Dice Games for Kids.
Allison Tait – it has been such a joy to watch Allison’s popularity rise as she made a place for herself as one of Australia’s best selling authors for kids’ fiction aged 9+. Her latest book which gets the tick of approval from our 14 year old is The Fire Star. You can read more about it here and also find teacher’s notes and additional resources as well here.
Business
Bright Smart – you might recognise the clever lady in this photo as Joyce Watts from TOT: HOT OR NOT and that is indeed her! Joyce has now started another online venture called Bright Smart where she is helping business owners optimise and refine their existing processes. Joyce specialises in digital marketing activities like SEO optimised content marketing, email marketing and social media and can work with you one on one. You can organise a free 15 minute call with Joyce here.
If you are not after one on one coaching, but know your inbox is out of control and want to reclaim time from how much you are currently spending in your inbox, then you should check out her new course Kickbox your Inbox.
Sam Says – I have only ever trusted one person to outsource social media and post updates to and it has been Sam. While I am currently back doing my own social media, I would highly recommend Sam to anyone who is looking to have someone help them virtually with their online business.
Socially Sorted – Donna is the founder of Socially Sorted and knows more about creating visual content than anyone else I know. Donna helps people who consider themselves non-designers to create visual content (quick and fast) to get more engagement, traffic and sales in their business.
All of these amazing people provided support and spread the word about Adapt Drinks without me asking or expecting anything in return. This is my small way of saying thank you and letting them know how much I appreciated what they did.
And to those who I couldn’t link to – there are so many of you – you have my deepest thanks for helping make my idea a reality. Nic
