be you conversations: natalie smith
Be You Conversations: Natalie Smith
By: Nicki Patel | 7.24.18
She is powerful, beautiful, brilliant, and brave
"Be bold enough to use your voice, brave enough to listen to your heart, and strong enough to live the life you've always imagined." ~unknown
Natalie is one of the kindest, brilliant, and bravest woman I know. She has overcome health obstacles, career hurdles, became a full time blogger, and is a new mama to a precious baby boy, Elliott. This girl does it all, and I am constantly inspired by her strength and courage to do it all. Her victories seem like my own because she has a way of always lifting those around her up. I feel so grateful that she has become a part of frie-mily. Her endless support, and replies to my on-going SOS emails have kept me afloat when I felt like I was drowning. We would not be here without her. I hope her story inspires you to lift others up as much as she does those around her. <3
Her Story
My name is Natalie, and I’m the creator of Sustainably Chic - a place where fashion can exist responsibly. Studying fashion in college, I came across a lot of articles on unethical treatment of workers and waste so the past 7 years I’ve been learning about sustainability and how to apply it to this industry. It’s definitely something I never expected to be doing since I grew up performing and loving musical theatre, BUT I feel as if what I’m doing now is exactly what’s needed of me.
What is your favorite food/dish (because I love FOOD)?
Pasta & my Grandmaman’s salad dressing {which I put on everything - including pasta}!
What does it mean to you to be you in a world of others?
It means being true to yourself no matter what the social norm may be at the time. The older you get, the less you care about what others think, but it still gets to you at times. I’m not here to please everyone, and I won’t conform just to make myself more liked. I’m listening to myself, and doing what makes me happy.
What is one piece of advice you would give your younger self – about life, career, hopes/dreams, anything?
Don’t let people get to you, and ignore the negativity. When you are trying to climb that ladder to the top {or at least, pretty far up}, you stumble a lot along the way. I used to let others dictate my moods when it came to my work, and I lost a lot of hours being upset. I don’t do this much anymore {except when I was pregnant a few times}, but I wish I would have walked away from the hate much sooner.
What would you tell someone who is trying/struggling to find themselves in the chaos/noise of the world?
Easier said than done, but disconnecting from the virtual world can be a huge help when finding yourself. There is too much noise and opinions online, and if you aren’t content with your life, you can get caught up in those distractions. I slip up from time to time, and can get lost in looking at other peoples’ lives - then I realize how much time it took from my goals for the day. If we can make our immediate world quiet and disconnect for a bit, I think it’s so much easier to get to know ourselves and figure out what we want out of life.