We’re looking forward to introducing you to elizabeth blake-thomas. Check out our conversation below.
elizabeth, really appreciate you sharing your stories and insights with us. The world would have so much more understanding and empathy if we all were a bit more open about our stories and how they have helped shaped our journey and worldview. Let’s jump in with a fun one: What do you think others are secretly struggling with—but never say?
I’m going to make quite a bold statement here, I think people struggle with being honest about their feelings. This might be anything from feeling angry to hurt or exhausted and sad. As a society we don’t really allow the space to be honest about our feelings. There are repercussions for speaking out. As a Brit we are taught to “get on with it” and “have a stiff upper lip”. This means that feelings can become suppressed. As soon as we don’t recognize and acknowledge or listen to our own feelings, these can manifest in the body in other negative ways. One of the biggest things that I feel people struggle with is understanding and experiencing grief. Its something that is hard to quantify, its hard for people to understand it if they haven’t gone through it, its hard for people to understand other peoples grief because every experience is different. Its a unique yet universal experience. It also feels like a word that people shy away from even saying.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a Film and TV director, a creativity coach and a keynote speaker. I’m a published author and I am currently completing several childrens books.My life has recently taken an unexpected turn, my four legged daughter suddenly passed away from an unexpected heart attack. This has totally changed me. Let me explain that in more detail. The loss of my soulmate has opened me up to a whole different world of who I am as well as allowed me to question who I thought I was.
I created a way of being called “Medicine with Words” to me this symbolizes many things, a way to be, feel, live, behave, respond. Its an all encompassing movement. This is proving to be life and soul saving at the moment. Not only for me but many other people who Ive connected with and respond to my honesty about my grief.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
I thought I knew the world before June 29th 2025 at 5am, then that day and minute changed my life forever. My fourlegged soul mate, best friend, daughter passed away. This was an unexpected tragedy and there was nothing leading up to this moment that this was going to happen. So not only did I have to handle the shock, I had to handle being away from home. Everything I knew and had planned stopped. My world stopped as I received the phone call. I hadn’t said goodbye, This wasn’t the plan for today. We were visiting family in Michigan for the graduation parties. We were flying back in two days time. We had events and festivals and travel plans. My world stopped. It hasn’t restarted. Grief is a very powerful emotion and concept that can totally alter the trajectory of our life.
Firstly even explaining this to “the world” results in comments and expectations that are hard to process. Then I had to process this myself. But I had to get home, I had meetings planned. The house was left as we had left it expecting both of us to return.
Once I returned to LA, life and the world really hit me, hard. The world as I knew it four days earlier was never going to be the same. This might sound extreme but its how I felt.
When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
I actually don’t believe there was a moment that lead me to hiding my pain and using it as a power. What I did, was use my pain as my power. I Had written an article about loosing my four legged daughter and I had so many people reach out to me saying thank you for the fact I was brave enough to discuss this type of grief. I recognised quite quickly that no-one really discusses grief, on an adult level but especially from a childs perspective. So I began understanding how I had responded as a child when my pets had died, I hadn’t even known they had died. It wasn’t discussed. Then I thought about loss on other levels, loss of friendships, moving schools, changing locations to live, loosing pets, then as an adult, parents passing away, divorce, changes of jobs. It was a whole new world to explore. I realised my understanding of grief was actually best explained from a childs perspective. I began understanding how I understood grief and what I needed to know to make sense of it.
My power right now is allowing what Im going through and learning to be my tool to teach. Im writing everything down, creating books, remembering every moment and using this to plan how my grief can hekp others through theirs.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
I am committed to teaching, educating young people about things that as a young person I wasn’t told or taught. This might be through film, my talks, my books, it doesn’t matter. I feel so strongly that there are many things that if we are taught as a young person, the world can actually be a better, safer, kinder and happier place. Im currently working on a childrens book, TV show and short doc that teaches young children about what trash actually means, where does it go and the impact that has on the world around us. To feel I can make a difference to the next generation makes me feel like I have a purpose.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
I would stop worrying about who I was going to offend, I would stop worrying about whether anyone cared about what I was doing and I would begin believing in my purpose even more than I already do. We actually don’t have much time left anyway. I help people understand how their life works in numbers. Not to scare people but to make them recognise facts. We have approximately 88 summers in our lifetime, 88 Christmasses, therefore if we have kids, 18 summers maximum. It just helps us understand how short our life actually is. So I am very aware that I want to have an impact on this world. This means I dont waste any time on things that really dont matter. I want to leave a positive, strong legacy and this means I cant sweat the small stuff.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.elizabethblakethomas.com
- Instagram: @elizabeth_b_t
- Linkedin: @elizabethblakethomas
- Twitter: @elizabeth_b_t
- Facebook: @elizabethblakethomas
Image Credits
Anzhelika Reyn and Isabella Blake-Thomas and Sam Davies
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