Meet Emily Waddell

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Emily Waddell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Emily below.

Emily, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

I found my purpose by being surrounded by other creative entrepreneurs and volunteering. As a Social Entrepreneurship student in college, I was constantly surrounded by people following their passion and I found that environment to be inspiring. I also volunteered for a few social enterprises. This was another environment where I was surrounded by people doing good. I realized that I wanted to help share the stories of these incredible business owners and help consumers learn how they can support the positive impact of small businesses with their purchases.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

Through The Honest Consumer, I write and create resources to encourage people to live more sustainably through mindful living and better buying.

I do this through sharing my personal experience, product reviews, eco-friendly swap ideas, and round ups. I love writing round up style content because it gives the consumer a great starting place while still encouraging them to do their own research.

When I help a consumer find a brand that supports their values, this is really rewarding.

I have an amazing Ethical and Sustainable Brand Directory that is constantly expanding. It is a great resource for people looking to discover socially responsible brands that match their values.

https://www.thehonestconsumer.com/ethical-brand-directory

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

1) Learn by Doing
I started my business when I was in college which was interesting. I think that no matter how many books you read or tests you take, a lot of entrepreneurship you have to learn by doing. I learned a lot of things outside of the class through my business that have brought me to where I am today.

2) Prioritization Skills
As any business continues to grow, there will always be more demands. It can be difficult to realize that you can’t do it all and challenging to start to outsource. I’ve really had to learn how to prioritize where my focus is.

3) Saying No
It’s okay to say no. Not every opportunity will be a good fit. As stated you have to prioritze what you feel is most important. I think confidence in saying no comes with starting to realize your own value.

I would encourage people to start their entrepreneurial journey as soon as they can. So often we think we have to do things perfectly or know what we’re doing, but I think one of the greatest lessons of entrepreneurship and creativity is learning along the way.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

I’m currently facing challenges with AI. Sadly, website traffic has been down because more people are asking AI their questions. It’s really unfortunate because AI scrapes sites like mine to answer questions and doesn’t always give the proper credit or context.

For people like myself who have created content for a decade, it’s really disheartening. I put a lot of time and effort into researching and creating the resources. I want people to read and learn from my work.

I’m trying to grow my e-mail list and other social medias to overcome this, but I do miss people finding The Honest Consumer organically from search enginges.

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