We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Emma Wells a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Emma, so many exciting things to discuss, we can’t wait. Thanks for joining us and we appreciate you sharing your wisdom with our readers. So, maybe we can start by discussing optimism and where your optimism comes from?
Personally, I do not think that optimism can come from anyone but yourself; it’s something that you have to choose for yourself daily. To be honest, optimism has not always come easy to me. However, I strive to be someone who can take what is thrown at me and cling to hidden encouragements in otherwise challenging situations; I like to think of it as being a positive cryptic. As someone who has struggled with anxiety for as long as I can remember, being a positive cryptic is kind of what kept me from spiraling deep into my thoughts, and I found comfort in telling myself that things would get better. Over time, I realized that the more often I practiced optimism, the better equipped I was to handle anything I needed to. This kind of optimism slowly became natural to me; I no longer felt like these hidden encouragements were hidden but in plain sight. It just took time to look at things from a new perspective. Finding your optimism is something that might not feel natural at first; it might feel like you’re faking it at times, but if you can successfully retrain your mind to focus on the positive aspects of your life rather than the negative ones, I can promise that you will come out of tough circumstances as a more fulfilled person in the end.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My name is Emma Wells, and I like to think of content creation as my passion project. I want to create a genuine community through my page for people who might feel like they don’t fit in or may need words of encouragement to get through a hard time. My targeted niche ranges from mental health awareness and positivity all the way to fashion inspiration. Overall, I want my page to be a corner of the internet where everyone can feel welcome and find their confidence in who they are in all aspects, especially because the internet is quick to tear people down rather than build them up. I gain a lot of inspiration from creators like Spencer Barbosa and Lexi Hidalgo, as they are beautiful inside and out, and you can feel that positive and authentic energy radiating through the screen. I would love to be able to make my audience feel the same way someday. This said, my passion is to help guide people along their self-love journeys while becoming the best version of myself along with them, and I hope I can do that through content creation!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I was never sure how I would bring comfort to others; I just knew that I wanted to be genuine and encourage people to take care of themselves. Thinking back to the early stages of my journey, I would say the best quality I had was that I was not afraid to try different things. Over the course of the past two years, I have had a blog, YouTube channel, multiple different Instagram accounts, and various other social media platforms. Instead of getting too discouraged by the fact that these platforms were not all successful, I decided to test the waters and try more. Eventually, I found my community on Instagram and felt so connected to other creators like me who strive to do the same thing as me, but I would never have found that if I had quit because I had failed a few times. Another quality that I found a lot of help in is my understanding of mental health and low self-esteem. I was able to use my relatability as a means to encourage others to believe that they were not alone, and through that, I was able to be more authentic to myself and feel more connected to my audience. Another aspect that helped me on my journey was simply my ability to allow myself to be human and take breaks as needed. Sadly, a lot of people believe that taking breaks somehow makes them weaker, when balance actually makes you stronger in the long run. Our current culture is exceptionally focused on productivity, but giving yourself time to rest and recover daily makes all the difference. My biggest recommendation for anyone looking to implement some of these traits that helped me in my journey would be to practice more patience and authenticity and to incorporate balance into their lives. Simple self-care activities can improve all of these traits, as they all stem from confidence and overall resilience.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
I absolutely swear by The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. The Four Agreements is a self-help book that has changed how I go through my daily life, and I always recommend it to people looking for a good self-help book. Essentially, The Four Agreements is about the Toltec teachings of personal development. Through the book, Ruiz organizes the teachings into four main agreements, “Be impeccable with your word,” “Do not take anything personally,” “Do not make assumptions,” and “Always do your best”. These are all basically agreements that the Toltecs believed you should make with yourself to live the happiest life possible. I have tried to apply these agreements into my life as much as possible, and even though it can be difficult at times, I always feel better when I do.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: instagram.com/emmagracefull
