We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Emily Bhatnagar a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Emily, so great to have you with us today. There are so many topics we want to ask you about, but perhaps the one we can start with is burnout. How have you overcome or avoided burnout?
I constantly have to remind myself that you can’t give from an empty cup. I’d actually be doing a disservice to the individual I am trying to help if I’m trying to do so at half-capacity. If I’m not feeling my best, I won’t be able to perform my best.
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?
After my father was diagnosed with stage four thyroid cancer when I was a sophomore in high school, I began a book drive for children with cancer called For Love & Buttercup. So far, I have been able to donate over 20,000 books to pediatric patients in hospitals!
My newest project is a movement called “100 Wishes for Buttercup.” In summary, my goal is to install 100 full bookshelves in 100 pediatric units in hospitals across the United States. I hope to help comfort pediatric patients undergoing various medical treatments, foster a sense of normalcy for those in inpatient programs, and improve literacy skills among children who must frequently miss school due to a chronic illness.
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 think empathy, dedication and being truly down to earth have been the three most crucial values to me. It’s very easy to drift away from your purpose with the praise and media attention that comes with a growing brand or initiative, so I find constant self-reflection to be the best thing I can do for myself and my brand periodically!
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
It would be an absolute dream to collaborate with librarians, bookstores, authors, or anyone in the book world! I would also love to collaborate with artists for bookmark designs. I donate both books and bookmarks/handwritten notes, and I’m always looking for ways to make it more fun for the kids to see.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.forloveandbuttercup.com
- Instagram: @forloveandbuttercup
Image Credits
Personal: Grandar Creative Co.
