Why subscribe?
You’re a creative soul with a desire to explore the inner turmoil that ultimately comes with life-changing events. You suddenly discover that you’ve been unconsciously influenced by your surrounding and find it hard to suddenly attempt to listen to your own gut and follow your creative dreams.
Most modern societies work to silence whatever unique inner voice you have in an attempt to homogenise our realities. But what if we one day wake up and realise that we don’t feel ok with that? How to break free and listen to your own voice? How to follow your gut?
I consider myself blessed to have been the odd-one-out since as far as I can remember. Though I didn’t see it as a blessing growing up, it granted a sort of sneaky exit as it served as a justification for seemingly “strange” life choices (at least to the general public).
If life outside of the box appeals to you, you’ll most likely not find any of my experiences or writing strange at all.
Today I’m 28, have had residencies in 7 countries during the past 9 years, speak three languages daily, have two children, run an online art academy in modern hand embroidery and frankly I got a lot to say about creative life and creative business.
I’ll dive into topics of life, freedom, entrepreneurship and creativity while adding the perspective of motherhood. To become a mother is the greatest self-development experience I’ve ever had. Everything you thought you knew about life gets put on its head the day you birth your first child.
Am I your person?
I’m relatively new to Substack. Despite already having done the work of building a massive online audience (think 500k+), I decided to start from scratch on Substack and NOT important my main email list not market to it (at this point).
Why?
It’s both a personal creative challenge and community service as my other audiences didn’t sign up for my writing. If you do happen to follow my other work and enjoy my writing too, that’s a wonderful coincidence!
If not, I get it if you’re hesitant of whether to join my community or not. That’s ok. You can always unsubscribe at any moment should that be discovered at a later date.
But first, let’s dive a bit deeper to see if we’re the good match to increase our chances of success. By sharing a larger overview about me, it will also give you a glimpse into topics and experiences that I’ll cover in my writings. Hang in there, it’s quite a bit.
I just want to be me
Since I was 10 I told my mum I wanted to be a writer. I read tons of books and wrote several short stories. I also wanted to do art, but when high school came around “it was a shame to do art school, it would waste my good grades”.
I worked as hard as I could. At least, good grades meant I could be eligible for scholarships that could get me out of my home-country Sweden where I never really felt like myself.
I landed an almost full scholarship at university in Paris, but chose to defer entry and spend a year working in rural South Africa first. It changed my life and made me realise that to make a true impact on people’s lives you need to go micro.
It’s not the big organisations that will save you. But if you go to the ground and integrate on every level of society your presence WILL make a difference.
And finally, it was time to get to the city of dreams: Paris.
The question remained however… Art should be done on the side, right? Better do a “real” degree and do art in my spare time.
So I did. Just that it quickly took an unexpected turn .
My art went viral on Instagram a few months later (in 2016) and turned into a profitable art business before I even finished my B.A.
As a result, I overlapped courses and finished my 4-year degree with honors in Politics, Philosophy and Economics in 2.5 years. I didn’t want to be stuck in school anymore. I had to start following my gut.
Real life was waiting.
I don’t like to say that my time at uni was a waste. At least it brought me to Paris where I met my husband and father of my children. But it certainly made me question the purpose of all the “shoulds”.
Up until meeting my husband, who was already a working artist at the time, I did everything I was supposed to do.
But I was boiling inside. Something needed to come out.
Imagine if there was another way to live life than what was expected of you? Imagine if you could live life on your own terms?
My husband was already a living proof that it was possible, so we jumped.
7 years later, 2 online businesses, 2 children and having lived in 7 countries within 9 years (3 without kids and 4 with kids) - I dare to say I made it. To live a life outside of the norm.
Has it been easy? No.
Is it worth it? Yes.
It’s not everyone who gives birth on the kitchen floor in an apartment in a country you hardly knew of 5 months prior.
Frankly, the experiences of 2 home births is probably what convinced me the most that I’m capable of doing anything I set my mind to regardless of the surrounding support.
I wish this would be instilled in every woman.
So, I’m telling mothers now: You’re strong, able and beautiful. You can do it mama even if you feel as though everyone is against you.
My Mission
My mission is to inspire and encourage for questioning and reflection. To open for new perspectives can allow you to get in touch with that inner gut feeling that might be telling you something…
I want you to feel strong and believe in yourself and your abilities. To go against the stream in whatever way or form is not an easy task. So, whatever you do, I wish for you to be free to DO YOU and to follow your gut.
It has taken me years to get to a point where I feel confident in my lifestyle, creativity (well that can be discussed) and mothering and I wish I had had a supportive community sooner.
That’s why I want to write this publication: To give you a space with relatable stories and reflections around life, freedom, creativity and business from the perspective of motherhood.
I hope that my writings will make you feel less alone in your supposed craziness. If there’s anything I’ve learnt through the years of going against the stream it’s that you’re never as alone as you think you are. You just didn’t find your people yet.
If you think I may be your person, come and join my newsletter so that we can get to know each other!
HEADS UP: Don’t miss my digital Bookshop
As part of the paid tier of my publication Follow Your Gut, you get full access to my digital bookshop that I’ve set up right here on Substack.
The following titles are currently available:
When Will You Get a Real Job? (You can read more about the book here)
