How I Got Here: The founder of Self Care Originals on the importance of finding your community
PHOTOGRAPHY BY TASHA TYLEE
WORDS BY IZZY WIGHT
“Think of business as an art form. You’re the artist. What’s the story you’re going to tell?”
Have you ever stalked someone on LinkedIn and wondered how on earth they managed to land that wildly impressive job? While the internet and social media might have us believe that our ideal job is a mere pipe dream, the individuals who have these jobs were, believe it or not, in the same position once, fantasising over someone else’s seemingly unattainable job.
But behind the awe-inspiring titles and the fancy work events lies a heck of a lot of hard work. So what lessons have been learnt and what skills have proved invaluable in getting them from daydreaming about success to actually being at the top of their industry?
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Welcome to How I Got Here, where we talk to women who are killing it in their respective fields about how they landed their awe-inspiring jobs, exploring the peaks and pits, the failures and the wins, and most importantly the knowledge, advice and practical tips they’ve gleaned along the way.
This week we speak to Rachael Akhidenor, a creative, strategist and the founder of the inclusive self-care brand, Self Care Originals. While she studied law and commerce at university, Rachael has always felt drawn to the creative world. After working across marketing, design, copywriting and management consulting (an area she still dabbles in today), Rachael was compelled to launch her own project in August 2018.
Utilising her arsenal of practical, people and problem-solving skills, Rachael launched Self Care Originals, a brand born to “embrace the unsexy side of self-care”. And while she’s seen amazing success from this professional leap of faith (Rachael was just named one of Australia’s Top 100 Innovators for 2022 by The Australian), her journey has been far from linear. Here’s what she learnt along the way.
What do you do and what’s your official job title?
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I’m the Founder and Director of the inclusive self-care brand, Self Care Originals.
Take us back to when you were first starting out. Did you study to get into your chosen field, or did you start out with an internship/entry-level role and climb the ladder? Tell us the story.
How I got to where I am now is entirely non-linear. When I finished high school and started university, I never thought I’d end up as an entrepreneur or a business owner. I was quite academic in high school and studied a Bachelor of Laws, Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing) and a Diploma of Languages (Mandarin) at Monash University.
While I loved studying law, I always had a pull towards the creative world. This is how I found myself interning at a boutique copywriting agency, Willow & Blake, and Melbourne-based publication, The Urban List. This experience opened my eyes to the world of content, copy and creating unique, fun brands that were part of the culture.
From there, I continued to work in the marketing and content space, freelancing as a copywriter and (self-taught) designer. Because I’d always been interested in self-care and wellbeing, one of my first copywriting clients was a yoga studio. This was my entry into working within the wellness industry. I loved working in the space and began to identify areas within the industry I wanted to change and help shape. It was at this time the idea behind Self Care Originals was born. In 2018, I started the business.
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My freelancing work also led me to work as the marketing and content director of a boutique residential property development firm. It was a super hands-on role, which (consistent with that of small business), taught me a lot about backing myself, just giving it a go and seeing how it lands. I learnt firsthand how to create and shape marketing and content strategy to help achieve business goals, how to liaise with and brief creatives and how to work with senior internal stakeholders.
When I finished my university degree, while my business was up-and-running, I began working in management consulting (where I still work part-time today). My work in strategy consulting has been invaluable to my growth as a director. I’ve learnt so much about strategy and problem-solving – from financial modelling and analysis to creating and implementing strategies and processes that drive growth and achieve goals.
Having a wide breadth of experience strengthens my capabilities as a founder and director of my company, something I think is instrumental to the business’s success.
What challenges/hurdles have you faced getting to where you are now? Can you tell us about one in particular?
Funding a business, particularly in the early stages, can be challenging and quite confronting. I think as a young person in business, I had to grow up really quickly when it came to money. I was confronted with being the founder, and as a result, being responsible for the business’s survival – which, for the most part, is heavily dependent upon funding and cash flow.
It’s something that isn’t really talked about and something I don’t think many people who aren’t in a similar role fully grasp. There is this constant sense of stress and pressure that comes with this kind of risk. It can be really challenging to navigate; particularly given it’s not often spoken about.
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How I deal with this, personally, is through having really strong self-care practices and spiritual rituals that connect me to myself, and also something greater than myself. This looks like a daily movement and meditation practice. Having really clear boundaries around work and the rest of my life. All these things are essential to feeling well-rounded and fulfilled but are even pertinent in grappling with (and hopefully overcoming), the financial stress founders often face.
What do you want people to know about your industry/your role?
It can be scary and quite lonely. There’s a certain isolation that comes when you decide to do something on your own. And while you may have a beautiful team, co-founders or a partner to be in the work with you, it can be an isolating experience, particularly if you start quite young like I did.
While I have an incredibly supportive family, friends and partner, finding community and a network of people who are in this kind of work with me have been instrumental for my wellbeing. For me, this has largely come via the online community Offline, which is Alison Rice’s conscious professional development network… I highly recommend it.
What’s the best part about your role?
The best part about what I do is being able to share my vision and creativity with the world and to collaborate with amazing people to [help bring it] into a reality. I’ve always been incredibly driven by the desire for self-expression, to be part of the conversation and to shape culture in some way.
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I love being able to do this through the form of business. To create products that bring tangible value to people’s lives and to create a brand that empowers and shifts culture – it’s so incredibly rewarding.
What would surprise people about your role?
How uncertain it all is. There are a lot of risks. There’s a lot that is vying for my attention on a day-to-day basis. So, a lot of my role is really around time management and knowing I probably won’t ever finish the to-do list on any given day. Being okay with the uncertainty and instability and continuing to surrender to the experience of it all is an integral part of my role.
What skills have served you well in your industry?
Two important skills come to mind. The first is being able to navigate the ups and downs that come with the job; not being swept up in the story and the emotion of what’s happening is critical to finding joy in the role. [Also,] having clear boundaries when it comes to work, prioritising your own wellbeing and self-care and having pillars outside of work that bring you joy are key to strengthening this internal capability.
Secondly, I think having humility and malleability is critical. Humility [in the sense that] you might have a good idea, but you truly won’t know until you’ve put it out there and tested the market. And malleability in that you may need to adjust (and adjust quickly) your product, your messaging, or your strategy off the back of that response from the market.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to be in a role like yours one day?
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A lot of people tell me they want to start a business but don’t have an idea for it yet. To this, I always respond in the same way: look inward. It always starts with you. Instead of thinking of this golden idea from a logical standpoint, live life. Explore. Push your boundaries. Feel into your curiosity. Become aware of what sparks emotions within you. What drives you? What makes you angry? What makes you frustrated? Notice without judgment. Through the act of living life, ideas will come.
It’s why I’m such a believer in self-care and self-inquiry. It’s why I created an entire company around making self-exploration easier and more accessible to more people. Think of business as an art form. You’re the artist. What’s the story you’re going to tell?
What about a practical tip?
Once you have the idea, and that idea feels true, then just start. Put it out there, test the market and adjust. Execution is, at times, the hardest part. And if you’re having trouble starting, then read The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. Trust me, you won’t regret it.
Read the rest of the How I Got Here series here.
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