alivia / a multi-hyphenate creative
We chatted with Alivia over Zoom late on a Tuesday morning. She tuned in from Vancouver, BC, Canada, as cheery and bright as ever, happy to share and full of thoughtful insights. Our conversation spanned across career, wellness, spirituality, and more – with a few laughs in between. Read on to find inspiration, get deep, and learn more about our friend Alivia.
A BIT ABOUT ALIVIA:
I'm kind of like a multi hyphenate. I think in the digital age, it's really hard to define ourselves or put ourselves into one box, but I'm a freelance content creator, a multi-hyphenate creative. And actually, I just got hired as the community manager at Moon Juice!
CURRENT INSPIRATION:
I feel there’s a lot of women, especially on Instagram, that are just doing incredible stuff and have made the most of their time throughout lockdown. Evelynn Escobar (@evemeetswest), the founder of Hike Clerb, is absolutely killing it right now. She’s super inspirational. Leah, The Intersectional Environmentalist, is a favorite of mine.
I love Michelle Siman who runs Lemon Water podcast. I think Season Three just launched. I've been eating up those interviews, every single one of them has been so amazing. She's a really strong interviewer, she asks such good questions. She gets the best people to interview, like the CEO of Seed.
I think that when lock down first started, it was a really transformational time for a lot of people. There was so much actualizing going on and people were like, “Oh my god, okay, I'm not happy. I need to change some things”. Or “Now's the time to push into that passion that I always had on the back burner.” So it's been a really interesting time to see everyones’ personal shifts online.
PROJECTS SHE’S EXCITED ABOUT
I think my new work is going to be very purposeful, I’m really looking forward to a more structured work schedule, and to be a part of something bigger than myself. Also, there’s a jewelry company here in Canada called Everlay. I always have them on my feed and in my stories and they reached out and want to do a little capsule collection in the new year. So, I've been doing some jewelry design, which is really, really fun. I never would’ve thought I’d have the opportunity to design jewelry – that’s the beauty of the internet, right?!”
ALIVIA’S PERSONAL STYLE:
I mean, I think, it's pretty comfortable, pretty casual. My style definitely leans more into colors and layering colors. I really like being as comfortable as humanly possible.
It’s hard right now, but anytime I can, I’ll go thrifting or vintage shopping. Especially if my husband and I are traveling, that's what we like to do. Yeah, my style is definitely comfy, casual, comfortable – the 3 C’s!
STAYING MOTIVATED + FOCUSED:
I'm still kind of finding my footing living in Vancouver, in terms of my schedule – for whatever reason. It's taken me a while to fall into a routine, probably because I moved here in the summer, and routines kind of go out the window in the summer. It's generally a free-for-all.
But I would say in terms of setting myself up for success in a work day... I have to be really strategic with how I lay my day out. I like to plan it beforehand, and put reminders in my calendar. So I'll have a reminder for a meeting, and a reminder that 30 minutes after that I have to get something done.
I really block my day out, but I’m not just blocking out my tasks. I’m also blocking out, okay, I'm going to eat lunch at this time, I'm going to go for a walk at this time, I'm going to remind myself to drink water at this time. And I'm definitely a “Type A” person, so having that kind of structure kind of sets me up for success.
But, it's important to understand that there's days that no matter how structured you are, no matter what candle you're burning, or how hydrated you are, sometimes it's just not going to work and that’s ok too. I try to treat myself with the grace that if something's just not working, I need to be able to walk away from it and kind of disengage. So tomorrow, I can come back with a fresh mindset and not be carrying discouragement or shame from the day before.
WELLNESS PHILOSOPHY:
I would say I'm looking for balance, not perfection, in all facets, whether that's food or beauty or just wellness in general. Determining a lifestyle that feels balanced and not restrictive is really important for me.
I think that there's this pressure, especially in the wellness industry, and it's all tied into the beauty industry, making us feel shitty. It's like, “Oh, you have to wake up at 6:00 am, and then you have to drink 250 milliliters of lemon water, and then you have to do this. And if you're not eating organic, you're not a good person, and you can't have dairy”. There's just so many rules and so many restrictions that I look at that and first off, I see a breeding ground for eating disorders or disordered eating habits, which is not what we're trying to achieve here.
I think a lot of EDs can be disguised under this veil of wellness and it's really concerning to see and really disheartening, which is why like I've never tried to say, “Oh, I'm vegan. Oh, I'm keto. Oh, I'm a prescitarian.” I don't feel like the way that I eat and the way that I live needs a label to be put on it. By being “Type A”, I like to be regimented, but it doesn’t feel healthy to have that part of my life be put into a box.
So, I would say balance is key. Balance over perfection. I'm going to continue to drink three liters of water a day and have my salad, but I'm also going to have pizza with my friends. And if my husband and I feel like wine or ice cream or whatever, I'm going to go with that too and try not to feel any shame around it.
SHARING HER HEALTH JOURNEY ON INSTAGRAM:
I think that all in all, it's been a really positive experience for me. I started off mostly sharing about mental health. I shared because I was like, “There's no way I'm the only person that's experiencing this”, [depression and anxiety] but I felt like no one else was really sharing that information. So I was like, “Fuck it, I'm an over-sharer, I'll just put this out in the universe and see what sticks”. And that kind of became a part of me and my identity online.
Then, as time went on, I was diagnosed with endometriosis and adenomyosis. So, I started sharing that because when I heard those words – I had never heard them before. I was like, “Sorry I have what now? I have no idea what that means”. That was in 2015, and I was scouring the internet, trying to find something to cling on to and someone to relate to. And there was absolutely nothing, especially for young women. They were saying it wasn't possible to get endometriosis unless you had a child and were over 40. But, I’m neither of those things so what does that mean for me? So, it definitely started out in one place and grew to just wanting to share my experiences.
I feel like now that my following has grown and time has passed – and that I’ve kind of just grown up and matured a bit – I've come to realize that while it is important to be transparent and to be honest with people in your experience, I also think it's really important to be mindful of the fact that there's some people who are on the internet to escape. There are some people on the internet who can't hold space for you and your illness – and this is just my own personal philosophy, everyone's free to do what they wish – but for me, it kind of got to a point where I felt worse sharing my bad days. I was like, “If I'm this impacted by it, how am I impacting other people?”, you know? I want my purpose on social media to be one of positivity and awareness, and I think telling everyone that I had an absolute shit day – it's not good for me, but it's also not good for anyone else. So I definitely try to, I wouldn't say censor myself now, but I'm just a lot more thoughtful about what I’m sharing. Overall, it's been really positive.
THREE PRODUCTS SHE CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT:
I would say my ‘Hydrate’ water bottle from F.Miller, for sure. It’s a really good reminder. It's always around. I bring it with me in the car, it’s attached to my hip. I bring it in the bath with me. I just know I have to drink four of them. I used to be the girl that would schlep around giant glass jars and my chiropractor was like “this needs to end now”!
And another two other products, I mean, if you follow me you know this by now – I'm not trying to be a broken record, but I say these things because they actually make an impact in my daily life. And that's Moon Juice SuperYou and Rainbo Cordyceps
I think I'm on my third bottle cordyceps and my husband and I have both been taking SuperYou for two and a half years now. And there's a reason why I keep buying it!
PRACTICES YOU CAN’T GO WITHOUT:
Before I moved to the city, my husband and I were in a small town, and going for a walk was kind of just a given. I took it for granted because we had so much expansive outdoor space around us. And now I live in the West End of Vancouver. I’m looking out at apartment buildings all around me. And luckily, we're on a very green street like there's a ton of trees, but we're still in the middle of the city.
We found a few really nice nature walks that are a little bit outside of the city and we're trying to get there a few times a week. And we just started this, but we're waking up earlier in the morning, making a coffee, and then just walking down to the seawall because we're a couple blocks away from the ocean. Honestly, starting my day off with some fresh air, good conversation and time off my phone has been so amazing. It actually helps my migraines a ton which was unexpected, but I’ll take it! It’s just a really intentional way to start my day. So 10/10 I’d recommend that.
And then another practice... there’s this app. It's called Non and it's a meditation app – it's super simple. You pretty much just set a timer for how long you want to meditate for and then you drag your finger around the screen for the intensity of the meditation. My friend put me on to it, and it's very on-brand for 2020. The background is a gradient and it's all these pretty colors.
I've been finding if I'm feeling a little bit mentally blocked during the day, or maybe a little anxious or stressed, I'll just put on a six-minute meditation. That just snaps me out of my funk, and I'm able to re-center. And yeah, it's great – I highly recommend. And it's free!
BEST ADVICE SHE’S EVER BEEN GIVEN:
My dad always told me this growing up – I mean, he framed it in the context of whether I was entering an interview, or was at a dance competition, or was submitting a project for school. He always told me to “finish strong”. And I feel like there's a lot of hype around starting something – if you're starting to work with a brand, or you're starting this campaign, or you're starting literally anything – there's not a lot of hype around just finishing it.
“Finishing strong” is something I'm really trying to remind myself of, especially when I'm taking on clients. Introductions are really important, but making sure our correspondence is strong and my final product is incredible – making sure that my finish is even stronger than my start – is something that I think it's important in a lot of different contexts.
SOMETHING YOU WOULDN’T KNOW ABOUT ALIVIA FROM HER INSTAGRAM:
Oh, I like to listen to a lot of Broadway musical soundtracks. I was a major musical theater nerd growing up. Catch me listening to anything from Hamilton, singing Hairspray or Kinky Boots – that's my jam. I hope the world will find its way back to normal, back to our new normal, so I can go to New York and just spend a week watching Broadway shows.
WHAT DOES DOING YOUU MEAN TO YOU:
I think “doing youu”, to me, is really about tapping into intuition and following that, as opposed to following society's expectations. And I think that, obviously, I wouldn't be where I am without my people that are willing to check me when I need to be checked and hold me accountable. I can still be “doing me” and have those people in my corner.
Yeah, I think about where I’m at, even with my current work and my trajectory as to how I got here – I didn't go to a fancy university or college. I was so sick my final years of high school that I barely graduated. I tried to pursue college and I was too sick to do so. I've been freelancing for many years, kind of hopping around from writing scripts, recipe testing and influencing. All of those things – they shouldn't be part of an equation that equals a job at my favorite company. But somehow, I kept a steady head on my shoulders. I had been really focused, stayed in my lane, put on my blinders, and was like, “Okay, like what everyone else is doing isn’t applicable to me. So, I may as well put my head down and continue working. And it worked out for me
Interview by: Lexi Bone