Today is my day. I’m office royalty. Well, there are no actual crowns here, but we do love an affirmation or two. We decided this is the year of treating self-love like a currency and self affirmatons are the first of our many deposits.

Staying true to our motto: style isn’t worn, it’s lived, we chatted to Lisa Messenger from Collective Hub about all things affirmations, rituals and life in Byron Bay. Here’s to the year of getting rich (in self-love).

In the voice of affirmations, we transformed our windows in collaboration with Lisa Messenger, creating a haven for positive self talk. Let your own reflection be your daily reminder to remember to be kind to ourselves today and every day.

It’s no secret that we’re big fans of Collective Hub; for those not familiar with you and your brand, can you tell us a little bit about it?

I’ve had my business for 22 years. We produce paper and digital products to inspire, educate and help people to live their best lives. I also do a lot of speaking all over the world and have recently started taking on private mentoring and small group retreats to help others to achieve their entrepreneurial dreams and to ignite their potential.

We’re known to throw a few affirmations around the office on the regular. Talk to us about affirmations and what pivotal role they can play in someone’s life.

They have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. They ground you in a feeling and help to reframe and put a positive spin on just about anything. They remind us that even though things come at us every day that are beyond our control, we can control our mindset and how we consciously choose to respond.

What does the beginning of a new year mean to you?

New opportunities. A time to reset. A time to reflect. A time to create new visions and goals and set actionable plans to achieve them. A lot of the books and journals that I have produced are very much around new year and new beginnings such as our Best Life Journal, my book Purpose or our linen bound Vision & Action or Daily Gratitude Journals.

Do you have any rituals you can share that you enter a new year with?

I tend to divide my day into two. That’s just what works for me. Pre 10am is proactive “me” time. Time to fill my mind and move and nourish my body. It consists of some kind of high adrenaline class or riding my peloton bike at home. Listening to a podcast, journalling, meditating and drinking a green smoothie. Now with a five month old, its also time to spend with him off technology and being present. Post 10am its game on. Its “reactive” what the world requires of me time. This is what I find works best for me. I’m what you would call an introverted extrovert. I’m a massive believer in rituals and routines and have written several books on this including Life & Love and Life in Lessons.

Your vision is to uplift and empower people to live their lives to the fullest. What is one thing we can do every day to meet this potential?

I think really stop and ask yourself what is your purpose. Or what is your why. I check in with myself on this every single day. It’s easy to be excited by bright shiny things and newness. So every day, I ask myself, does that align with my vision or my purpose? Now finding your purpose can be tricky. So three simple steps are: 1) what gets you out of bed every day? What makes you feel alive? 2) what do others say you are great at? If you listen you’ll hear similar themes on repeat. And 3) if it’s for business – does it have some kind of commercial reality or market. My mini book “Purpose” goes into a lot more detail on all of these steps.

 

How does the empowering nature of working with Collective Hub reflect in your style?

I’m very confident and secure in myself. This comes from years of working on myself and understanding what makes me me. And also it’s wonderful to have a strong sense of style – what makes me feel good on the outside. Clothes can have a wonderful way of reflecting our personality and grounding us in who we want to be on any given day. When I’m on stage speaking in front of big audiences, I need a certain amount of grit to ground myself so I’ll often wear something a bit edgy but generally black with flat shoes so I don’t detract from what I’m saying with overwhelming colour or patterns and to be able to run around the stage and audience. If I’m being a Mama Bear on the Farm, it’s often much more flowy feminine floral-type energy and clothing. Clothes really can play a big part in helping you to step into who you want to be on any given day and they certainly help with confidence.

Where do you find inspiration?

Everywhere!! Every day I do something purposefully counterintuitive to keep my brain and creativity alive. I am a curious seeker. Now this might be as simple as trying a different coffee shop, listening to a podcast in a different genre, or having a conversation with a stranger. Once you open that part of you, inspiration comes like a tap that won’t turn off. I am an ideas machine because I’ve learnt to synthesise the world around me.

You live in dreamy Byron Bay. How has the Byron lifestyle influenced you?

We lived in Bondi in Sydney for many years. Then last year we found ourselves living in the US for work. But now we have a five month old baby boy Hugo, I’ve gone back to my country roots. We live in the hinterland of Byron Bay on five glorious acres. We’re only 10 minutes from the beaches of Byron Bay yet we feel a million miles from anywhere. I work from home and am able to run a pretty big global business from here now. Most days you’ll find me barefoot and in nature. It is wonderful for the soul.

If we had 48 hours in Byron, where should we go and what should we do?

Well, I’m hoping you’ll all come and visit. We’ve had visitors every weekend for the past five months so we have some pretty well-trodden recommendations. We often take people to places and spaces that you wouldn’t necessarily explore if you didn’t have a bit of local insight (btw when we travel we always look to ask the locals). So I would definitely visit Newrybar and Bangalow (two little towns 4 and 8 minutes away from our farm respectively). They are super cute. In Newrybar eat at Harvest and shop at The Old Pacific. At Bangalow eat at The Woods and shop at Bisque and Island Luxe. Heaven. Whilst you’re in the Hinterland go and visit Doma at Federal and have a coffee at Moonshine. Then in Byron definitely visit Habitat – eat at Vagabond and shop the precinct. Do a class at Bende (Barre, pilates or yoga). Then head into Byron itself and eat at Top Shop, Lighyears or Bang Bang. Visit the beaches – The Pass and Wategoes. Do the Lighthouse Walk. Shop at Spell, Kivari, August The Label. Pick up a rug at Wandering Folk and go for a picnic. Do a beach horse ride with Zhepher. Have a massage and bath at Banya Mullumbimby. There is SO MUCH to do but those are a few of my fave picks