About El ♡

I have tried to start this blog post about 20 times and I just have no idea how to begin, and if that doesn’t sum me up, then I don’t know what will. I’m El and I am perhaps, alongside Rebz, the most indecisive person in the world. For some context, even though everyone in my life knows me as El, and everyone in Rebz’ life knows her as Bec, it’s not how we know each other! Way back in year 10, after calling her Rebecca since year 7 I so vividly remember sitting down in art class and saying I literally cannot keep calling you Rebecca. Firstly it’s too long and secondly you’re my best friend so we need to change it. Well, we tried everything! Becca, Bex, Becky and nothing stuck. Eventually our wider friend group settled on Rebz and I have called her that ever since! Rebz also trialled calling me El but similarly it sounded weird coming from her and so she stuck to Ellie. We have been best friends for 15 years which I cannot quite believe!! If I had to sum our friendship up in a single sentence it would be “the black cat & golden retriever duo”, where Rebz is the black cat and I am the golden retriever.

Let me tell you a little bit about me. I have actually been to university twice, the first time I dropped out after my first semester when I realised I hadn’t picked the right course for me. The second time I followed my heart and I studied Fashion Business & Management at Manchester Metropolitan University, graduating in 2022 with a First Class Honours Degree! My work background is actually in business marketing, I worked at boohoo during my placement year, and continued to work there throughout my last year of university as part of their marketing team. I then got another job in branding at Pets At Home, before reaching some kind of burn out and questioning all my life choices (not to be dramatic). After a year at Pets I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to join my family business as an office manager, still incorporating my marketing skills just on a much smaller scale. This job has been a blessing that I will always be beyond grateful for, it has given me so much time to reflect and plan on what I want from my life moving forward. I have been so fortunate to have the flexibility and freedom to work from anywhere whilst studying for my PT, yoga and pilates qualifications! 

If I have learnt one thing over the last 18 months, it is that I am not as career driven as I thought I was, and that is absolutely fine! I do not want to work for a big corporate company compromising my mental health to climb the corporate ladder, I do not want to work in an office for 8 hours and having those set work hours, typically from 9-5, just wasn’t working for me. Since having this realisation I have done everything I can to put the building blocks in place to create the future that I want, on my terms. I am no longer money driven, but happiness driven. If it doesn’t fill my cup, I do not want it! I am working towards creating my dream life, with the goal to move to Australia at the end of the year with my boyfriend! We want to explore the world, work in cute cafes serving coffee on the beach, picking up any yoga or pilates shifts I can and just make the most of this gorgeous life that we only get one shot at!

I can count on one hand the most important people in my life, Rebz is obviously one and another is my boyfriend Lew! We’ve been together for 3 years and we have squeezed so much fun into those 3 years, I cannot wait to see where the rest of our lives take us. Lew is an electrician who is also studying for his PT qualification, joining me in a change of career and why not?! Did we meet in a bar in Manchester or on Tinder? Nobody really knows, but what I do know is that he is my biggest supporter, he believes in me when I don’t believe in myself and he loves me unconditionally. I think it is so important to be best friends with your partner before anything else, and he absolutely is one of my best friends in the world. 

When you are in any of those ‘tell me an interesting fact about you’ situations count me out, I’m halfway out the door, nothing to add to the conversation honestly, goodbye – so I’m kind of running out of things to tell you. I love the simple things in life, dogs (my border collie, Toby and Lew’s Australian Kelpie, Roo), I enjoy running and my biggest love of all is reading. Crime and thrillers, always! (I do love the occasional self help book). I actually do not have a lot of friends honestly, I have many acquaintances but my best friend is and always will be Rebz, of course Lew, and probably my mum! I love my mum so much (and my dad, and the rest of my family of course). I have 2 brothers, one older and one younger! I am also a child of divorce, my mum and dad split up when I was around 5, and whilst it became my normal, I struggled quite often growing up, navigating my life between two different homes. However I have gained the most amazing stepparents from it and I would not change that for the world. 

I think anyone who knows me would tell you that I have the biggest heart, I love unapologetically and I feel things maybe a bit too deeply, but that is what makes me, me! I am super anxious, I overthink all the time, but I will always try to be the person in the room that makes you feel heard. I am incredibly shy, to a fault. I find it so hard to talk in large groups of people (anything above 2 other people is a large group for me!!), I get nervous to do literally anything by myself because I always feel like people are watching me (nobody is); basically I will worry about anything and everything. These are all things I’m working on and I have so many stories to share that will hopefully help some of you! 

So yeah, I think that basically sums me up! I am working on the idea that I deserve to take up space and be heard and I am hoping that this blog will help me do that, whilst helping you in the process! I have so much love, fun and laughter to share and hope that shines through in our blog. I can’t wait to become besties!!

Lots of love and big hugs always,

El x