Pippa Hallas - Bold Moves: How to Stand Up, Step Out and Make Your Next Bold Move

First published in 2019 by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
42 McDougall St, Milton Qld 4064

Office also in Melbourne

Typeset in 12.5/18pt Bembo Std

John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 2019

The moral rights of the author have been asserted

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All inquiries should be made to the publisher at the address above.

Cover Design: Jennifer El-Chah, Loved.Locked.Loaded.

Disclaimer
The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based on the information in this publication.

Dedicated to Ella Bach and Edith Hallas two women who, with their individual approach, pioneering spirit and depth of understanding revolutionised the approach to skin. They taught us how to think, to care and above all to continue to learn.

Ellas life was full with loving, eating and creating!

Edith Hallas

T his is a book for you if, like me, you want to celebrate living a bold life filled with ordinary and extra-ordinary moments. It all starts with those first steps. Bold, for me, means a rich and abundant life, although not in a monetary sense. It means a life full of adventure, full of new experiences, and full of lots of life lessons and risk-taking. It means a life unique to me. Bold is when you feel the fear and dont always know how its going to turn out. Living out of your comfort zone and doing it anyway. Seeing self-doubts as the norm and breaking through that voice in your head that tries to stop you.

As CEO of Ella Bach, and Ellas great-niece, plus a mum of two young boys, Id like to help you discover how to own the skin youre in how to own your story and what it takes to show up again and again to fight for something you believe in. Our skin is so much more than how the world sees us: its a reflection of our story. And its my pleasure to tell the Ella Bach story the person, the product and the brand for the first time.

To uncover what it really takes to show up and own your story, to push through in moments of self-doubt and to live a life playing at the highest level, I interviewed some audacious Australian women: women who know that being bold takes passion, courage and focus and means pushing yourself outside your comfort zone, challenging the status quo and breaking down barriers and perceptions.

It doesn t mean you need to see yourself as a bold person, just an ordinary person who wants to follow their passion and make the most out of their life. You ll find these interviews between the chapters of this book, each one its own inspiring story of a bold woman.

Im not bolder than anyone else. I have learned that making bold moves takes a lot of courage, a lot of focus and a lot of discipline. I don t see myself as a really disciplined person by any means. And I actually dont see myself as a bold person. I see myself as being like anyone else, but Im also a person on a mission. I tend to be very stubborn and obsessive when I want to achieve something. In fact stubborn is how my mum described me when I was growing up and I believe stubbornness has really helped me stick to the path that Im on. The more often people have said no, the more motivated Ive become. Im passionate about what I do and have always been very single-minded about it.

Our skin is so much more than how the world sees us: its a reflection of our story.

Have I bitten off more than I can chew? Thats a question that pops up in my mind every day, as Im sure it does for anyone having to make daily bold decisions. But going for it anyway and backing yourself is where the magic happens. Its where the learnings occur, and sharing my doubts, mistakes and challenges with others has helped me along the way.

So this is not a book about how brave or bold I am or how bold or brave anyone around me is for that matter. Rather, it s about what I ve experienced on my journey in life so far and discovering what defined my great-aunt Ella and several equally bold Australian women. It s about what it takes to keep showing up when things gets tough. Its about the choices we have, how we make decisions based on those choices and the things we focus on. It s also about the people we choose to have in our lives; why the bold moves are frightening, scary and full of risk; and how they present us with such a fear of failing that it can lead to a shift in our mindset and goals.

You see, being paralysed by the fear of failure often prevents you from living your best life and, after all, we only get one crack at it. As women, we have a tendency to feel the need to wait for that perfect moment and to undo a lot of the deep-seated stereotypes weve carried with us from when we were young, such as being seen but not heard. This is why I want to share the story of Ella Bach what she has taught me and the lessons I learned by making bold decisions in the hope that it will make it easier for others to do the same. Living a bold life means owning your actions thats the good news. The bad news is that theres no silver bullet.

Living a bold life means owning your actions.

This is not a business book or even a leadership book; you can be an artist, a writer, an entrepreneur, a business leader, a teacher or a mum to benefit from reading it. Each chapter offers reflections and tips to inspire you to be bold in both your personal and professional life. Bold is a very personal thing: it means living outside your comfort zone, experiencing the lessons, the luck that comes from taking risks, the learnings and the growth. Ive always tried to push myself out of my comfort zone and stretch myself because Im passionate about learning and curious about new things. I often question why I put this pressure on myself why I dont just take the easy road and play it safe. The answer is Why not? You only get one shot at it, so why not make it the best life you possibly can?

While were still a long way off a world of gender equality, women have also come a long way and I believe its our time to take the bull by the horns, get out there and make changes. Even if it means working twice as hard as men for the same reward or being the only female voice in the room, we are at a tipping point in many countries around the world. Only the other day I came across the term glass cliff. Its an expression used to describe situations where women are given leadership positions that no man would take on because they are destined to fail. Yet there are so many amazing examples where women didnt fall off the cliff; they did the opposite and made it work. And they made it work because they worked harder, sacrificed more, had great networks around them that they had spent years building, and had a belief.