Over the past few months I’ve been receiving enquiries around the introduction of Green Foot Mama. Recently, I discovered that I have unintentionally created a mystery that has many folks curious. My energies for the last few years have been poured into creating GFM, and my life has been a crazy juggling act, having my head down in the trenches bringing my beautiful business to life while raising and supporting my family. ‘Who is Green Foot Mama?’ ‘Is she a brand or a person?’ ‘Who are you and where the heck did you come from?’ It seems the time has come to share my personal story. It is not quite a fairytale, but it is mine nonetheless, and has shaped me and made me the woman, the wife, the friend, the parent and the business woman I am today.
“Who Is She?”
I am Olivia. A mama to 3 beautiful daughters, wife to a gorgeous-soul of a husband and the creator (and I guess Boss Lady) of Green Foot Mama. We are an ocean and nature loving family, located in the beautiful Byron Bay region of Australia. As you may have read on the About page of this website, Green Foot Mama began when discovering that my two youngest daughters suffered from skin and food sensitivities. Although this was THE turning point that brought my products to fruition, my awareness for health really began some 30 years prior, when I was just 9 years of age.
“What’s Her Story?”
Growing up, I was not gifted with the greatest level of health. I suffered from regular illness and was always undergoing tests or being given some form of medication for this and that. When turning 9, my childhood took a dramatic turn. Glandular fever reared its ugly head, my beautiful Gran unexpectedly passed away and I was gifted my very first period. I was FAR too young to know back then that the several ‘shocks’ to my system would result in some invaluable mind, body and soul lessons in the coming years. Thankfully I was born with a glass-half-full disposition, and my natural curiosity lead me to begin challenging the hand I had been dealt, and the seed of my connection to holistic wellbeing was planted.
Fast forward to 13 years later. I was happy, healthy and had my first daughter. I avoided most chemicals and shopped from local farmer’s markets. I was studying alternative health and life was great. Just one year later I began suffering migraines, hot flashes and other hormone-related symptoms. I soon discovered my hormones were in BIG trouble. I came from a family of sugar cane farmers, and growing up I was exposed to many very serious chemicals. After testing, it was found that heavy metals stored in my body were causing my health’s disarray. I implemented some more lifestyle changes and underwent a hectic heavy metal cleanse and slowly my physical health returned.
Ten years passed nicely, and then the Universe came barging through my door once again. This time to really show me what I was made of. My second and third daughters were born just over a year and a half apart. I suffered immense damage due to a traumatic birth and bungled surgeries, and was left to face my wounds alone. I became a single mother, with teeny tiny babies that weren’t fond of sleep, and whose reactions to both food and personal care products were escalating. Enter post-natal depression, PTSD and extreme sleep deprivation. And like the story of Persephone, I was drawn into the dark underworld below to meet the core of my soul.
I had broken open on every level. And then a moment came that I will NEVER forget.
I was sitting on my kitchen floor, peeling some vegetables and rocking my unwell babies to comfort them. I was down to my last dollar, a bee’s-eyelash away from homelessness, and I remember feeling so incredibly powerless as I failed to fight the waterfall of salty tears streaming down my face. My soul was reduced to rubble, and I had entered the silent, black space that I now recognise as ‘ENOUGH’.
In that moment there was only one way out. I grabbed the one remaining speck of hope with all of my might, stood up and took a deep breath. It was electrifying. Like magnets, the fragments of my soul were whirling and connecting and coming back together inside of me. My fingers literally tingled and I embraced the urge to fight and claw my way out of the darkness. I had found my light and my way out.
‘Start Where You Are, With What You Have…’
And so I did. I realized that the voice of hopelessness was purely just fear; and on the other side of fear, therein lay the answer to everything. To my freedom.
Those feelings of deep helplessness were simply layers in the process of moving towards the light, back to the happy, playful, creative woman I had once been.
There is real truth, beauty and wisdom in embracing the difficult moments of life alone.
Instead of distracting myself or blaming my state of being on people or circumstances, I confronted what was truly going on under the surface, realising that the disowned parts of me needed my unconditional love in order to survive. And I made it through. Everything was brighter, clearer and full of inspiration.
My brain changed gears and suddenly ideas were pouring out of me onto page after page after page. The answers I needed to help my daughters and to move us forward were arriving at lightening speed. What I know now for sure is that the moment in which I ‘stepped aside’ to make room for my soul’s intelligence to guide me, my core values, knowledge and intentions aligned and very real-life magic occurred. I started researching and creating and testing and sharing and connecting and expanding (on all levels) and the rest is glorious history.
With the love and support of my friends, mentors, customers and of course the never-ending cheerleading squad that is my little family, Green Foot Mama has grown wings of her own and is soaring.
“Is Green Foot Mama a brand or a person?”
For me, Green Foot Mama is more than just a brand of organic, multi-tasking skincare.
It is a way of life. By treading a more eco-friendly path and using products that nurture us without stealing our health, or that of the planet, we can absolutely achieve wellness. By harnessing the power of nature, and utilising our body’s innate intelligence, we give ourselves the best fighting chance to survive whatever life throws our way, and go on to thrive and flourish into the best version of ourselves. That is my philosophy, and has certainly proven true for me.
Green Foot Mama is inspired by the harmony of mother earth, the robust and unyielding power of mother ocean and the deep and infinite well of a mother’s unconditional and healing love. My vision is for interconnectedness – with ourselves, one another, and with nature. That is to me, the embodiment of Green Foot Mama.
To get better acquainted with my range of purposefully created products, pop over to our Products page.
With Warmth and Kindness,
Olivia xx
