Introducing my latest Inspiring Sister – the beautiful Amanda Rootsey.
Every day Amanda is living her passion as an eco-model, gentle-living coach, writer & passionate educator – a far cry from her past life as a jet-setting fashion model for the likes of Salvatore Ferragamo, Myer, Alex Perry and Cartier.
It was after a 2-year battle with cancer, that Amanda swapped a demanding model lifestyle for the beautiful Sunshine Coast on the East Coast of Australia. Being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma changed her perspective on life and inspired her to go vegan, start meditating, enjoy each moment and encourage others to find their balance and joy in life. She blogs about simple living, natural beauty, wellness, eco-fashion & more over at her blog – amandarootsey.com.au.
Amanda presents a fresh and inspiring take on personal development training through her soul centred business – Shine From Within. She places a strong emphasis on self-love, compassion for others and healthy living. Her zest for life and positive, yet calming attitude is infectious and nothing gives her greater pleasure than to see her students SHINE bright & realize their full potential.
Still modelling, she now works exclusively with eco-friendly and ethical brands who share her values, often with more of an Ambassadorship focus.
Why A Conscious Beauty LOVE’s Amanda:
Amanda came across my radar a few years ago through her friendship with the late Jess Ainscough. Truth be told, I couldn’t help but feel Amanda’s radiance and natural beauty ooze from every image you see of her – I had to know more. Amanda embodies an authentic and passionate stand for ethical and sustainable fashion and beauty. The clincher for me – Amanda’s baby – the Shine From Within program for teenage girls. Her commitment to seeing young women express themselves naturally is truly purpose driven work and critical for an impressionable age.
And now from the beauty herself…
Tell me about your Brand’s vision?
My brand, Shine From Within’s vision is to give teen girls the tools and confidence to shine.
What makes your brand unique? What are ‘must-haves’ for your brand?
There is nothing else like Shine From Within around. It merges important deportment and presentation subjects with discussions to build self worth and confidence. It’s a community of girls supporting one another to truly shine from within.
As an eco model….same thing – I’m the only one! There are models who care about the same issues but won’t actually put their money with their mouth is and exclusively work with ethical brands.
What is your favourite way to nourish your soul?
Meditation every day.
How do you live consciously? / Any tips for living consciously?
I try to live as gently as possible so I’m constantly asking myself, ‘do I need this?’ & ‘what impact will this choice have on others or the environment?’ If I need something then I love supporting eco and ethical fashion brands as well as local and natural beauty companies. We shop at our local markets or health food store, grow whatever veggies we can and re-use wherever possible. We don’t wear, eat or use anything that’s caused harm to an animal as we just don’t feel like we need to. We’re so lucky these days that there are vegan alternatives to everything!
How do you give back/support others through your work or brand?
I do a couple of things – I’ve continued my modelling career after cancer but work exclusively with eco-friendly, cruelty-free and ethical brands. I’m on the board for Fashion Revolution Day Australia and I’m an ambassador for Clean Cut Fashion, Australia’s industry body for sustainable fashion. I’m also the face of Natural Beauty Week, coming up in late October (www.naturalbeautyweek.com.au).
I’ve also created a training school for teen girls called Shine From Within. I spend the majority of my time teaching the holistic personal development courses that we’ve developed in schools and on school holidays. It is my baby. It brings together my work as a model and deportment teacher, everything I learnt about being kind to ourselves and nourishing the body together with my life coach training, business degree and other education. It feels like everything happened for this to come to fruition. We’ve got many experts on board to help teach the courses and we cover everything from natural skincare and make up to self worth, positive body image and even job interview skills.
Shine From Within donates money to a number of charities and also provides a number of workshops free of charge to youth at risk of disengaging from school.
What does it mean to be ‘authentically you’?
Being authentically you is just being true to who you are and your values. It’s easy to waiver or compare ourselves to others but as soon as we do that, we lose some of our light, some of our true, authentic selves.
What was your greatest ah-ha moment that led to the creation of your brand?
I was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago, at the age of 24. I had just come home from modelling in Europe and the diagnosis turned my world upside down. But, looking back, it was what I needed to change my life. I spent 2 years fighting it with a combination of natural and conventional treatments and I learnt so much along the way. Things really can change in an instant and we do have to take care of these precious bodies of ours. I went vegan, was blessed to find a spiritual teacher, took each day one at a time and learnt to trust my gut feelings.
My partner was incredible too – he made every single day fun so it brought us closer together as well. Once I finished chemotherapy and could eventually leave the hospital, we lived in a recycled shipping container cabin, totally off the grid for a year to recover. It made me realise that we don’t need so much stuff in our lives!
What are you most grateful for in your life?
My partner David Rafter & our staffy Trudi. They both show me what unconditional love is every day.
Amanda is the face of the 2015 Natural Beauty Week, encouraging people to make the #switchtonatural through both online and in person sessions between 19-24 October 2015 . This year’s theme is beauty begins in the belly!
And finally, get social with Amanda at the following locations…
Instagram & Twitter : @amandarootsey
F: amandarootsey and Shinefromwithin
