Season 8, Episode 11: Business, Friendship and Healthy Living with Steph Claire Smith.

" We did not start the business to make money we started because we didn't want anyone to go through what we did, or we wanted to help people through that phase. We wanted to be there for them."

Today I am delighted to be joined by Steph Claire Smith. Steph is an Australian model, entrepreneur and was one of the original Aussie influencers who I have followed from the very beginning. She has gained popularity through her lifestyle, fitness and wellness content. Steph’s influence extends far beyond the world of modelling, as she uses her platform to discuss issues surrounding mental health, self-care, and how to make healthy lifestyle choices. Steph first met her best friend, Laura Henshaw, when she was just nineteen before moving to New York where she began modelling and documenting her life on social media.

It was when Steph came back to her hometown of Melbourne that she reconnected with Laura and their journey into entrepreneurship truly began. Steph reflects on that period of navigating her way through her young adult life, away from her family and friends. She shares the obstacles she encountered during her modelling career and the impact this had on her own self esteem. Steph was simultaneously building an online career and modelling portfolio which placed her under the spotlight of intense scrutiny, judgement and pressures from external influences. We discuss how Steph managed to overcome that self-doubt and stop herself from falling into ‘the comparison trap’. We also discuss the ‘Creator Economy’ and how she was able to organically build her brand alongside her best friend and business partner to continue to feed their new and existing online community.

We journey through the lessons she learnt building her first business and how she’s managed to make a success out of her relationship with Laura and her love of health and fitness. Whilst our Saturn Return can be an explosive and uncomfortable period, Saturn can also help us to solidify the things that have been in motion in our lives for a while. At 29, Steph is now a Mother to a highly successful business and to Harvey, her first Son, who she shares with her husband. We discuss the gender roles in their household and how they came to the decision that her husband would be a stay-at-home father.