We were lucky to catch up with Hazel Chadwick recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hazel, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Risk taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.
Back in the summer of 2020, I was in a car accident. I am lucky to be alive. Just days after my car accident, when I was home from the hospital, I flipped through an old journal of mine and stumbled upon my bucket list. It was as if it was glowing. The top two items on my bucket list were: 1. Living in Ireland, and 2. Writing a book. It became so clear to me in that moment – I needed to go do both. It was time. It’s crazy how the pivotal (and traumatic) moments in our life can really shake things up and make us take a hard look at ourselves and our bucket lists.
Weeks later, I was booking a one-way flight to Ireland by myself in the middle of a global pandemic. I put all of my things into storage, told the company I was working at I would need to go fully remote, and boarded a plane to a foreign country. I had never been to Europe or the UK before, and knew nobody over there. I just knew I had to go. So I did. And I wrote my first book!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’m Hazel. I consider myself to be a multi-faceted individual with a passion for storytelling and helping others discover their voices. As a published Author, I had the incredible opportunity to move to Ireland, where I wrote my first book, “Claiming My Baggage,” a raw and honest travel memoir that resonated with readers around the world. Following my return to Santa Cruz County, my hometown, I have dedicated my time to assisting others in telling their own unique stories through brand management and content creation. Alongside my endeavors in the literary world, I am also a Licensed Esthetician and Reiki Practitioner, utilizing my expertise to bring healing and peace to those in need. When I’m not immersed in writing or creating engaging content, you can often find me at the beach, relishing the joy of running around with my nieces, or curled up comfortably at home, delving into the strategic world of Settlers of Catan with my two cats, Mary-Cat and Ashley. One thing that is kind of funny about me is that while I am dedicated to helping my clients find their niche and define their craft, my personal brand is really all over the place. I’ve never fit into any boxes very well. I just love doing too many different things and tapping into different parts of my creative brain.
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
My clients are everything to me. Most of these partnerships and relationships have really found their way to me naturally. I value the connections I’ve made in my tight-knit community, and have also learned to tap into my own social network to bring the clients in that feel naturally in alignment with me. I am really passionate about representing a variety of diverse brands. My clients have ranged from tattoo artists, to financial advisors, to race car drivers, to realtors, to musicians. Having a variety of unique artists and creators in my network has forced me to expand my knowledge and learn about industries I never would have had the opportunity to. When I take on a social media client, I am responsible for “channeling” them and representing them in the online space. I get to try on a lot of different identities and tell their unique stories. This really keeps work interesting and intellectually stimulating to me.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I really love this question, because being able to pivot is so important to me. I began really building my social media presence when I was in college. I was President of my sorority at the time and started a blog that documented my journey in recovery from an eating disorder. Even though I was at one of the lowest points in my life, I leaned on my writing to help process my way through my recovery. This blog started as an anonymous endeavor that I was only sharing with my therapist at the time. There was one morning that I woke up and just had this strong sense that it was time to make my blog public and share my work. I was terrified, but have really learned to trust my gut from a young age. Once my blog was published, hundreds of readers began reaching out to me and sharing their own stories about their struggles with eating disorders and mental health. This made me feel so connected during a time in my life that had felt so dark and isolating. Through the sharing of my blog and the social environment I was already tied into on campus, my social media following began to grow. I started feeling more and more comfortable and compelled to show up as exactly who I was at the time and who I am today. Building my own personal brand online has allowed me to pivot into multiple careers over the last decade of my life. I went to beauty school, documented my journey online, and built a successful business as a Licensed Esthetician, winning Santa Cruz’s “Best Esthetician” two years in a row. When I decided to move to Ireland and write my book, I brought my followers along on my chaotic and beautiful journey, got my book published, and threw an extremely successful book launch. This last year, when I decided to leave my corporate full-time job and take on social media/brand management full-time, I used my online presence to pivot yet again, and call in the right clients to help me launch my new career. Building up and pouring into your own personal brand is so important, because it gives you the space and power to pivot whenever it feels right in life. I have a loyal following who knows me, what I’m about, and supports me in any direction I go.
Contact Info:
- Website: hazelchadwick.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/hazelchadwick
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hazel-chadwick-4ab713147/
- My book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Claiming-My-Baggage-Hazel-Chadwick/dp/1800943458/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?crid=OT0W1QG7FJAX&keywords=claiming+my+baggage&qid=1658239462&sprefix=%2Caps%2C98&sr=8-2
- My book narrated by me on Audible: https://www.amazon.com/Claiming-My-Baggage-Hazel-Chadwick/dp/1800943458/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?crid=OT0W1QG7FJAX&keywords=claiming+my+baggage&qid=1658239462&sprefix=%2Caps%2C98&sr=8-2
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hazechadwick
Image Credits
These were all taken by me on self-timer, etc so no need for photo creds. :)