Ello, mates—

I’ve been MIA the last few weeks because I’ve been off doing a lot of behind the scenes groundwork for some updates I’ll start sharing with you today, and some later. I’m excited to announce that all newsletters will also live here.

I’m really excited to share this week’s Life by Design conversation with Nicholas Stone, Founder and CEO of Bluestone Lane, one of my favorite cafe and lifestyle brands. Nick is a high performer and compassionate leader, who was able to successfully dovetail three very different careers.

Here are a few lessons I learned from our conversation:

Surround yourself with positive energizers who inspire the best version of yourself: Nicholas  talked about the importance of having people in your inner circle  who help improve your mindset and support creating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. It was inspiring to hear about how Nicholas and his wife, Alexandra, support each other to ensure they’ve both got time to prioritize themselves, while having kids, scaling a business, and continuing to reach a higher standard of health and wellness.

This insight made me reflect on what makes a relationship stand the test of time, the qualities to look for in a partner, and whether those qualities are conducive to the life design I desire. Like everything else in life, love is a skill and it is a work in progress. 

You can be more than one thing in life: After Nicholas’ professional athletic career came to an end, he embarked on a journey in banking. While one would imagine the two career paths being extremely different, Nicholas explains how the sinew and interpersonal skills as a team player set him up for success as a banker.

About 11 years into his career in financial services, Nicholas opened his first Bluestone Lane store, and managed to scale his business to 12 locations before he decided to pursue Bluestone Lane full time. And even then, he was able to transfer his skills and knowledge from banking to lead by example as he scaled Bluestone Lane across 8 different markets and over 50 stores. It’s never too late to reinvent yourself.

Find ways to go down intellectual rabbit holes: We’ve previously touched on the importance of content diet, and limiting the junk-food-like content. Whether that be, bingeing a reality TV show, aimlessly scrolling through Instagram, or excessive consumption of mainstream media that raises anxiety levels. 

I’ve learned that you need to find the way in which your creativity and curiosity most awaken. This takes a decent amount of alone time, and trial and error. For me, it's typically journaling, reaching out to successful entrepreneurs whose path I admire to chat with, or picking up a book on mindfulness and/or personal growth.

There are other ways that I find helpful in creating space for new thoughts and ideas to come in: 

1. Refraining from checking my phone the first 30 minutes I wake up

2. Making sure I start each day with a clean and organized workspace and living space

3. Going on a walk where I am actively observing my surroundings––whether that be trying to pick up on different sounds, smells, or visual differences in the nature of my environment

I’m excited to hear your feedback on my chat with Nicholas! 😀

✨

Aylin

Life by Design Series

Profile: Nicholas is the Founder and CEO of Bluestone Lane, a premium Australian cafe and lifestyle brand that has over 50 locations across 8 markets, that aims to be the local spot for your daily coffee escape. Nicholas’ way-finding journey has spanned across three professional careers: the Australian Football League (AFL), banking for UBS and ANZ, and now full-time in hospitality with Bluestone Lane.

A song getting me through the week