Inspiring Ladies I Love – Emma Elizabeth Sutton

It has been a little while since my last inspiring ladies post but I think I may be making up for lost time with this one.

I first met Emma Elizabeth Sutton around 5 months ago through an online course. Being both Brisbane based bloggers (say that 10 times fast) we had the chance to meet up in real life for a coffee and chat, which is really when I started to become intrigued with her story.

You may have heard of Emma through her blog 93 Frocks or perhaps from her feature in an issue of New Idea magazine this month. The lady has not only made a massive health and wellbeing turn around in her life but she is now inspiring and encouraging others to do the same through The Healthy Living Project.

Emma continues to spark interest with her Instagram shares and blog posts. She is a lady with many skills and fabulous attributes.

Meet Emma Elizabeth Sutton. A determined and motivating lady I love, and I am sure you will too.

Tell me and Calm to Conniptions’s readers a little about yourself.

I’m Emma, 36, living in Brisbane for two years now after almost a decade in London. Prior to that, boarding school and Uni in Brisbane so I guess you could say I moved home after my overseas stint.

Player of piano and violin, occasional singer in a choir, lover of Kate Spade, dachshunds and New York City.

Blogger, communications consultant and creator of The Healthy Living Project.

Also just a girl who’s lost 40kg!

What is 93 Frocks and how did it come about?

I have always been a shopping fiend, with a deep affection for pretty things. In particular dresses. When I was living in London I has ample opportunity to indulge and indulge I did.

The problem was that I was always fluctuating in dress size (mainly increasing). Not long after I started my weight loss journey I thought it would be entertaining to count up how many frocks I owned.

Do you remember that episode in Sex and the City when Carrie she realised she had 100 pairs of shoes that cost $400 each?

“I’ve spent $40,000 on shoes and I have no place to live? I will literally be the old woman who lived in her shoes!”- Carrie, SATC

Ummmm. Yes.

Needless to say, I didn’t spend too much time converting what I had spent on frocks in British pounds > Aussie dollars > giant house deposit and instead moved onto pondering how ridiculous it was that I owned 93 frocks.

In five different sizes.

Of which three fitted me at that time.

Because the rest were too small.

It was here that the idea for my blog was seeded; 93 Frocks – Weight loss one dress at a time.

I immediately opened an Instagram account with a photo of my back-of-the-envelope frock sums.

That was in June 2013.

The second photo on my Instagram account was in May 2014.

It took me almost 12 months more to build enough courage to take my story public and start my blog.

Was there a big moment for you that lead you down the path you are on now?

Oh I always wish I could answer this question with a wondrous light bulb moment or a tale of ‘how I hit rock bottom’.

But that’s not what happened.

Melinda, my good friend from my boarding school days, did an old-fashioned intervention.

The kind where the person invites you over and interrupts usual proceedings saying “So this is an intervention”.

She asked me to make an appointment with a personal trainer and wellness coach she and her husband recommended, and that if I didn’t contact him in five days he would be contacting me.

That was the big moment.

Who or what inspires you?

I find inspiration all around but over the course of my weight loss journey I’ve taken a huge amount of inspiration from Chris, my personal trainer and wellness coach, who truly lives and breathes what he does, which has inspired me to strive for health and happiness in my own life.

My parents, and my sister and brother-in-law who have been hugely supportive of the changes I’ve made, and who all work in their own lives at stretching themselves beyond the average and achieving great things.

The people I’ve met through my weight loss journey. Members of a Facebook group I’ve been part of for a long time, of people who need to lose over 30kg, the new friends that I’ve made at the gym and the classes I take, the people who comment on my blog or on social media, or email me to tell me I’m an inspiration – they inspire me to keep being the best I can be.

What does a day in the life of Emma Sutton look like?

Well it’s certainly changed a lot of late!

For starters, after 15 years in corporate marketing and communications, in late 2014 I went freelance so that I’d have more time to work on my blog and on The Healthy Living Project, a 12 week weight loss and wellness program that my personal trainer and wellness coach Chris and I have created, which starts on 31 January in the Brisbane CBD.

I’ve had so many people email and ask for an online version that we hope to get that up and running soon as well. It’s very, very exciting and I’m hugely passionate about what we’re doing.

I exercise for a couple of hours each day; a yoga class and a swim, a bike ride and a gym session. I like to mix it up. My exercise and training is more important than ever now that I work at home and seem to spend even more time sitting at the computer.

So right now every day is a little different. I spend the majority of time writing and creating and doing a little client work. I’m still getting used to not having a typical Monday to Friday job but so far it’s been fantastic.

2015 is here! What are you most looking forward to in the New Year?

I’ve made huge changes in my life over the last 24 months; moving back to Brisbane from London, trying to find my place in a totally different job market, massive weight loss and epic health overhaul, going freelance, launching my blog and becoming a creator of a wellness program that will help others.

My word for 2015 (which I borrowed from Karin’s 2014), is settle. In 2015 I’m looking forward to simply settling in and enjoying all of the changes that I’ve made to live my best life.

And I’m also looking forward to losing the last 20kg.

Any quirky facts you would like to reveal?

• I used to sing in the Royal Albert Hall around 30 times each year.
• I’ve never seen Star Wars, Star Trek or Lord of the Rings. I feel no need to change this.
• My eyes are different colours.
• When I lived in London I used to go to Paris for the day, for a little lunch and shopping.
• I taught piano to groups of small children at a music school to make money while I was at Uni.
• I have an odd accent (some people call is ‘posh Australian’?!), the result of almost a decade overseas.
• I once had dinner with Prince Harry. Okay, well, he was at the next table, but *technically* we both had dinner. At the same time. Same place. (The Orange, Pimlico, since you asked).

Here is an invisibility cape – what are you going to get up to for the day?

I’m going to sit in cafes and not only people watch but SHAMELESSLY listen in on their conversations.

3 things you are… and 3 things you’re not…

I am:

• Obsessed with sausage dogs
• Happy
• Learning to ride a bike again and loving it

I am not:

• Good at sitting through a whole film
• Interested in watching sport on television. Except tennis. And ice skating.
• Coordinated. Chris (my PT) spends a lot of time saying “YOUR OTHER LEFT” when I’m doing yoga…

To follow Emma’s wellbeing journey visit her at 93 Frocks or on Facebook and Instagram.

To learn more about Emma and Chris’s Healthy Living Program, visit their website. Get in fast! The first program kicks off on the 31st of January and spots are limited.

 

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