Bold moves is celebrated as a time when we share insightful, inspiring, and intuitive journeys that women find themselves embarking on throughout their personal and professional lives. We highlight the testing and tiring times and enjoy the pivotal moments of success. And, if there is one thing that has become paramount throughout the series, it is the strength of women, and our innate ability to ‘soldier on’. Well, this BOLD feature is no different, highlighting two awe inspiring women who have famously shared their life journeys through their podcast Darling, Shine! – Born when two best friends found themselves up shit creek in 2020, a time that left them unearthing shattering misfortunes of their own: Fertility and Widowhood. Through raw and honest conversation, Chloe and Ellidy open up a world of relatable, and unspoken truths for their listeners, discussions that have us hanging off every word. So, today we sit down with the girls to talk about what BOLD means to them, their journeys, and the key lessons they have learnt along the way.
I want to jump straight in and delve into your worlds. So, if I said the sentence, “She lived a bold life”, what does that mean for you?
Chloe: “To me, living boldly means taking risks, and saying yes to new adventures. When I reflect, my life so far has certainly been a special one – although I’ve had a few rough years trying to conceive, what it has taught me, is the importance of experiencing life. Simply put, some things go your way, others don’t, it is important to take life by the horns and live in the now, authentically, and surrounded by your people.
Ellidy: “I think to live a bold life, means to not follow the grain of others. You make your own rules, and stick to your own innate path, you don’t care what anyone else thinks, and you live unapologetically yourself. You are curious, you take chances, you don’t settle for less, you keep striving, learning, growing. You have your own opinions, and you don’t push those on others, you don’t need to. You are a leader, without trying!”
Speaking of living boldly, do you see yourselves as bold women?
Chloe: “Yes, absolutely! Without sounding to woo-woo, right now I’m in a perfect place of eb and flow, I’ve learned to trust my gut and follow my intuition.”
Ellidy: “I see myself getting there! In some ways, absolutely yes, but in many ways, I think its a work in progress. I still catch myself caring what others think of me, but that’s getting less and less each day.”
Inspired by how unapologetically bold you both are, we wonder, what does it take to show up like that, and be so transparent?
Chloe: “What you see is really what you get here. Being open, transparent, and talking to our audience is like therapy for me. When I had my miscarriages, and Ellidy’s partner Chumpy passed away, I saw a therapist, but there was no comparison to the way speaking on our podcast made me feel. Launching Darling, Shine! Was without a doubt a little nerve wracking and we weren’t sure how it would be taken, but the love and support we have received is paramount, we have created an open and honest space for women that deal with these issues privately, it is a safe space for insightful conversations.”
Ellidy: “One thing I’m not afraid of is to speak out and show people the real me, it feels so good to be authentic and vulnerable in that way, like a weight off your shoulders because you’re not trying to mould into someone else’s expectation. However, it can be hard not to take the little amount of criticism to heart sometimes, but I remind myself that if showing up, and being completely transparent can help even one person, then it’s all worth it. The keyboard warriors do nothing, other than keep us on our toes!”
Speaking of being bold, what is the boldest move you have both ever made?
Chloe: “Quitting my job in 2013 when I met my now husband and moving to the United States with him. From there I was on a solo mission, I borrowed $5,000 from my grandparents and started Aloe Swimwear with no experience in starting or running a business whatsoever. I did this while on the road with Paul and sold it 7 years later.”
Ellidy: “Having a baby solo, it was the best and boldest move ever.”
As authorities in your own right how do you create a story, one that takes people on a journey with you?
Chloe: “When I had my first miscarriage in March 2020, it took me a while to process and understand what had just happened, you hear these things, but never think it’ll happen to you. Being in a dark place I felt the urge to tell my story, so I posted a photo and details of events on my personal Instagram, and it was here that the flood gates opened. I had thousands of private messages from women suffering (most of them silently), and this is when I realised that we need to open up the conversation. In the midst of this, Ellidy’s partner Chumpy had suddenly passed away, and together we had found ourselves in a crazy club of what we like to call ‘women up shit creek’. Our story and our journeys have shaped who we are, but it has also shaped Darling, Shine! We use this as a platform to help others on the same paths as us, making it our mission to ensure women feel less alone on this wild journey.”
Ellidy: “A ‘zero fucks’ attitude. People want to feel they can relate to us and feel as though they are coming along for the ride, we’ll all just see what happens together. It’d be almost impossible to find authenticity in someone who was overly curated and basically has the ending planned already, plus it’s not very exciting is it?”
Collaboration is now more important than ever. How have you built a supportive tribe around you?
Chloe: “My tribe is my everything, and I’ve been very lucky to have an incredible support network. Darling, Shine! Has also organically built a community of women on our private Facebook page, with nearly 10k women all coming together, it is a safe space where can all lean in and listen to one another. One of my favourite stories from our DS community is that two beautiful women, found each other, both on the list for a heart transplant, there has been many beautiful friendships made.”
Ellidy: “Building this community happened naturally, our personal inboxes were flowing with questions relating to miscarriage, IVF, and grief, and I did feel the need to speak to those too who were suffering. This is the beauty of building up a tribe of supportive people around you, they become your support network, taking you on a journey throughout the walks of life.”
Lastly, what’s next for you both, and, Darling, Shine!
Chloe: “We have BIG plans for Darling, Shine. When we launched, we made a promise to our listeners to wear 100% of our hearts on our sleeve, its our mission to be raw, honest, and real, so to continue on such momentum we are fine tuning, watch this space”