Samantha Lippiatt is an entrepreneur, lifestyle by design advocate and co-founder of Australia’s first dedicated wellness travel company Health and Fitness Travel.
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1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?
I am the co-founder of Australia’s first dedicated wellness travel business, Health and Fitness Travel. Initially wanting to run my own retreats, I saw a gap in the market for a specialised agency and platform to promote wellness holidays and become a trusted advisor.
With a background in the travel and well-being industry, I was able to bring together the right skills and experience and through collaborating with the thriving business from the UK, we launched Health and Fitness Travel locally in 2014.
2) What does a day in the life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?
I often say the only constant in my life is change. I am often traveling and work remotely, however usually stay on Australian east coast hours which can mean a very early start to the day.
For example, I’m currently in Perth so I will often wake up at 4 or 5 am local time. In a perfect day I will start my morning with meditation but often I will reach for my phone and before you know, it an hour has passed as I delve into the needs of the business.
As the Managing Director of a global team, I have many responsibilities, however my focus now is to encourage Australians to embrace self-care and of course to hear my own message!
3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?
I am a passionate remote work advocate and thoroughly enjoy working remotely full time, supporting and supported by, a global team.
I travel with my husband, and we usually work from beaches in Australia or further afield like Thailand, enjoying an active afterwork life involving kite surfing and sailing or we’ll head to cooler climates like Canada, and enjoy snowboarding and hiking.
Our entire business works remotely for the Asia Pacific region so we can support our clients from anywhere, this was a mindful decision to design a lifestyle I love and skip the daily commute forever.
4) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?
I would find it difficult to claim anything resembling “work-life balance. I work a lot, and when I’m not in front of my laptop, I am often thinking about work.
It is harder to disconnect with technology allowing us to stay connected even from remote islands in the Maldives but it is one of the reasons I love to take part in activities on the ocean or out in nature, and leave my phone behind.
5) What do you think are some of the best habits or routines that you’ve developed over the years to help you achieve success in your life?
Before I began the journey to launch Health and Fitness Travel I was working a typical corporate lifestyle, burning the candle at both ends and not prioritising my health at all.
I realised this was not sustainable in the long term and that there had to be a better way to live. So, I set out to design that for myself, the irony being, as all business owners would know, is that I now work much harder, I am always connected to my business but the difference is that I am in control and I am surrounded daily by reminders to take good care of my health.
I find sleep is the most important element to being productive, so I am focused on improving my sleep hygiene and now switch to an audiobook before bed and aim to get 7-8 hours’ sleep each night.
In my role now I am also able to experience the benefits of regularly visiting retreats and most recently I even took part in a program aimed focused on my emotional well-being and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I benefited from this. (read all about it here).
6) Are there any books that have helped you improve over the years?
The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss, which shows you how to create an infrastructure for a lifestyle that serves you, so you can work more efficiently, working to support a life you love, not living to work.
If you take nothing else from the book, you can learn to stop being a slave to email and meetings that could have been phone calls plus you are better of outsourcing tasks that are time consuming or not in your wheel house. Time is precious – don’t waste it.
I am also currently reading Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships by psychiatrist Eric Berne – an interesting look into the ego states and how they affect behaviour.
7) What is the number one thing you do to make sure you get the most out of your day?
Start the day with a clear list of priorities.
8) If you could read an interview about work-life balance by anyone, who would that be?
I’d love to know how Oprah balances her busy work and life, I’m assuming it involves a lot of outsourcing and scheduling!
9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?
Life is what you make it, we decide what matters most to us.
If you’d like to have a conversation with us about how you balance the grind, get in touch with us!
