“Every Day I Work On Getting Better At What I Do”: Deliciously Ella On Achieving Success So Young
In the past five years, the Deliciously Ella blog has become a go-to for avid cooks [Photo: Rex]
Less than five years ago, Deliciously Ella was Ella Woodward, a regular young adult negotiating life at university. But her life wasn’t exactly like every other student’s: She suffered from a chronic illness, which meant she was often bed-ridden and in constant pain. It was this that prompted Ella to make the pivotal decision to change her diet, which not only turned her illness on its head, but also ended up shaping her career.
More commonly known for the success of her subsequent food blog, ‘Deliciously Ella’, Ella (now Mrs Mills), has since released a best-selling app, two successful cookbooks and co-founded a delicatessen - all before reaching 25 years old.
Ella’s blog has birthed two cookbooks, a deli and an app [Photo: Rex]
So, we weren’t surprised when we heard that Ella was branching out and on a mission to make her mark on the beauty world.
For the first time, she’s ventured into skincare and teamed up with Neal’s Yard Remedies to utilise the all-natural ingredients she loves to use while cooking to rustle up a face wash and moisturiser.
The chef’s latest venture is a collaboration with skincare brand Neal’s Yard [Photo: Neal’s Yard Remedies]
On achieving so much at such a young age. I’m so busy focusing on the day-to-day running of my various businesses that I don’t always stop to think about how far my career has come. But, whenever I do, I feel very proud and hugely excited about all the things that are yet to come. Starting your own business is such a big learning curve: every day I work on getting better at what I do and I’m really enjoying that growth – although it can be very challenging.
Life as a role model is a big responsibility. My readers are always asking me what I use on my skin. I’ve played around with homemade masks and products at home before but this is my first real venture into this world. When I started thinking about what I was putting into my body a few years ago, I became more interested in what I was putting on to my body too. I love how much it links to food though and the concept that what you eat links to how your skin feels. I’ve also used lots of foodie ingredients in the products too.
We caught up with Ella at Wilderness Festival 2016 [Photo: Yahoo Style UK]
A skincare venture seemed like the natural next step. I love knowing exactly what you’re putting onto your skin and about the ingredient benefits of the products you use. Working with Neal’s Yard Remedies, I learnt and understood about the importance of choosing organic when it came to skincare – sustainability, the impact on the world. Our values are so aligned now, they’re the natural choice for a partnership.
I loved spending time with the formulations team at the eco-factory in Dorset, they were really able to bring my vision for the products to life - I can’t tell you how much love has gone into those blue bottles.
Think about what you’re putting on your skin. I apply the same concept to choosing skincare as I do to choosing food – looking for the most natural, organic ingredients possible. I keep my routine pretty simple - just a daily cleanse and moisturising routine to remove impurities and keep your skin hydrated. I like to keep my makeup really simple, normally just mascara, bronzer, blusher and a luminizer.
Coconut Oil is your skin saviour – you can use it for almost everything. It’s your eye-makeup remover, cleanser and moisturiser. If you mix it with a bit of brown sugar and you have yourself a dreamy body exfoliator. I also add a dollop to the ends of my hair overnight as a restorative hair mask and you could even give oil pulling a go for whitening your teeth.
The Neal’s Yard collaboration has been in the works for two years now [Photo: Neal’s Yard Remedies]
Bringing something unique to the table is crucial. It’s really important when starting out to figure out what you are doing that is different to everyone else so that you have a market, you need to find an edge on them.
You have to love what you do too and truly be passionate about it, as you will need to dedicate so much of your time to building your business. It’s so important that that time doesn’t always feel like a sacrifice, as inevitably it does mean taking a step back on socialising sometimes (which is why you need to love it so much). Be prepared to live and breathe what you do seven days a week.
Finally, you need to be flexible to begin with. Your ideas and concept are likely to change as you take on feedback. Constructive feedback is so important and taking that on board is how you learn and grow. Try not to take it too personally, but instead use the feedback to make what you’re doing even better.
Adopting a healthy routine doesn’t have to be challenging. I think it’s all about starting slowly, just making one small change a day is amazing - adding in one new serving of fruit or veg a day is fantastic, some sweet potato wedges or guacamole make an insanely delicious addition to any meal and they’re such an easy place to start.
Whizzing up a smoothie in the morning is incredible too as it always starts you off on the right track for a positive day, while giving you an abundance of goodness and energy.
Shop the Deliciously Ella for Neal’s Yard Remedies range here.
