Entrepreneur

Entrepreneur
and former TV presenter Poppy Jamie has set out to
bring a little more happiness and a little less stress to your
day.

Very few people wake up feeling like a “happy bubble” every day.
Yet for Poppy, happiness is a skill that anyone can work on, it
just requires daily attention to achieve and maintain. “I view my
emotional health, like my dental health, just like you brush your
teeth to keep them healthy, you have to exercise your brain to keep
it calm and happy.”

You might expect that, armed with a happiness toolkit that
includes journaling, lavender pillow spray and staying logged off
social media until the afternoon, Poppy should be the definition of
cool-and-collected at all times. Not so – you’ll likely catch her
hauling a family’s-worth of luggage to her flight gate (which is
making its final call). Yet with her in-app calm time right at her
fingertips, she’s unfazed by chaos. Here’s why.

What is the Happiness Workout?

Simply put, the Happiness Workout is daily positive ritual to
help you feel happier, less stressed and more balanced. Anyone can
try it out for free on the Happy Not Perfect app and you’ll
be guided through a simple and easy five-minute game-ified
experience to relax, process thoughts and practice optimistic
thinking.

Step One of your app asks you to identify your emotion at time
of use. What emotion you most frequently identify with?

It really depends on a number of things: where I am, the day of
the week, my plans for the day etc. I’d love to say I am always
happy and relaxed, but in reality this is just not the case… I
definitely have spent many years managing chronic stress and
anxiety, times of heart-break, anger and all the things in between.
Having spent time developing coping strategies and a greater
understanding of my emotional state, I’ve learned that feelings are
all temporary and changeable. Happiness, sadly, is not a given.

How do you relax and stay mindful while travelling?

If you travel with me, you’ll realise it’s a very chaotic
experience! I’m always late for the plane, trying to bend time,
carrying way too many bags and probably attempting to take a phone
call at the same time as going through passport control. I’m
embarrassed to say, I am a walking mess when travelling.

The happiest place on earth is…?

Beside the sea with a sunset. I recently was very lucky to visit
the Bahamas for the first time and it was breathtaking. I find the
sea very calming to be around.

Do you use
Instagram for travel inspiration when planning trips?

Yes and no. I love finding spots no one has really explored yet
so I try to look off Instagram, but of course I get inspired by
some feeds that focus on travel discovery, such as SUITCASE.

Your Instagram bio reads: “(Warning:
social media distorts reality)”. Do you think all social media
sites should come with a warning?

After giving my TED Talk on social media addiction, I’ve become
passionate about increasing the awareness around the dangers of
distortion and deceit on social media. It is so important for
everyone, especially young people, to be educated on social media
perfectionism and how different a projected reality is form
IRL.

We are all motivated to post the best pictures and present the
highlight reel (much like in job applications and dating profiles)
and sometimes it’s very easy to forget this. The old saying,
“comparison is the thief of all joy” couldn’t be more true. I don’t
believe social media is all bad, it has brilliant aspects to it,
but little warnings help us to manage it better I think.

Highlight of your career to date?

I must say the day we launched Happy Not Perfect, I definitely
felt a sense of achievement and pride knowing we were going to help
so many people with their mental wellbeing. The second highlight
would have to be meeting Theresa May, then the Prime Minister, to
receive a Point of Light award in recognition of how much the app
has helped mental wellness in England.

Your favourite apps…

Happy Not Perfect for my morning and evening rituals, and
Spotify for podcasts on my walk to work.

Your top five hotels…

The Edition Hotel (I love its hotels in NYC,
London,
Miami),
Soho Beach House in Miami, Vana in
India, Six Senses Zil Pasyon in the
Seychelles and Anassa Hotel in Cyprus.

Where’s your next adventure?

I’m desperate to go to India on a meditation retreat. It’s
been a busy year launching the app so I would love to peace out for
a moment.

Do you unplug or
limit your phone usage while on holidays?

Although social media is an incredible way to connect with
people in a positive way, this also means it is very easy to do the
opposite. I find it very important to limit my scrolling time and
avoid all social media in the morning, especially when on holiday.
To kick the habit of reaching for my phone when I wake up to look
on Instagram, I complete The Happiness Workout instead.

What are you reading at the moment?

Dare to Lead by Brené Brown and The Untethered Soul by Michael A
Singer.

One piece of travel advice…

Try to take a social-media detox and focus entirely on you. You
deserve all the relaxation, self care and compassion time – don’t
waste it on others.

If there was one destination you could go back to immediately,
which one would it be?

Kenya.

What are your travel essentials?

I never go away without my Happy Not Perfect Ultimate Eye Pillow
and some sun cream – I burn like a crab.

And finally, what’s in your SUITCASE?

My Happiness Diary and my Chill the F**k Out lavender spray are
musts.