A Day I’ll Never Forget ✨

Pitching The Calmness Crew at Ideas Fest

Ideas Fest will forever be one of the most special and emotional days of my journey, with The Calmness Crew, so far. I had the incredible opportunity to attend Ideas Fest, an inspiring festival of entrepreneurship, creativity and possibility, beautifully created by Frankie James and her amazing team. The energy there was electric. Everywhere I looked were passionate people daring to dream big, building things they believe in, and supporting one another. It felt like stepping into a space where anything was possible.

Sharing Big Ideas at Ideas Fest

In the heart of that buzzing atmosphere, something I’d quietly dreamed about for so long finally came to life.

Pitching The Calmness Crew World’s First Mental Health Plushie to Simon Squibb

I had the chance to pitch The Calmness Crew one-to-one to Simon Squibb at the Help Banks Dreamland stand. This was the kind of opportunity I’d imagined so many times, but actually standing there in the moment was overwhelming. My hands were shaking, my heart was racing, and a part of me couldn’t believe it was real. I felt emotional, nervous, and yet deeply certain that I was exactly where I was meant to be. The Calmness Crew means so much to me — born from some of the hardest moments of my life — and to be able to share that vision with someone I’ve looked up to for so long was incredibly powerful.

Pitching to Simon Squibb

Later in the day, I had the privilege of watching Simon Squibb and Simon Alexander Ong speak on stage. Their talk was full of energy, honesty and inspiration but what truly floored me was hearing Simon share my pitch as part of his talk. He spoke about how someone had pitched to him prior to the talk and he could see that the pain I’ve been through had driven me to find a solution and how I had turned that pain into purpose. Hearing those words, in front of that audience, from someone I admire so deeply… it brought tears to my eyes. It felt like such a moment of being seen.

The Dream Machine!

Throughout the day, there were so many other magical moments. I had a brilliant conversation with the team from Calm, sharing what I’ve created with the world’s first mental health plushies and seeing how excited and supportive they were filled me with pride. I even met Curtis Pritchard and AJ Pritchard, who were there with Fint, and they were kind enough to have a photo with the plushies (a real pinch-me moment!).

Curtis Pritchard with The Calmness Crew Sloth

AJ Pritchard with The Calmness Crew Sloth

I also had the joy of gifting each of the incredible Dreamland panel, Amelia Sordell, Daniel Priestley and Nick Pritchard, their very own Calmness Crew plushie. When Amelia later told me how much her little boy already loves his, it honestly melted my heart. Knowing that something I’ve created is already bringing comfort and joy to a child means everything.

And just when I thought the day couldn’t get any better, later that evening I received a photo of Kim Richardson, Adam Smith and Nick Pritchard from Dreamland HelpBnk taking our little Calmness Crew koala out with them on their night out and it made me smile so much.

Koala hanging out with Adam, Nick and Kim from HelpBnk

Walking away from Ideas Fest, I felt completely overwhelmed with gratitude, with hope, and with this fierce determination to keep going. To keep building The Calmness Crew and helping children everywhere feel a little calmer, a little safer, and a lot more understood.

This day reminded me exactly why I started and showed me that anything is possible when you lead with purpose, act with kindness and give without take! 💛