About
My name is Mimi and my life was turned upside down five years ago when my beautiful daughter Olympia was born with quadriplegic spastic cerebral palsy and epilepsy.
As I searched for ways to cope, my skincare routine became my moment of peace where I’d let go of worry and focus on gratitude and acceptance. Through this ritual, I became more resilient. I encouraged friends going through hard times to try repurposing their skincare routines in this way, and they too found it easier to cope.
As I studied the brain to learn about Olympia’s condition, I began to understand the incredible impact repetition has on the brain, and why this practice was having such a powerful effect.
About
Olympia, the incredibly loved – and loving – little girl who inspired it all! To us, Olympia is the ultimate symbol of resilience; she has defied so many odds since birth.
Once Olympia was born, the cost of her care meant I no longer bought the skincare I once did – even though, thanks to so much time in hospital, my skin felt more unhealthy than it ever had before. My Dad, a doctor who specialises in skin, taught me how to look beyond marketing to what formulas need to work. However, I still couldn’t find accessibly priced products that delivered the results I wanted.
While all of this was happening, more and more I started to see team members at Burger Burger, the business I co-own, struggling to cope with the realities of life. It’s a common issue – the Southern Cross Healthy Futures Report 2020 found that nearly half of Kiwis aged 18 to 29 were dissatisfied with their friendships, social lives and overall wellbeing.
All of these experiences converged to plan the seed of the idea for I AM MI: a community of people, products, practices and platforms dedicated to helping us all build healthier, happier, more resilient ways of living. I asked my old friend Lucinda East Kennedy to help bring it to life, and together, we have enlisted a whole village of very clever people to build the world of I AM MI.
At its heart is simplicity. Routines we already do. Time we already have.
Simple habits. Big results.
We’d love you to sign up to our newsletter and join our community today!
Ngā Mihi,
Mimi x
My name is Mimi and my life was turned upside down five years ago when my beautiful daughter Olympia was born with quadriplegic spastic cerebral palsy and epilepsy.
As I searched for ways to cope, my skincare routine became my moment of peace where I’d let go of worry and focus on gratitude and acceptance. Through this ritual, I became more resilient. I encouraged friends going through hard times to try repurposing their skincare routines in this way, and they too found it easier to cope.
As I studied the brain to learn about Olympia’s condition, I began to understand the incredible impact repetition has on the brain, and why this practice was having such a powerful effect.
Once Olympia was born, the cost of her care meant Mimi no longer bought the skincare she once did – even though, thanks to so much time in hospital, her skin felt more unhealthy than it ever had before. My Dad, a doctor who specialises in skin, taught me how to look beyond marketing to what formulas need to work. However, I still couldn’t find accessibly priced products that delivered the results I wanted.
While all of this was happening, more and more I started to see team members at Burger Burger, the business I co-own, struggling to cope with the realities of life. It’s a common issue – the Southern Cross Healthy Futures Report 2020 found that nearly half of Kiwis aged 18 to 29 were dissatisfied with their friendships, social lives and overall wellbeing.
All of these experiences converged to plan the seed of the idea for I AM MI: a community of people, products, practices and platforms dedicated to helping us all build healthier, happier, more resilient ways of living. I asked my old friend Lucinda East Kennedy to help bring it to life, and together, we have enlisted a whole village of very clever people to build the world of I AM MI.
At its heart is simplicity. Routines we already do. Time we already have.
Simple habits. Big results.
We’d love you to visit our Kickstarter & join our community today!
Ngā Mihi,
Mimi x
Why Resilience, You Ask?
Olympia’s birth wasn’t the first major life challenge for Mimi and she knows it won’t be the last. Having learnt coping processes through the support of some very clever mental health professionals, Mimi began to wonder how these processes could be more scalable and readily available to everyone. When she read more on resilience she was surprised to learn that it is a learnt skill and not something we are innately born with.
We believe that resilience is not talked about or taught enough despite it being a learnt skill that’s important to living a balanced and happy life. Life isn’t meant to be perfect – it will always have challenges – but when you learn resilience, the rough seas don’t feel as scary.
Why Resilience, You Ask?
Olympia’s birth wasn’t the first major life challenge for Mimi and she knows it won’t be the last. Having learnt coping processes through the support of some very clever mental health professionals, Mimi began to wonder how these processes could be more scalable and readily available to everyone. When she read more on resilience she was surprised to learn that it is a learnt skill and not something we are innately born with.
We believe that resilience is not talked about or taught enough despite it being a learnt skill that’s important to living a balanced and happy life. Life isn’t meant to be perfect – it will always have challenges – but when you learn resilience, the rough seas don’t feel as scary.
“Resilience is about steering through the adversity, challenges and changes in our daily lives. It also means learning from these experiences throughout our lifetime…Resilience is not a fixed trait – the capacity to grow resilience resides within us all. Ordinary processes or ‘ordinary magic’ equip us to do this in our everyday lives.”
Dr Lucy Hone, New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing & Resilience
Our approach is to bring together a community of experts, tools and resources and provide the architecture (through our digital platforms) that makes this knowledge easy to access and digest. We want to encourage our community to integrate simple practices (habit stacking) into their daily routines, repurposing time they already have to introduce behaviour changes that will help move them towards the life they want to live.
We have been inspired by many amazing people along our journey, particularly Olympia and her team of doctors who collectively embody resilience. Another huge source of inspiration to us is Dr. Lucy Hone, Director of the New Zealand of Wellbeing and Resilience (quoted above. We’re major fangirls). If you haven’t already, take 15 minutes to watch Lucy’s incredible TED Talk on the three secrets of resilient people – you won’t regret it!
Co-founders Mimi Gilmour Buckley & Lucinda East Kennedy
“Resilience is about steering through the adversity, challenges and changes in our daily lives. It also means learning from these experiences throughout our lifetime…Resilience is not a fixed trait – the capacity to grow resilience resides within us all. Ordinary processes or ‘ordinary magic’ equip us to do this in our everyday lives.”
Dr Lucy Hone, New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing & Resilience
Our approach is to bring together a community of experts, tools and resources and provide the architecture (through our digital platforms) that makes this knowledge easy to access and digest. We want to encourage our community to integrate simple practices (habit stacking) into their daily routines, repurposing time they already have to introduce behaviour changes that will help move them towards the life they want to live.
We have been inspired by many amazing people along our journey, particularly Olympia and her team of doctors who collectively embody resilience. Another huge source of inspiration to us is Dr. Lucy Hone, Director of the New Zealand of Wellbeing and Resilience (quoted above. We’re major fangirls). If you haven’t already, take 15 minutes to watch Lucy’s incredible TED Talk on the three secrets of resilient people – you won’t regret it!