Sh*t You Should Care About’s Lucy Blakiston on managing mental health in the digital era

Published Oct 23, 2024, 2:00 PM

The force behind @sh!tyoushouldcareabout's Lucy Blakiston discusses how she built a media brand from her bedroom, what she's learnt being a young she-eo and the importance of mental health in today’s social media-obsessed world. 

Warning: there’s colourful language used in this ep.

 

WANT MORE FROM LUCY?

For more on Lucy and Bel Hawkins’ book Make it Make Sense (Hachette, $34.99) see here. You can catch them at @sh!tyoushouldcareabout, on TikTok here or via their site here

 

WANT MORE BODY + SOUL? 

Online: Head to bodyandsoul.com.au for your daily digital dose of health and wellness.

On social: Via Instagram at @bodyandsoul_au or Facebook. Or, TikTok here. Got an idea for an episode? DM host Felicity Harley on Instagram @felicityharley

In print: Each Sunday, grab Body+Soul inside The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), the Sunday Herald Sun (Victoria), The Sunday Mail (Queensland), Sunday Mail (SA) and Sunday Tasmanian (Tasmania). 

Oh hello, welcome to Extra Healthy. You have tuned into the big sister podcast too healthy Ish from Body and Soul. I am the host of Felicity Harley. Do you follow you should care about across social media or do you listen to their podcasts?

Well?

Lucy Blacketston joins me today. She is the formidable force behind the media brand. She's got a new book out and she joins us from New Zealand to discuss how she built this media brand from her bedroom, what she's learned while being a young sheeo, and the importance of mental health and how she manages it in today's digital era. Lucy, thank you for joining us on Extra Healthy Is today. How are you from New Zealand?

From New Zealand, Well, so far away, so.

Far, so far away, not really, do you know what?

I'm so good. I'm feeling really good today. It's a joy to be here. Thank you.

And how are you feeling about a new book?

Okay, if I'm going to be totally honest, which I always am because I literally can't not be, I am at like the end of my ability to talk about it. I'm so proud of the book. But you know, when you've been on a big tour for one thing. Oh well, actually, why would most people know that? Well, like that is not a common thing. But I've been on a book door talking about one thing, and it's like, I love the book to death, but at this point, I just I'm going to try and bring the last of my hot Hot takes to you.

Yes, yes, please just fizzle out yet, You've got You've got one more. You've got our audience, you got them. Before we get onto your book. I do have to ask you the big question that I ask everyone who comes on the podcast. How do you stay extra healthy in your life?

Okay, I actually have an amazing answer for this because at the start of the year, I bought a lime green e bike because my family's full of cyclists and I've always wanted me to get on the bike. And I'm like, I've always been hesating because I've lived in really hilly places blah blah blah. And then I moved back to my small town and I was like, I need to get in the world, get fresh air, bike really fast and do something that I can't possibly be on my phone while I'm doing. And it is the joy of my life getting on my bike. And another thing that I do to stay exst you're healthy ish is I feel like I live a really big life but from a really small place. And that is my like, It's the reason I can stay so happy is because I live in a really small town, unstressful place, surrounded by my family. And it's taken a long time to figure out that that's what I needed. I've tried living in all the big cities. I've tried doing it, but it's not me.

What do you love about living in your small town?

Do you know what I love how cute a small town community is. Like I go to the local library to do my work and they all saw me from start to finish write this book, and then they hosted an event for me at the end of it. And it keeps my small towns called Blinham, and it just keeps selling out and blin It's just crazy how cute a small community is. And also you're not on traffic and you're not having to wait in big lines for things, so it's just quite good for the old mentors.

I think that would keep you healthy ish, you know, coming from living a place like Sydney, I get that. Yeah, now talk to us about you know, your whole business and how you created this let's call it Megamedia brand. I mean, you've done what a lot of young people, and especially on journalists like myself dream of doing. How did it all come about? For those who those listeners who don't know you.

So for anyone that doesn't know me, my name's Lucy and run a media company called shit you should care about. It started with my two best friends from this small town let him. But we were all living in Wellington in New Zealand and studying at UNI. And I was just in one of my lectures one day, and I was three years into my degree and it was international relations and media, and god, it was so boring. I just could not focus. And so I text my friends being like, Hey, do you think we should start something called shit you should care about? Where we can help young people care about things like what I'm supposed to be reading up on the slides right now but can't get my head around and not make them feel stripen for not knowing what things like hegemonic discourse means and ruby and live. My best dues are like yes, And then I was like, cool, should we call it shit? You should care about because that feels edgy, which is like such a cringe thing to say, but honestly, it's it is different. Well, actually, I was looking at our Australian book cover compared to the New Zealand and Australia has put an asterisk in the shit, so they are not quite as edgy as New zealand And has.

And New Zealand just has gone with z Zealand's just playing pure pure shit. Oh yeah, we're much more priutish than you, guys.

Oh you are. So Anyway, we started this business. It started as a blog and then very quickly I was like, guys, no one's going to come and read a blog. It's twenty eighteen. Let's go to Instagram where everyone else is. And then we just did it because we loved it, like making sense of the world for about three years, like while we were studying, while we were working different jobs, while we were traveling, like no one was paying us to do it. We were purely just obsessed with it. It's yeah, it was just fun. It felt like we were well for me because I did all the posting and the writing. I felt like, oh my god, I'm actually using my degree. Even though it's I was like, sweet, I haven't wasted all that money. And then twenty twenty happened and the world turned to shit and people needed somewhere to come that was going to give them the news without giving them the blues, and then we blew up massively. And now it's twenty twenty four and we've read the book and everything's going touch wood quite well.

How is the experience? I mean, you call yourself a cheo in the book, which I love. How what have you learned being the CEO? And what have you learned about yourself and others and people that you deal with and your audience?

Okay, everyone, And first of all, I say cheo like a joke, like, oh my god, I'm such a girl because I'm such a chio, But also this is how I identify. Also love it well. I did write the book about how quickly I realized that I would be very underestimated in every room. I walk it too, because you can't see me right now, but I'm about five foot, I wear a lot of pink. I'm such a girly girl. I'm obsessed with just being as myself and as girl as I can possibly be all the time, and when you work in the media, as you know, you're working with a lot of men, and often you're working with a lot of people that really turn their nose up at social media. Even though they're all obsessed with insights and demographics and things like that, if it's coming from social media, they just seem to be like, oh, well, you know, it's still not as legitimate as us or whatever. And so I very quickly realized that I'm actually obsessed with being underestimated, because it's really nice to walk into a room and have people expect that you're not going to know things, and then sort of watch their faces as they're like, oh, actually, like she does know about this news bargaining code, or about what's happening in the South China see or whatever it is. It's just really nice for them to realize that you can look and be and act and come from places where they don't expect you to or be who they don't expect you to be, and still be a shee oh, which is so fun. And so after you walk into that room and you say your piece, so to speak, are they convinced Do you feel like you earn the respect or you still yeah, honestly to give to give men some credit, which I don't often do. I do feel like as so as soon as they know what we're all about. I do feel like people are very like the Honestly, they're really cute about shit you care about. Everyone is really or that I have come across in person online the different story, but has been so kind and helpful and giving, especially honestly, the media industry in New Zealand. You would think that they would see us as me as some sort of competitive but everyone's just been really nice and cute.

We'll be back after this shortbreak with more from Lucy.

Now.

As people listen to Extra Healthy ISHU because they're interested in health and fitness, tell us some shit you care about when it comes to well being and health and fitness and things that you and perhaps even your audience cares about. What are you finding that that's perhaps trending or you know, in the zeitgeist and with your audience and also for you.

Okay, this is a great question. Look, I don't know if it's trending, but I was asked in an interview that went online when the book was first released, what was the last drug I've ever taken, and I was really honest implied. I was like, babe, so tell a friend my anti depressions every night this drug. Have you ever taken this? And I sort of wrote a little bit about how like I'm twenty seven now and so times about seventeen, I've thought like, oh, I'm just like this. I'll just go through life and will I never feel quite like good? It will always be fine, but it will never I'm a really happy person, but there will always be something like and your bone's weighing you down. And I always knew that it was probably a bit weird, but I was like, oh, I'm just like this. And then at the start of this year, honestly, after writing the book and having to do like deep like digging into yourself and getting to be totally, frank more depressed than I've ever been, even though you've produced something that you're really proud of, some of my friends were like, hey, it's actually time that you go and see a doctor. And I went to see my doctor, Blissy's Style. She'd been like, Lucy, we've been trying to do this for you for about ten years now, and I was like, no, but I'm ready, Like I'm I'm old enough now, I'm a shoeo. The last thing I really need to get in order is my brain. And then when I posted about that, I just saw like the catella fram nation rise up, like the girlies were in the comments, like yes, this is me, this is me. And then since then a people have messaged me being like I finally went to talk to my doctor and you said really bad anxiety, And I did this, And so I think the trend for me and amongst my close friends and amongst made me the Sisker hood, which is what I call our audience, is like going and getting, if you need it, some actual prescription help, because you do not have to live with a brain that's trying to turn on you. I think it's such a revelation that young people are so open about talking about this.

I do too, and I think that's only particularly and I think we can thank social media a lot for that, particularly in the past five years. It's to a decade. What do you do non prescription base to help your well being and mental health apart from riding your bike.

At from apart from well I write outside of the book. I write a lot, which is not a hot take because everyone's like journaling is great, but I do this thing, and this I've been doing for a really long time. Before I got to bed. I have a little book and or before I go to sleep, I should say I write down one good thing that has happened that day, so that right before I'm falling asleep, I'm thinking about something good. And then also it really helps because if you're even in like a depressive episode, you can go and be like, oh, like it got better. There was good things happening, even the last time I felt really shit. And some days it's like watched Love Island and that's all you can think of that's good. And in some days it's like, oh my god, I was on a book tour, I.

Was on the news like that's a great podcast.

Yeah, yes, And so doing that like specifically before I fall asleep has been really good for me. And you can do it in your notes act, you can do it in a real books, and I've told a lot of my friends to start doing it too, because it just like forces you to reflect.

And I have a I have a little folder on my in box where I save the good things, like if my boys said something about the podcast, if my producer, or if someone sent me a you know, a listener has said in a I really like that episode, and I just save them in my folders and then when i'm you know, because sometimes you get a bit of feedback on it, as you would oh yeah in the media space, feedback that you just remember that one person that said something critticol. You can't get it out of your head. So whenever I see one of those pop up, I'm like, oh, go into my little feel better box.

Okay, you should add this still feel bit of box that you're doing. You're a fucking great interviewer and you're doing such a good job.

Yes, thank you. Can you write that to me? Thank you?

I'll email you.

The other thing I really like in your book is that you humorize a self love. I think, look, we're speaking from the same hymber when it comes to that. But talk to us about this. What does self love mean to you?

Okay, Well, it's so funny because I just self love is such an interesting concept. To be very clear, Honestly, I don't know. I do not know how I've got here as a girl grew up on Tumblr, but I actually really do love who I am, so that's like proud, that's amazing. But then when you go on the internet, everything from like skincare to I don't know, like shows to everything, it's like telling you how to love yourself. Why is a brand at the same time as I'm trying to sell me something like they're profiting off of me not liking my skin to sell this skincare, but they're also telling me to like love the skin I'm in. So I'm like, I think it's not a hot take to be like advertising sucks and everyone's trying to du pass, but I just think making light of it and almost being like I am a consumer, but I'm also really aware of what these brands are doing to me. That's kind of how I reckon with like the internet can constantly telling me to love myself or also telling me I need a waste training it. You know, it's quite funny, it's quite ironic, but it's not when you're fifteen and you haven't, let like yet learnt the critical thinking skills of a twenty seven year old, do you know what I mean? That's where it's like, oh, okay.

What are some things that you've learned from your followers over the time? I mean, I think you've got a few of them in your book. Actually, I think one of them the low stakes errors that I liked, people in real life get real talk to me about yeah, go low stakes eras, and then talk to me about the people in real life get real, because I thought that was a good one.

Oh my god. Okay, First, why I love low stakes eras. So if you work on social media or live and breathe on social media as like most of us do, you will get told very quickly if you make a mistake about anything big or small whatever. And sometimes sometimes it's no. Most of the time it's not that nice to be told that you've got something wrong. But I really really love it when I just make a tiny little mistake like I misspeller work do I put a comma in the wrong place because I feel like it reminds people that you're human and not some huge corporation. And I just think it really personally, honestly, I think it personalizes the person behind the screen if you make a mistake. And then also I don't know, I just think it's good for us all to get at a healthy low steaks amount of feedback. We can't all be like gassed up all the time by followers are our readers, because that would just that would be an echo chamber, which.

But that's how you get better, right from Yeah. If you can take good positive feedback, well negative and positive feedback and grow from it, then you're only going to get better.

Hell yeah. And so when it's low steaks, it's the best because it doesn't but you didn't hurt anyone, but you have got something wrong, so that's great. And then people in your real life getting realer. This is just I think this is how I cope with the trolls, because especially when you're covering the US election or whatever, you're just going to get your damned if you do, and you're damned if you don't, you're going to get trolls whatever you post about anything ever, And so I just can't really picture the people that are behind the screens doing that. They're all just sort of faceless trials. But then the people in my real life, the ones I talk to every day, or the ones that are never going to send you a screenshot of terrible things that are happening in your comments sections, they just become so much more important and beautiful in your life because they'll either pretend they haven't seen the hate you're getting online, or they'll be like, don't worry about these people don't know you, they don't know your intentions. Like I just I think the real life getting people in your real life, getting real It's just very It's just very true. Like a phone call becomes so much more meaningful after you have like three million people that don't know you.

End Yeah, surround yourself with those people. Yeah, real people at the end of the day, that's the most important. Lucy, thank you so much for joining us on Extra Healthy Ish and well good luck in the future.

Thank you cooage to be here.

Oh what an inspiring woman. Lucy is someone who well had a dream and made it happen from her bedroom. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chat with Lucy. Her book is called Make It Make Sense and it is out now. If you do have any ideas of themes or interviews guests you'd like to hear before Christmas on Extra Healthy, she can DM me across social media at Felicity Harley, anything Else, head to Body and Soul dot com. Do THEU for us on socials. Go of our print edition, which is out in your local Sunday paper, and until tomorrow it's extra healthy ish