At the core of the Organic Island community sits Heidi Dugan, a true multi-hyphenate who inspires more than 6 million people across her channels who turn to her for practical advice on living well, looking your best and feeling even better.
Growing up across Australia, Heidi’s quest for self-betterment was kindled by her mother’s influence who emphasised the transformative powers of movement, mindfulness, exploration, and traditional holistic wellness practices.
When moving to Shanghai, a place she has called home for almost three decades, Heidi found a synergy between what her mother had taught her and the cultural practices of traditional Eastern lifestyles. She quickly became a bridge between the East and West embracing the purity of using food as medicine and the naturally active and wellness-focused way of life in Australia.
As Organic Island turns over a fresh leaf, we caught up with Heidi to explore her connection to conscious living, and inspiring others to live as their best selves.
OI: Heidi, what does the Beauty of Balance mean to you?
HD: People often talk about balance as a compromise, but I see it as wholly positive. It’s about the opportunity to counter wanting to look good and feel good, with acts and products that genuinely do good by you.
When it comes to skincare and my wellness routine specifically, I feel there is beauty in choosing products that feel luxurious and are enjoyable to use. And there’s beauty in investing the energy in yourself every time you do your daily rituals.
At the same time, when you’re using natural, effective, and scientifically formulated products, they’re having an impact on your skin and improving the appearance of your complexion. It’s that efficacy that provides the balance. Feeling good, looking good, and doing good by yourself.
Living consciously is an OI value that rings very true to you. Talk us through how you bring that to life each day and what living consciously means to you?
HD: I believe the areas that we focus on in our lives are the areas that improve. I love the quote ‘Where attention goes, energy flows.’
I’m constantly in a flow of plan and reflect. I’m very deliberate in the choices I make, and I set myself goals for each aspect of life, whether that be financial, education, health, fitness, relationships, even travel.
When you have those goals in place and you’re taking the time to reflect on them, on your progress and how you feel in trying to achieve those goals, what ends up happening is you naturally begin acting with intention to further accelerate you toward your goals. More importantly, you genuinely find joy in the process because you truly are making the most of each day.
When I’m doing my skincare, I’m looking at myself, I’m feeling good about my skin because I’m asking myself, what is the purpose of this and what are the results I want to achieve? I’m visualising the result and reaffirming this positive action in my routine.
The level of structure that guides your pursuit of holistic wellness is interesting. Is that another way you find balance?
HD: Absolutely. As a creative person, you often feel like structure should be a roadblock. But what I find is that having a level of structure and planning unlocks more opportunity and freedom to be creative and pursue wellness. It’s similar to how having a budget allows you room to splurge at times and feel good about treating yourself.
With structure, the base work is done. I make good choices everyday so that if I don’t want to go to the gym, or I want to enjoy ice-cream, I can, and I’ll enjoy the hell out of it, because of the healthy foundations I’ve built.
With Organic Island, the structure is the 10 years of experience that has gone into the brand, the science and research and testing of multiple formulations that it took to get the end product. It’s also the work that’s been put into understanding what makes a great cleanser, serum, or moisturiser in the context of a modern woman’s life, and how she will feel when she uses it. The work has been done so that using the products is like treating yourself to that ice-cream. It’s that moment of luxury and care every day.
You’ve long been an advocate for women’s wellbeing and empowerment. What does empowerment mean to you?
HD: For me, empowerment is about realising the environments and aspects of life that you have control and finding ownership in the decisions you make day-to-day. Too many people try and change things that are beyond their control. When you focus on the things you can control, and make thoughtful, deliberate, conscious changes, that’s when you begin to lead a life that you’re really proud of.
How do you, and how can we all, approach empowering those around us?
HD: It starts with realising that empowering others isn’t about teaching you to do something one way or another. It’s about sharing your own experiences, what works for you, and showing someone another way of thinking so they can feel inspired to make improvements in whichever aspect of their own wellbeing they’d like to focus on.
That’s what Organic Island is to me. It’s about sharing products that work for me, and a brand that aligns with my values, so that people wanting to make changes in that aspect of their life can do so without it being difficult.
Because not only should it not be difficult, it should be comforting knowing that you’re creating a daily ritual that is genuinely good for your skin, body and soul.
It’s like your mum’s cooking, right? You know she’s going to put a meal in front of you that is full of goodness, love and intention because she cares for you.
Not only have we put that level of care and thoughtfulness into every product, we’ve also tapped into the best ingredients, formulation technology and scientific research on organic skincare available. It’s all about that trust, feeling good that we’ve put in the work for you, so you feel empowered in making that change for yourself.
