Em Burnip, founder of Eco Wedding Festivals

About this episode

Em Burnip discusses her journey to becoming an eco-entrepreneur and the challenges she faced in aligning her career with her values.

Em Burnip is passionate about nature and the environment and when her daughter Grace was born she matched her business skills with her values to create Eco Wedding Festivals. But taking control of her own career path was less straightforward than simply setting up an eco-business while she was on maternity leave. She had developed a secure, good, if not always satisfying, career as a personal assistant and events executive for a Big 4 consulting firm for 17 years, with a special interest in sustainability. Her efforts to get into a sustainability-led role were always thwarted, however, until she was given a nudge to find her own niche as an eco-entrepreneur. With a small child to consider she paused before making taking a leap and making the necessary sacrifices to move forward. Em advises people who want to secure a green job or to become an eco-entrepreneur to first find out what they are good at, to put in research and start connecting with people in the field they want to work in.  From her own viewpoint, while she is passionate about nature and biodiversity, she considered where her skills and training would be best used, knowing that she didn’t want to spend the rest…

People in this episode

Host: Sandra F

Guest: Em Burnip

Topics covered

• eco-entrepreneurship
• sustainability
• career development
• personal growth
• motherhood

Keywords

• eco business
• sustainability
• career path
• motherhood
• entrepreneurship

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Eco Wedding Festivals, Big 4 consulting firm

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