Ep18 - Bunny Young | Throwing Starfish Around the World
Summary
Bunny Young is a former stunt woman and therapist, an entrepreneur, and army wife and mother. In this episode Adii and Bunny discuss becoming an entrepreneur against all odds, how being diagnosed with a heart condition and losing a dear friend transformed her journey, and ultimately her goal of making the world a better place.
Saving the World
“My goal is not to actually change the execution, my goal is to create space for perspective.”
When someone asks Bunny what she does, she says, “I save the world.” This serves as a jumping off point for the conversation, allowing her audience to inquire as much as they see fit, and leaving space to have a genuine interaction. She’s never been a fan of the elevator pitch. If you ask her daughter, Bunny says, she would tell you that her mom saves the world.
Bunny is very passionate about teaching her children about value; the value of what you do for the world. She explains, there is a return on investment for the value you put into the world.
As her daughter learns from home this year, she does not have homework—instead, she has self-work. This gives her daughter the opportunity to evolve an interest around her work, rather than being forced into homework for the sake of homework. Even in her 30s, Bunny says, she is still putting in self-work to better herself.
Humxn
“The entire reason for spelling it that way is not this grand message of ‘We need to not have man and all of these labels in the English language.’ It was just to get you to stop and just think.”
In a recent blog post, Bunny made the intentional choice to change the spelling of human to humxn. This, she says, gives herself and her readers a certain freedom, the opportunity to embrace a new perspective on the word. Ask yourself, she says, how do words in our language and other languages make you feel? How can we change those meanings to better serve us? It’s all about intention, she explains.
Does This Serve Me?
“When I say ‘take care of myself,’ please understand that it doesn’t come out of a place of me wanting to be the best version of myself for me, it’s very driven by my kids.”
Bunny leads her life and business with a specific goal to make the world a better place for her children, which means making the world a better place in general. But to do so, you must take care of yourself first—you will be no good to the world if you are weak.
The constant hustle, overwork, and growth for the sake of growth can lead to burnout. Bunny explains, overworking, putting yourself at risk of total exhaustion, is actually not valuable at all. Because no one wants to work with someone who is burnt out. At that point you’ve lost your value.
Selfull, not Selfish
“You are your most valuable self when you are fully invested in providing your whole self with all of the nutrients that you need to grow and then going from there.”
It’s not selfish to prioritize yourself, Bunny says. She makes it a priority to make time for herself and her family, and then the rest of her time that is leftover is left to her company. Especially having a heart condition, Bunny knows that it is dangerous to place her company, or even her family, above herself. She explains, if she were to place her family first, they would not be getting the best version of Bunny.
Joie de Vivre
“I’ve let companies die before because of a lack of core values… because I couldn’t sacrifice my values.”
Everyone has a few key values that they must live by, Bunny says. These are the things that you cannot sacrifice, no matter the cost. She explains, values are the things that, if broken, will make you feel physically ill because of how important they are to you. Values give you a foundation for speaking to your tribe, your community, and allow you to communicate what you truly stand for.