5 life lessons from a small business owner

After experiencing burnout and sickness working long hours and for clients in industries she wasn't passionate about, PR professional Hannah O'Donnell decided in 2014 to start her own PR agency, Straight Up PR, focusing on her true passions: health and wellbeing. Here are five life lessons she's learnt along the way.

1. It's important to become very aware of what's really worth your energy
"because where your focus goes, your energy will flow."  

2. No amount of physical beauty will ever be as valuable as a beautiful heart.

"I think sometimes people get too caught up in physical beauty and forget about healing from within so that you can then truly shine from the inside out. It's important to take time to make your soul happy because that's when you find true happiness."

3. It's a beautiful thing when career and passion come together.

"I feel blessed that I've created my dream life and get to do what I love every day, whilst also providing the opportunity for others to do the same."

4. Vibes speak louder than words.

"I've found this to be really true in all aspects of life but particularly in business – it's important to be able to read a room and be in tune with not only your own energy and the vibe you're giving off but also that of others. I believe this comes back to one's emotional intelligence too, being in the game of communications we should be able to read people's vibes and energy and adjust ours accordingly to get results or make sense of a situation."

5. Collect moments not things.

"This is a big one for me and a lesson I've been uncovering for some time now, as I've realised that it's the people, it's the connections, it's the experiences in our lives that have the greatest impact. This is why when we do any sort of event or launch at Straight Up PR, I want it to hold significant meaning and for it to be experience based – there's no point in doing an event for just an event's sake. This will not create authentic relationships or mean anything to anyone – so therefore it won't deliver results for our clients and be a waste of time and money for everyone."

Hannah O'Donnell is an experienced public relations professional with a passion for building positive relationships with all kinds of people – media, influencers, clients and her team. Over her 10+ years in public relations, Hannah has delivered a number of successful PR and integrated communications campaigns for some of Australia's leading brands including Johnson & Johnson, Woolworths, Fairfax Media & Events, Nikon, Moet Hennessy, Lion and McAfee. In her first year of business at Straight Up PR, Hannah was awarded B&T's 30 Under 30 Award, and she continues to inspire people by her powerful leadership skills and positive attitude to work and life.