Something happened when I turned 30, I felt free.

Leading up to that eventful birthday, I was nervous. I was scared about not being “young” anymore, it was like I was forced to seriously look at my new adulthood and take account. I wasn’t married, I had no children, my career was “experimental” and my mental analytics were constantly on overdrive.

As the clock ticked over past midnight and the 28th June 2012 rolled in, the strangest thing happened – nothing. It wasn’t like I woke up with new wrinkles, great insight or grey hairs; it was just another day and I was still me, just a touch older.

I’m now 33 and honestly can say that I am LOVING being in my thirties. I know myself better than I did in my twenties. I have money, experience, perspective and an innate confidence that comes with getting older. I’ve experienced more love, pain, loss, abuse, hope, fear, laughter and humility and each moment has added up to me understanding my inner workings and the world a little bit more.

I have started the Owning 30  blog, because I believe strongly in the following:

• Each one of us has an obligation to fulfil our own potential
• Women are powerful, as are their life experiences
• We can all benefit from learning from other peoples journeys
• Learning and growing is our  lifelong journey
• A community of supporters can help us achieve our goals
• A sisterhood of women is powerful
• Women need to support women
• Being a woman in our thirties is liberating and beautiful

I hope Owning 30 allows you to be your best version of yourself. I will do my best to provide you with the most useful, fun, inspirational information I can. This is a community of women, designed to help other women through authentic storytelling, advice, guidance and education. It’s motivated by one key idea, to help all of us live our best lives. I’m always open to women contributing to our community, so please do get in touch if you’d like to write with us – editor@owning30.com

We are in this together ladies. We can all benefit from each others guidance and experiences.

Until we meet again…

Love always and owning 30,

Danielle Lauren

(Today 33 and proudly 34 as of 28th June 2016)