You may know of Dom Roberts from her informative and creative graphic designs that took Instagram by storm in 2020. This LA local is the founder of The Uncomfortable, which is a creative company that sparks dialogue about uneasy yet important topics through apparel and other goods. She believes that everyone is an activist in their own way, and highlights other young changemakers through her podcast entitled ‘The Uncomfortable’. We’re so excited for you to meet Dom, and we have a feeling that you’ll be as inspired by her as we are.
What does self care man to you:
Self care means to honour and love yourself. It’s a basic answer but it really is all about loving yourself! Every season it looks different. In this season of everything growing rapidly, some days I’ll work 14 hours straight and I’m like ‘what just happened’? When my platform grew, I realized I was working crazy hours, I was always tired, and I wasn’t taking care of myself. I committed to myself to take every single day, day by day. The things we love, we take care of.
When did you realize the importance of self care?
I was a social media intern and it was a really intense job since it required a lot of time and sacrifice. It was a year of putting myself last and not taking care of myself. Because of that I had a huge emotional burnout, and I totally spiralled to the point where I couldn’t leave bed and I was crushed. That was really scary and it took time to heal out of it.
In the resurface of Black Lives Matter, I could see myself getting there again and I was seeing these old habits creep in. When George Flloyd’s murder happened, my screen hours were up to 12-13 hours a day. I was glued to my phone for updates and had to prematurely stop myself from going back to 2019 Dom. it was really crazy but I realized that if everyone means what they say, then this is a movement, not a moment, and that I truly can’t live my life like this.
How do you find the time to maintain a solid self care routine while running The Uncomfortable and being an activist?
It’s a little unorthodox but I’m very intuitive with my schedule. Sometimes I’ll work for three hours, then I’ll take a break for 3 hours, then I’ll work for another 4 hours. It works well for me because it follows the flow of when I actually want to work. I also don’t feel trapped or anxious and I still can manage to hit deadlines.
What are your self care staples?
The biggest thing that I need is sleep. When you’re tired, you may as well be under the influence. It’s crazy how much good rest will do for you. Also, I recently started going on long walks to wake me up and add to a routine. Lastly, I also make sure to see my friends, either on facetime or through a socially distanced coffee. You can get so lost in yourself if you don’t see people as much.
What life motto gets you by?
I live by ‘The only thing that you have to do is die’. I’m a huge people pleaser and I’ve had to toughen up within the years of moving to LA and my field of work. I realized that there’s always going to be someone who isn’t happy with me just because, and so I learned to stop pleasing people. If something doesn’t make me feel good, I truly don’t have to do it.
You can find Dom on Instagram, through The Uncomfortable, or on her podcast. Stay tuned for more #SelfCareRecipes coming soon.
