Hey, I am Emma, and I am the proud face behind Untamed Fernie. 

Life before Untamed

I was never that girl who had everything dialed from a young age; all I knew was that I wanted to travel just like my sister. If you asked 12-year-old Emma what she wanted with her life, she would have replied simply, “Travel the world”. 

I was born in the South of England, and when I graduated at 18 from college, a friend and I packed our backpacks, and my dad drove us to the ferry port in Dover. We jumped on the ferry to Calais, France and off we went on our first adventure. Ten incredible months later, we returned, and I have had the travel bug ever since. 

So I let loose on the world.

I spent the next ten years travelling Europe, India, South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and North America. I travelled over 40 countries, going on amazing adventures and working when I ran out of money. I had such an incredible time making lifelong memories and friends. 

I thought this would be my life forever. Then when I was 29, living in Panorama, a small ski town in B.C, Canada, I realised I was ready to go back to school. I was ready. I hadn't lost the travel bug; I just wanted something different. 

I think you know which way I went.

I am a big fan of making a pros and cons list when making decisions, so I made one for what I wanted to do after I graduated. I have always believed that you can achieve anything as long as you are on the path, so if I knew where I was going, I knew I could get there.

I realised that I wanted to live in the mountains, snowboard and bike when I wanted, work for myself, and have variety. It has to be fun, and I wanted to learn a skill. My possible career list consisted of fashion design, upholstery, Interior design or architecture. 

I wasn’t a huge fashionista.

I spent most of my twenties in my shorts and bikini on a random beach somewhere, but I have always liked to buy cool, unique clothes and feel good about myself. When I moved to Canada, I found the clothes to be very boring, especially in the winter I would always complain I just want some simple dresses and tops to wear with tights and boots.

I lived out of a backpack for years, so I have always loved multi-purpose and super-versatile clothes that work for different seasons. So I thought, let’s learn how to make clothes, that sounds fun, and if it doesn’t work out, I will at least have a sweet wardrobe at the end of it. 

Does it matter that I have no idea how to sew?

Thanks for reading, and are you on the right path to achieve your dreams? If not, it’s never too late. Read all about the incredible highs and lows of fashion school next week and how it wasn’t as easy as I had thought, haha.