Inside Francesca Burns’ Transformative Journey

• Fran’s career in fashion first began in music when she assisted the creative director for Kylie Minogue. 
• Finding her way into the fashion side more officially, Fran started working in PR, where she discovered that styling and magazines were what really lit her up.
• Prolific stylists such as Joe McKenna, Alex White, and Jonathan Kaye were among those Fran assisted as she came up in the industry.
• After deciding that the format of most magazines felt ripe for change, Fran, along with her friend and collaborator Christopher Simmonds, decided it was time to start their own project, PRINT.
• Emphasizing the importance of viewing the necessary changes around sustainability as an evolution rather than a revolution, Fran reminds us to focus on progress rather than perfection as we all work together to achieve lasting and meaningful change.
• Deciding to study nutrition, Fran discovered the holistic approach to life as something that went beyond personal routines and lifestyle choices, eventually qualifying as a transformational coach.
• Refusing to be relegated to any one role, Fran is a stylist, consultant, creative director, publisher, and mentor, viewing this variety of creative outputs as an integral part of who she is.
• Working with both individuals and brand clients, Fran’s coaching has provided her with a way to bridge the gap between where we are and where we want to go, helping people realize they have the capacity to take the necessary steps toward achieving their goals.
• Fran points out that it’s impossible to shape and bend ourselves to the expectations of others, suggesting instead that we should lean into whatever lights us up, even if it’s outside of the industry we’ve chosen. If it’s feeding us, it’s also opening up our point of view even more.
• Leaving us with a simple yet powerful message, Fran believes that there is no limit to what we can do as long as we are inspired. 

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Notable Quotes: 

• “This industry is really a magnet for such extraordinary people, nobody walks into this with anything other than a great sense of curiosity and creativity. I don’t think there’s another industry that kind of gives you the platform to create in so many different ways and actually build a career from it.”
• “I went to a convent school. I grew up in a very small town; nothing exciting ever happened until I walked into that newsagent and bought my magazines.”
• “I think it's really important to remember that we are really at the beginning of this, and the climate emergency is a problem that faces all of humanity, not just fashion.”
• “I think for such a long time, it was really single-minded, very youth-oriented, and very thin-oriented. Which, while those things are, of course, beautiful, exclusivity also says more than what we're seeing in front of us.”
• “I recognized, kind of halfway through 2019, that I felt completely dissociated and disconnected from my life. I was working constantly, I was traveling constantly, I felt alienated from my friends and family, and I felt alienated from myself.”
• “I studied nutrition, and it gave me a completely—well, not only did it help me with my own health and recovery, but it gave me such a new perspective on, as extreme as this may sound, how incredible the human body is. And how so much of our lifestyle and environment plays into our well-being, in more ways than we’re ever told in the beginning.”
• “I think moving forward, being more involved on a consultancy side is definitely something that uses all of my skills, in a really exciting way. So, I’m exploring what that looks like.”
• "We're all constantly thinking of our next step, of how we want to expand in our lives and our careers. And the gap between what we want and actually taking the action to get there can sometimes feel like a void. Coaching in this way really helps to bridge the gap and remind people that they have the capacity to take the steps necessary to move toward what they want."
• "You can't bend and shape yourself to meet other people's expectations. It's absolutely impossible. And what each of us has is completely unique to us. How we see the world is completely unique to us. I think there's no limit to what we can do if we're inspired."
• "Contemporary is tuning into yourself, following your instincts, indulging in the things that you feel passionate about, and just really leaning into the joy of life. Because let's face it, we live in a tough world full of challenges, and we need the joy to keep us going and keep us inspired."