My Big Millennial Burnout

At just 26, Poppy Jamie had it all: a flourishing fashion business, her own Snapchat show and a glittering, celebrity-packed social life split over two continents. But what happened when it all came crashing down?

- Jennifer Savin

It was early February last year, and the photographer’s camera clicked in the background as a makeup artist dusted fine powder over my forehead. That day, of all days, I should have felt excited, pinch-me-pleased and bursting with energy, but instead my stomach was weaving itself into a bundle of macramé knots. I was on set with my best friend – who just so happens to be actress and model Suki Waterhouse. We’d first met in a nightclub and, six years on, had launched our own accessories label, Pop & Suki. We were filming a promotional video that day, but as the bags shone bright in candy colours under the studio lights, inside, I felt darker than ever.

On the surface (and if you were judging by my social-media accounts), I had it all: my own fashion brand loved by the likes of Lady Gaga and Jessica Alba, a hugely popular Snapchat show, Pillow Talk With Poppy, and a successful presenting career that I’d been pouring my blood, sweat, soul and tears into since the age of 19. I was known for my positive and upbeat interviews with celebrities on MTV, and attended red-carpet events in both London and LA, the two gorgeous, demanding cities that I split my time between – ones that as a schoolgirl growing up in Leamington Spa I could only pray I’d visit one day, never mind live in. But on that afternoon, when I should have been flying high, none of that mattered. Physically, emotionally and mentally, I was nothing short of empty. Suddenly the tears came thick and fast.