How Elyse Slays Life

Model, eco warrior and reno queen Elyse Knowleson staying grounded while living the dream

- Lizza Gebilagin

Can you imagine what it’d be like to cross off a whole heap of items on your career bucket list in just 12 months? Elyse Knowles has done exactly that. Since the 26-year-old last appeared on our cover in early 2018, she’s become the face of swimwear giant Seafolly (“That was an all-time dream of mine”), scored the role of brand ambassador for Myer (“That was [another] huge dream!”) and collaborated with other names she’s passionate about, including natural hair care company Aveda and superfood powder Vital Greens. Top that with a recent move to Byron Bay with boyfriend Josh Barker to work on some upcoming design and construction projects (the reno-loving pair won The Block in 2017), and you could say Elyse is killing it right now. So, how does she juggle a meteoric rise while staying true to that cool, tomboyish self we all crushed on when she was camped out at a building site on TV? We asked so you can try out her success secrets.

1 NEVER BACK DOWN

“I was always the shy girl who never knew what she was capable of. I’ve had a huge amount of knockbacks and it shattered my confidence a lot. But the knockbacks made me stronger and they made me more resilient. I became more determined to get what I wanted. I wasn’t going to back down. You’ve got to have confidence and you’ve got to have drive. A year ago, I was talking to someone who said, ‘No, I don’t think you can get [the] Seafolly [job].’ They just said it straight out. I [left] that meeting and said, ‘Well, you just gave me motivation, and I believe that one day I’ll be able to get it.’ So yeah, as soon as someone says to me, ‘No’, I say, ‘That’s my mission now. Thank you for giving me the power, as well as the frame [of] mind to be able to take that [challenge] on.’ I like to prove people wrong.”