When I'm in London this spring I will do everything in my power to finally visit the Lisa Stickley shop. I've been to London a million times in my life but never stepped foot inside of her darling store and feel positively horrible about it. Why? What is my problem!? Don't answer that. I clearly need to prioritize next time I'm in jolly old England and skip on over for a visit. It was just in The Independent a few days ago, did you catch the article and shop photos? If not, click here to read more.

I love the new bedding Lisa is working on, and that she's in conversation with Anthropologie to collaborate with them on a line, and she's working on a line for Hankyu in Japan, a collection of homewares at Debenhams and a new bedding collection at Heal's (shown). Wow! Lisa is so talented and clearly very successful and though I've never met her my heart swells seeing a young woman who seems to have it all but is known for remaining down-to-earth and as real as they come amongst those in her field. I've noticed, even in my own blogging world, that even bloggers who grow in popularity can change and became a bit snobby or make it very obvious that they are top tier and everyone else is, well, everyone else. Let's make it our personal vow to keep it real on the web.

This is prevalent in every industry I guess, the whole swollen head syndrome that occurs when fame sets in, and sometimes it saddens me when those I love get sucked in and I have to watch, powerless...  That is when I turn to examples of those who are super successful like Lisa Stickley who don't let their inner fame monster take over. I also think of others in the design world who stay true to their roots. Shannon Fricke, Emily Chalmers, Debi Treloar, Selina Lake, Sania Pell, Geninne Zlatkis, Belinda Graham, Irene Hoofs, Leslie Shewring, Jo Packham (publisher of Where Women Create and Where Women Cook magazine), Leigh Standley, Amy Atlas... these ladies (and tons more, plus many guys) really INSPIRE me because they're all hugely talented and successful and yet, you never once feel like they think they are better than you or more important in some way. I love these women, they are all stars in my eyes and I'll always support them through thick and thin! I could list SO MANY more wonderful people but I usually just blog about them instead because promoting them on decor8 is my small way of thanking them for remaining true and special.

Whether in the corporate world or the indie lifestyle, or that space in between -- some let the fame monster warp their perception of self and as a result, lose a clear sense of reality. My advice is to keep it real and remember how you got to wherever it is that you think you are today. Your readers, your friends, people who wrote up your work when some flat out rejected you, others who believed in you when you didn't believe in yourself, friends who were there through it all, family members who held you through your growing pains... all of us who have found success in whatever it is owe so much to our fans and support teams - whoever those people may be. I guess that's why the Lisa Stickley's of the world impress me so much. They just do their thing and don't allow themselves to become elevated as a result. It makes me want to support them all the more.

Do you have thoughts on what I've said above? I often wonder how you cope with your own success, or the success of others if you perhaps have noticed it affecting them for the worse? Do you say something? Avoid them? How do you handle all of this?

(images: lisa stickley)