Rebecca Tapp

Mother | Lover | Entrepreneur & Movement Maker | Podcast Host & Thought Leader

How many identities do you have?

Lover and Mother: My purpose in life is staying grounded and present for my wonderful fiancé, who is one of the kindest human beings I have ever met. The other purpose - guiding the blossoming of my beautiful wildflower. A two-year-old cupid called Tigerlily, who is my light. 

Entrepreneur and Movement Maker: I am the co-founder of The Supernova Tribe, a brand and content agency for purpose-driven CEOs, entrepreneurs, industry influencers, artists and talent. I am also the Managing Director of Future Crunch, a thought leadership brand with a focus on the amplification of Intelligent Optimism.

Podcast Host and thought Leader: I am the host of the Decoding Purpose Podcast. We speak with influencers, celebrities, industry leaders, activists, entrepreneurs, scientists and everything in between to explore how life's turning points act as catalysts for a more meaningful and purpose-driven life. I am also a keynote speaker and a purpose-driven business consultant.

Tell us a bit about your story and how you’ve got to where you are now professionally?

In the wise words of Steve Jobs: "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future".

My journey thus far has been a combination of courageous and intentional risks that asked me to back myself and take a chance, along with a series of synchronicities that landed me in the right place at the right time. My guiding mantra "Show up for your purpose, and your purpose shows up for you". My career path has reflected that.

The turning point moments Included landing my dream job (not that I knew it at the time) working for a boutique agency that represents the best business keynote speakers in the Asia Pacific. I was their first staff member, and in my mid twenties, I had hardly any experience. I backed myself, and they took a chance. I worked there for eight years, did a little bit of soul searching in between before launching my own business as a consultant fusing my passion for all things purpose with the world of business influence. The rest was a matter of picking up the bread crumbs as they landed in front of me.

As a female, what has been your greatest challenge in your career/business?

My greatest challenge in general is how I influence myself. Influence as in mindset and the stories I tell myself about myself, but also influence in terms of how I look after and prioritise myself. This includes obvious things like eating well,exercise and rest, but there was also one other tip I learnt interviewing the author of the book Ikigai, Hector Garcia. I remember him saying to me, protect your Ikigai. We must be intentional about making space in our lives for purpose, and to fiercely protect that space.

The challenge for me is that I have a tendency to get stuck on the busy treadmill where I am reacting to the to-do list, rather creating from a place of joy. I think I have at times got caught up in the idea that success is happiness, and that to be successful people need to be busy. In fact, the exact opposite is true. To be successful, we need to be happy, nurtured, supported and watered. We need to create space for what gives us joy.

What has been the hardest personal challenge you've faced in life thus far?

I have had two significant 'rock bottom moments' in my life. The first was my brother passing away in sad circumstances when I was only 19. The second was having a breakdown in my early twenties that ended up with me being admitted into a hospital for depression, anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. As you can imagine I was extremely unwell at that time in my life. This was as a result of repressed memory recall of sexual abuse in my primary school years.

How have you grown as a person, mentally, emotionally and spiritually since that challenge?

If there is such a thing as a soul contract, I am of the belief that these are lessons I signed off on before coming into this world. Any pain or suffering I have experienced has enabled me to make very conscious decisions about how I show up and who I choose to be in this life. The reason for that is when we are pushed to the edge of our comfort zone, and we are brave enough to slay the dragons of fear, we discover who we are. Vulnerability and the ability to walk through difficult emotions in order to heal ourselves enables us to help and heal others. This is a bridge to empathy, and it is there we uncover a deeper purpose and connection in our life.

How do you plan to leave your mark in the world?

This is an interesting question because it has a focus on the future. One of the things that has surprised me in Covid-19 is that the future became uncertain, and with that so did my plans for the future. It was like an elastic band between the present, and the future was cut in half.

When I recovered from the whiplash, I realised making your mark is about how you show up the present moment and it's not attached to any one thing. It's about being 'purposeful' as opposed to having a purpose. Be a purposeful boss, a purposeful mother or a purposeful friend. Don't get my wrong, I believe in having epic dreams, but dreams come true minute by minute, so ask yourself right now...how can I help, how can I heal or how can I build hope for yourself or for the world.

That's how I make my mark, and it's how you can as well.