Dreaming Forward: Reclaiming Self-Belief Through Vision Boarding

Vision doesn’t always arrive fully formed. Sometimes it starts as a feeling, a flicker, or a quiet knowing that something needs to change. ModelMe was born from one of those moments. A turning point for founder Natasha Minter that reshaped how she understood self-worth, ambition, and the power of the words we choose to believe.

Today, that lived experience has evolved into vision board workshops that feel less like goal-setting and more like permission: to pause, reflect, and imagine freely. Part self-reflection, part creative play, ModelMe’s approach invites participants to put pen to paper, scissors to magazine pages, and trust in what draws them in. Ahead of our upcoming Vision Board Workshop at Treehouse Hotel London, we sat down with Natasha to talk about clarity, courage, and why holding your vision lightly can sometimes be the most powerful step of all.

Making Space for What’s Next with Natasha Minter, Founder of ModelMe

ModelMe feels like equal parts self-reflection and creative play. To start, can you tell us a little about ModelMe and what inspired you to begin hosting vision board workshops?

The reason I started modelme is because of my personal and horrific experience. I was a model in Milan, I went there for a season to work, and my agency told me I was “disgusting” because I wasn’t the measurements they wanted me to be. I believed I was grotesque, and I always say - what they said to me was horrible but actually the issue is, that I believed them, and I changed the course of my life because of the words someone spoke to me. My validation was in what my agent thought of me, and it crippled me when I knew I wasn’t good enough for her.
 
My body dysmorphia became imposter syndrome that immobilised me, I didn’t feel accepted anywhere, I worked all the time and was experiencing burnout because I was searching for validation in places that could never truly validate me. 

Now if we talk about vision; I believe that without vision, people fall apart. Maybe not right away, but in time. Vision keeps us clear on the path ahead. Vision is what guides you when everything is falling apart, when problems arise, and you can’t see what tomorrow looks like - vision is what you can go back to, to reset. 

If I’d had a clear vision for my life, maybe those words my agent said to me in Milan wouldn’t have been so life-defining. 

So now, modelme’s mission is to help career-driven and ambitious people overcome negative self-talk and imposter syndrome, and we do this through mental health and movement based workshops - one of them being a vision board workshop. 
 

For anyone new to the idea, what is it about vision boarding that makes it such a powerful tool for clarity, motivation, or change?

I always lead people through a vision workshop first; we write down our vision, make it very clear, specific and detailed. I love to use the analogy that your vision should be so clear, someone else should be able to read it and know exactly what your vision is. 

Once we’ve done that, we can begin to imagine our vision boards. Vision boards are an amazing way to anchor those images in your mind, to have them on a board in a place that you will see regularly, hopefully daily. It’s about feeding your mind with something inspiring and allowing your vision to guide your habits. 

People often worry they need to be “creative” to take part. How do you help beginners feel comfortable and confident when they’re just starting out?

I think starting with the “writing the vision down” element is so key. This allows people to have their imagination and dreams written down, physically with pen and paper, and out of their minds. I believe it really helps people see it more once it’s written down. 

I also encourage people to split their board up equally into sections so that their career isn’t the only thing they’ve envisioned, but it’s also their relationships, their environment, finances, health and wellbeing, personal development, etc. 

When someone sits down to create their first vision board, what’s the best place to begin: choosing images, thinking about goals, or focusing on how they want to feel?

Writing it down definitely! Allow yourself to reflect and have a moment with yourself, what do you truly see for your life? And my encouragement is that if your vision or goals feel scary, too big, and unachievable… you’re on the right track. I think sometimes our character needs to change, we need to become the person that will live in that vision. 

Vision calls you higher. It helps you grow. It stimulates change and progress in your life.
 

What’s one simple piece of advice you always share to help people get the most out of the vision-boarding process?

Hold it lightly in the process. As you’re selecting images in the magazines, you might be drawn to an image that doesn’t make sense at first. Trust that and cut it out anyway!