Your dream life could be right around the corner & hosts of Fabulous’ new Ask The Universe podcast reveal how to get it

WHAT if you could have everything you ever wanted, and the only thing holding you back was your own negative thoughts? According to influencers Cariad Ryan and Heather Bowling, hosts of Fabulous’ brand-new podcast, Ask The Universe, all you need to do is embrace the power of positive thinking. Hosts of the podcast Ask the Universe, Cariad Ryan and Heather Bowling are here to help you achieve your dreams Credit: Mark Hayman – Fabulous Each episode, Heather and Cariad sit down with guests including fellow influencers Isabella Stovey, Flossie Clegg and Megan Bolton to build a vision board on everything from love and career to home, family and health – manifesting their way to their dream life. Here, they reveal what’s on their own boards, the darker side of influencing, and how manifesting has changed their lives. Sign up for the Fabulous newsletter Thank you! ‘Growing up on a council estate, there was never money to treat yourself’ Cariad Ryan, 27 @CARIADRYAN Ciriad was working in Costa when she began to manifest her dream life Credit: Supplied by Ciriad Ryan “I first became interested in manifestation when I was working in Costa Coffee in my early 20s. I’ve always been quite spiritual, and when I read that a lot of celebs were using the law of attraction – the belief that positive thoughts can help you achieve the outcomes you want – to boost their lives, I wondered if I could benefit, too. Growing up on a council estate in Cardiff, where there was never enough money to treat yourself, I was used to starting side hustles, like doing eyelashes, then launching my own eyelash brand. Then, during lockdown in 2020, I was furloughed from Costa. I’d always loved doing make-up, so with all that free time on my hands, I decided to film myself doing my own and post it to TikTok. The video blew up and got me 4k new followers. After that, I started doing GRWM videos and make-up tutorials, and my audience grew and grew. Most read in Fabulous After lockdown, I went back to working in Costa, but still influencing on the side. I’d work Monday to Wednesday in the coffee shop, then for the rest of the week I’d film content. It was exhausting, so I decided to take a leap of faith and quit Costa in 2022. Now, I have 139k Instagram followers and 1 million on TikTok – and I really do believe that I manifested my career. I knew that if I trusted that it would work out, then it would. Being an influencer is not all positive – people assume it’s easy, but it can be mentally draining. I struggle a lot with self-image. After all, you’re staring at yourself for five hours a day. Sometimes you start wondering: ‘What can I improve?’ Then you read a comment about your teeth being wonky and it stings, especially if you’re feeling insecure about something. It takes all your willpower not to change your appearance with filler or surgery, but it’s important to keep your uniqueness, so I always try to focus on the positives. My life these days looks completely different from when I was making coffees. I’ve built my dream life brick by brick. One real pinch-me moment happened in 2024, when I was able to hire my mum Marie, 52, and brother Lestyn, 23, to work for me. And they used to think I was delusional quitting my job for social media! My top tip for manifesting? Upload pics of whatever it is you are manifesting to ChatGPT and ask it to insert you into the image. It really helps with visualising your goals coming true. I definitely think I manifested co-hosting this podcast, too. My ultimate dream has always been to become a motivational speaker, but I didn’t know where to start. I started manifesting and launched my own podcast called Beauty On The Inside, helping people with their mental health. Then I got a call asking me if I wanted to co-host Ask The Universe. If I’d never stepped out of my comfort zone, I wouldn’t be where I am today.” ‘You can’t just sit there, do nothing and expect everything to come to you’ Heather Bowling, 22 @heatherbowling_ “Manifesting is something I’ve always believed in – even before I knew what it actually was. I’m a huge fan of the idea of believing in yourself, writing things down and visualising them to make them happen. For a vision board, I use Snapchat’s My Eyes Only feature – a private, passcode-protected vault where you can securely hide content – as a digital vision board. Heather says that she manifested going to the Brit awards earlier this year Credit: Getty I’ll take a picture, date it, then write my goal. In the past, I’ve typed: ‘Get 100k followers by summer.’ And I did! But I didn’t start content creation with the intention of becoming an influencer. I began posting online back in 2022 as a side hustle. I was studying linguistics at the University of Manchester, and my followers went up and up and up. By summer 2023, I realised I could make it my full-time job. Now I have 466k Instagram followers and 1.1 million on TikTok. When I look back, I think to myself: ‘Yes, I actually manifested that.’ The flip side to my success has been the negative comments I get on my posts. Unfortunately, it’s part of the job. It’s easy to try to tell yourself not to read them, but naturally you’re going to. I’ve had comments on anything and everything. People nitpick about my weight if it fluctuates at all. Some have left comments saying I’m annoying and rude. I’ve had nasty comments and rumours posted under my YouTube videos, saying that my relationship is fake. At one point, the comments were constant, but you learn to not take it personally. You’ve got to remind yourself that this world doesn’t exist outside of your phone. As well as my career success, I’ve manifested other things, too, like going to The BRIT Awards earlier this year and, back in 2024, I fell in love with a particular block of apartments in central Manchester. I took a picture and posted it, saying: ‘I’m going to live here one day with a cat.’ The following year, I moved into that same block! If you put something out there, it comes back. This year, my main manifesting goal has been to buy my own place. Over the last few years, I’ve created Pinterest boards for how I’d decorate my own property – and now I’m in the process of actually buying one. It’s something that once seemed so unattainable, but it’s coming true. If you’re interested in manifesting, I’d say nothing is unreachable, but remember to be very clear with setting your specific intention. You still have to put the work in, too – you can’t just sit there, do nothing and expect everything to come to you.” Scan the QR code to watch our Ask The Universe podcast on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts. Comment now