Reposting from the Notable.ac blog. 

notableac:

We are honoured to be featured on The University of Auckland’s Alumni Magazine. Special thanks to Kate Pitcher for the great write-up and Lydia Arnold for the beautiful photos. 

Image from Thread.co.nz, with Rebe Burgess and Hannah Rogers

I was at Toni&Guy’s 50th Anniversary and media preview last Wednesday at Newton, Auckland. It was an intimate celebration and was lucky to preview their anniversary collection, Artelier. 

Oh how I wish my hair is this gorgeous.

Congrats to Toni&Guy NZ and to all the organizers for the wonderful job. 

READ MY POST ON NZ Style Collective

Thanks Maybelline for featuring me on this month’s M:Edition magazine. Here is a screenshot:

CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK

Marketing rockstar Guy Kawasaki gave a talk at Air New Zealand Social Media Breakfast this morning. He covered two topics: how to enchantment and how to gain more social media followers. It was a really entertaining and informative talk. Worth waking up really early than usual.

Also, he takes photos of people taking photos of him. Clever. Will keep an eye on his Google+ if he uploads the snaps he took. 

It was great talk. I think it’s the best SMB so far. My tweets are on @allivsamson @notableac and @nzstyleco

More details: http://www.theflyingsocialnetwork.com/archives/14777

Yesterday, I met Ogie Alcasid. One of my favourite singer/songwriters. He makes such beautiful love songs. Here’s one of his works, To You by Richard Poon:

Kinda funny when he added an extra ‘e’ on my name. Looking forward to his concert this Saturday. 

Back to blogging. Working 24/7 on a tech company and an online magazine is a pretty challenging act.

People say I am living a ‘better life’ compared to previously working full time. They say I have more ‘freedom’ to do whatever I want, when I want it especially that I am now my own boss… blah… blah.. blah…

I’ll stop you right there. 

As it turns out, a lot of you folks think it is a really fun and easy position. I know, it sounds amazing and I love doing what I do right now. However, that is not entirely the case. It is not as easy or dreamy as it sounds. There is no for breaks or holidays. There is no room for error. Having your own company entails a lot of responsibilities:

• You are accountable to your co-founders
• You are accountable to your investors
• You are accountable to your employees
• You need have to have results.
• You don’t have breaks, weekends or holidays. You have no a little life.
• There’s no room for error 

Your day involves a lot of:

• Meetings… meetings… lots of it (I know it’s toxic but it’s quite difficult to avoid right now)
• Managing the team
• Emails… lots of it
• Something good happens
• Something bad happens
• You wish you have a reality TV show cos the Kardashians ain’t got nothing on all this drama
• More emails
• Balancing sheet
• Life happens…

Sometimes I wish I’m still working full time. Why? Because work starts and ends in a certain time. You have lunch breaks and weekends. You appreciate holidays more. You have a normal life. But why did we jump into the world of a startup? Is it all worth it? Why bother?

Rich Dad perfectly describes this startup life:

“Starting a business is like jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. In midair the entrepreneur begins building a parachute and hopes it opens before hitting the ground.”

Let’s jump! Who says you cannot jump again if the parachute fails. In this day and age, society celebrates both success and failure.

Snap of the marketing team:

Why not? Just do it. For younger folks and 20-somethings like me, why not do it? What is there to lose? Challenge yourself to do better each day and learn from all the success and failures you encounter. I am not saying it will be a fun ride. I won’t. But in the end you will learn a lot about yourself. You will discover new skills and create things that will contribute into this world. 

Snap from our guest presentation at INNOVENT 201 class last week:

Hmmm… I guess, starting your own company is like own version of a walkabout. 

FASHION WEEK

Two weeks ago I attended my first Wellington Fashion Week (WFW). NZ Style Collective has been lucky enough to be chosen as one of the official media partners this year.

I have heard lot a from my team that it’s quite different from other fashion weeks. People say it has this distinctive Wellington vibe that no other fashion events have. To put it simply, I feel like it is a one big happy WFW family. Yes, a family. Everyone knows everyone even though there is a good percentage of outsiders (non-Wellingtonians) in the crowd. Even the volunteers are friendly. Not to mention the very friendly models and make-up artists, media, designers, crew, security… okay, everyone. Everyone is so friendly that I still cannot believe it was a fashion week.

I say this not because fashion weeks are supposed to be drama fest. No, it’s not like that. I have been lucky enough to attend a couple of fashion events and I must say almost all of them are lovely to be part of. However, I feel like there is a whole different vibe at WFW which makes someone like me feel a little comfortable and at home.

Anyhoo, that is my outsiders/newbie view of WFW. I would like to thank the fabulous designers who dressed me up this year Mardle, Silence Was, Katie-maree Cole, Agatha Paris, Anthea and 6x4. 

Here are my outfits for each day, thanks to Chris Park for taking the photos:

Day 01: Prom Queen Dress by Katie-maree Cole (BUY HERE), blazer by Anthea, shoes from Mi Piaci and bag by Forever New.

Day 02: One of my fave Prairie shirt by Katie-maree Cole (BUY HERE), blazer by Anthea, skirt by Forever New, shoes by Mi Piaci, accessories by Agatha Paris (except for the spiky ring)

Day 03: Infinity dress by Silence Was, capelet by 6x4, shoes by Topshop

Day 04: dress by Karen Walker, accessories by Agatha Paris, blazer by Anthea, shoes by ASOS

Day 05: I forgot to take photos of my outfit during the last show, but this is my second outfit of the day. Thanks for the gorgeous dress Mardle (BUY NOW). Shoes by ASOS. 

Also, extra special thanks to my amazing NZ Style Collective team this year at WFW: Anthea Hayley , Olga  Korsukova, Rebe Burgess, Beth Ivy Buxton -  and of course the amazing Chris Park for organizing and keeping the team focused throughout the week. 

Pretty much summarizes the week:

More WFW photos on NZ Style Collective and on our Facebook

STARTUP: www.notable.ac

ONLINE MAGAZINE: www.stylecollective.co.nz