What do you want to be when you grow up? Are you somewhere totally unexpected or following the path you had imagined?
Not me. I am surprised every day.
I never had a grand plan. I wasn’t driven with ideas as a teenager about what I wanted “to be”. Choices were more limited when I left school but even so more opportunities would not have changed my course. I went through the requisite motions, passed all the exams and took the path of least resistance. That is not to say I lacked motivation. I was motivated but no inkling of where to drive that motivation. I was jealous of girls who knew exactly what they wanted to do, who were passionate in their callings and who made them happen.
School and university passed in a blur and never once did I imagine that my future would lay in fashion. My first job out of university should have given me an inkling where my interest lay; a beauty consultant in a department store. A fun job that was supposed to buy me time and help me decide, “What I wanted to do”. Learning the ropes behind a beauty counter is tough work but excellent training. The competitiveness of the industry uncovers drive. I came to understand that I wanted to be self-employed and the master of my destiny. How to make that happen? No experience, few ideas and youth; not the traditional path for success.
Undaunted, I started my first business. The obvious choice was fashion and the rest is history. The attitude that everything is possible sustained me. I believe we can accomplish anything we set our minds to and I do not believe in defeat. Yes, it it is a lionhearted approach but it is the only one I know.
Working in a digital world was not an option when I was studying for exams and filling in applications. I could not have found my way, even if I had wanted to. When I reflect it is obvious to me that I have come full circle. My online day is not so far from my first fashion business. I operate in a virtual forum rather than in person but the process and the goals are similar. I talk fashion and lifestyle. I celebrate women and focus on looking and being the best we can at every age. Add an on-going love affair with France and that is my day to day.
I could not see the similarities until recently and I never connected the dots.
