1. First thing in the morning when you wake up, do you look at your phone? If so, what do you search?
The first thing I do when I wake up, is look out my bedroom window to the most beautiful garden of lush trees associated with the Moore Park golf course. I live in a high-rise apartment (very Gold Coast of me – LOL) so I can see across a kilometer of trees all the way through to our beautiful city of Sydney. I don’t look at my phone because I have terrible eyesight and tend to want to keep my glasses off for as long as possible before I need to wear them all day.
2. Are you a coffee or tea drinker and what kind?
This tends to be the most peculiar routine, but I start with a cup of tea, and follow with a cup of coffee. Sounds ridiculous doesn’t it?! My coffee is plunger, as I tend to avoid full cream milk coffee as this puts on unwanted kilos. This Christmas though, I do believe that husband Santa Claus will be spoiling me with a Nespresso machine.
3. You always imagined growing up you’d be?
Oh my gosh this question brings back memories. I always wanted to be a classical dancer. I was heading in that direction until tragedy struck. Firstly, my ballet teacher closed her school due to cancer, when I was two grades off being able to teach Classical Ballet, then secondly, I experienced a back accident in year 12, that threw me out of the game. I continued on for several years as a professional dancer in musical theatre, and then switched to TV producing there after. I love dancing, and fingers crossed when I introduce my daughter to it, she’ll love it!
4. Your love of fashion came about from…
My Mother used to laugh saying I was born under the cutting table as my mother’s side of the family were all seamstresses. I have been watching her make glorious creations out of various fabrics for decades. She was so good our mantelpiece was lined with awards from her garments being applauded at the RACQ awards in Queensland. She owned her own fashion store in Coolangatta, to which we used to sit in the back room while she fitted women with crocheted bikinis and beach garments.
5. When women are negative it makes you…
When anyone is negative I always feel that it is from one of the following reasons; judgement, jealousy or a need to fill a void. Negativity is always based on fear, yet in today’s society of living in a digital realm, jealousy and envy can certainly interrupt our balanced state. When I hear negativity, and know that if I say something the person will listen, then I help them. But I have also experienced people who just can’t pull out of the cycle, so I take my time with them.
6. When women support one another you…
I love seeing women support each other and I witness this a lot in the companies that I work in. Everything changes – the dynamics, the manners, politeness, respect and work.
7. One thing you keep close to your chest (until now is)…
This could get scary, as I tend to go deep and meaningful very quickly in a conversation. LOL.
But to be honest, I don’t actually keep things close to my chest, as anyone who knows me, knows that I wear my heart on my sleeve and am not afraid to discuss any topic, at any time.
8. To all those women who are negative on social media you’d say…
Do you mean Trolls? Hmmm, do you have an hour to discuss this? But to the point of social media, it is a great place for people to be negative, and think they are safe behind a screen. But negativity is just the poisoning of one-self. And I hope that one day, whatever the sadness or pain is behind their negativity, they get through it.
9. If you could express one piece of QueenHood advice to working women you would say…
Ah the powerful, diligent and magnificent working woman! Such a different world from 60 years ago isn’t it?
My advice would be this – as you progress, seek out and remain curious to the things that captivate you, remember to ever so often sit on your hands (figuratively speaking). I’ve spoken to many women who are running businesses like a warrior charging into battle, and sometimes they don’t allow divine intervention to activate within their dreams.
10. The never ending quest for balance between work life and family life you take on by…
This is actually a big deal for me. I have one daughter and one only. So everything I do, every move I make, word out of my mouth and action I partake impacts her. So our family has a schedule. And my husband and I both have dreams to fill, so we’ve a calendar that we work to making sure we’re giving into all areas of our lives. We go to family friendly resorts every 2 years. We always eat at the dinner table to ‘talk’ and download our days and dreams, and I tend to bring my daughter with me even to work, to keep her in my life.
11. Your company MenStylePower, tell us what we don’t understand re a man and style…
LOL – they’re simple creatures! The men’s style landscape has really changed over the last 5 years, but the biggest change I’ve seen is in men’s want to dress up. This is so great, as when a man dresses well, he tends to act well and things change on the inside. I’m so pro-confidence in men, because when they’re at their best, so are we.
12. When you’re in work mode you are best described as…
It depends on what I’m doing. When I’m styling, I’m a muskrat in a Gucci suit. When I’m writing fashion stories, I’m Iris Arpel looking for the most curious angle. When I’m producing…I received the most wonderful comment from a fellow colleague when I was last in LA – he said “when you address the talent on set to re-record a piece, you always sit down in front of them, relaxed and conversational and interested even though I know you’re racing against the clock”. So I guess overall, I’m calm and diligent.
13. The legacy you hope to leave is…
Oh wow. My biggest dream is to create a men’s networking empire that raises a new breed of male into the true image he was meant to be. I see so many problems for our children, that can be avoided. We live in a fast changing society and culture and we have a responsibility to not leave our children behind, so my heart is always for them, and not just my child, but those who have been left abandoned, alone and in the dark.
