Frica de esec

Frica de esec

Pe 7 august se desfasoara un eveniment organizat de cei de la The Power of Storytelling si Visual Playground: How to design your creative life. Invitata lor este femeia din spatele celui mai longeviv podcast despre industrii creative (Design Matters), Debbie Millman, a carei poveste de viata mi s-a parut incredibil de inspirationala. Este probabil una dintre putinele povesti despre “visul american” din epoca contemporana: o copilarie dificila, o familie instabila si o dorinta arzatoare de a se face remarcata in branding, un domeniu in care se intra foarte greu. Dar iata ca acum, 30 de ani mai tarziu, succesul pentru care a muncit si a luptat atat de mult este lectia pe care vine sa ne-o impartaseasca pentru a ne motiva sa nu ne dam niciodata batuti, oricat de grele par lucrurile. Iar cu aceasta ocazie va invit si la CONCURS.

Later edit: Am facut extragerea si castigatoarea este “Mamica autentica”. Felicitari!

EN: On August 7th, the people behind the Power of Storytelling and Visual Playground are hosting an event: How to design your creative life. Their guest is the woman responsible for the most long living podcast on creative industries (Design Matters), Debbie Millman, whose life story I found incredibly inspirational. It’s probably one of the few stories about “the American dream” from the contemporary era: a difficult childhood, an unstable family and a burning desire to leave a mark in the branding industry, an area which is really tough to get into. But here we are, 30 years later, and the success she has worked and fought for so hard is the lesson she comes to share with us in order to motivate us never to give up, no matter how things appear to be. And on this note I invite you to a CONTEST:

Mi-am facut avant si am intrebat cateva prietene despre cel mai greu lucru pe care l-au intampinat ele in cariera lor, cand a fost nevoie sa se opinteasca mai bine si sa impinga mai tare?

Dana Paun este designer la AerWear si colaborator la A List Magazine – genul de persoana care pare ca nu se opreste niciodata, care face 100 de lucruri deodata si e mereu cu zambetul pe buze. Insa Dana lucra in asigurari acum nu prea multi ani, asa ca am intrebat-o care a fost cea mai mare frica a  ei din punct de vedere profesional. Previzibil, mi-a spus ca a fost tocmai iesirea din zona de confort si asumarea riscului de a nu mai lucra pentru altcineva, ci pentru ea. Mai mult, nici nu stia foarte clar ce anume isi doreste sa faca, dar stia ca vrea sa fie antreprenor, ca nu mai vrea sa fie  legata de cineva. “Am trait cu aceasta teama de necunoscut, in care simteam un sentiment de panica de fiecare data cand ma gandeam la ziua de maine…. timp de aproape un an. A fost greu. Desigur, eram activa si ma implicam in tot felul de proiecte insa nu mi se concretizase inca ideea despre ce imi doresc sa fac, ce fel de business, ce fel de drum sa apuc. A fost greu si din punct de vedere financiar, e greu sa stii ca nu primesti salariu pe 15 ale lunii. Insa la finalul acelui an m-am linistit, lucrurile s-au asezat si am stiut ce vreau. Si dupa acest scurt moment de liniste a inceput munca! Am supravietuit acelui an si a meritat, e minunat!”

Bianca Naumovici lucreaza la 23, in agentia de publicitate si face, alaturi de Dana Paun, emisiunea Trend Challenge pe A List. Am intrebat-o si pe ea despre esec si despre momentele de cumpana si mi-a spus ca unul dintre momentele cele mai grele a fost cand a decis sa se intoarca in Bucuresti dupa ce locuise in New York. “Am studiat fashion marketing la Parsons si am lucrat in fashion ca stilist niste ani buni de zile, insa de la un punct incolo nu mi-am mai gasit locul acolo si am decis sa ma intorc. Stiam ca in Romania trebuia sa o iau de la inceput in moda si deja facusem acest exercitiu in NYC, asa ca am ales sa ma intorc la prima mea iubire, publicitatea, domeniu in care deja lucrasem in tara. A fost un moment in care a trebuit sa ma echilibrez putin si a durat pana cand mi-am dat seama ca am sansa de a putea face mai multe lucruri de-o data: pot lucra in publicitate si pot lucra si in fashion si ca de multe ori se balanseaza una pe alta tocmai pentru ca sunt 2 job-uri pe cat de asemanatoare, pe atat de diferite. Imi place ca am sansa sa cunosc oameni incredibili si dimineata, la biroul de la 23 dar si seara, la evenimentele la care particip impreuna cu A List. Frica ca ar fi nevoie sa renunt la moda sau la publicitate si panica ca trebuie sa aleg doar una plus, desigur, impedimentul ca nu o sa mai am timpd e nimic. In realitate nu exista scuza ca nu ai timp – toti ne facem timp, nimeni nu “il are”…asa ca mi-am facut timp. Uneori ma simt obosita, insa de cele mai multe ori ma simt norocoasa.”

Una dintre cele mai vechi prietene de-ale mele a spus ca cea mai mare provocare pentru ea este sa imbine utilul cu placutul si sa nu se lase consumata de lucrurile de la birou. Subiectul vietii personale si a imbinarii carierei este un topic extrem de amplu, mai ales la persoanele cu mai multe joburi sau pentru cele in care demarcatia nu este foarte clara – actorii, cantaretii, scriitorii, bloggerii sau orice tip de freelancer sau antreprenor. Toti stiu foarte bine ca niciodata nu poti da shut down cand ajungi acasa. Insa asta se intampla inclusiv pentru cei care au un program stabil: acum avem mailurile pe telefon si ne ducem grijile si Excel-urile acasa fara sa ne gandim ca de fapt trebuie sa mentinem un echilibru. Iar, asa cum spune prietena mea, cea mai mare provocare este sa nu te consumi atat de mult incat atunci cand ajungi acasa sa nu mai ai chef de nimic. Pentru ea cea mai mare provocare este gasirea unui echilibru.

Eu v-am povestit de prietenele mele, insa vreau sa stiu care sunt cele mai mari esecuri profesionale de care ati avut parte si cum v-ati revenit dupa ele sau care a fost cea mai mare frica si cum ati depasit-o?

The Power of Storytelling pune la bataie o invitatie la evenimentul lui Debbie Millman. Va astept raspunsurile la intrebarea de mai sus timp de o saptamana, ca dupa sa pot anunta castigatorul/castigatoarea acestui concurs.

Pun pariu ca Debbie o sa aiba o multime de sfaturi si de povesti care sa va dea motivatie si ambitie. Succes!

In poze port: rochie Zee Lane (Fashion Days), cercei vintage, incaltaminte Karen Millen, geanta Moon cu Fata Detasabila noua Electric Gold. Iar tinuta in miscare arata cam asa….

EN: I took the time to ask a few friends about the hardest thing they have come across in their career, when they had to push and try harder?

Dana Paun is a designer for AerWear and fellow editor for A List Magazine – the kind of person who seems to never stop, who does 100 things at the same time and always has a smile on her face. But just a few years ago, Dana was working in insurances, so I asked her what her biggest professional fear was. Predictably, she told me that getting her out of her comfort zone and taking the risk of not working for someone else anymore, but for her.  Also, she didn’t really know what she wanted to do, but she knew she wanted to be an entrepreneur, that she didn’t want to be tied to anyone else. “I lived with this fear of the unknown, where I had a panic attack every time I thought of tomorrow…for almost a year. It was hard. Of course, I was active and involved in all sorts of projects but the idea about what I wanted to do wasn’t very clear in my mind, what business I wanted to get into, what road I wanted to take. It was hard also financially, it’s hard to know that you won’t be getting a paycheck on the 15th of each month. But at the end of that year I became calmer, things began to settle and I knew what I wanted. And after this brief moment of silence, work began! I survived that year and it was worth it, it’s wonderful!”  

Bianca Naumovici works at 23, in the advertising agency and she is a co-producer, with Dana Paun, of the show Trend Challenge on A List. I also asked her about failure and about moments of doubt and she told that one of her hardest moments was when she decided to move back to Bucharest after living in New York. “I Fashion Marketing at Parsons and I have worked in fashion as a stylist for many years, but from a certain point on I couldn’t find my place there anymore and I decided to come back. I knew that in Romania I would have to start it all over again with fashion and I had already done this exercise in NYC, so I decided to return to my first love, advertising, area which I had already worked in before. That was a moment when I had to find my balance and it took some time before I realized that I had the opportunity of doing more things at one: I can work both in advertising and fashion and most of the time they balance each other out, precisely because they are so much alike, yet so different. I like having the chance to meet incredible people both in the morning, at my office in 23 but also in the evening, during events I am attending with A List. The fear of having to give up fashion or advertising and the panic of having to choose just one plus, surely, the impediment of not having time for anything else. In reality there is no excuse for not having time- we all make time, nobody “has it”…so I made the time. Sometimes I feel tired, but most of the time I feel lucky.”

One of my oldest friends told me that her biggest challenge is to combine the useful with pleasure and not to let herself be worn out by stuff from the office. The topic of her personal life and combining it with her career is very complex, especially for those with more than one jobs or for those for which the line isn’t very clearly drawn – actors, singers, writers, bloggers or any other freelancer or entrepreneur. They all know that you can never fully shut down when you get home. But this also happens to those on a stable schedule: now we have our emails on our phones and we bring our Excels and worries home without thinking that we have to maintain a balance. And, as my friend says, the biggest challenge is not to get worked out too much that you get home and don’t feel like doing anything at all. For her the biggest challenge is finding a balance. 

I told you about my friends, but I want to know what your biggest professional failures were and how you managed to bounce back after them or what your biggest fear was and how you managed to overcome it? The Power of Storytelling  is giving away an invitation the Debbie Millman event. I bet Debbie will have tons of advice and stories to motivate you and make you ambitious.