Tag: people doing cool stuff

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People Doing Cool Stuff – Perth Happenings | Pieta Sharpe

I’m lucky enough to meet a lot of inspirational business people who are doing cool stuff!

You’ve probably heard of Perth Happenings. You either follow their Instagram, or have looked for stuff to do on their site – maybe even advertised your event there! But do you know the lovely face behind the brand?

Let’s get to know Pieta Sharpe a bit better, and in the process we’ll find out how Perth Happenings was born!

Tell us a bit about yourself and Perth Happenings!

I’m Pieta, 37 year old solo Mum of two sensational young men. I’m passionate about community building, people in general and creating a beautiful life for my family and those around me. I have spent way too much money at uni, am on the board of my old high school and I’m an ambassador for Youth Focus which I am so proud of.

Perth Happenings was created when we saw a gap in the ‘market’ per se. There are so many large scale event websites and social media that don’t really create a space or give any air time to smaller, local community events.

When building Perth Happenings we felt it was important to develop community pages to create that point of difference.

So we have 8 – North, south, east, west, central, freo, hills and out of town. You can head to that local community page and see events in the area, local blogs, local businesses and really get a feel for what is in your community or conversely try a NEW community.

Perth is very spread out and we tend to stay in our comfort zones and not travel out of our space. Having community pages means that if you feel like a weekend in the Hills and you live in Freo you can check it out and plan ahead.

We offer free online listings to almost any event in Perth and will often select random community events to provide free promotion and upgrades to. We also offer 50% off silver and gold packages to Not for Profit and local community organisations.

We will never be focussed on the large scale events and the multinational organisations and that means we won’t attract the bigger bucks but that is a-ok for us. Our audience are supportive of our dream of building an online community to keep the people of Perth engaged with each other and we showcase many events that others really don’t!

We have a TV show in the pipeline too so keep your eyes out for that!

 

Tell us about your journey, how did you get to this point?

I have a background in psychology, education and community services alongside currently completing my Master of Marketing and Innovation. All of my education is based on people – learning about them, engaging with them – I just love people.

Motivating and inspiring them and just helping us to be the best humans in the best society that we possibly can!

I feel Perth Happenings has allowed me to develop a platform to make a difference and I am looking forward to developing that.

 

What music/song have you got on high rotation right now?

I went to Falls Festival as a reviewer (terrible aspect of my business!) and I absolutely fell in love with Glass Animals and fell back in love with Peking Duck.

The two songs I don’t seem to be sick of are Life Itself (Glass Animals) and Let you down (Peking Duck).

I think I play them seven to ten times a day.

 

How do you stay motivated?

This may sound cliché but knowing my 13 and 10 year old sons are watching and learning from me at all times keeps me motivated. I want to show them you can achieve any dream you can think up be it in business, health or fitness either with a partner or be ok on your own.

 

 

I regularly go to F45 sessions and hope the dream of doing burpees and unassisted pullups is a reality soon too!

 

What/who inspires you?

Besides my boys, my group of friends inspires me every day. They are just some of the most amazing people you could meet.

Additionally, knowing that as an ambassador for Youth Focus, I may inspire and motivate a young person one day – that keeps me focussed on the prize.

If I can use my story to help others believe in themselves then there is no greater reason to do what I do.

 

How do you deal with impostor syndrome?

It’s a funny one this imposter syndrome theory.

I think with regards to Perth Happenings I don’t really have it. I have worked super hard to strategize and get to where we are. I have put in lots of love and time and am proud of my achievements. I think often we see those who say – yep I deserve this and I AM awesome as being conceited, so I wonder if we all actually do it because we feel we should or because we’re afraid of the ramifications of praising ourselves.

 

What’s your favorite place/way to relax?

I love the beach.  I adore just sitting there or walking and collecting shells.

I also enjoy music – listening, dancing, singing very badly, and yoga, F45 – plus I love just talking and engaging with my boys. It is simple but true.

 

If you hadn’t started your business what do you think you’d be doing right now?

Still working in Not for Profit organisations wondering how I can make more of a difference and be a little frustrated.

 

What’s been your most successful Social Media platform for your business? Do you think you’d be in the same place if it wasn’t for Social Media?

We are an online business so digital marketing strategy and social media are paramount for us. One important component of building the business has been that I have been very true to my audience.

Starting Perth Happenings our growth was slow because community isn’t as sexy as big bands and fancy restaurants. However once we got the momentum we’ve had a steady climb.

Constant reviewing and making changes has resulted in lowering our bounce rate of our website by providing more blogs and other events on the pages.

I altered our strategy in October and have seen a 72% increase in website traffic to date since November which I am of course VERY proud of.

I researched into my secondary market (24-34 year old women) and looked at what we could offer on our Facebook that would attract them and encourage engagement.

Knowing your audience is key!

 

Have you hit any huge problems that made you re-think your whole career? How did you get around it? What was your approach to solving the issue?

I rethought my whole career when working with underprivileged children and realising how under resourced and often poorly funded not for profit community groups are.

I couldn’t handle working with these kids and seeing that really what they, and their families needed was community engagement and feeling they were a part of something. Bigger picture, I am hoping to provide an online community as a conduit to that feeling real life connection.

Fingers crossed!

 

What is the hardest thing about your work?

Relationship building. We have struggled to get the local councils on board with what we are trying to do which is frustrating and challenging considering they are the perfect partner for collaboration.

Finding the right people with the same vision is harder that I anticipated from a corporate level.

Otherwise it would be all the movie premieres and concerts I get to go to… tough!

How do you manage it all with such a busy schedule?

That is something I am working on!

I am focusing this year on quality. I want quality relationships with businesses and people I can trust and WANT to work with. I say yes to much too much and need to reign that in.

 

What’s next for you?

The Perth Happenings Youtube channel development and the Perth Happenings TV show.

Both coming soon to a screen near you!

 

How do we find and follow your cool story?

Facebook

Website

Instagram

 

So now you now more about the brains behind Perth Happenings!

I hope you’re enjoying this series of People Doing Cool Stuff, I’ve got loads more fun peeps to introduce you to, so make sure you stay tuned!

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People Doing Cool Stuff – Chalk of the Town | Megan Manning

I’m lucky enough to meet a lot of people from all over the world who are doing cool stuff!

 

Having spent a lot of time working in pubs with prominent chalkboards like the Belgian Beer Cafe, The Greenwood and The Albion, I know how important it is to have them done professionally so they are neat, legible, and inviting. And I know it’s MUCH harder than it looks!

Let’s have a chat with Chalk Of The Town’s Megan Manning and find out how she does it!

Tell us a bit about yourself and your business – what is Chalk Of The Town all about?

I’m Meg and I run and operate Chalk of the Town signwriting.  What’s Chalk of the Town you ask? Well, I’m an artist and I work mainly with Chalkboards.

 

Tell us about your journey, how did you get to this point?

I started my little business when I lived in Europe and needed to start making some money. I have always been creative and good at art so when the opportunity to work closely with a local artist to learn my trade arose I jumped at the opportunity.

I trained alongside my mentor for 6 months in Spain before returning to Australia and starting up my little business here 2 years ago and haven’t looked back yet.

Have you ever seen one of those fancy colourful chalkboards in a pub or a restaurant and wondered how or who did that? Well that’s what I do. I’m the person they hire to create those masterpieces!

I also create beautiful signage for weddings, parties, events and businesses which is cool because I get to work with other businesses and wedding vendors on photoshoots and all sorts.

 

What music/song have you got on high rotation right now?

Well, It’s a pretty funny story. Most likely a ‘you have to be there kind of moment’ but, our kids LOVE Detroit Rock City from KISS so as we can imagine we have to play this every time we get in the car or are at home listening to music.

They all know the words (even the 2 and 3 year old) and jump around like crazy when it comes on. They are so cute!

 

How do you stay motivated?

Hmmm, this is a hard one because sometimes I do struggle to motivate myself BUT I Love what I do so I just remind myself of that and it kicks me up the butt on the days that I need it.

 

What/who inspires you?

This is so super soppy of me but I would have to say the person who does inspire me if my Husband to be. He is the most amazing person I have ever met and he inspires me to be the best person that I can be and to always work hard and to never give up.

 

How do you deal with impostor syndrome?

Well, I just remind myself that I AM good at what I do and how far I have become.

 

What’s your favorited place/way to relax?

My husband and I both work fulltime and we have 3 kids so we never really get to relax, because as you can imagine our life is pretty full on!

But when we do get a chance to have some ‘us time’ and relax our number 1 destination is Busselton, We often grab our snorkelling gear and go off snorkelling for the day. In this beautiful country it would be stupid not to, Right?

 

If you hadn’t started your business what do you think you’d be doing right now?

A long long time ago before I became a mum I actually studied Graphic Design at university (this also comes in very handy for my business now) so most likely I would be doing something creative anyway.

 

What’s been your most successful Social Media platform for your business? Do you think you’d be in the same place if it wasn’t for Social Media?

My Major Marketing Platform that I use is Facebook. About 99.9 % of my clientele has seen my work on Facebook or via word of mouth.

 

Have you hit any huge problems that made you re-think your whole career? How did you get around it? What was your approach to solving the issue?

Yes, but only with Bride funnily enough.

I recently took 6 months out because of some not very nice people. I won’t go into details but it was a very stressful time that was completely unnecessary.

Thankfully thought I fought back and came out even stronger and more determined than ever.

 

What is the hardest thing about your work?

I love my Job, I love the creativity and the freedom but sometimes you just meet people that have no idea about advertising, or don’t have a creative bone in there body and they are so adamant on an idea of what they want which is complete poo but they just won’t listen to your advice.

I find this hard because number 1 its my name on the artwork and number 2 it makes me cringe haha, but apart from that I am really luckily to be doing what I do.

 

How do you manage it all with such a busy schedule?

It’s taken me A long time to balance work with life but we are getting there. I am very strict about the hours that I work and where I work.

I have to work from home so I can take care of my children and I will not work after hours or at the weekend as that is family time. I have found balance and I manage to do all of my work and be a mum and wife at the same time. Its great.

 

What’s next for you?

I would like to teach some hand lettering courses to the general public so that could be something I look into this year.

We will see how we go.

 

How do we find and follow your cool story?

Facebook

Website

 

Make sure you stay tuned for more cool stories! And if you think you’re doing something cool – get in touch!

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People Doing Cool Stuff – Alythea’s Pooch Palace

I’m lucky enough to meet a lot of people from all over the world who are doing cool stuff!

And sometimes you just get a bit blown away by someone, and that’s how I feel about eleven year old Thea Campbell. When I was eleven I was definitely not doing anything this cool.

As a rescue advocate and mum to a rescue dog, I wholeheartedly support her vision. As a human I can’t help but feel completely inspired by Thea, and I hope you are too.

So enough from me, let’s hear about his exceptional young woman and her mission!

Alythea’s Pooch Palace

My name is Thea Campbell and I am 11 and I got my puppy, Rozie, when I was 8 for my birthday present. I had been asking for a puppy for over two years! She is just a little bundle of joy; also very silly, if a thought occurs to her she gets very worried, but we can calm her down with some cheese!

I am home educated by my parents, which means that not only am I ahead in my academics, I can focus on my own projects like my charity project – raising money for the Shenton Park Dog Refuge.

About six months ago, I was going home from my brother’s final hockey game and I said to Dad: ‘I have a good idea! What about a Doggie Dinner Movie Night themed with Lady and the Tramp: there could be doggie mocktails and dog spaghetti and Italian food for the owners. I could do it as a fundraiser for the Shenton Park Dog Refuge!’ I said to Dad that I could do that in a few years but he said ‘why not now?’

So I have spent the last six months working with local people to get my event up and running. It has been challenging but also rewarding.

I have been able to learn to use facebook as well as type better formal emails.

When I was 10 I had this big plan for a self-funding dog shelter. It would have other dog related businesses, that profit share to help fund the shelter.

I would have businesses like barkeries, butchers, dog friendly café, dog and owner day spa, veterinarian, gift shop grooming, photograph studio, outreach services and much more!

Then about a month later I came up with my name – Alythea’s Pooch Palace for Homeless Dogs – and 10 year plan ahead of me.

 

What type of music or song have you got on high rotation?

The Guardians of the Galaxy Soundtrack.

 

How do you stay motivated?

Knowing that I am helping dogs.

 

What inspires you?

The homeless dogs are who inspires me. Knowing that I am helping one dog somewhere really helps me stay inspired and focussed when I am finding I’m stressed.

 

How do you you deal with imposter syndrome?

I don’t think I have this just yet, as I am just starting out in life. However, I do struggle with getting stuck in my head and worried about little, tiny details.

I find talking to my mum, going over the niggly things with her and seeing that the things I am worried about are quite fixable or easily solved helps.

 

What’s your favourite way to relax?

Chilling out in front of the TV with Rozie, watching dog films, or heading to the park and watching my puppies run!

Being sighthounds, they are VERY fast!

 

If you hadn’t started Alythea’s Pooch Palace, what do you think you’d be doing right now?

I think that if I hadn’t left mainstream school I would still be surrounded by school and homework and boring lunches (I don’t cope well with only eating one type of food) and would not have found my amazing idea.

Having the space to follow my dreams, even though I am really young, means I can follow them my whole life!

I am learning so many amazing skills too, that I wouldn’t learn in school. I have had meetings with our State and Federal parliamentarians, cooked with our WA Food Ambassador, Chef Don Hancey, and travelled all around the state with my parents and our bees!

 

How do you you Social Media in promoting your business?

OMG, social media!

Tactic: lots of posts, everyday and specifically asking businesses and people to share your post. And cross your fingers. Though I am lucky – people LOVE dogs!

 

Did you hit any huge problems that made you re-think the whole thing? How did you get around it? 

Being taken seriously – since I am ‘a kid’ – but my mum and dad have helped me work out how to set meetings and write mature emails.

I have great experience with customers and people anyway from my parents Honey business (from their shop and market events).

I have also had some help from my Grandma too about planning and things like that.

 

What is the hardest thing about your work?

Doing all of my work while managing my schoolwork, as I am planned to finish by 15/16 I am already in year 7. It is heaps easier planning my event now it is the school holidays.

Being able to say no, and being clear with people about my vision.

 

How do you manage it all with your busy schedule?

I do some of my school work in the car and I always make sure that I do at least 3 things for my event each day.

So many emails!

 

What’s next for you?

I think I am going to be planning next years event. It will be K-9 themed – there’s an 80’s movie called K9!

I’ll try and get the police dogs down there as well as have something related to K-9 (another Guinness world record)

 

How do we follow more of your story?

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Alytheas-Pooch-Palace-for-Homeless-Dogs

Email: alytheaspoochpalace@gmail.com

 

How do we get tickets for you upcoming event?

You can book HERE!

 

What do you think – pretty cool huh? Is your mind totally blown?

Make sure you head along to Doggie Dinner Movie Night and take your pup to see Lady and The Tramp, participate in some raffles, and help her try to break the Guiness Book of World Records for the most dogs at a grooming session!

You might even see Lisa Baker MLA and Member for Cowan, Anne Aly.

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People Doing Cool Stuff – Tiffany Andrews | Ngapuhi Photography

I’m lucky enough to meet a lot of people from all over the world who are doing cool stuff!

Tiff Andrews isn’t just a regular photographer, she’s got a specific niche she works with! Her business is called Ngapuhi Photography, which she named after her tribe as a way of paying homage to her roots in Northland, New Zealand. Little did she know this would steer her photography business so much that she’d become one of Australia’s only cultural portraiture specialists.

So let’s have a look at some examples of her work and chat to her about her business!

Tiff Andrews and Ngapuhi Photography

I am of Maori heritage and Ngapuhi is the name of the tribe I’m from and calling my business that is a way of me paying homage to where I am from. I got into doing the cultural portraiture after being asked by so many Kiwi’s if I did them (because of the name of my business) I actually started out in photography as a Gig photographer and followed several Maori/Kiwi groups around.

I saw there was a market here in Australia for the cultural portraiture and decided to embark on that path and see where it would lead too. Generally Maori for example won’t go to a non-Maori photographer for these type of photos as the shots can be very emotional, and you need to understand what they are feeling and help support them along the way.

I specialize in Maori Portraiture as its my own culture and I’m sensitive to our customs and protocols. I have also photographed, Cook Island, Samoan, Tongan and Aboriginal cultures.

I also do the regular photography, Weddings, Maternity, Team Photos but I’m known for the Cultural Images.

There are a few of us that specialize in this genre, only 3 in Australia I’m aware of. We all have different styles of shooting so none of us are the same and most people can tell who did what images by looking at the style. I’ve never had someone try and impersonate my work.

You can tell a LOT about someone by their taste in music. What type of music or song have you got on high rotation?

Growing up in NZ, Reggae music was what I listened to as child and teenager along with our own cultural music. Things haven’t changed and I still listen to the same style music as well as basically anything that my ears enjoy.

Currently Conkarah from Jamaica is my fav tunes.

 

How do you stay motivated?

Sometimes it’s hard to stay motivated when I’m not shooting, you just need to give yourself a kick in the pants and keep going.

The reactions I get out of making people happy with their photos is the best satisfaction I can get, and it can be addictive.

 

What’s your favorite way to relax?

My fav place and way to relax is shutting of the mind from work (which can be very hard) and just spending quality time with my family at the park or beach or catching a movie together.

 

If you weren’t running your cultural portraiture business, what do you think you’d be doing right now?

If I wasn’t doing this I would probably still be doing school photography. I quit that job due to the demands of my own work.

ngapuhi photography

 

How do you you Social Media in promoting your business?

Facebook has been the main driving force behind my marketing, next to word of mouth. I started out with a Facebook page I added a few images to, and within a few months I had 5000 followers!

When I post openings for bookings and trips I generally get a lot of activity on my page, comments, shares, and private messages.

Without Facebook I wouldn’t be as established as I am now.

I’m very fortunate to have a lot of Polynesian Facebook Groups share my images on their pages and Instagram pages. Sometimes these pages have in excess of 10’s of thousands of members.

 

Did you hit any huge problems that made you re-think the whole thing? How did you get around it? 

The big problems I have found with my career is being to trusting and generous with my work.

I’ve had a lot of people mess me around, deals that I’ve fulfilled on my side and they haven’t on theirs to name one. You learn to tighten up on your procedures, what you are willing to do in exchange for something else and who you will and won’t trust to work with in the future.

 

What is the hardest thing about your work?

The hardest thing about my work and every photographer can relate, is generating business.

I’m fortunate that I have very little competition and have a niche product that stands out from other local photographers, but it is still hard.

 

How do you manage it all with your busy schedule?

The only way I can manage my schedule is to WRITE IT DOWN in my diary.

My brain is usually focused on photos and without my diary I would probably forget EVERTHING else!

 

What’s next for you Tiff?

This year I hope to keep doing more of what I’m already doing, more trips lined up and the start of a book I want to put together about my journey as this type of photographer but using the clothing I use in my shoots to represent me as a person. The cloaks (Korowai) I use for my photos I now make myself as they are usually very expensive and hard to source.

I’m also in the process of putting a collection of Art Photography Images together for an exhibition I’m hoping to organize myself at a later stage.

So far in the few short years I have been doing these portraits, I have travelled to NZ, Brisbane, Melbourne and LA to hold portrait sessions. Whilst in LA I had images exhibited in a Kiwi’s in LA Annual Art Exhibition and was the first person to display my style of images since they began.

I also got to shoot a family’s portraits on Malibu Beach!

I’ve been interviewed for a radio station in NZ, had a four-page spread published in a New Zealand Newspaper Magazine (its was about my artist friend but they used my images and gave photo credit)

 

How do we follow more of your story?

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ngapuhiphotography

Website: www.ngapuhi-photography.com

Instagram: @ngapuhiphotography

 

 

What do you think, Tiff’s pretty cool huh? If you or someone you know needs cultural portraits done make sure you get in touch.

And stay tuned for more awesome stories from more People Doing Cool Stuff!

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People Doing Cool Stuff – Jamie Mykaela | Fringe World 2018

I’m lucky enough to meet a lot of people from all over the world who are doing cool stuff!

 

When I asked Jamie what she was about she said: “I’m a 21 year old musical comedian who is about to head off on a national tour which is pretty cool. I’m doing a solo show in Perth that talks about feminism, mental health, and being ambitious.” and I thought – that’s cool, let’s put you in my blog series!

So without further ado, here’s the hilarious Jamie Mykaela.

Jamie Mylaela

Jamie Mykaela

Jamie Mykaela is a comedy-cabaret firecracker who has been breaking hearts and ukulele strings on Fringe scenes all over for the past five years. A classically trained musician whose career has ranged from dingy comedy rooms to children’s entertainment to erotic puppetry, in Mykaela’s uniquely immersive take on cabaret, no-one is safe and nothing is sacred.

When not wreaking twee havoc in venues from Sydney to Edinburgh, she’s opened for cabaret glitterati such as Amanda Palmer, Aurelio Voltaire and Tomás Ford. She has toured as part of Fringe Festival shows including Craptacular, [Late Night] Gameshow and Andrew Silverwood is a Self-Absorbed Tw*t. Her debut solo show Too Dumb To Be In Love was a smash hit at FRINGE WORLD 2016 and she is currently building her new show Napoleon Complex.

 

So Who is Jamie Mykaela?

My name is Jamie Mykaela. I’m a cabaret artist from Perth. I basically do clowning for adults. I play ukulele, dress up in silly costumes, tell dirty jokes, and dance around while I’m covered in glitter.

What’s your background? Tell us about your journey, how did you get to this point?

I come from a background of being an old-school theatre kid. I was in a bunch of musicals growing up. I originally wanted to be a folk artist (HA!) but I was just a bit too camp and trashy to be ‘cool’

I’ve studied a bunch of stuff from fashion to electronic music to makeup to filmmaking and theatre, but I’ve luckily found something that combines all of my loves!

Normally I ask people about their product or service, in this case – well…

I am the product. Terrorising audience members is the service.

I’m actually performing in my second solo show called Jamie Mykaela’s Napoleon Complex at Perth’s Fringe World Festival in February.  It’s super silly and heartfelt. It’s full of party poppers, ukulele, and terrible wigs.

It’s about striving for mediocrity and not quite getting there.

You can tell a LOT about someone by their taste in music. What type of music or song have you got on high rotation?

I’m loving a band called The Long Blondes at the moment. They were super big in the indie scene in the UK in the early 2000s but sadly I missed the boat due to being in Australia and starting primary school.

Their song Guilt is such a disco banger!

And you can’t go wrong with Gloria by Laura Branigan. Such a perfect uplifting 80s tunes that makes me feel like I’m in my own film montage!

How do you stay motivated?

Anxiety. The fear feeds me.

What/who inspires you?

My friends!

When you’re on the festival circuit it can get pretty dire and spirits can be low but I’m very lucky to have a group of such talent and motivated people around me who actively inspire me everyday to keep pursuing this weird thing that I’m now getting to call a career! I’m lucky enough to call some of my favourite performers my friends. People like Laurie Black (Cybergoth cabaret enchantress from the dirty depths of Camden), Tomas Ford (King of Fringe World and purveyor of guilty pleasure music), and Clara Cupcakes (Hula hooping, ukulele toting, vaudeville darling) are three people who have definitely had a high impact on my work.

Please go see them, they are very good!

This is a big one, how do you deal with impostor syndrome?

I do precisely what I do in my show! This show is fuelled by my imposter syndrome. I suffer from it really badly and it’s so hard to manage – so why not write a hour long show about it and make people laugh while you delve deep into your own anxieties?!

It’s so weird when you’re quite young and sitting at a table in Edinburgh with cabaret royalty and they are talking to you as if you belong there, but then you go on to play at a variety show where nobody likes you. It can be really jolting.

But then I have to remember that I am a 21 year old from Perth who is playing at an amazing venue in an amazing show on the other side of the world in the biggest arts festival in the world, and I got here because of my own merits and talents.

It’s a crazy roller coaster ride.

What’s your favorite way to relax?

Grabbing my favourite ukulele, going through some jazz playlists on Spotify, and teaching myself some smooth tunes. My favourite to play is Dream A Little Dream Of Me. It’s hard to feel stressed when you’re playing such chilled out tunes.

Either that or throwing a bath bomb in the bath and binge watching The Nanny with a deluxe box of Ferrero Rochers!

If you weren’t a cabaret performer extraordinaire, what do you think you’d be doing right now?

I’d probably still trying to hack it as a folk musician, playing in bars where no one wants to listen to me, and just playing in the background. Which doesn’t suit me at all! No one appreciates background glitter.

What’s been your most successful Digital Marketing/Social Media campaign and what did it achieve?

My kickstarter fundraiser for funding my tour to Edinburgh. I got to make a funny little video and share it around. It was definitely a success and got me some attention from across the world!

Did you hit any huge problems that made you re-think the whole thing? How did you get around it? 

When I was featured on X- Factor! I was 14 and very scared, and put in an uncomfortable position (I wasn’t one of the good ones!). I never thought I was going to do music again. I got home from performing in front of 5000 people and completely embarrassing myself, picked up a ukulele, taught myself, and started writing my own music.

Sure, I’m not performing at the Sydney Entertainment Centre but now I’m performing content that I’ve created myself, that my heart and soul has gone into, and that is what matters for me. I’m actually talking about this experience public for the first time in my show. Scary Spice’s accent is really difficult to pull off!

What is the hardest thing about your work?

The burden of fame and being the coolest person in the room (Sigh! The struggle…)

How do you manage it all with your busy schedule?

Barely! I’m so disorganised and should really sort it out! I’m hoping I can stick to having a diary but I wouldn’t put it past me to book a haircut at the same time as my show. Not. Good.

What’s next for you Jamie?

My Finge show!

It’s called Jamie Mykaela’s Napoleon Complex! On from the 11th to the 16th of February in the cool confines of The Moon Cafe in Northbridge!

Tickets are available at fringeworld.com.au with a special codeword for readers. Just pop in PAYME at the checkout!

I don’t bite, I’m actually a massive dork!

How do we follow more of your story?

Facebook: facebook.com/jamiemykaela

Website: www.jamiemykaela.wixsite.com/jamiemykaela

Instagram: @jamiemykaela

 

So there you have it guys, make sure you grab your readers discount if you’re heading along to Perth Fringe and you want to see Jamie in the flesh!

I’ve got some more awesome folks in the pipeline – and if you are Doing Cool Stuff I’d LOVE to hear from you too!

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People Doing Cool Stuff – Ritu From Logojoy

I’m lucky enough to meet a lot of people from all over the world who are doing cool stuff!

I’m going to share some of their stories with you – and here we’re going to chat with Ritu from Logojoy!

 

So What is Logojoy?

Logojoy is a tech startup from Toronto that uses AI to provide personalized design services.

 

Why do we need it?

Logojoy is trying to revolutionize the way small businesses, startups, and entrepreneurs approach their graphic design visions and challenges by guiding them through the development of their logos.

 

Tell us a bit about yourself, your background and your journey, how did you get to this point?

One of my first jobs was at a health startup in Brooklyn, which was more advertising focused. After six years of various roles in digital advertising, I felt like I hit a ceiling and wanted to start helping people through communications.

This lead me to taking marketing and communications roles at startups because in this environment, I could have a lot more impact than at bigger corporate organizations.

RituYou can tell a LOT about someone by their taste in music. What type of music or song have you got on high rotation?

I’m currently obsessed with Camilla Cabello. I love her soulful voice and catchy rhythms.

I also love listening to mantras when I work because of their meditative quality. My favorite mantra song is Narayana by Chakrini; I’ll never get tired of it.

 

How do you stay motivated?

This is a difficult one because I’m a highly emotive person and am also affected by the different seasons. The one thing that always gets my motivation back up when it I’m running low is exercise and reading.

Feeding my body with high energy and activity and feeding my mind with stories gets my motivation levels up.

 

What/who inspires you?

I’m inspired by people who live outside of their comfort zone.

Whether it is a founder who is constantly doing this for the survival of her business or a runner who always pushes himself to run that extra 500 meters. I’m inspired by these people because the biggest growth happens when you are willing to be uncomfortable and try something new or go further than you ever thought you could – the impossible starts to become possible.

 

This is a big one. How do you deal with impostor syndrome?

Imposter syndrome affects most people whether they realize it or not, or rather whether they realize it earlier or later.

For example, for me, it hit be when my performance in my work was low and I had to ask myself why that was. Faking it until you make it is an easy way to make yourself vulnerable to imposter syndrome.

For me, the best way to deal with it is to humble myself, admit that I was wrong and ask for help. No one will judge you for reaching out to them. You will be surprised by how much your self-worth increases when you are willing to humble yourself and ask for help.

 

What’s your favorite place/way to relax?

It is so important to give yourself a day once in awhile to do anything you want, even if that’s doing nothing.

I tend to push myself beyond normal work-life balance during the week, so one day per week, I shut down, cozy in at home and spend the day in my sweatpants. The Mondays after such a weekend are usually the most productive ones!

 

If you hadn’t made Logojoy – what do you think you’d be doing right now?

As the Director of Customer Marketing at Logojoy, storytelling is what I like best about my role at Logojoy, and gathering data and information from our customers.

There are amazing stories in the data, and I love sharing those stories. If I wasn’t doing this job, you’d find me traveling in Europe with a camera attached to my hand taking portraits of the locals.

 

How have you incorporated Social Media into the promotion of the site, and do you think it’s been successful?

At Logojoy, Social Media is a huge priority.

We use it to build community and also to provide customer support. We get dozens of urgent customer support requests on social and we’re committed to helping our customers no matter what channel they choose to ask for help.

 

Did you hit any huge problems that made you re-think the whole project? How did you get around it? What was your approach to solving the issue?

Our biggest priority at Logojoy is growth and a part of that means constantly experimenting and trying different strategies out. Some are successful and some are not.

The biggest challenge is monitoring the results accurately and having the courage to end an experiment when it fails, and then, start the next experiment. Being comfortable to constant change is important here.

 

What was the hardest piece of the site to put together technically?

Our founders, Dawson Whitfield and Rares Crisan designed the website using an approach called “microservices architecture,” or simply, microservices.

This is an increasingly popular method for developing software; rather than building a huge, complicated site that does everything at once, it puts together small, independently deployable, modular tasks that can communicate with each other and be combined toward a bigger goal.

 

I’ve noticed (and received) very attentive and personalised support from you in using your services, is this something that’s important for you to be directly involved in?

Customer service and more importantly the success of our customers is very important to us.

We pride ourselves on our mission of helping entrepreneurs start new businesses and making a logo is a crucial part of that.

Personally, I answer every single message that comes to me directly or via our support team. So much can be learnt from listening to your customers, so they should be prioritized in you any business.

 

How do you manage it all with your busy schedule?

I’m a huge fan of meditation and it is as essential to my daily routine as brushing my teeth. It’s the only thing that keeps me sane. I also teach meditation in my spare time. I highly recommend Atma Kriya Yoga style of meditation. If you are looking to integrate meditation into your daily life and if you’re not afraid of positive change and personal growth, then you should definitely try this out.

 

What’s next for Logojoy?

We are constantly trying to improve our product at Logojoy and we are working hard to make our artificial design engine smarter and smarter. We have some incredible technological innovations on the way.

Stay tuned to hear more!

logojoy

What’s next for Ritu?

Even though I admire those who live their lives outside of the comfort zone, I don’t think I practice this enough. I’m in the process of setting some time bound and actionable goals that will help me to do this more at work and also in my personal life.

 

Anything to add?

I’d love to connect with you. Let’s hang out on social media:

Logojoy: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

Ritu: Instagram | Twitter | Linkedin

 

So there you have it guys, my first People Doing Cool Stuff post! What do you think? Feel free to leave me (or Ritu) a comment.

I’ve got some more awesome folks in the pipeline – and if you are Doing Cool Stuff I’d LOVE to hear from you too!