Barbie has quite an impressive resume. It’s amazing how a woman with 55 years of experience manages to look so young. With 150 jobs under her belt, she’s relatable to young women with different career goals.
Mattel recently introduced Entrepreneur Barbie. Armed with a smartphone, tablet and sophisticated purse, Entrepreneur Barbie is ready to tackle the same challenges as other women entrepreneurs.
A few months ago, I wrote about drinking tea with Carly Rae Jepsen. We didn’t meet at DAVIDsTEA to catch up like old friends; we simply posed at a meet and greet. Drinking coffee with Second Cup’s chairman Michael Bregman was kind of similar. It wasn’t a one-on-one information interview, but rather a breakfast event where he spoke and young professionals listened intently.
In hindsight, Michael’s talk was similar to Annie Young-Scrivner’s keynote at QMAC 2013. At the time, Annie was President, Starbucks Canada and now she is President, Teavana. On both occasions, Michael and Annie succinctly shared their views on coffee consumption, inspired advice-hungry audiences and left enough time for questions.
Taking the TTC to Bay and Bloor is a lot cheaper than flying to Manhattan, so I’m glad Jennifer Weiner came to Toronto to dish about journalism, relationships and reality TV.
When I went to New York last spring, I carefully planned the trip around Lauren Graham and Jennifer Weiner’s book signings. Many tourists go to the New York Public Library branch where they filmed Sex and the City, but Jennifer’s panel with Sarah Pekkanen and Elizabeth LaBan was at the Yorkville branch, so I ventured north of FAO Schwarz and sat front row centre.
Once the panel ended, I approached Jennifer’s publicist to request a Toronto stop on her next book tour. Thankfully Indigo and Simon & Schuster made it happen!
We’ve all heard about how a polished profile picture (one that’s not cropped, blurry or too dark) can help users make a strong first impression for profile viewers. Now that LinkedIn unveiled a new look for profiles, it’s time to get creative because the addition of a LinkedIn cover photo will make it easier for premium users to portray their personal brand.
Your cover photo on every platform is an excellent place to showcase your interests, photography skills and personality. Choose an original photo whenever possible. On Twitter, my cover photo shows jeans on a rack from the American Apparel sale. On Facebook, my cover photo has a bathroom sign from Disney World that says Prince and before that it was a shot of me posing with the cast of The Social. For now, I’ve selected an image from LinkedIn’s image gallery that’s available for Premium users to use as a temporary placeholder.
In every Behind The Brand interview, I enquire about professional role models. At the moment, I’d say mine is Elaine Lui AKA Lainey. Every profile of her that I read reiterates that she’s a hardworking media personality who successfully juggles several jobs in the entertainment industry.
After meeting Lainey at a taping of The Social, I was excited to see her again at Indigo. Lainey’s new book Listen To The Squawking Chicken: When Mother Knows Best, What’s A Daughter To Do? A Memoir (Sort Of) is a tribute to her mother, who raised her around a Mah Jong table and inspired her to become a professional gossiper.