Browsing Tag

inspiration

Stepping Up My Canadian Fashion Game

After attending the White Cashmere fashion show, I was eager to learn more about Canadian fashion and meet the brains behind it. When Women of Influence announced they were ending their speaker series for the year with Kimberly Newport-Mimran, the President & Head Designer of Pink Tartan, I quickly bought a ticket. Prior to the event, I saw her on a poster at the eyeglasses store Josephson’s in Forest Hill, which solidified her position as a national style icon.

When I focus on seeing speakers from the fashion and media industries, the events tend to be worthwhile and this one was no exception. Charles the Butler was not there, but Susie Sheffman was!

December 18, 2016 by Sarah Prince

Book Review: Hungry Heart

In her opening letter, Jennifer shares her wish that this book will help her become more relatable to readers. She immediately accomplishes that goal on the first page of the first story when she describes her outfit that includes UGG boots. Jennifer Weiner is anything but basic though. She’s a talented, opinionated and friendly author who has overcome personal issues and handled negative reviews.

Jennifer was a gifted student and skipped a grade. It was upsetting to read about how when her dad got mad, he sometimes tore up her books. Of course, she has always been an avid reader. Her mother and Nanna love telling a story about how Jennifer lost her shoes at camp, but never lost a book.

November 1, 2016 by Sarah Prince

3 Campaigns That Inspired Me At Social Media Week

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Photo Source: Trend Hunter

I’ve missed the CM1 conference for community managers, so I was relieved when I discovered the Social Media Week itinerary. The first day alone featured keynote speakers from Twitter, BuzzFeed and Shopify. Drake’s friend Norm Kelly was interviewed too. Hot topics included influencer marketing, millennials and self-esteem.

Aside from professional development in general, what motivates me to attend these types of events is how much the speakers leave you feeling inspired. That was definitely the case when I heard Shelby Walsh from Trend Hunter. She talked about big data, personalization and mobile marketing by presenting several clever marketing campaigns that integrated social media effectively. They’re kind of old, but they’re all relevant, innovative and influential. Enjoy!

June 8, 2016 by Sarah Prince

Q&A With Dustin Brown, Co-Creator Of The Brief

Toronto-based advertising and communications agency Elemental recently launched a four-part web series called The Brief. Dustin Brown is a partner at the agency who co-created the series.

Why did you decide to make a web series about agency life?

We have always tried to do promotional pieces about the agency to either attract new clients or new employees, bring on new talent and [create] stuff to show our clients what we’re capable of doing. We have run some campaigns in the past and then when one of our new copywriters came on board, he was a director and had the background. I had toyed around with making a full-length series once upon a time and he had some ideas about how to do a web series, which I had never really explored. We brought these two things together and created these shorts and we just had fun with it. From there, it grew into this four-part series, which is great.

March 15, 2016 by Sarah Prince

Behind The Books: Kelsey Miller

Name: Kelsey Miller

Best Known For: Big Girl: How I Gave Up Dieting And Got A Life (2016)

Education: Film & Television, Boston University

Employment: Senior Features Writer, Refinery29

Professional role models: David Sedaris & Tina Fey

How did spending years in therapy help you write a memoir?

The work I did (and still do) in therapy enabled me to grow up and live my life, without which there would be no memoir. I also never would have been able to write about my problems and difficulties without first sorting through them and working my ass off so that they weren’t the controlling force of my life. It’s a lot more complicated than this, but the short version is that I went into therapy feeling like one big problem — I was composed of trauma and disorder and dysfunctional experiences. Therapy doesn’t erase those things but it helped me realize that I’m not simply the sum total of my [problems]. Those things are in me and a part of me, but I don’t have to sit around and wait to be fixed and perfect in order to move forward with my life. I always thought you had to be All Better with a capital B in order to write a reflective memoir. Nope. You just get on with your life and your goals, issues or not.

Do you think your theatre training has helped you become a better storyteller?

Man, I sure hope so. I’d like to think my parents’ investment in a decade’s worth of theatre training paid off somehow. I’d always enjoyed storytelling and have huge admiration for good storytellers. (My mom and dad are both incredibly funny and I used to wish I could crack up a dinner table the way they could.) I haven’t done theatre in ages, but there are certain lessons that will always be with me: finding your intention in a scene, showing and not telling, etc. Those are all good instincts for writers as well.

January 7, 2016 by Sarah Prince

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