Are You Taking A Grip Of Knowledge?

So you have read the first part of this series? If not, go take a quick look ‘Let’s Get a Grip’

Now you may be asking yourself what getting a grip of knowledge has to do with fashion and beauty. Well, in my mind, fashion and beauty are not one dimensional things. We always strive to make things look nice, more attractive not just for an aesthetic point of view but also for a practical point of view. Take this blog for instance – yeah I like the way it looks, but I also like the way things are placed so they are practical; pages at the top of key things I always want my readers to have access to, comments and recent posts are also placed tidily to the right but are accessible.

We do the same thing in life, work, even relationships. Chaos, never seems as appealing does it?

When trying to find out what we want in life, how to attain it and how to make it work we also apply the same theory. Pretty, appealing, doable, ordered. Those key things help us achieve things. Of course I wouldn’t be a true Piscean if I didn’t think that cosmic alignment didn’t help make things more doable, ordered etc. But there has to be something that gets us in the position to get a bit of luck.

I know when I got the call from my agent to work with ASOS, I lucked out. Or did I? Sure there are many other women who’d love to be a fit model for this company, but why me?

The odds were stacked against me. I’m really clumsy putting on clothes – in fact I hated trying on clothes. I’m not a born Fashionista. Three months ago I couldn’t even have told you what an asymmetric dress was! And let me break it to you ladies, I couldn’t give two hoots and a cotton candy stick for the new Sex and the City 2 movie. I know the gall of me.

But regardless of the things I’m learning now as a Fit Model there had to be some steps that got me to that place.

It’s simple, as I reassess it all. I put the ground work down. My steps took time, but are few when I write them down.

Steps:

• I decided I wanted to be a model so I practiced with tests shoots.
• I made friends with someone who presented an opportunity to be in a project they didn’t want to do. They had seen the test shoots and thought of me to recommend.
• I promoted the project I was in and gained supporters otherwise known as fans – Amelia will smile if she reads this!
• I joined an agency for models that were not ‘standard’ model shape, size or height. I took the test shoots along with my small but professional body of work.
• I got lots more model jobs and learned how the industry worked. The good and the bad. I learned to network on and offline.
• I began venturing into building my own site and social media.
• I stopped modelling (due to the economy) and worked a normal job in beauty & fashion accessories (this was important for me to do as I’ll explain later and those that have followed me for a while know that the beauty industry was something I’d worked in before)
• During this time I always kept testing and sending notes to my agent with pictures – so they would not forget me in with the hundreds of other models they have in their books.
• I embraced fitness due to talking to Debra Mazda and listening to my body tell me that although big is beautiful it didn’t really help spinal issues I had. No diet, kept eating the same but went to the gym regularly. Toned up and lost two dress sizes.
• I gained all the knowledge I could at that point from the normal day job in fashion accessories and beauty and quit.
• That week I got a call from my agency regarding the ASOS  Fit Model job – who I’d kept in contact with.
• I went to a go-see at ASOS – they called me back the same day to work, because yes, I was pretty close to their measurements (thanks to listening to Debra’s advice and embracing weight loss my own way and for me), but also because I’m a very enthusiastic networker, blogger and self promoter, thanks to every step I’d taken before.

This was the first part of my steps to ONE GOAL but it’s always a work in progress.

It was to be a professional (paid) model; someone who had value and worth in their work, and who has now shared many times her experiences as a model with others, both for free and for payment (by way of my last book)

I wonder if you wrote down the steps you took to get to a positive opportunity and end goal how many you’d have, and how long did the process take you? When we order things that way – it all seems so simple, more ordered, a lot nicer. Of course you could add in the negatives as well because I think also they are important.

The negatives toward achievement are often down to things like:

• Money (or lack thereof)
• Friends (negative ones never help)
• Family (some family can try and kick down your ambitions because they don’t want you to fail, or they simply don’t understand why you would want to pursue something so passionately, particularly if it’s creative)
• Children (if you’re a parent, then children and the time they take up can seem to hold you back from gripping hard onto something you want – but this is always a cup half empty / half full situation. It can be turned around into a positive!)
• Love (love interests can get in the way sometimes, purely because of the nature of how we deal with emotion, or not as the case may be – but just like children, the broken heart can be turned into something much more positive)
• Procrastination – need I explain?

Vanessa Get to the Point!

Yes, I know you speed readers are dying to know the point. But the fact is, if you don’t have the patience to sit and read this series you do not have the patience to achieve what you want. But that’s okay. You’re not ready. There was a time, I wasn’t ready either. But I see now if I’d have had patience, if I’d have put situations and knowledge in pretty, ordered fashion I would have achieved things with less hassle.

You know I’m seeing a lot of tweets about how people have no money, or how people aren’t getting paid for things they clearly should be. We’ve all been there. But knowledge, the kind I’m going to share is here for free. It won’t give you every single detailed answer to achievement but it will set you on the right path.

The power of sharing knowledge goes way deeper than just being nice. Its great karma to do it and it also lets people know that they aren’t the only ones who need an answer. Someone somewhere has an answer to a question. You may not have met them, or know of them yet, but they are there.

With the internet it has made the job of seeking out great knowledge easier and more attainable.

If I hadn’t of gone through my first few steps of my Model goal I never would have connected with people like Marie Denee or Kimmoy Matthews. Both ladies are two of my heroes. Why? Because one taught me about the value of good fashion and networking and the other taught me how to use my skills (both off and online) in order to make a living.

Both women have given me information I needed. They shared their knowledge. I gripped that knowledge and have used it many times, and I’m sharing it daily in my own way.

Of course by listening to their advice, (and sometimes ignoring it which led to me remembering, there is no wrong way – just the long way) I have met other people who I’m learning from.

I’m Not Selfish

Through my work as a model, beauty consultant and manager I’ve learnt a ton of things. Many I share for free, others I charge for. For instance – I know how to put make-up on people, I know how to diagnose certain skin conditions, I know when to advise someone to visit a dermatologist and when to offer product suggestions that will clear up the issue. That knowledge is something I charge for. But there is knowledge I give for free. For instance, in my beauty videos or make-up tutorials, that information is free for anyone to take. No charge.

There has to be some give and take. If I gave all my knowledge away for free I’d never make a living, and let’s be honest, money does make the world go around. You may not want to be rich beyond your wildest dreams, but you want to have a comfortable life, provide for your family and enjoy being debt free.

I see a lot of people on the internet sharing great knowledge – and that’s all they do. If they are comfortable and don’t need to sell some of their knowledge then so be it – but one day they may have to change their minds, either due to circumstance or because they are asked to do so.

I remember Dior..

I remember when I went to Christian Dior’s head office in London for a job once. I didn’t know what the job was I just knew they were keen to meet with me. They were very keen for me to join their company. I just wanted to show off my skills, in a portfolio which was mixed with make-up pictures I’d done, special events planning scenarios, budget nerd stuff, etc. They asked me how much I wanted for a certain position. I told them a certain amount (not really knowing what to charge but thought that was all my knowledge was worth – and it was a lot of mullah at the time). They offered me two grand more! You see even though I didn’t ask for that amount – they offered me it, because they saw my knowledge was valuable. It was more to do with the fact I could motivate, train and organise. That knowledge was valuable to them and they were willing to pay for it.

Think About This!

What is your knowledge worth? Have you even worked out how to grip onto it and use it? Do you put your knowledge into a website? Do you charge for that? I am not talking about how many visitors you have. I’m not talking about how many advertisers you have or what you make in ad clicks. I’m talking about what you know going on your site and what you think its worth.

Think about it and join me back here (if you have the patience to) once you’ve sat and digested this latest blog in the series.

If you’ve learned something from this post then please share the link on your twitter and facebook feeds. That’s your first step. If you learnt something you didn’t know before then share it. Thanks.

Style your minds

V x

Read the first part of this series here.

Let’s Get A Grip