Joanna and I met in the most hilarious and nerdy way possible......through a website. We were both new to New York and were both interested in getting into the fashion industry. We stalked the website Ed2010 ( a great resource for anyone looking to get into the publishing world fyi!) and were chatting on the forum "Canadians in New York". We took our chat "off the record" (HA), added each other to Facebook (mutual friends? check!, not a serial killer? was hoping not!) and made arrangements to meet up in the big bad city of New York.
We became fast friends, somewhat became room mates at one point and are now travel buddies- meeting up in places around the globe whenever we have the chance!! After New York, Joanna moved back to Toronto for a bit and then on to Hong Kong. She has worked at a handful of brag worthy places such as 3.1 Phillip Lim, Hugo Boss, Louis Vuitton and most currently at
Christian Louboutin.
Describe a typical Monday for you.
I go through all my emails with a coffee in hand! we have a very lean team and handle various markets across Asia, so typically we are working on many different projects; from in store customer events, press launches/previews, designer appearances, special projects and so on. A typical Monday would involve brainstorm meetings about an upcoming launch, meeting with catering to perfect the menu for an upcoming event, handling media enquiries on shoot requests and products, seeing through the translations of content for our Asia social media platform, to compiling a comprehensive budget for upcoming events.
What was your first job out of school or internship?
The summer of 2007 was a busy one for me, and marked my first internship experiences- all three of which happened simultaneously while I was completing a summer program at NYU. I was an entertainment intern at NBC Universal's iVillage (I assisted with content production, this undeniably sparked my obsession with celebrity and pop culture), the now defunct Giant magazine (I was a fashion intern, and learnt the basics of media loans/pulls..going from one showroom to the next with a ton of heavy lifting) and 3.1 phillip lim (I was a PR intern - I would say this internship was what solidified my decision to focus in this field).
New York, Paris or Los Angeles?
Paris. I fall in love with the city every time I go back. the amazing bakeries on every corner, the sophistication, the language, the beautiful architecture, the markets, the way everything falls together so perfectly without effort.
Number of emails on average you get a day?
I would say 40 or so. I work quite closely with head offices as well, so emails from those offices come later at night in HK and I generally wake up to them.
What has been the biggest "WOW" moment for you in your career so far?
When I had a sit down dinner with CL and Franca Sozanni of Italian Vogue / when I went to the red ball DVF BJ
Currently reading?
"The happiness project" by Gretchen Rubin
If you weren't in PR, what would you be doing?
I would definitely be working in the publishing world and writing full time, or working for an events company
Worst memory in your career so far?
No such thing! Every job has its ups and downs, stresses and frustrations - but despite that I try to remind myself how hard I've worked and how lucky I am to be where I am. the people and opportunities I have met and had throughout my career have been amazing and I would not trade it for the world. Although having to endure a lot of tedious tasks and physical labor during the intern days was not the most enjoyable - it did teach me the importance of understanding how things come together down to the finest detail, and appreciate those who now are in that place assisting me. Grunt work is not hard in this industry, but it is necessary.
Favourite indulgence?
Treating myself to a spa day! Guilty pleasure (throwing this one in): reading US weekly; always a tradition when I get on a flight
Morning or night person?
I'm a night owl. I sleep at 2am most week nights, for some reason my productivity is higher at night. I absolutely hate mornings and love to sleep in on weekends. Friends have nicknamed me sloth and slumber king. Let's just say coffee is KEY during my work week.
