After a great response from my last “what do you want to be when you grow up” I was already on the ball to find my next blogger to probe
with questions and who better than the happiest most colourful girl in the
blogosphere, Lucy from Shiny Thoughts. Not only is her blog full on fun and a
hub of travel and crafts , she also has time for an amazing job at ASOS.. so,
lets find out how she does it!
About Lucy:
I am a colourfully styled young lady from Surrey with a love for clothes and
bright or shiny stuff. I try to squeeze as many activities as possible into my
life from Salsa dancing to making and selling scrunchies, oh and of course
there's the blog!
Describe your style?
Generally if I don't look like I could run and straddle jump a fence
whilst presenting a kids tv show, then I'm on one of my 'channeling someone
elses look' days. My outfits are almost always made up of jersey on the bottom
(i have to be able to move my limbs about now) and something baggy and bright
on top. Occasionally I get carried away and successfully rock an edge of
sophistication in block colours and refined pieces but that's only on a good
day after having worn something a bit mental the day before! Let's describe it
as bright, kitsch, laid back, sporty, accessorised.
An interesting fact? French was my
first language. Ah oui oui
Education:
So where did it all begin? Uni? College? Intern?
It began at a brilliant comprehensive school that really pushed me to take
opportunities and make the most of being young and energised. I then sandwiched
a Foundation in Art & Design in Epsom between school and uni. Along the way
I interned at lots of different fashioncentric companies.
What was life like before 9-5?
Ha, weird! I freelanced for a few months out of uni and it was incredibly
strange and unstable. I'm quite an anxious person so I soon realised it wasn't
totally for me although I bloody miss the lie ins, freedom, creative fulfilment
and flexibility it gave me.
Did you always know what you wanted to do?
I knew I wanted to work in fashion but not be a designer.
Would you do it all again?
I would never do uni again, well not the experience I had. If is change I would
have studied geography at some awesome uni where I might have actually had the
chance to have a good social life!
When and why did you decide to start a blog?
After visiting unis whilst on foundation, I realised that starting a blog was
part of a few of the curriculums. Id just got into blogs and knew that i had
things to say so with the aim of getting ahead of all the other students who
would have to set up their blogs once at uni, I got in there early! Turns
out, I was never asked to in the end!
What has
blogging enabled you to do?
Blogging has brought me so many opportunities that I would never ever have
guessed might come to me. It undoubtedly helped me get every job I've had since
uni, allowed me to travel, earned me money, gained me access to amazing places,
allowed me to improve my design and photography skills, allowed me to document
and express myself and allowed me to make fantastic friends and contacts. We
hear a lot of Bloggers saying this bow but I think that personally for me it
has benefited me most in my career. I just wouldn't be where I am now without
it! *hugs laptop*
Experiences:
So, you bagged yourself a 'real job' …
Do tell more?
I was incredibly lucky and just decided to apply for a job that sounded great
at my ultimate place to work and got it! I had also just bagged a great part
time job in Just writing it down makes me realise again how mad or was
that I had it so easy! Whilst that was simple, uni and freelancing were really
challenging so it balanced out!
Any tips on getting yourself that dream job?
Make the jobs you really want stand out and really aim for it rather then going
for lots of other jobs you don't really connect with. Make sure that you
actually understand and use the company you're applying to, get submerged and
research. Also, when in interview, always thing about the customer or business
point of view. Not how you would do things but how they would. Lastly work
hard, be entrepreneurial and say yes lots!
Your the most colorful girl in the blogging world, are you this shiny
at work or do you ever get stressed?
:) pahaha!! Thanks! I'm really happy that that comes across; I love to think
that I might make readers smile ;) I get HELLA stressed. Jesus you should have
seen me at times at uni and after, I can't control the stress and I break down
but I also like to keep tipping point in sight and really test myself. A tiny
bit of stress is what I thrive off so I keep myself busy. I like to think that
how I am on ShinyThoughts is what Im like at work. I dont really get stressed
at there luckily!
You've got yourself a dream job. Tell us
a little about it?
I look after a proportion of what you see on Asos Fashion Finder. I update the homepage with gorgeous on trend looks from Bloggers like
you Kim! (I blush)
I look after all the Looks edits and spot trends amongst our users
content and make editorials around them to share and inspire. I also manage the
shop edits and do some behind the scenes analytics and merchandising stuff too.
I'm also delighted to be doing more and more creative things like making all
the banners and imagery on the site.
What do you hope for the future/'What do you want to
be when you grow up?'
I really have no idea what's to come! I just hope I can create lots of fun
projects for myself and at work, keep my creative clock ticking over and
ideally travel please!
Hope you’ve enjoyed your next instalment of 'What do you want to be when you grow up'… lots more lined up and coming to a blog
near you. Well, this one!
Thanks to Lucy for answering my questions. Off to ASOS we go to see the latest
vacancies. *dreams*
