Tag: Work

Things I Maybe Could Have Been…But Wasn’t

“Shoulda, woulda, coulda”…There are lots of things we could have done that likely would have lead us down a very different path to where we are now. Like many people, my life has taken many twists and turns over the years and each and every choice and decision I’ve made has lead me to where I am now.

I have no regrets. Sure in the past I’d maybe wished I’d worked harder, or realised certain things sooner, but right here, right now, I can honestly say I’m happy with where things have wound up thus far. Having said that, who knows what I could have been had I have continued to pursue a different path to the one I’m on today.

So in today’s post I want to take you on a bit of a journey. You know I love a good chat, so grab yourself a cuppa. I want to share a few different things I just could have potentially been, but in the end (so far anyway), wasn’t…

An artist…or something or other.

‘But I am an artist darling!’. Just kidding *not kidding*…actually, on a serious note, when I first started out on my prospective career path (not that I had any actual clue where it was going), I did in fact enrol onto an art course at a local college. I know, I know, that sounds like the most typical post high school dosser option. However, I was in fact a keen artist back in the day, and I wasn’t too shabby at it either, if I do say so myself. Anyway, I can’t remember exactly what the course entailed but all I remember is that two days in, I was being asked to annotate a Lowry painting and it was there and then that I knew this course was not for me.

Now I don’t want to bad mouth old Laurence (that’s Mr L.S Lowry to you and I), but as much as I

love art, I wasn’t that enthusiastic about the idea of writing an entire essay about one of Lowry’s stick men paintings (excuse the uncultured Karl Pilkington moment). No, no, I wanted to create art, not write about it. And I get it, in order to learn we must asses, but I’m very much a, ‘get an idea and roll with it’ type of person and I quickly discovered that this course wasn’t about to bode well with my artistic attitude, (ironically). I mean, I don’t know what I was expecting really. Maybe creative filled days that looked like something from the set of Art Attack (Neil Buchanan always did have my dream job)…I don’t know. Anyway, I quickly ended that potential career path before it even began and after two whole days of thinking ‘what the heck am I doing?’, I left and went off to start anew. And that I did. It was time to pursue another passion of mine…performing!

An Actress

Lights, camera, action! I’m ready for my close up! Okay, so getting two buses across Manchester and back each day to study performing arts at collage wasn’t the most glamorous, but boy was it fun – like seriously the bus journeys themselves were actually fun, my classmates were hilarious and just as bonkers as I was! Anyway, the days were long and always full: Scripts to read, plays to rehearse, essays to write. I was actually in my element during my time at college. I had finally found my calling and I wanted to become an actress! Or any sort of performer really, (but not a mime, because I can’t keep quiet for more than five minutes). Jokes aside, I was truly in my element when I was performing and I didn’t want it to end.

This dream wasn’t a short lived one and I went on to study a degree in performing arts at university. Although a lot more intense than college, with even longer days, longer essays and even more plays and shows to rehearse and perform, I was still very much passionate about acting and when on staged I loved every minute of it.

Post university the reality quickly hit that I wasn’t about to just become a working actress. To be honest, I think that reality had hit a whole lot sooner, before I’d finished my studies. After a life of education, I was ready to start earning some proper money and I knew that meant getting a ‘real job’ as they call it.

Acting was not a cheap career path to pursue. Even a Spotlight membership was way beyond my means straight after uni, never mind travelling for castings. Also the biggest reality that struck me when I did look for casting calls were the lack of roles for women and the even fewer roles for women of colour.

I decided to put acting on the back burner. I went straight into applying for post-graduate jobs, with the goal of finally starting to earn some proper money. I’d been broke for so long and now that uni was over, I was over the broke uni student lifestyle. I didn’t really know what I’d be doing next but I spent about eight months post university applying for full time jobs (whilst going out a lot and acting like I was still a student) and not really getting anywhere.

After months of frustration and not knowing what I was really doing with my life, whilst getting by on doing odd promotional jobs, I was persuaded to apply to some modelling agencies. This was something that terrified me and in all honesty I didn’t see it as something that was feasible. But with no immediate career prospects, what did I have to lose? I finally plucked up the courage and after applying to an agency in Manchester, I found myself getting signed to the agency that would become my Mother agent for the next 6 and a half years. And so began my modelling career…but just as you think that may be the end of this story, I wasn’t done there…

A Fashion Designer (sort of)

One important detail that I missed out about my time at university, is that I spent a lot of my time outside of studying/acting, sat on my sewing machine, making clothes. I used to have a real thing for vintage and 1950’s style fashion. I’d often make dresses to a similar style and I even made dresses for my friend’s birthdays. It’s funny to think about now because all of that feels like a lifetime ago, and I can’t remember the last time I got on my sewing machine to do anything other than stick a quick seam.

I’d say designing/making clothes was a strong passion of mine throughout my childhood and into early adulthood. As a child I would fill books with would be designs and I even went as far as to put on a fashion show for my Final Major Performance at university. And yes, I was doing a performing arts degree but my head of department was pretty cool in that he said I could do whatever as long as I was able to legitimately relate it back to performance. I was even assigned the head of textiles to report to, which was crazy because I was self taught and had nowhere near the level of skills as someone doing a fashion related degree…but, I guess I’ve always had that ‘if there’s a will, there’s a way’ mentality…aannnndd that’s how I ended up way out of my depth durning my final months of university (insert upside down smiling emoji face here).

After a rather stressful end to my degree, I packed up my sewing machine (along with the rest of my worldly possessions) and headed back to Manchester at the first possible opportunity. I could not wait to get home!

My years of being in full time education were finally done and back home in Manchester my sewing machine was left gathering dust for a little while…until, I eventually began a new project which was making clutch bags. I remember making my first ever bag (and you might do too if you’re an OG reader/follower on the gram).

It was a structured little box bag in lilac faux leather. I was SO pleased with myself at my first little handbag creation. I soon got hooked and figured out how to make clutch bags too. Then before I knew it I started selling a few.

I can easily let my ideas run away with me, and when I get into something, I really get into something. I did a craft fair, and I started selling my bows (oh I made bows as well) and bags online too. I’ll never forget the first ever sale from my website, when someone from France bought one of my bags. I couldn’t believe someone in France had ordered one of my handmade bags. It was initially exciting, however (yes there’s a however)…I quickly learnt that it was not for me. Whilst at first I’d loved making bags and bows, and spending hours on my sewing machine, when I started to get orders and custom requests, it actually began to fill me with dread. You see I’d enjoyed making the prototypes of each new design but then when I had to sit and sew multiple of the same design (over, and over, and over), I soon got very, very bored with it.

I was in no way in any financial position so get someone else to make the bags for me and if I’m honest, I didn’t feel that passionate about it to take it any further. It wasn’t like the bags were flying off their imaginary shelves, and I now definitely respect the graft of any small business trying market and sell their product because that shizz ain’t easy! This was the first realisation that not all hobbies should be made into a business and that little bag making stint put me off making things for a very good long while. After that, I was done.

You live and you learn as they say, and whilst I still love design, I now know that if I were to ever pursue something similar again, I’d be focusing purely on the design element and I’d definitely be handing over the production side to someone else.

So what was next for Samio? Well, like I said, I continued to model over the next several years and throughout that time I had some amazing opportunities and experiences. I actually dipped my toes back into the acting world a few times. One very random ‘modelling job’ actually landed me on the set of a feature film for three days and I think uni Samio would have had a mini heart attack at the prospect. It was an insane experience for me and I got to see the pros at it first hand. I also found myself on set for lots of TV commercials over the years. And whilst they may not have been the most challenging of performances, I always felt my past experience with acting/performance always helped me get the job at those types of castings, and I always found those types of jobs great fun too.

Of course here I am today blogging, and as I sit and cathartically share what now feels like a part of my life story, I feel pleasantly nostalgic. This year, after six and a half years of modelling, I finally felt it was time to close the chapter on that period of my life and so I left all of my modelling agencies, in order to focus on blogging full time. I’d been blogging alongside modelling for the past five years as my creative outlet, and it’s only been in the past several months that it’s become a proper job. These past six months of working as a full time blogger and creative have been amazing and I honestly feel so, so grateful to be in this position, but it hasn’t been without its hard graft and lots of twists and turns along the way.

Looking back I can now see the little dominos all falling into place and I’ve eventually wound up here. Of course this isn’t the end of my story yet. I still have that ‘when I grow up I want to be…’ feeling, as with each goal accomplished, a new aspiration is formed and it’s interesting to see how those goals and dreams have changed and developed over the years. I’ve learnt from each failed attempt at something, or from each ‘wrong’ decision I’ve made along the way and I think a lot of the things I did pursue in the past have given me many of the skills that enable me to do what I do today. I get to make things, be creative and perform (in my own right), so I guess in the end I got to do a bit of everything I love. But like I said, I’m not done yet, so who knows what’s next…

Hmmm, I hear space travel is pretty cool.

Samio x

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September 5, 2018
Creatives on Social Media – Consistency and Creativity is Key

This is a note to my fellow creatives to say, keep at it! And by creatives I mean anyone who works in a creative industry either working online, or using the internet as a platform to showcase their work. It’s a powerful tool and one which (if you’re reading this) we all have at our disposal, so why not use it to your advantage.

Making a Change

At the start of this year I set the intention to focus on my blogging content/creative work (whatever you wish to call it) and keep working on my creative craft consistently. I’ve mentioned before how consistency isn’t always my strong point and how in the past I’ve let the idea of things ‘not being perfect’ get in the way of me putting out certain content, or had me working on it for much longer than needed. If you’re a creative person (and like me), you’ll likely be able to relate.

When something is subjective, like with creative work, it’s hard to put a definitive end point on it (unless you’re working to a client’s deadline). There is always room for tweaks and improvements but the problem is, it’s sometimes hard to know when to stop and when to move on (or when to just share something online and realise, it’s not that deep). This year however, I set myself some daily goals and like mini deadlines on what creative work I want to put out, I’ve been sticking to them and in return I’ve seen results.

Instagram

My thoughts on Instagram have changed a lot in the past year. As a blogger I always thought I needed to pick my niche (on Instagram in particular) and stick to it. For me it’s gone from a place where I just shared my daily outfits, to basically a mini portfolio of a selection of my creative work. I don’t aim for a curated feed as such but instead focus on each individual post, with the aim of putting out one image, or video each day that showcases my creativity/photography/style, or if I’m really on it, then a mix of all three. This has been one of the best personal decisions I’ve made and as a result I’ve been able to showcase more of my work (such as video content and creative concepts) to brands and PR’s who may have not previously ventured to my blog or Youtube where I share more of that stuff.

The same applies if you’re anything from a print designer to a makeup artist. Instagram has over 800 million users (I’ve literally just Goggled that), whether you’re trying to reach the masses to buy your work online, or trying to reach potential employers, just by utilising the right hashtags and tagging the correct pages you can be reaching out to exactly who you need to, and it’s free! And a little something I like to remind others as well as myself is, ‘if you don’t share it, they can’t see it’. Think about it.

It’s Not About The Numbers

Whilst overall engagement has gone down on the likes of Instagram and Youtube (damn you algorithms), it’s important to remember, you’re not alone and brands and fellow creatives alike are suffering from the effects of this just as much as you are, so basically, we’re all in the same boat. With that in mind, you shouldn’t worry about things too much because it’s not like you’re the only one, believe me, I’ve felt it too.

For me personally, whilst the numbers may not be the highest, my creativity and quality of work has massively improved, so in turn that’s what has had the main affect on the work I’ve been getting. So far this year I’ve already worked with some of my favourite brands and on some of my favourite projects and content to date. So don’t get disheartened if your follower count feels like it’s going up by 20 and down by 30. Focus on your content, what you genuinely want to share and on being consistent with it.

Don’t Worry About What Dora Is Doing

Dora isn’t real, Dora is a fictional character made up as an example for what I am about to say…which is (drumroll please…), it’s better to be the best version of you, than a second rate version of someone else *who doesn’t love a good cliche quote ey*. The quicker you realise this, the better and freer you’ll feel (there’s nothing more constraining than trying to keep up with doing something the way someone else is doing it). Create your own path, do and share what makes you uniquely you, it’s your time to shine babahhhh!

So that’s it. If you’re a creative on social media, be it someone who uses the internet and social media as their job, or as a platform to showcase their work, remember if you don’t share it, they can’t see it! This is your free promotional tool, use it at your disposal. Consistency is key. Obviously don’t overdo it, but also don’t neglect it for a month and wonder why nobody knows how awesomely talented you are. So keep doing yo thang! Create, showcase, share. Annnnnd good luck! Ciao for now!

Samio x

All the images in this post were shot by me, you can see more of my self portrait series here.

Jeans – M&S | Top – Brandy Melville (old, similar here)

May 2, 2018
Summer Flashback – Shooting A TV Commercial In Madrid

It’s crazy to think that this time last year I was spending part of my summer in Barcelona sharing a model house with three awesome girls and this time this year I’ve now bought a house with my boyfriend and we are spending our time getting stuck into D.I.Y whilst we renovate it from scratch!

So much can change in a year and I’m so happy with what I did both last summer and what I’m doing now. I do love to look back on old memories though and it’s a funny old thing with modelling/acting work, as often you can’t actually share pictures of what you’re doing whilst you’re doing it because sometimes it takes a while before the images are published or the film/commercial comes out. So whilst I’m reminiscing, I thought I’d share some behind the scenes of one of the jobs I was booked on last year whilst staying in Barcelona…

I was sent to Madrid for four days to shoot a commercial and videos for the Sony Xperia Z3 phones. I was put up in a hotel with two other actors who I actually met back in Barcelona at my casting and I was in the room next door to the girl who I had the same shooting schedule as, which was convenient plus we got on really well.

The days were long (as with most commercials) but I had such a laugh working with the five other main guys in the ad. They were even nice enough to speak in English in front of me a lot of the time (as unfortunately I can’t speak Spanish). Shoots/filming days are always 10x better when you get on and can have a laugh with the people you’re working with. It also a bonus when you’re working in a fabulous location too and on this particular job there were a few…

I loved the architecture in Madrid. There are so many grand/fabulous buildings, it was fun being able to see some of the city whilst we weren’t filming.

One of the days filming was spent at this beautiful location (I forget the exact name) by a fresh water river.

We had this stunning rooftop view of Madrid on another day. The views of Madrid were amazing but by the afternoon it sure did get hot – we went through a lot of ice lollies and bottled water that day.

I had a fun four days of filming with these guys

Finally it was time to head back to Barcelona – Madrid Atocha railway station was pretty cool as it had a mini forest/jungle in the middle of it.

Here’s one of the Sony Xperia videos I featured in here:

And you can check out the full commercial here:

Samio x

July 17, 2015
My Week In Pictures – Pandora Fashion Show, Harley Davidson Photoshoot & Chinese New Year

It’s been ages since I documented a week in pictures here on my blog, so at the start of last week I decided to make a concious effort to do so…

On Monday I was off to Birmingham to prep for the Pandora fashion show. I was booked on the job with a couple of girls from my agency who I’m also friends with (I love it when that happens) so Nicole and I headed down together and met Kattreya there for rehearsals before we checked into our hotel. We utilised Monday night at the hotel well, by ordering take out, doing face masks and having a long over due girlie catch up.

On the Tuesday our call time wasn’t until 2pm, so we had just enough time to nip into the centre, do a quick spot of shopping and grab some lunch. We opted for Five Guys for lunch as we thought it would be the quickest option but it turned out to be the busiest place we could have picked. It was my first time trying the famous burger bar and I actually opted for a hot dog. It was enjoyable and filling but I think it’s rather over rated to be honest with you (says the burger critic over here). Anyway it did the job of filling us up before heading to the location for hair and makeup prep.

Here’s me mid prep for the Pandora show. I loved my eye makeup.

Just some of the many beautiful flower decorations prepped for the evening.

Nicole and I, pre show.

I always love it when I get fed well on jobs. I had beef pie with mash and broccoli. It was delicious.

Kattreya and I grabbing a few pre show selfies, ready to go in our Pandora jewellery.

Pre show with the rest of the models.

On Tuesday evening after the show, Nicole and I headed home. After the long journey back I got in at 1:30am and my bed never felt so good.

On Wednesday’s job I was back working in Manchester doing some swimwear shots. Oh how I cannot wait for summer.

On Thursday I was working for Harley Davidson, channelling my inner rock chick whilst modelling their clothing line. I got to work with a really fun team, plus some models from my agency, so it was a fun shoot.

Lunch – Cajun chicken and bacon on sour dough bread.

Our ‘biker gang’ aka the models.

Not only was the shoot lots of fun but we had an early finish (which is always excellent), so I nipped into town to buy a few essentials before meeting my friends for pizza and wine in Dry bar.

Manchester looking wet and grey, with a pop of colour for Chinese New Year.

In Dry bar I went for my usual pizza of choice – The Veggie Hot.

Enjoying drinks with friends in Dry bar that evening.

On the weekend I didn’t see any of the Chinese New Year celebrations (although I had intended to), bad weather caused my boyfriend and I to hibernate. We did venture out on Saturday however and went to my favourite pizza place, Croma. I made a half hearted attempt at joining in on the Chinese New Year festivities by getting one half of my pizza (Chinese style) duck and plumb sauce with spring onions. Okay, so a feeble attempt but at least I tried, sort of.

Samio x

February 23, 2015
London, Liverpool and The Cricket Fashion Show

On Wednesday I headed to London with fellow model and friend, Nicole. It was nice to have someone to go down to London with as usually for castings and work I’m travelling down alone. As I was with a friend, I’d originally planned on getting a few outfit snaps whilst I was down there but as our busy schedule took over, there was time for iPhone snaps only and so I’ve decided to do this post as more of a photo diary.

After a busy day of castings with only a brief Pret stop for lunch, by dinner time we were seriously ready to pig out with a glass of wine… Or many.

With just enough time for a quick shower and an outfit change we were off to a local restaurant for some yummy Italian food. We decided on a local restaurant in Palmers Green called Sole D’oro and Nicole and I both went for the same dishes, opting for the calamari to start followed by a pepperoni pizza each for our mains. The food was gorgeous, especially our starters of calamari. The place had a good atmosphere and great service which meant we stayed a while after our meal enjoying our drinks over a good chat.

We stayed until the restaurant’s close and then went into the bar next door where we enjoyed more drinks and made friends with some of the locals.

The next day we were up and out early for more castings followed by a test shoot in the afternoon. Before we knew it, it was late and so we decided to catch a train and head back home to Manchester.

On the Friday I had another busy day ahead as I was off to Liverpool to model for The Cricket Fashion Show as part of the Celebration Of Style event.

I was working with some girls and guys from my agency, which meant we had fun backstage, whilst getting ready. Hair prep was the biggest task on me as the hair stylists straightened and curled my hair into a funky side style. Nails Inc Trafford Centre team were on nails and The Cassie Lomas team were on makeup.

I got to model some cute outfits on the night, including this funky Kenzo dress and bag combo and this black strapless Balenciaga dress, which I loved. Heels were Chloe Jade Green (the tiny bit you can see of them – left) and Christian Louboutin (right).

The show went really well and although the after party was beckoning, I did the sensible thing for once and decided to head home. Although once home I did spent the remainder of the night drinking and chatting into the early hours with my boyfriend (it was a Friday after all) but at least I didn’t have far to travel to get into my bed as after a long day and night I was certainly ready for sleep.

Samio x

November 16, 2014
My Month in Barcelona

I don’t even know where to start with this blog post. So much happened in a month, it’s hard to detail it all down. So without the elegance of a detailed account I’ll be concise to cut a long story short… I went to Barcelona to model at the end of June; intentionally I went for two weeks but ended up staying a month. This was my fourth time in Barcelona but my first time I’d gone there to work. I booked a couple of really fun commercials whilst I was out there, one which took me to Madrid to film for 4 days, where I worked with some really cool people and had so much fun.

Whilst staying in Barcelona I shared a flat in my agency with four other models; Maria from Spain (who was also my roomie), Natalia from Slovakia and Tara from L.A. The four of us all became really close and formed the type of friendship you don’t find everyday. Collectively we named ourselves the Cheeky Chicas (as you do) and stayed up most nights chatting into the early hours about anything and everything and giggling like school girls… We also had some pretty amazing nights out too not to mention our many adventures between castings and work during the day.

I also got to see lots of one of my oldest best friends, Lydia, who lives in Barcelona, with whom I did lots of catching up, eating and wine drinking. All in all my month in Barcelona was amazing, I met some really cool people, went to some really fun parties, worked some awesome jobs and made some amazing new friends.

Samio x

August 10, 2014
My March In Pictures

March has been a super busy month for me. With lots of early mornings, late nights and plenty of travelling (which I mostly utilized as nap time), I’ve had no time at all for blogging. However, as always I managed to capture many of my moments on camera and so here is a look at some of my month (March) in pictures.

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April 1, 2014