There is something so powerful and inspirational about hearing stories of people that create a career path of their own.. Stories of people who have battled against societal expectations to find something that truly lights them up. These stories ignite a fire in readers, as we begin to dream about the things that we could achieve within our own lives.

One such story comes from Melbourne, Australia with an inspiring woman, who has done just that.

Maria Pellicano is an Australian author, voice coach, public speaker, teacher and singer, with over 20 years of experience, working with singers, executives, managers, CEO and leaders through communication and voice coaching.

She has recently launched her podcast, ‘Speaking With Influence and Power’, neatly packaging together valuable lessons, taken directly from live sessions with clients, to create useful and applicable strategies, that can help her clients, listeners and readers to move forward with their careers, lives and selves, free of charge.

 

Where did your business journey begin and what made you decide to go your own direction?

 

I began my business journey about 23 years ago, in 1998.

 

I used to be very against having your own private business. I used to see it as egotistic in the old days. I used to believe that having your own business meant that you had a selfish intention. 

 

I didn’t understand that having your own business allows you more control over your time, value and gives you more power to choose how you want to use your life and you also have more responsibility to make the choices that don’t just suit you, but suit your work and the people you serve.

 

I never knew that when I was very young.. I started in 1998, when I was 30 years old.. It was a long time ago.

 

As I reflect, I realise that I did have side businesses when I was a teenager. I must have been really geared up for business without knowing it because I was dressmaking when I was 14, and I was teaching guitar. I wasn’t charging for teaching guitar but was teaching as a teenager and I taught four girls in the church at the time and would take them out busking.

 

Between 14 and 16 I was dressmaking. I was making and selling clothes, which people would come, I would take measurements and make their clothes.

 

I was also into pots and pans and I was selling pots and pans and accumulating without paying anything for them.

 

So, as I reflect, I was in business, without knowing it, when I was a teenager and in my 20’s.

 

Later, I spent some time working a normal day job in the commonwealth bank, then at Vic Roads, as a leader in the demerit points division, at a local council and then Telstra.

 

I was finding that it was taking me a long time to get to work and so officially began my business in 1998 in the form of my singing school. It really took off and I was making triple the money I was making, compared to when I was in corporate. To me, it was like sitting at a banquet every night. I loved what I was doing because I felt like I was in control and I was just loving it. I felt like it was an incredible gift to me. I was putting my ad in the paper and people were just booking in.

How did you begin to generate income within your business?

 

My main source of income currently is working with individuals, leaders, influencers and businesses through public speaking and voice coaching, training, mentoring and coaching and corporate development programs.

 

I am very entrepreneurial. 

 

I look for opportunities to leverage what I already have and then I build on that.

 

I never pull apart what I already have.. I just add more strings to my bow. I’m always looking at enhancing what I’ve already done and bringing more meaning into what I’ve always done.

 

So, my first business was teaching singing. From there, I added in coaching because I was always into human potential and expanding people.. I was really interested in how people think and how we succeed, or not.

 

I’ve always made money by helping people.. by empowering them and giving them confidence. My tool was the voice.

 

How long did it take for you to become profitable in business?

 

I’ve always been profitable.. I was always very careful about how much I was spending.. and I still am. I don’t believe that you should make money and then spend it all.

 

I’ve been in a situation where I have been able to save, through working at my own home and saving on rental expenses. I bought a house that has a separate area for business, with the top of the house for business and the lower level for living. Through this decision, I have saved myself thousands of dollars.

 

I’ve also only ever bought things that I really need. I didn’t believe in spending.. I’m more into saving and I still am that way today, even though I don’t have to save. I like to have choice.. and I believe that if we do have extra money around, you have greater choice.

 

I’ve always rated my expenses out of 10.. If it’s an 8 or above, then I’ll go and buy it, and it has to be tax deductible. I’m very disciplined like that.

 

I also don’t have a sense of materialism, so I’m into saving and creating money, rather than spending money. 

 

If I am spending money, it’s either tax deductible, or to expand what I am doing already. Not just because I just want to spend it.

 

When you were starting out, was there ever a time you doubted it would work? If so, how did you handle that?

 

Definitely, when I started my singing school in 1998, I was still working at Telstra.

 

While I was working my day job, I was working with 30 students at the same time.

 

I didn’t want to leave my job because I didn’t trust the business, so I then took long service leave through 1998 and then in 1999, I stepped out and moved to solely running my business. In 1999, I already had 50-60 students and I could believe it was going to come.

 

I still didn’t believe it for years and years and years, so I didn’t spend. I would just make the money and then save it just in case.. I would never take it for granted. I don’t believe that our work is necessarily here forever, and so I don’t want to sit in it and think it’s always going to be there.. I’m just grateful that it is, and that’s why I think you need a backup.

 

It wasn’t so much that I doubted that it would work. It was more about not assuming that everything is always the same way.

 

How I handled that was that I always have my hands in a few different pies and I am constantly learning and moving to the next level. I am always thinking how I can expand myself, so that I have more options. I love what I do and if one door shuts, I can walk into the next door. I am constantly upgrading and adding more strings to my bow so that I have more choice, rather than thinking that I’ve arrived. I am wanting to expand in those areas that I am interested in.

 

How did you get your first customer?

 

I put an ad in the local paper, which was common advertising for 1998.

 

I can actually remember my first client. Her name is Mary and she just saw the ad that I put into the paper and she rang me and I booked her in.

 

What is one marketing strategy (other than referrals) that you’re using that works really well to generate new business?

 

A marketing strategy, now, is to be visible, using social media, and to talk about what you do. 

 

To have products available and ready for purchase.

 

Definitely, a website.. I have always had a website since the early internet days. This is probably my most valuable asset for marketing now. I spend a lot of time and money ensuring that the SEO and keywords are optimised for visibility and ready for traffic that comes through via social media and word of mouth.

 

For a long time, the local paper was my primary marketing strategy, along with advertisements and flyers.

 

What is the toughest decision you’ve had to make in the last few months?

 

The toughest decision that I have had to make over the last few months has related to my singing school.

 

I haven’t fully made the decision yet, but I’ve had a sign up outside my house, and I think that sign needs to come down now, because I’m going to continue to operate online for this year.. I don’t believe I will be working face to face with students under current conditions.

 

I’m still processing the decision, because I am so busy coaching public speakers and making way more money than teaching singing.. but I don’t want to let go of singing because it’s my foundation and I love it and it keeps me sane.. I think it’s really good for me.

 

The decision had to be that I went online and I am not having people walk through my house, when I used to have about 80 people walking in and out of my house every week. I did that for 23 years. It was a long time.

 

The toughest decision has been working now, totally online.. It’s been amazing, and I’m still processing when I’ll have people back in my studio.. I think I will, but this year, the toughest decision has been moving online.. It’s worked, but not a lot of students decided to do that, so my business changed, big time.

 

What do you think it is that makes you successful?

 

Not giving up.

 

I keep believing that what I do has been innately a part of me since I was very young. I’ve always been interested in helping people, teaching, mentoring and coaching and that’s what makes me successful. 

 

I believe that what I do is part of my beingness.. it’s part of my purpose in life and it’s my calling.. and I have nothing else to do. I often say to myself that if I wasn’t doing this, what else would I be doing?

 

I just love what I do because it empowers other people and the more I grow, the more I connect my journey, my personal life with what I become, the more presence and inspiration I believe it gives to others, because it gives it to me first.

 

My success is that I live my talk and this is my life.. it’s not my work.. it’s actually my life and I love what I do 

 

There is nothing else for me to do.. even if I am driving my car, I am still learning.. listening to beautiful podcasts that empower me and as a direct effect, the empower others because whatever I’m doing for others, I’m doing for myself first.

 

I believe success is the journey.. and the journey I’m on is not my work.. I don’t roll up to a job.. ever.. when people say it’s a long weekend, I say, ‘well, I don’t need a long weekend.. I just love what I do anyway’.. I think that makes you successful.. if you love what you do and it’s part of your beingness. I’ve been so lucky that I always believed that I could do that.

 

What has been your most satisfying moment in business?

 

My most satisfying moment in business has been when people give me great feedback, when I get that.

The feedback they give me, just confirms and locks things in for me.

 

My most satisfying moment is when people say ‘I’ve been looking for that’ particularly around voice tone.. ‘that’s exactly what I’ve been looking for’. It’s like really getting a handshake from someone and makes me feel like I’m not alone and that I’m part of a bigger picture.

 

What does the future hold for your business? What are you most excited about?

 

Continuing to expand.. doing workshops.

 

This is where I’ll get people in a room, where we can do singing, poetry and speaking. I really want to move into poetry.. I really feel that singing and poetry can go together really well.

 

I’m looking forward to creating this workshop, where I can help people to empower their voices and help them to find their message.

 

Doing it in a workshop style.. doing it over a few days or over a weekend.. maybe at a beautiful beach location.

 

Helping people to find their message.. exactly the message in my book, The Art of Powerful Communication.. finding out who they are, what is their message, find their voice in their body and aligning to that, and then understanding the people they want to reach and how they can speak to those people to share their message.

 

What business books have inspired you?

 

The most amazing books I’ve read, and I can say the very first book I ever picked up in personal development and human potential was ‘You’ll see it when you believe it’ by Wayne Dyer.. that’s an amazing book and it just spun me out.

 

The other is ‘A Man’s Search For Meaning’ by Victor Frankl 

 

Those two books, I will never forget.

 

More recently, I read ‘The Surrender Experiment’ by Michael Singer about how to live a life of surrender.. I think that’s beautiful.

 

What advice would you give to your younger self?

 

I would tell my younger self to relax, to trust.. let go.

 

You’ve got this.

 

Don’t give up.

 

It’s going to be ok.

 

What you’re doing right now is going to help you for the future, so do what you do, knowing that yes, it did work for the future.

 

Because as a child, everything I did was a vision, that I did to always help people.

 

I used to not watch TV.. I would sit in my room and write songs.. At the time, I was reading my bible, because I wanted to preach.. I didn’t know any other way of spreading good news to people.

 

Now, I not only use the bible, but I use so many other amazing inspirational books.. and, I still am the same person.

 

To my younger self, I just want to say that I’ve never changed. I am exactly you, and even bigger.

 

I’m probably more confident, more reassured and more hopeful.

 

You don’t need to know everything and get everything right.. It still works out.. even if you get it wrong.. Your higher purpose is even bigger than if you get it right or wrong and that’s a powerful point.

 

You don’t have to tick all your boxes and get everything right because your purpose is even bigger than that.. It’s a higher level than getting everything right or wrong.

 

About Maria Pellicano

Maria Pellicano is an Australian author, voice coach, public speaker, teacher and singer. With more than 20 years of experience, she has helped over 5,000 people find their voice, presence and confidence and to communicate with influence and impact.

Through her experience, she has learnt first-hand, the impact experienced by people who have not been able to access the power within their voices. There is often an overall feeling of speakers not getting the best out of themselves, feeling stifled and held back.

With a career that began with her passion of working with singers, Maria works with individuals, leaders, influencers and businesses through communication and voice coaching, training, mentoring and coaching and corporate development programs, utilising her three step model of Mindset, Message and Voice.

Maria regularly works with mentoring executives, managers, CEO and leaders from Fortune 100 organizations, with the focus on improving tonality and to move towards effective and confident public speaking, Maria works with clients to develop a voice that is strong, a mindset that empowers you to be passionate and committed to your calling and a message that is appropriately designed to address the needs of your specific audience, clients and relationships.

If you are looking to improve the way that you communicate with an audience, your staff, team or managers, be more effective within difficult and high stake conversations, to create authentic presence when sharing with your team, or within professional or personal conversations, Maria can assist you in achieving your goals.

Maria regularly works with mentoring executives, managers, CEO and leaders from Fortune 100 organizations, with the focus on improving tonality and to move towards effective and confident public speaking, Maria works with clients to develop a voice that is strong, a mindset that empowers you to be passionate and committed to your calling and a message that is appropriately designed to address the needs of your specific audience, clients and relationships.

If you are looking to improve the way that you communicate with an audience, your staff, team or managers, be more effective within difficult and high stake conversations, to create authentic presence when sharing with your team, or within professional or personal conversations, Maria can assist you in achieving your goals.

Links: 

 

Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Podcast – Spotify | Podcast - Apple

Méline's Epigraphy Field Research 

A Female Figure Dedicated to the Study of the Millennium Epigraphy

 

Edited by: Misko  Pictures provided by: Meiling Liu

 

 

Méline's Web3.0 Ethnographic Field Research and her meta-universe Action Community for Entrepreneurship have recently attracted the attention of nearly 300 industrialists in Dali, London, Shanghai and Beijing. In an interview with M, for the first time, Méline spoke to the public about her wonderful experience in the field of epigraphy.

 

Q: As a woman who has been practicing fashion and art in Paris and London, why did you choose to conduct filed research in epigraphy?

 

Méline: This started more than half a year ago when I was studying Tomb Tile Pictures of Ancient China. I came into contact with the story of a Canadian missionary named William Charles White and a big tomb in Luoyang. As told in the story, William Charles White bought more than 50 hollow bricks of Han Dynasty and shipped them to Toronto Museum, after which he suddenly became the first person to study ancient tomb bricks in China.

As a Westerner, William Charles White could go deep into the field of traditional Chinese history and culture and made great achievements, which sounds very international and gave us a feeling of meta-universe. The meta-universe a hundred years ago aroused my great interest.

 

Q: So, you went to Luoyang for field research?

 

In November 2021, I came to Luoyang, Henan Province from London, aiming to open the door of epigraphy in this ancient city heavy with history. I conducted a Malinovsky-style participatory field research in Luoyang. Like the master of anthropology Malinovsky who ran into an indigenous village of exotic civilization, I also came to a faraway village called Mapo, visited the tomb of Li Yazi, the inventor of Luoyang shovel, as well as came into contact with a large quantity of people related to epigraphy. Soon I found the hollow Tomb-bricks referred to in William Charles White's book in a dazzling antique market.

 

Q: What you did indeed makes me a feeling of Malinovsky's Voyage in the Western Pacific. So, did you find something unusual?

 

Méline: Epigraphy refers to the study of non-paper writings and use the materials to study other academic problems. Non-paper writings include all types of bronze and iron articles, stone carvings, jade articles, bamboo slips, oracle-bones, ceramics, tiles, clay seals and other text images. The targeted researched matters in terms of the materials are mainly gold and stone and thus it was called epigraphy.

Using gold and stone materials to examine the history of scriptures arose from Han Dynasty, but It was Yangxiu OU and Mingcheng ZHAO in the Northern Song Dynasty who conducted formal systematic research and special writings. And from then on, there were more than 100 kinds of writings in Song Dynasty related to epigraphy. Epigraphy is a manifestation of ancient intellectuals, which lasted until the dynasty of Qianlong and Jiaqing, reaching its climax and gradually declined in the early  period  of the Republic of China.

 

As a woman, I suddenly noticed from a female perspective that there were no women in the study of the glamorous science of epigraphy, which had brought the best men to their knees for more than a thousand years.

Using gold and stone materials to examine the history of scriptures arose from Han Dynasty, but It was Yangxiu OU and Mingcheng ZHAO in the Northern Song Dynasty who conducted formal systematic research and special writings. And from then on, there were more than 100 kinds of writings in Song Dynasty related to epigraphy. Epigraphy is a manifestation of ancient intellectuals, which lasted until the dynasty of Qianlong and Jiaqing, reaching its climax and gradually declined in the early  period  of the Republic of China.

 

As a woman, I suddenly noticed from a female perspective that there were no women in the study of the glamorous science of epigraphy, which had brought the best men to their knees for more than a thousand years.

 

Q: No women in such a cultured field for thousands of years?

 

Méline: After in-depth research, digging out Qingzhao LI, the most important epigraphist hidden behind her husband Mingcheng ZHAO, from the writing paradigm under the history of patriarchy, I found that Qingzhao LI, an epigraphist who wrote the ancient famous text "Jinshilu Follow-up", is more brilliant than her status as a great poet. 

 

Q: Is this the only woman?

 

Méline: As my research progressed, the wonderful women in epigraphy research were dug out of the old pile of paper one by one by me, where I had a surprise discovery that Zhaoyu ZENG, the first female archeologist in China, is also an epigraphist. And amazingly, the training place where Zhaoyu ZENG was trained for knowledge of modern archology and museum are unexpectedly right in front of my London house.

Zhaoyu ZENG returned to China from London after finishing her academic study, stayed in Dali for three years and wrote a three-year diary. The ruins where she carried out her field investigation were throughout Cang Mount and Er Sea. Zhaoyu ZENG often made rubbings under the low-light lamp at night to decrypt history.

In my research, I also discovered that Zhaoyu ZENG and her classmate Nai XIA’s field research had reached beyond Epigraphy. Petrie, a famous Egyptian archeologist, once lived in their alma mater, the University of London. Nai XIA's doctoral thesis research materials were from Petrie and she received personal guidance from him.

I found that behind Zhaoyu ZENG's search for knowledge, there was a more wonderful woman.

 

Q: Oh, why’s she wonderful?

 

Méline: About ten minutes away from my house, there is a Petrie Museum, where there is also a female master who is hidden like Qingzhao LI in a male dominant society. 

In 1873, Victorian novelist and travelling writer Amelia Edwards accidentally changed her itinerary and traveled along the Nile, and from then on, she embarked on a journey that will change the world of Egyptology forever. Edwards' Travel journal in 1877: A Thousand Miles up the Nile was published, the travel notes of which suddenly influenced Europeans' imagination of Egypt. Since then, Egypt had become the most romantic travelling destination among Europeans. Edwards founded the Egyptian Exploration Association in 1882, and she also established the Exploration Fund to support the young man with dreams and talents but frustrated like Petry. She also donated an Edwards Chair professorship at the University of London, thus enable Petrie a professor and do teaching and researching without distraction. It can be said that it was Edwards' good deeds that gave Zhaoyu ZENG and Nai XIA a destination for study.

Q: That is to say, they had influenced each other a hundred years ago, like today's global village?

 

Méline: Yes, I came to Dali at the end of December 2021with Zhaoyu ZENG's diary, following her footsteps to make field research. I collected a lot of tiles and tile specimens from prehistoric period and Nanzhao Kingdom. Following Zhaoyu ZENG’s example, I also spread them one by one at night for later research. It was under the inspiration of Zhaoyu ZENG that I actually expanded my research field to Sanskrit history, earthquake history, Nanzhao script and other fields, which was unexpected in the past.

 

After learning the story of Amelia Edwards, I suddenly realized that my field research trip also let my life change - Gender archeology suddenly broke into my life and studying the hidden women and their achievement in the history of epigraphy and archeology became clear and meaningful. 

 

Q: Is this your hand-made rubbing?

 

Méline: Yes, when I was conducting field research in Luoyang, I met a local rubbing master and learned rubbing skills. This rubbing as you saw is the same kind as the hollow tomb bricks of the Han Dynasty collected by William Charles White in those years.

 

You know, in those years, William Charles White had sent rubbings of the same theme to the famous sinologists James Mellon Menzies and John Calvin Ferguson.This is my first hand made rubbing of Han Tomb brick in my life.

 

Q: Let's talk about your imagination about Epigraphy!

 

Through field research, I found that Chinese archeology and museum science can be connected with an outstanding Victorian woman, which is really a meta-universe. This is full of enlightenment for my meta-universe entrepreneurship in London.

 

I often think about my current business in London, just like Amelia Edwards' initiative. I followed Web3.0 travel on the Nile. Who will I meet? Who would I influence?

Many forms of meditation are applicable to many situations. If you're a music lover, then perhaps you might want to try meditation music. In fact, as a human being, you can be compared to musical instruments because you can hum, sing, whistle, and make other pleasing and expressive  sounds. Every person's musical experience is often described with words like harmony, flow, stimulate, healing, in trance, in tune, uplift, and many others. When you express yourself through musical sounds, something unusual is happening inside your system. The Channel Meditative Bliss on YouTube, offers a variety of healing sounds and meditation music for relaxation.

Numerous distractions bombard individuals as they go through their daily lives like noise pollution, social melodrama, stress of daily commute, tedium of work, and a lot more. Life today is considered fast-paced because of a lot of new technological advancements, and therefore, people suffer from continuing stress. You can't focus on your work effectively because your mind is already overloaded, uninspired, and burnt out. This results to a creativity block that can bring hopelessness to a person. But here's the good news, there is a way to combat and cope with this kind of situation and that is through deep meditation music.

Where can you find such music? Visit the Meditative Bliss YouTube Channel that uses the best practices in music for you in one place. The music they create is unique and calming, and is sure  to peak your interest.

 

It was only after 1973 when music was used for meditation. All the programs make use of the binaural technology. Through this technology, the brainwave frequencies (right and left hemispheres of the brain) are synchronized.

 

Through deep meditation music, the brain can create fresh neural pathways. By doing so, the maximum potential of your mind is tapped at a shorter time. Usual meditation practices take longer periods but with this music, you can find increased intelligence, inner peace, and reduction of stress.

 

Different goals and needs can be met by the wide choices of meditations available. The specific sounds should be used to address a certain need/goal since programs vary in their brainwaves; and this is necessary to get the preferred effects.

 

Meditation music can benefit a lot of individuals. In fact, some specialists recommend deep meditation music as a form of therapy to address certain problems like that of stress-related illnesses. Many people are actually using this very effective tool and they are amazed and pleased with the results. They are able to achieve personal growth as they continue listening to meditation music.

 

If you're suffering from extreme stress, or if you're always unfocused, burnt out, and uninspired, it wouldn't hurt to try meditation music. This is already accepted in our society today and many doctors are now recommending such therapy. If your medications seem to have no effect at all, then it would be best to start with music therapy. This is a very good form of meditation. It relaxes your mind, as well as your soul. 

 

Visit Meditative Bliss to find the best meditation music for all your needs. 

 

Meditative Bliss 

Deep meditation music 

Cannes Film Festival just finished and we all had a dose of excitement by watching stars appearing on the red carpet. For most people, this festival is a dream. They admire celebrities, movie stars and models. Check their gowns, jewellery and beautiful pictures.

Today we are speaking with Fashion Darling from Geneva, Izabela Zofia Switon-Kulinskia, known as Bella Zofia. She is not new to the world of glam and red carpet, as she already attended the Cannes Film Festival couple of times and today she shares some insights from Cannes with our readers.

Cosmo Press: Izabela please tell us a little bit about yourself.

Izabela: Hello dear Cosmo Press, thank you for having me here. I am a Geneva-based model, content creator, journalist, blogger and fashion shows producer. I have been working in the fashion field for 25 years since I started to work as a model. Currently, I live in Geneva and run the Bella Zofia webzine and Instagram account, where I focus on Fashion, Travel, Beauty and Lifestyle.

Cosmo Press: Tell us please why it's important for you to be in Cannes during the festival?

Izabela: For me, it's important to take part in the most important events in Europe, where there is a lot of visibility for me and the brands that I am promoting. That is why I always attend all Fashion Weeks and Film Festivals. For Cannes Festival I am representing a few fashion brands and it is a great and prestigious advertisement for them. It is with no doubt an exclusive event that has worldwide importance.

Cosmo Press: Which brands are you representing this time?

Izabela: I am promoting Italian designer Gianluca Alibrando, who is creating haute couture designs and I was wearing his dress on the red carpet and to some events. I also promoted 2 handbag brands, one Alila Brand from Geneva and 2nd French sustainable brand Thalie Paris. For casual events and beach parties, I was wearing Polish designer Cosel.  

Cosmo Press: Many of our readers are curious if it's possible to come to Cannes Film Festival. Could you please share with us your tips on it?

Izabela: Cannes Film Festival is for industry only. This means if you are working in the cinema field it will be possible to receive accreditation. However, there are other ways too. People who are journalists, videographers, photographers or public features can also apply. Now also many brands who are partners of festival invites their guests, for example, models or influencers to promote their brand during red carpet events.

Cosmo Press: Thank you for sharing these helpful tips. Now please tell us also what are your red carpet secrets.

Izabela: Well, there are no secrets to be perfectly honest. However what is always important for me have a great hair and Make-up team with me. Like this, I know that I will be happy with the results. There are certain hairstyles that are more appropriate for the red carpet and some better for other events.

It's also important to come a bit early and smile! Photographers love beautiful smiles on the carpet. You also need to know the rules of the red carpet. It's not possible to take pictures of videos by yourselves. Some people break this rule, however, I believe that being respectful of the guidelines is essential. Later pictures can be purchased in the press office.

Cosmo Press: Thank you so much Izabela, that was very helpful. We would love to thank you for your time and we wish you lots of success in the future. Would you like to add something at the end?

Izabela: I would love to thank you for having me here. I also need to mention that attending Cannes Film Festival takes a lot of preparation, but it's a magical and unforgettable event. For me this wouldn't be possible without my team, hairstylist: Mariola Dominska, MUA Monika Qbiak and designers that dressed me: Gianluca Alibrando, Cosel, Alila, Thalie and Downtown Uptown Geneve.  Thank you also, dear readers, I hope that my tips were helpful to you. Sending love from Geneva, Switzerland.

Follow Izabella:

Website: www.bellazofia.com
Instagram:  bella_zofia 

Mihailina Moisa is one of the finalists of Top Model Europe, an international contest who hosted 25 000 participants and only 25 candidates per category were selected for the finals. 

The Grand final will take place this Sunday, 29 th may in Brussels.

She’s ready to be the winner of this season and model for the big names of the industry as  Dolce Gabanna, Jean Paul Gaultier, Louboutin, Balmain, and many others. 

 

What made you decide to be a Model?

Since very little I wanted to be a part of the art industry, fashion modeling field, but unfortunately my parents couldn’t afford to invest on my artistic career. When I came to Belgium I decided to invest in myself and so two years ago I started working on my portfolio with Belgian photographers. 

How has your education prepared you for a modelling career?

I come from the poorest country in Europe ,  Moldova, and my parents decided to go to Portugal for a better life. We had a hard financial situation at home. We were prepared for a hard working and organized life style. That situation helped me to develop a high adaptability and autodidactic skills. I grew up having in mind that everything is possible.

 

Why do you deserve to be a finalist of Top Model Europe ?

It’s the third time that I applied for this contest and previous failures teach me to continue working on improving myself. Failures made me stronger! Instead of giving up I starve to be in the position i deserve the most!

How has failure helped you in your achievements?

In my life I had a person that once told me “ Each NO you receive it’s a step closer to an YES” and this phrase changed my mindset and the way I perceive failures. I believe a yes or a no it always comes with a lesson and we have to be wise enough to accept things as they truly are. 

What type of modelling are you hoping to do?

I want to be a high fashion model and work for Victoria’s Secret it’s a dream that I have since I was 15. 

I want to show the world that fashion it’s not only for rich people, fashion it’s a way of art and philosophy. I want to work for designers directly, I identify so much with designers for their uniqueness, the « no rules » thing. and make people feel empowered when I’m on the runway.

 

What is your favourite photo on your portfolio? Why? 

I see a scary infinity of feeling in the eyes every time I’m looking at this picture. The pose of the hand it’s like I almost reach the answer and it gets so poetic, it makes me always correlate it to a cover of a movie or something. 

 

What’s the longest photoshoot you’ve ever done? 

I have a friend, he’s a photographer and he wanted to make his own editorial portfolio. So he invited an art director, an extra photographer and me as a model for that project. Definitely it was one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had! We spent the entire day! Shooting for 9 hours with no breaks! It’s amazing how time flies when doing things that you love the most!

I want music to make everyone happy and create a joyful world.

Japanese singer-songwriter, asAhi, the creator of “Promise” and “Over the Moon”, wishes for world peace with her mystic and miraculous music. 

asAhi is a Japan-based singer-songwriter, who has been recognized for her talent worldwide. She became conscious of her nationality while she was growing up overseas; and this exposure gave her a greater appreciation for her country as well as other countries and their respective uniqueness.

We hope you will enjoy this special interview of how she has been pursuing her dream as an international musician. 

Your latest CD Single "Promise/Over the Moon" has been very well received. Please tell us about your new single,  "I Believe Your Heart".

asAhi:  "I Believe Your Heart" is the first happy love song among my original songs. 

When I was writing this song, I thought about what it means to love and I believe that the feeling of loving someone is the strongest feeling a person can have.

In the lyrics, the word "Mitsumete" (meaning gazing at in Japanese) appears many times, and I thought that to love someone means you to want to keep your eyes on that person, so I wrote the lyrics to this song. 

Tell us about your wonderful team. 

asAhi: Since "Promise/Over the Moon", Ikkun Hagi has been working with me as the Executive Producer and Kunio Kubota has been working with me as the Sound Producer. 

It has been a year since I met Ikkun, and thanks to him, my musical activities have deepened and expanded.

Ikkun is also an Art Director. I was so impressed by his artistic work that I asked him directly to create a CD jacket for my CD "Vill Natal". 

He understood my passion for music and agreed to do an executive production for me. Ikkun is a very considerate, rock and passionate person. 

He is also a singer-songwriter, so it is always very reassuring to know that he can relate to my feelings.

So you were destined to meet them?

asAhi:  Meeting Mr. Kubota was very fateful. I was first introduced to Mr. Ikkun at a meeting for a live performance that Mr. Kubota was going to sound produce. I have been listening to this song for a long time when I was going through a difficult period, and it is one of my favorite songs that is very dear to my heart. 

I especially like the piano version of "Ai no Katachi - 2017 ver." and always listen to it. I heard it for the first time at the meeting; and to my surprise, it was Mr. Kubota who arranged "Shape of Love - 2017 ver.”

I always receive beautiful arrangements that are far beyond my imagination, and I feel that Mr. Kubota's loving personality is reflected in his music.

The theme song, "Jump on a Goal" for the web animation, "Triple Threat”, was a big hit as well.

You have been active in a wide variety of fields, including music for the stage, CDs, radio, and animation.

asAhi:  When I sing, I sing to the audience with the intention of bringing love and healing, but when I perform on stage, I play the role without the audience in mind, and I think that's the biggest difference.

“Triple Threat" was my first acting gig, and I practiced the lines for days while watching the anime until I got to the voice-over.

I am a radio personality with my Executive Producer, Ikkun Hagi, so I am able to speak naturally, but I still get nervous when I am invited to be a guest on a show for the first time.

Thank you,  asAhi. Please give a message to our readers overseas.

asAhi:  Thank you for your time. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the opportunity to meet you, the readers of this website. 

I look forward to the day when I can sing in front of you and hope you all will continue to listen to my music!

For more information about her works, visit her website below.

https://asahiofficial.com     　asAhi official site

https://asahinet.base.shop　asAhi online shop

https://otm874.com　　    　FM Radio Fuchues 87.4 ikkun &asAhi Over the Moon

https://www.tunecore.co.jp/artists/asAhiofficial

This water sport was said to begin in Hawaii where European adventurers in the 17th century observed the locals treading the huge swells of the Hawaiian coast with boards made of wood. In the early days, surfing is part of the local Hawaiian customs though there have been evidence that this sport is also a custom in many islands in the South Pacific. Custom dictates that surfing is more than just a leisure activity, especially in the case of Hawaiian culture. It is considered as a form of art where surfers invoke the blessing of the gods for protection before skimming the waves. 

 

Today, surfing is a major sight in many beaches in the United States of America, Australia, and the South Pacific. Huge swells were considered as a challenge -- both men and women bring their boards, paddle to the waves, and show their moves for the world to see. The Paddle and Surf Shop is one of the top quality boards provider. The Paddle and Surf Shop works hard to skip the high commission steps and go straight manufactures who have certified processes and years of manufacturing experience, so they offer high quality items for affordable prices.

 

As the sport continues to gain popularity in the Western world, it evolves to conform to current trends -- crafting unique and better surfboards are now being practiced as a hobby or livelihood, surfing gears are being continuously improved for better performance. Even cultures are being affected in the height of the "surfing fever" the gripped the US that gave way to beach music, groups, and even the creation of new surfing styles and norms. You might notice that all beaches are never without surfers skimming the waves or lounging around in the sand while their boards are propped up waiting for the next wave to appear. 

 

Many today consider surfing as a sport; but to most, it is a lifestyle and a challenge to thrill-seekers looking to hone their skills and creating amazing new moves to defy the norm, as well as to show off their skills for the world to see. If you are excited, don’t hesitate to start your adventure now!

Here are the boards we recoomend:
Koi
Gun and Rose
Black Carbon 2