An Amazing JourneyThe last 2 decades of my life have been AMAZING! I left college wide eyed and bushy tailed believing the world was my oyster and to some extent it has been. I have worked in Europe, Asia, USA and Caribbean. I saw it all as an adventure with me playing the Indiana Jones role as captain of my destiny.
My expectations have been fulfilled as I travelled around getting into "a bit of this and a bit of that" as the fancy took me. I am thankful of the experiences I have had as I travelled: very few of my business adventures have lost money; some made a little money and I am very fortunate that a few of my business adventures made a lot of money and resulted in the creation of jobs and careers for others.
I now call myself The Niche Diva following my experiences of spotting niche business opportunities - the following posts will highlight some of the best and the learnings that I can share.
My Teens
I began making clothes when I was 5. By my early teens I was making and selling clothes. Before I went to college to study Fashion & Business Studies I was runner up in a National design competition for "Honey" magazine. My family thought I was destined to have my own fashion business. Afterall, both my maternal and paternal grandmothers had been seamstresses.
Later in my teens I became very interested in music. I cannot quite recall how it came about but I ended up as the main 'love interest in a Duran Duran video - I made £200 for a few hours work and was delighted. My peer group were all "creatives". There was always something new happening, something amazing to get into so fun work was always on the agenda including travel, films and music videos.
My music phase involved hanging out with some really hip people - long before hip became exploited. We had fun and followed our passions. At 19 I chosen as a dancer for the "Masterplan" an underground tune made in a warehouse in London. The video took 12 hours and as I was part of the Musician's Union I was paid overtime. The £300 I made for that day's work was the most I had ever made in a day (I later went on to make $12,000 one day but that's another story).
The moral of the story here is that I didn't see fun and enjoyment as something mutually exclusive to "work" and it's an attitude that has stayed with me and had a definate impact on my work-life ever since!
Here's a link to the video! I'm on the stage with 'the original' Hally Berry haircut!
Niche Notes
Industry: Music
Market: Dance Music
Sub-Market: UK Dance
Niche: UK Underground Dance
Sub-Niche: Acid Jazz
More on Acid Jazz soon.
