So after years (literally) of thinking about it... I'm finally starting a Blog.
I work on so many different projects, but there's not been anywhere- until this point- where I streamline and keep track of everything. Whether this ends up just as a journal or is something that other people get value from, I've decided that Lockdown 2.0 is the perfect time to start it!
This week I uploaded Part 2 of my Vlog about the end of the winter season in Val d'Isère. I was spending the season as the Resident DJ & Artistic Director at Dicks Tea Bar when the European lockdown rolled out. Part 1 shows when we were getting the news about the virus spreading through Europe as well as the day when I was snowboarding and heard the news that 'Confinement', as they call is in France, was confirmed. Part 2 shows the closing down of the Ski Resort and our, quite frankly, hectic journey to get back to the UK.
Episode 4 of the weekly Podcast that I do with my Mum went Live too! We talk about Reframing, which is essentially how you look at a situation from a different perspective.
We really love doing the 'Poddy' together and have had the most incredible feedback from so many people. We were motivated to create it before we even started hearing from other people that they were enjoying it so now we have a crazy about of drive to keep producing them. As I'm in France and Mummatron is in the UK, we record the vocals over Zoom. I then edit the episodes in Audacity- which is an amazing free platform. I produced the jingles in Ableton and luckily my knowledge & experience from DJing has made it pretty easy to put together.
I'm currently living in Annecy with my Friend and Business Partner, Sasha. Since April, we have been working on an idea for a Tech Business that I had the idea from during lockdown. We stay at his family's house as we have been working with an Incubator Scheme in Lausanne in Switzerland, which is just over an hour's drive from here. In September (while in the UK) we booked some workshops and meetings with the Incubator so drove back to France in October. After the first week of meetings, the second French lockdown was announced so our meetings went online and we are Confined here. I'm trying to make the most of it and stick to the rules! We are currently in the process of pitching to investors in order to get the funding to build the product, but in order to Validate our knowledge of the industry to investors we have started a Blog. It's called The Rise Guide and I've been busy this week with designing & making the website, writing Articles, doing Interviews, editing a Promo video and coming up with content ideas.
Here's some pics from Annecy over the last few weeks
Seven Winter Seasons have resulted in a lot of knowledge and experience which I'm really enjoying sharing. We also have so many contacts in the Ski Industry who I have been enjoying interviewing. Hopefully the Winter Ski Season this year will be able to happen at some point, even though the start has been affected by the lockdown. Now we will just have to wait and see if the Confinement is effective. We can only go outside for Essentials Purposes (up to 1 hour of exercise within 1km of the house, shopping for food or from the pharmacy etc) with an 'Attestation' form explaining the purpose for leaving the house. It's definitely more strict that in the UK where the second lockdown has just started.
I've injured my back now, but was on a really good fitness routine before. I really can't wait to get back to it! We go on daily walks which helps but it's enough exercise for me. I think exercise is so important to Mental Health and I feel like lots of people on Social Media have been talking about that for Lockdown 2.0. The first lockdown had a sort of 'novelty' factor whereas this time people know what they're getting into and what to do (and not do) to be healthy! It's definitely a Content Trend from influencers and Brands.
This weekend we are going to have some drinks and play card games over FaceTime with our friends. One evening we did a DJ Live Stream which was fun and I've also bought some Air Dry clay to get crafty with. I'm working on a few projects with a friend: a Logo for a Rose Wine brand that he is creating as well as a project to create some ceramics with my Mandala artwork on. Mummatron and I will record another episode of the podcast and I need to edit a few that we have already done!
Well that it for now, my loves, as I have to get back to work. I hope that wherever you are, you're happy and healthy! Ciao for now