As the Creative Little Soul team continues to expand, we want you to know who is behind the brand, and helping you to slay, every day! Today we sit down with CLS brand spanking new Intern, Olivia.
What is your role at Creative Little Soul?
This month I’ve joined the CLS team as an Intern! I am currently in my 5th trimester at JMC Academy doing a Bachelor of Entertainment Business Management and am completing 100 hours of an internship here as part of my course. Currently, I am in training, learning all the online systems and amazing work that Creative Little Soul does.
Did you have a connection with Chrissy or CLS prior to your new role?
I got into contact with Chrissy and the CLS team through one of my favourite JMC lecturers Lauren Neko, who has known Chrissy and the brand for many years. Lauren had me check out the Creative Little Soul social pages to learn more about their brand, and I loved their work, so she helped set up a meeting for me, which led to my current internship.
What was your first paying job and what did it teach you?
My first job was definitely not a glamorous one but taught me a lot about teamwork, customer service and communication. As soon as I turned 15, I was ready to get my first job and excitedly started working at KFC (and yes, I did get sick of the chicken for a while). There I learnt a lot about finding my voice and how to communicate effectively in a fast-paced environment, as well as all things KPI related and how to manage tricky situations as effectively as possible.
What tertiary/vocational education have you completed?
Last year I completed a Diploma of Entertainment Business Management at JMC Academy and this year I am continuing with the bachelor’s course and hope to complete my degree by January 2023. In my last year of high school, I also completed a Certificate II in Hospitality and Food Services which taught me a lot about the hospitality industry, particularly how not to get food poisoning and my favourite party trick, naming off all the fancy French terms like ‘mise en place’ and ‘julienne’.
Where did you work prior to landing your job at CLS?
At the moment I am still studying full time and am at CLS one day a week interning. When I’m not interning or at university, I work two jobs including as a private singing teacher at a music studio. I currently teach students of all ages from 3-76 year olds, as well as my own girl group. I also work retail part time at Bras N Things where I am developing my customer service and administration skills.
What do you do to stay motivated at work? (Do you have a productivity hack you can share with us?)
The best way I stay motivated at work is planning out my day and focusing on tasks one by one. I am an avid journaler and love my planner more than anything so having all my to-do lists laid out really helps motivate me to cross everything off one by one. Another productivity hack I love is snacks! I’ve always got something at my desk for when I need a little sugar hit to keep me going – my favourites are pretzels and peanut butter.
What is your favourite social media platform and why?
As a typical GenZ-er, I love Instagram and TikTok the most. I use Instagram mostly to keep up with my favourite businesses and influencers, as well as friends and family and love sharing all my adventures on there. TikTok is my new favourite platform as I love the range of video content you can find for every niche interest imaginable, my favourites being the Australian small business accounts and all the cooking videos.
Can you share with us where you go looking for inspiration?
I find a lot of my inspiration from scouring the depths of social media and researching ideas online to find out what people are talking about. I also love going to networking events at university and talking to people within the entertainment industry to get inspiration for new projects and topics to learn more about.
What are your hobbies outside of work?
My top hobbies are music and cooking. I’ve been a musician for about 7 years now and love to sing and play the guitar and piano. In my spare time I love learning new songs and researching new singing techniques to share with my students. Cooking is another one of my main hobbies. You can always find me in the kitchen cooking up one of my Nonna’s old recipes, or new ones I find on TikTok which usually come out quite nice (most of the time).
What kind of music do you enjoy?
I listen to a range of different music, but my favourite genres would have to be indie pop and pop-punk music. I love everything from Taylor Swift and Paramore to random indie artists I find on Spotify, and when I’m really feeling the emo vibes, I love Bring Me The Horizon and Spirit Box.
Where’s one place on your bucket list to travel to?
My top bucket list place is traveling to Italy. My whole family is from Napoli and Florence so I would love to see where my grandparents grew up and experience all the beautiful sites and natural landscapes, and of course the incredible food.
Fave Disney Princess/ Character and why?
My favourite Disney Character has to be Princess Tiana from The Princess and The Frog. I love her whole attitude of being a hardworking boss lady, starting her own business, being completely independent and making her family proud. I also love her beautiful green dress and the storyline of her ending up happy with her prince, but never being the ‘damsel in distress’.
At CLS we are very focused on self-care. Can you share with us some of the things you do to look after yourself that keeps you in a good place to take on the challenges of daily life?
I have struggled in the past trying to find time for self-care but recently I think I have gotten better at prioritising this for myself. The best way for me to do this is by taking time out to get out of the house and go on little adventures to completely focus on having fun and relaxing. My favourite ways to do this is by trying new restaurants and doing activities like going to the movies, the park, or just by taking a walk by the beach.