THINGS I LEARNED IN JAPAN
Kawaii art by my friend Chi Chi / The Little Miss Paint Brush / Thank you Chi chi, you really made my day!
1. Yareba, Dekiru Ko, YDK. If you try, you can. This is what I get for talking with my students too much. They made me repeat it 100 times today that it's annoying but they keep on laughing so.. win / win! This is also a good life mantra, don't you think? If you just try, nothing's impossible. Right?
2. Focus on your interiors. Whether it's room interior, your skin or your self. The best cafés, I've been to in Japan, are sometimes in sketchy locations but once you've entered, it's magic land. They also happen to have sumptuous food! For skin, we all know how attentive Japanese are with their skin. It's a preventive measure to them. So kids, while you're young, protect your skin. And last but not the least of course, yourself. Teachers in Japan for example, after their 7-5 jobs, often have trainings to improve their craft.
3. Be proud of your job, no matter what people think about it. In Tokyo, sales staff are celebrities! They're not only working as associates for 8 hours daily but they also work as models, social media endorsers for the brand they're working with. It's definitely a lucrative marketing strategy that I would love to see more in other countries.
4. In continuation of number 3.. if you work smart enough, you're next job will be a brand CEO. I've known too many stories about former sales staff being the next big brand in Japan. It sounded like a fairytale at first but there are so much proof to it that made me think that it's a common career path in Japan. My friend Kinji of Punk Cake, is a previous buyer of SPINNS and now a brand owner. Momoko Ogihara of Murua, was a previous sales staff, now the producer of the biggest mode brand in Japan. It's the kind of path I would want to follow but of course in a different way.
5. Nothing's original but everyone's unique. Tokyo is boasting with this energy, some people just look at the wrong places that's why they don't see it anymore. Yes, Japan is changing. Tokyo is changing. Harajuku is changing. But there are more and more people who dares to put their craft out there if you just observe. You don't judge a city, just by looking at it's streets. The true genius might be inside their home.
1. Yareba, Dekiru Ko, YDK. If you try, you can. This is what I get for talking with my students too much. They made me repeat it 100 times today that it's annoying but they keep on laughing so.. win / win! This is also a good life mantra, don't you think? If you just try, nothing's impossible. Right?
2. Focus on your interiors. Whether it's room interior, your skin or your self. The best cafés, I've been to in Japan, are sometimes in sketchy locations but once you've entered, it's magic land. They also happen to have sumptuous food! For skin, we all know how attentive Japanese are with their skin. It's a preventive measure to them. So kids, while you're young, protect your skin. And last but not the least of course, yourself. Teachers in Japan for example, after their 7-5 jobs, often have trainings to improve their craft.
3. Be proud of your job, no matter what people think about it. In Tokyo, sales staff are celebrities! They're not only working as associates for 8 hours daily but they also work as models, social media endorsers for the brand they're working with. It's definitely a lucrative marketing strategy that I would love to see more in other countries.
4. In continuation of number 3.. if you work smart enough, you're next job will be a brand CEO. I've known too many stories about former sales staff being the next big brand in Japan. It sounded like a fairytale at first but there are so much proof to it that made me think that it's a common career path in Japan. My friend Kinji of Punk Cake, is a previous buyer of SPINNS and now a brand owner. Momoko Ogihara of Murua, was a previous sales staff, now the producer of the biggest mode brand in Japan. It's the kind of path I would want to follow but of course in a different way.
5. Nothing's original but everyone's unique. Tokyo is boasting with this energy, some people just look at the wrong places that's why they don't see it anymore. Yes, Japan is changing. Tokyo is changing. Harajuku is changing. But there are more and more people who dares to put their craft out there if you just observe. You don't judge a city, just by looking at it's streets. The true genius might be inside their home.
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