Nuflex Magazine

w w w . n u f l e x m a g . c o . u k

Generation Brand You | We give you the

ultimate guide to start your own brandN F

LE

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MAGAZINE

PLUS!LOTS MORE

INTERVIEWS AND EXCLUSIVES

FROM THE CREAM OF THE CROP OF

BRITISH TALENT!A SIT DOWN WITH RISING FASHION BLOGGERMARIA SEGUN ADEGEYE

OUR EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH MUSIC LEGEND

MYA

QUESTION | IF YOU CRY AT WORK SHOULD YOU HAVE TO GO OUTSIDE?

THE STYLIST WHO BLOGS | WE TAKE NOTES FROM STYL-ISTA ON THE RISE DAMI

APRILEditor’s Letter

We want to say a HUGE thank you to all our FANTASTIC Nuflex Magazine readers. In just a month we have successfully launched Nuflex Magazine. In this month’s issue we bring you Maria Segun Adegeye, an aspiring fashionista whose wardrobe we envy. We sit down with not one but FIVE inspiring mentors, who each share their journey to success. NUFLEX talks to MYA as she explains her reasons to go solo in both love and business. We explore the stigma behind mental health at the work place, as we explore ‘If you cry at work, should you have to go outside’. In our fashion feature we plan your ultimate summer wardrobe, see our favourite fashion finds. Last month we promised well we (crossed our hearts) to give you xclusive interviews with industry officials, bringing you the hottest talent about to blow. This month we give you just that!

Mia Abdi EditorContact me at: [email protected]

{ Follow me on Twitter at Twitter.com/ NuflexMiaAbdi }

Read our exclusive interview on pg 42 with MYA

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ENTERTAINMENT

FEATURED

NM A G A Z I N E

FASHION

9 The Fashion Blogger We sit down with Londons rising fashion blogger Maria!

18 The Stylist who blogs | We take fashion notes from stylista on the rise Dami.

22 Your Ultimate Summer Wardrobe Sorted | We guide you through the best pieces to buy!

10 If You Cry At Work | Should You Go Outside Nuflex investigates the stigma of cryingat work.

12 Words Of Wisdom | Our Editor explains her journey into Journalism

16 Generation Brand You | We give you the ultimate guide to start your own brand

42 EXCLUSIVE | A sit down with MYA | Nuflex Mag exclusive interview with r’n’b sensation and pop princess MYA |

pg 20

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pg 22

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THE 411 |NUFLEX MAG INBOX

STAR LETTER..

I loved your article on what it’s like to work at the BBC, I want to work there one day. Austin Daboh has such a cool job. How amazing must it have been to see Jay Z come in his meetings. Jealous!!

Natalie Olson, 23, Birmingham

Well done on launching Nu-flex Mag, I can’t wait to see more of your articles. Read-ing your ‘Young Educated & Jobless’ article really spoke out how I feel. More need’s to be done on highlighting this issue us graduates have.

Lisa Samual, 19, London

Reading your interview with 19-year-old Cleo Forstater re-ally gave me the confidence to start up my own clothing line I have been thinking of starting my t-shirt line for the last three years. I know it won’t be easy but I know that if Cleo can do it at 19, at 26 I am more than capable. Thank you for giving me my confidence back!

Amy Andrewss, 28, Liverpool

Hi Nuflex I just wanted to tell you all that I am so excited Nuflex Mag is here. I am a 18-year-old single mum with no qualifications, but thanks to Nuflex Mag I now believe that I can be somebody successful. I want to say a huge thank you to all your writers for giving me the guid-ance I needed. I know now that I determine my own future and that I can achieve my goals. I want to train to become a stylist, and to one day own my own modelling agency. I am one step closer to my dreams, and I couldn’t be happier.

Chantelle Simons, 18, Bexleyheath

Hi Nuflex Mag,

I am Samantha a 17-year-old girl from Wales. I came across your magazine last month, and I have to say I love it. I have always dreamed of becoming a model, but I never had the confidence to actually do anything about it. I have two rabbit ears which always have made me feel like an abnormal. I was scouted last week and after reading your interview with Liam Ward, I decided that my rabbit ears are my favourite features of my body. Liam spoke about embracing the fact he is a misfit, this is exactly what I have done. I want to say a huge thank you to your team for reaching me that being myself is good enough.

@ get in touch with us

NUFLEXMAG.CO.UKGet your daily dose of talent, and join our chat forums online at www.nuflexmag,co.uk

TWEET US

@NuflexMag

EMAIL US

[email protected]

NUFLEX INBOX

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NUFLEX 7

THE 411

TWEET US

@NuflexMag

EMAIL US

[email protected]

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THE FASHION BLOGGER|Meet Maria Segun Adegeye fashion blogger over at pigeonfightsandcigarettes.blogspot.co.uk

We are obsessed with Maria’s effortless style, from her street look to her elegant choice to mix a Moschino belt with a work suit. This girl knows how to mix the right outfit. Maria can team up a simple Adidas jumper with denim shorts and tights, but also show that by pairing up the same blue denim shorts with a pair of black heels , she can create two killer looks. Maria’s blog is the ultimate destination for all fashionista’s looking for stylish affordable outfits.

NUFLEX FASHION

If You Cry At Work |

When you start a new job your bound to be nervous. Your first week in the office can be daunting, as a new employee your mind runs crazy on finding ways to impressing your new employer.

Whether your the new assistant manager, just landed your first modelling contract, or the new office coffee maker. You should never be victimized into completing a task your not happy with. Statistics published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show that in Britain between April 2010 and March 2011, an estimated 1.2 million employees said they were suffering from an illness caused or made worse by their work.

On average six in ten employees regularly work beyond their contracted hours, putting in an average of 1 and a half hours overtime a day.

*Stephen, 27 is a advertising executive for a luxury brand. He thinks more should be done for employers who take advantage of new employees. “Many of us get violated in our first jobs, my first employer made me work 17 hours on my first day, I was 18, I had no idea that this was illegal. After two weeks, I had lost weight, was de-motivated and I hated my life. All I seemed to do was go to work and sleep, in my third week I handed in my notice and left without a pay check. I couldn’t take it anymore”

Stephen’s story is not that far off what is the reality of what many youngprofessionals have to go through.

Many situations which young professionals face go unreported because many feel they are afraid to come out and speak up. According to Aviva, “Workers are putting in a staggering 26 million extra hours in the workplace each day, according to new research from Aviva’s latest report on health of the workplace.” The research under gone by Aviva showed “ Nearly one in four claim they work an extra 2-3 hours daily. 79% of these hours are unpaid, which means workers are providing around worth £225 million of ‘free’ hours each day for employers.” Employers are not understanding, that while they may think they are benefiting from over working their employees, they are in fact losing out. An employee who is over worked, tired and depressed over their job, won’t deliver the same way, as an employee who is valued, appreciated and celebrated. Working overtime, or a few hours here and there is not a reason to leave a job.It’s when your always working overtime, with no progress or appreciation, when you have to start evaluating whether your job will get you where you want to go in your career. Ultimately it’s your employers responsibility for you to feel mentally and physically able to handle your job. The next time you feel like your employer is not assisting you in your mental health, arrange a meeting and discuss what you can both to help you.

Should You Go Outside?

45 %of respondents feel stressed in their first jobs.

23 %Would never leve your job ifyou got bullied by staff.

19 %would never confront a employer if they upset you.

17 %52 %Would never cry at your work place.

of young individuals thinkcrying is not a sign of weakness when you do itat a work environment.

NUFLEX GENERATION

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Words Mia Abdi

If You Cry At Work | Should You Go Outside?

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THE TALK

|

WORD ON THE STREETS

NUFLEX WORD’S OF WISDOM

Should You Pay To Work For Free ?

You will never make it’ those are the exact word’s he said. That’s the exact words my science teacher *Steve told me. At 16, I wasn’t the brightest bulb in my class, but I had am-biton and while I knew Science was never going to be my call-ing , I left secondary school with the idea that a university degree would financially set me up. Results day provided me with the reality that my journey would be a steep one. With a bruised ego, I left with three GCSE’s and with none in academic subjects, my dreams of attending univer-sity was a million miles away. For about two seconds, I enrolled to study Science at a local college. I failed that misserably. A week after my results, I managed to get a job assisting the manager at a local charity shop, but after a month I had a semi mid life ca-reer crisses.

YES! I believe a good establishment should pay for your travel expenses. You should ask your employer if they can reimburse your travel expenses. I under-stand some smaller companies can’t afford to pay expenses so you should really consider if the op-portunity is worth investing your own money into. Interns generally don’t get paid but most people usu-ally get money towards their expenses such as travel and food!

Sabrina Hussein, 26, Accountant, London

I think if a company isn’t willing to pay you have to really consider whether it is worth working for free for them. I would definitely work for free, if it allows me to be closer to my dream job. I believe if you get given an opportunity you should grab it with both arms and not take it for granted. Interns should be willing to work for free, how else will a potential employer determine you can do the job.

Lisa Anderson, 19, Student, Manchester

I craved for a change. I attended a college opening, and on a whim I picked media. It was the only course available. Three months into my course and I was hitting target’s faster than you could hit a . A two year Media Production course soon followed, which saw me attend various fashion shoots, create music vid-eo’s for unsigned artists and interview members of the parlia-ment. My educational journey was completed with a degree in Journalism last year. Whilst education has opened many doors for me, I don’t believe it got me to where I am in my career. Hard work, dedication, and my naïve ability to not take no for an an-swer has. On your journey to success, you will hit many bumpy roads. There is going to be times where you will question your-self and your career choices. Just remember to stay focused, stay determined and above all to enjoy your journey.

|

My Top Two Career Tips

1) Love the business as much as the practice While a job as a real estate senior adviser might make you the big buck quickly; You have to have a love for it first.

2) Be able to admit when you are wrong Everyone makes mistakes. Remember to own your mistake and learn from it.

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Whether your a stay at home young mom, a re-cent graduate or someone with a light bulb business idea, we have the ultimate guide to kick-start your own brand.

New business are booming with young people taking the inniative to no longer wait for employers to pro-vide them with jobs.

Take SBTV music mogul Ja-mal Edwards, he started his brand in his bedroom at 16, with no financial help, him and his small camera went on to create one of Brit-ain’s most succesful media brands.

Two succesful young entre-penuers who have followed in the footsteps of Jamal are Josh Bucklet who is the founder of MinoMonsters, a Pokemon type game where you can battle and trade pet monsters, and Rashid Kasir-ye who started Link Up TV, an online music and talent plat-form.

These young entreprenuers are just some of the young individuals creating oppur-tunities for themselves. Re-member, all you need is determination. a great idea, and the ability not to take no for an answer.

We have put together a list of20 tips to kick start brand you!

Cash is King

Starting any kind of business needs money, but with the right amount of savings, some help from your relatives or angel inves-tors, you can start your business, right from your own bedroom.

You Already Have The Tools You Need

Most young people are already equipped with the neccesary tools any business needs.

If your a student, why not take advantage of using your uni-versity facilities.

Most laptops available now in-clude design softwares and edit-ing facilities to help you create a start-up for your business at min-imal cost.

Let Your Business Tell A Story

Your business is your idea, so it helps to be able to sell your idea when your pitching it. Creating a good business story is vital part of running any kind of business, the individual who your selling your business to needs to under-stand your vision and your con-cept.

Your business needs to be able to explain why it is needed and why it has been produced.

Have Fun With It

Have fun in building up brand you.

What you have to remem-ber is that your business needs to allow you to enjoy creating it.

Building up your own network, will take you time, dedication and plenty of money. This is why it is important to enjoy creating a product which al-lows you to not only have fun creating it, but also a product which you can use.

This is by far the most impor-tant factor to get right when starting up your business. You must identify who it is you are selling your product to. Whether you are inventing a new sunmer drink, or the next best novel, you have to iden-tify your target audience.

As you launch your own busi-ness, you will need people to help you kick start it up. This is where you will need your fab five: your fab five is five prof-fesionals who will advice you, mentor you and possible even invest in your idea. Why not reach out to individuals who you aspire to be like, you nev-er know what they could do for you

GENERATION |BRAND YOU

Your FAB Five

Find Your Target Market

NUFLEX GENERATION

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GENERATION |BRAND YOU

Your FAB Five

Find Your Target Market

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THE STYLIST WHO BLOG’S|

1. Never kiss & tell. It is the most unprofessional thing in do in the styling business. Times when you want to, just bite your tongue and hold back.

2. Never leave things until last minute. Time management is key & is so vital!

3. Try not to miss deadliness! It looks very unprofessional & you are more or less not going to be hearing from them again.

4. When you pull out items from PR com-panies, ALWAYS make sure that it is given back in the condition it was left in.

5. Presentation!!! Impression!! Always make sure you present yourself in a very professional mannar and leave a great im-pression of yourself.

DAMI’S TOP STYLING TIPS

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Styled |By | DamiThe Rise Of The Fashion Stylist: Meet DAMI an eccentric versatile stylist on the up. Teaming up with FAB magazine (for the Noir Issue) here’s our favourite pieces styled by Dami.

NUFLEX FASHION

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KINGS OF NYSTREET WEAR

NUFLEX STYLE

DQK “RAPS BEATLES” CREWNECK GREY £24.59

ARTE PURO CHECKERED PURPLE SHIRT £35

VERSUS

ROCKSMITH “PARTY & BULLSHIT” TSHIRT BLACK £17.21

DQK LOGO JUMPER BLACK £33.80

EBONY MAJESTIC CREWNECKSWEATSHIRT HEATHER GREY£24.59

DQK “DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR” CREW NECK BLACK £24.59

DQK “ON MY NY SH!T” BAG HUNTER£9.22

HOT AIR VEST£27.66

ROCKSMITH CLOTHINGWARNING LOGO HAT £15.41

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KINGS OF NYSTREET WEAR

KINGS OF URBAN

YOUNG WOMEN’S CROP TOP£20.00

SMOKE KUSH WOMEN’S VEST £20.00

JELLY AND CREAM

NUFLEX STYLE

DQK “RAPS BEATLES” CREWNECK GREY £24.59

VERSUS

ROCKSMITH “PARTY & BULLSHIT” TSHIRT BLACK £17.21

EBONY MAJESTIC CREWNECKSWEATSHIRT HEATHER GREY£24.59

HOT AIR VEST£27.66

CREAMIN’ T-SHIRT20.00

DREAMERS SWEATSHIRTCOMING SOON

CREAM SNAPBACK£35.00

ORIGINALS GREY T-SHIRT£20.00

HOME CHURNED SNAPBACKCOMING SOON

DREAMERS A3 FRAME

£20.00

ORIGINALS EMBROIDERY T-SHIRT COMING SOON

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Tex Mex Crop Top,£30 at ASOS

Printed Shorts, £19.99 H&M

Green Acid Wash Denim Shorts, £25, Very.co.uk

Tie-Dye Rucksack, £30 at Topshop

Orange Short Shorts, £28 at Topshop

Studded Hat, £25 at Miss Selfridge

Orange T-Shirt, £14.95 at Gap

Pink Shorts, £32.95 at Gap

Nine Lives Vest, £40 at AllSaints

Oversized White T-Shirt, £45 at Diesel

Round Tribal Print Sunglasses, £6.99 at H&M

Cream Wool Jumper, £35 Very.co.uk

NUFLEX STYLE

YOUR SUMMER WAR DROBE PLANNER Dont’t know what to wear? Don’t panic! We’ve got your back wit our NUFLEX summer wardrobe planner By Mia Abdi

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Round Tribal Print Sunglasses, £6.99 at H&M

Red Shorts £19.99,at H&M

Grey T-shirt £7.99at H&M

LA print t-shirt £16.00 at River Island

Blue Short Sleeve Polo Shirt £16.00 at River Island

Purple Pattern Stripe Swim Shorts£25.00 at River Island

Cream Wool Jumper, £35 Very.co.uk

Bananna tailored Shorts£30.00 at TopMan

Grey and White Striped Shorts, £30.00 at Top Man

Navy Twill Patch Sweatshirt, £28.00 at Top Man

Denim Backpack, £30.00 at River Island

Cream and Black Panama Hat,£12.00 at Top Man

Silver Navigation Sunglasses£14.00 at Top Man

NUFLEX STYLE

Burgundy and Blue Block Shorts £25.00 at River Island

YOUR SUMMER WAR DROBE PLANNER Dont’t know what to wear? Don’t panic! We’ve got your back wit our NUFLEX summer wardrobe planner By Mia Abdi

VERSUS

KG AT KURT GEIGER £75.

Purple caged wedges £50 RIVER ISLAND

ASOS Red Print Bow Sandals, £60

Foxy Red Heel Platform £105, OFFICE

Tribal Platforms AT SENSO, £60

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the shoeniverse!

Nike Blazer Lo Vintage £ 62

Nike Blazer Hi Vintage £67

the snerkerverse!

Adidas Originals Culver Mid £ 60

Nik

e D

eltr

a Fo

rce

Hig

h A

c £5

4.99

Nike Lebron James 8.5 Blue White £ 52.87

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Foxy Red Heel Platform £105, OFFICE

Nike Blazer Hi Vintage £67

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NF Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do.

I am a mother of two loveable rugrats – they are my world. I recently started a Life Style publication (October 2010) in the UK for women of colour as I felt that we did not have a qual-ity magazine that catered to that middle class woman of col-our. It is now sold in the US, Canada, Germany and Belgium.

NF How did you get where you are today?

Wow – where do I start? Ok I am a great believer that noth-ing in life is impossible, I have a daily mantra “I am POS-SIBLE”. However, no man is an island and it has taken an incredible team of people to bring my vision to life. I call them my team warriors, without them DivaScribe magazine will not be and I am eternally grateful for their hardwork, love and support. Personally, it was my love and passion for publishing that still sees me doing what I am doing today – I went into it totally blind

NF What’s your advice to young people coming into the industry?

Never believe that you can’t achieve your life dream. The most important thing being that they should seek oppor-tunities by way of internships in the fields that they want to pursue and also find a mentor. In addition, it is very impor-tant for them to stay focused and I know many will find this rather controversial, but being ruthlessly ambitious is a good thing. Obviously not at another’s peril, but by trying every single day to exceed your own personal goals – you are the best judge of your capabilities.

NF What’s your life motto?

Take care of today and God will help you plan and provide for tomorrow.

NF Where can we find you? Website/Twitter/Facebook

You can find us on www.divascribe.com this leads you to our blog page www.divascribetalks.com , Twitter is www.twitter.com/DivaScribe and Facebook is www.facebook.com/DivaS-cribeMagazine

Entrepreneurial spirit seems to have been poured into the water in the UK recently as 2012 seems to be the year of the entrepreneur. When the riots broke out last year, many people blamed the events on the lack of role models for young people and unemployment,.

We found 5 women in the fashion industry that didn’t just sit around doing nothing, but made a space for themselves within the fashion industry. These women have seen and done it all and are still here to tell the tale. I had the pleasure of meeting some of the most inspirational women in the UK for all different ar-eas of the fashion industry, read on and get inspired.

The Editor: Adaobi Iwenofu

With all the style of Anna Wintour and the person-ality and patience of a Saint, this woman created an opportunity for herself and didn’t wait to be handed anything on a plate. From her place at the top of the fashion industry, she still had time to give people like myself the opportunity to get a bite at the fash-ion apple.

ADAOBI IWENOFUTHE EDITOR |& entrepreneur

NUFLEX INTERVIEW

All Words by Phoebe Parke

This woman’s iconic style catches everyone’s eye, and she has achieved so much as a blogger, stylist and presenter at such a young age. She is definitely one to watch as the popularity of her blog continues to soar, and her talents get better and better.


My names Cheyenne (Shyy) and I’m just a normal girl who has an extreme fascination with trainers. As of yet I’ve represented London and styled/mod-elled for two Adidas Lookbooks. I’ve also styled for RWD, Exit, and DIY magazine. At the moment I’m the presenter for an online fashion and music chan-nel called REPVDO, and I run my own fashion blog which is based on my style.


I started off blogging at the age of 18, and used that as a portfolio to get work experience. RWD maga-zine then took me on as their style assistant where it would be my job to help take charge of the PR and styling of the monthly shoots which was really fun. Everything else has come from networking with people, and also from building up my blog.


My advice would be to never give up and to start out young. I’d also say start up a blog. My blog has helped me tremendously and it’s literally the best thing that I’ve ever done. I’ve been lucky enough to of had so many opportunities come out of it. So blogging is a great way to get your foot into the fashion door. Blogging allows you to have your say online, and write your articles or showcase your styling abilities, and it’s available for the whole world to see.

Make sure you also get as much work experience as you can get, experience is invaluable and people will always want to see what you’ve done.


Knowledge is power, be cool and be you.

NF Where can we find you? Website/Twitter/Facebook

http://yeahitsshyy.comhttp://twitter.com/yeahitsshyyhttp://facebook.com/yeahitsshyy

CHEYENNE DAVIDETHE FASHION BLOGGER|

NUFLEX INTERVIEW

NUFLEX 29All Words by Phoebe Parke

The Writer: Sasha Shantel

Sasha is one of those rare people who genuinely love to help other people, this woman has more talents than can be comprehended and yet still stays down to earth and works harder than any-one I know.


Well where do I start? My name is Sasha Shan-tel and I am what I like to call multi-faceted. I work for a mental health charity helping people to develop their motivation, confidence and to aid and assist them in their pursuit of accessing the job market after bouts of ill health.

In between this commitment, I am the co-crea-tor and editor of the UK’s no 1 online magazine for promoting positivity In-spireLS Magazine - http://www.in-spirelsmagazine.co.uk

I also blog, model and contribute to other mag-azines. I am in the process of guest writing for a US based fashion publication and I am joining another UK based online magazine as a fashion contributor. You can see all of my work to date on www.sashashanteluk.com

Away from this I am in the process of launching an online shop. Put it this way, I like to work on multiple projects at once.


I am nowhere near where I want to be. Saying that considering where I come from and the fact that by society’s standards, I shouldn’t have accomplished as near as much as I have now, I am pretty ahead.

Hard work and drive has got me to where I am now. I am in a position where I know exactly where I am going and I am determined and more dedicated than ever in making all of my projects a success.

SASHA SHANTELTHE ACTIVIST & WRITER|NUFLEX INTERVIEW

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Setting goals and having key objectives have all kept me going and because of that I have a degree, I have a respectable job and I have a number of projects which are individually andcollectively demonstrating all of my strengths.

NF What’s your advice to young people coming into the indus-try?

They need to be leaders not followers. They need to know where they come from and understand that until they know that, they were never reach their intended destination. They most vitally need not look to celebrities or ‘so called’ celebrities for guidance. Drive and passion will carry them through when the doubters rear their ugly head.


Giving up is not the answer, giving more is.

NF Where can we find you?

Website/Twitter/Facebook

You can find out more about me on my website. More than any-thing I often frequent TWITTER and you can follow both me and my magazine on there. @inspirels @sashashantelvip


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The Model: Portia Freno

Everything that Portia touches turns to gold. She has an extreme-ly successful modelling career, but still has time to work on all her other projects. As well as working with others, Portia took the bull by the horns and set up her very own channel. Even though she’s a celeb-rity, she has time to help others and stays completely humble.

NF Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do

I am a creative. I first entered the industry as a model. After travelling the world on various modelling as-signments, spreads in international magazines, international press and radio interviews, walking the cat-walk for Baby Phat in Africa and hosting parties in Miami and New York, I moved on to teach aspiring models how to follow in my steps and to simply help them build up their confidence and to be equipped for the modelling game.

Sometimes modelling meant that I could support fantastic causes, like when I modelled at Africa Rising, this also included Naomi Campbell, Tyson Beckford and Christina Agu-ilera. I then moved on to presenting, covering various events and shows, more recently a fundraiser for BBC’s Children in need and Core Spirits Rock The catwalk.

Now, I own, produce and present for Snobbish TV, a new lifestyle chan-nel that has just launched, covering fashion, music, product reviews and more. Not to mention the popular Snobbish 16’s. I am currently work-ing on a documentary.

I’m also a writer and fashion report for Little Miss Fashion, which was actually labelled the third top fashion insider by the Daily Telegraph. I featured in top selling film “Anuvahood”, and was also on the DVD covers, billboards and participated in the Anuvahood tour which saw me signing DVD’s, posters, and even newborn babies for thousands of fans. I shot the SS12 cam-paign for French designer label Dee-nola which included a 2 part commer-cial aired in France and Africa. I have presented an award at the AMA’s. I also do the PR for the amazing athlete Chaka Bars, and I am still at University studying a Business degree.

NF How did you get where you are to-day?

By breathing and waking up each morning. By remembering who I am and not trying to be what everyone else wanted me to be.

NF What’s your advice to young peo-ple coming into the industry?

Recognise that it’s not real, it’s called the entertainment industry for a rea-son; because that is what it is; entertain-ment. The only thing that’s real is your contribution to it. Don’t try to rush an-ything; take your time and get it right. Know what makes you unique. Don’t think that everyone is your friend, or you will be very disappointed. Be sure to love yourself and be proud of who and what you are because many jeal-ous people will try to make you doubt yourself. Just believe in YOUrself. Try to step outside of yourself sometimes and view yourself as an outsider, so you can see where you may be going right or wrong. If you have a plan, write it down, share it with the

appropriate people to get it pop-ping, be consistent and never give up. But in saying that, don’t push something that’s never going to happen; it’s fine to go through vari-ous projects until you find what works for you.

Don’t be afraid of failure else you may never succeed. Don’t believe the hype or feel the need to com-pete against others; simply create your own lane. Because the prob-lem with the rat race is, even once you win, you’re still a rat. NF What’s your life motto?

Love yourself and others. Find your purpose. Think out of the box. Look at the bigger picture. Get over competition and hate, and simply support yourself and others in the pursuit of happiness. Don’t let oth-ers determine your worth or pur-pose; live for yourself and move at your own pace. Follow your heart.

Don’t mistake those who are al-ways around you for those who are always there for you. Trust your in-stincts. Be positive. Remember that a real leader doesn’t have to lead, or be in the limelight, they simply point others in the right direction. But a phrase that many associate me with is

“Keep your mind right and your body tight”

NF Where can we keep up with the latest from you?

http://youtube.com/SnobbishTVhttp://twitter.com/PortiaFreno

THE MODEL & ACTRESS|NUFLEX INTERVIEW

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The Designer: Jennifer Hibbert

Sharing her unique design ideas and incredible talent with the world was one of the best things Jennifer ever decided to do. She is a true inspira-tion and a great success story. She proves that we really can have it all as she continues to expand her brand.

NF Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do

I design for and run a successful women’s wear brand in London. With many years of experience in the designer clothing industry, my brand Jennifer offers exclusive and unique designer clothing, shoes and accesso-ries to customers throughout the UK.

Our passion is in creating unique de-signs for women that are timeless and classic. Our designs are for women who want to stand out from the crowd, wearing clothes and accesso-ries that are different from the crowd. From the design stage to production, every individual item is made with due care and attention to detail. The label combines style, sophistication and comfort to meet the needs of today’s discerning fashion lovers. The brand received a well deserved at-tention during the 2010 world cup in South Africa where it first launched this exciting designer’s collection, South African press and media has not stopped talking about this event till date. Soon after, we went on to ap-pear in the Marie Claire website com-petition and glossy magazines such as Tribe in Scotland.We’ve lent our clothes to many celebrities, through PR companies like

Can associates, we have also lend cloths to VOX Africa news readers it was evident that the innovative, uniqueness and exclusivity of these products have spoken for themselves and that’s why we were able to achieve all this in a very short space of time.This was only achieved due to the hard work vested in our product both on materials and the craftsmanship of the highest level. As well as this I am also a judge on hit show Uber Africa Unmasked and run sister brand Hyde and Park which is for a younger male and female market.


My mother was a dress maker but I never thought I would end up doing the same thing, I started out in law, when I changed my career path I knew it would be hard but I never gave up, and look where I am today!

I have worked within the designer clothing industry for many years, I have become extremely experienced in my field and am able to juggle the day to day running of the business as well as continuing to create new designs, hav-ing previously studied full time to gain my law degree as well as raising my two daughters.


If you want to be a designer inspiration is key. Some of my ideas just come to me. Things I see people wearing, and how people feel when they wear them, inspires me. It inspires me to think. It’s attention to detail that’s very important for people to really feel good when

they’re wearing your designs.

I’ve just made a television ad for my brand, and the model we used asked to wear one of my sample dresses to a wedding in Paris. She called me and said she felt like she was a princess; everybody else wore something “nice” but everyone came up to her and said “you look beautiful.” That’s what motivates me, I want to be able to make clothes that make people feel really special when they are wearing them. They want to wear something that is very comfort-able, but stylish at the same time.

If these are the kind of things you care about then being is a designer is for you! Work hard and make sure you know what you’re doing otherwise you will become un-stuck.


I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me – Philippians 4:13

NF Where can we find you? Web-site/Twitter/Facebook.

Our website it www.jenniferhib-bert.com

You can find us on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennifer-Hibbert/

And on Twitter - @ HibbertDe-signs

THE DESIGNER EXPERT|NUFLEX INTERVIEW


THE STYLE BIBLE Stylist to the stars Erica Mathews gives us her top eight tips on how to be a top stylist.

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PUBLISHED WORK

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PUBLISHED WORK

THE STYLE BIBLE

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Trend Awareness: It’s nice to be able to dress.. some think this is all a stylist does.. But being Trend Aware and knowing what is ‘in’ on the current season and seasons to come is essential!! it keeps you on your ‘A’ Game.. know what is big this season.. make it your own.. pick your favourites.. and style it with your model/client in a way that is visually appealing.. especially to the CLIENT!! your Client.. wether it be a magazine a designer Label.. or a man/woman you are personally styling.. get to know them… what they LOOK for.. Trends they like! etc.

Trend Awareness: It’s nice to be able to dress.. some think this is all a stylist does.. But being Trend Aware and knowing what is ‘in’ on the current sea-son and seasons to come is essential!! it keeps you on your ‘A’ Game.. know what is big this season.. make it your own.. pick your favourites.. and style it with your model/client in a way that is visually appealing.. especially to the CLIENT!! your Client.. wether it be a magazine a designer Label.. or a man/woman you are personally styling.. get to know them… what they LOOK for.. Trends they like! etc.

Fashion Visual Sense: This to depends on the Cli-ent.. If I was to style for Company Magazine.. It would NOT be the same as if I was to style for ID Magazine or Instyle, this again is knowing your client and having a good visual eye for the cus-tomer, and spotting kinks and flaws. It’s no good doing a photo shoot and wasting a whole hour on shots with a belt twisted etc. It takes attention to detail and unfortunately this is not just on the clothes.. It’s the look as a WHOLE!! (you are the ribbon to a package)

Open Minded: For me.. this is a wide-spread char-acteristic. be open-minded.. you are not always in control of everything.. I have found myself in a po-sition where a member of the team on a shoot has a strong idea about what they visualised for the hair they had done..I was open-minded and tried what they said.. in fact.. it turned out better than what I had initially planned!! Be open-minded.. you will work with people from different ages, genders, sexual preferences & races.. be open and ready to treat everyone equally.. if you don’t have the ability to be open-minded about basic things such as this.. I would tell you to consider.. ‘is this really for you?’ …turn back and think again..

Good Organisation. Time management is key, as you are given deadlines constantly. You need to be able to manage your time well. You also need to be in one piece, nothing says professionalism LOUDER than someone who turns up to a shoot/meeting and they are completely organised!!

Hard Skin: There is going to be moments when you feel down, and as you start-up in your profession career you will find yourself low on money, or you may find that doors are closed in your face, you may even find your work criticised or you may even have conflicts with clients. For me criticism is something that builds me. I love to be told where I can improve. In this industry you have to have hard skin! No soft-ies allowed. This does not mean being a b*tch, that will not get you very far. It means not to let any-thing keep you on the floor, have the ability to use the window if the door is closed!

Energy: I have learnt to keep a little snack on me that keep my energy boosted to the max. You need to have energy, it keeps you on top of your game. If your really unhealthy and are not prepared to run to get yourself to a meeting on time, then in my im-pression.. your not cut out. On some occasions, I’ve run like Chris Akabusi. Some think a stylist’s life is all glamourous, but they don’t realize that you are one of the hardest working people in the industry.

Versatility: Having your signature way of styling is an important thing to have, but it is also very im-portant to be versatile.. be able to style in different ways.. for a man.. for a woman.. beauty.. hair.. the wider your versatility stretches is the more work you are able to get…

Good networking/Communication skills: Talking to big companies or people could be daunting.. but to be honest.. you WILL get the hang of it.. my friend Ernest Simons call me a ‘networking whore’.. lol… I like to talk to as much people as possible nowadays.. Getting to know people is important!! and most of all.. its important that people get to know the great person you are. good ‘people’ skills are good tools to stay professional.. and allows you to build relation-ships with people.. DO NOT CALL VOGUE and speak like Vicky Pollard!!

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Stylist to thestars

HANNAHALMASSIgives us her topfive tipson howto be a top

stylist.

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I spoke with Hannah Almassi, 24, the Junior Fashion and News Editor at Grazia on how she got her foot in the door, and any advice she had for graduates.

NF Could you tell us your job role and what it involves

I report on fashion news, trends and our street style pages. It takes hard work, enthusiasm, a good knowledge of the creative industry (not just fashion) and a desire to keep learning more and moving with such a fast paced environment.

NF What are the typical qualifications for work-ing at Grazia

There are no set qualifications. I studied Fashion Design but always had an interest in writing and styling. But there are plenty of routes in, includ-ing being freelance first and then applying for a job. Or starting as an intern and working your way up (which was her path).

NF What should someone wanting to work at Grazia study

You don’t have to study Fashion, English or Jour-nalism but both of these things help to prepare you with some of the skills you need. It’s all about trying to broaden your knowledge of the indus-try and gain the confidence to sniff out a story or notice a trend before everyone else - so you can study something different but dedicate your spare time and energy into fashion.

NF What’s it really like working at Grazia

The Grazia office is very of-the-moment, so if a shoot suddenly crops up where I need to go and interview someone

INSIDE MAG Do you love Anna Wintour, live and breathe fashion, think you can do a better job than Anne Hathaway in ‘Devil Wears Prada’, then you just might have what it takes to become a reporter at one of the biggest magazine publi-cations; Grazia.

The magazine industry is no doubt a cut-throat industry and as a reporter you will constantly be on the go. If you want to work at Grazia you will have to be willing to work very hard, network like crazy, and be very op-timistic.

GRAZIA

Graduated - Nottingham Trent University

Studied - Fashion Design

OMG Moment - Interned at Grazia thengot offered to becomeMelanie Rickey’sAssistant

“The harder you strive the moreNUFLEX CAREER

|MAG

Graduated - Nottingham Trent University

Studied - Fashion Design

OMG Moment - Interned at Grazia thengot offered to becomeMelanie Rickey’sAssistant

It’s very varied. Everything from writing articles and web stories to calling in fashion products from PRs, speaking to designers, celebrities, store own-ers and buyer to having office meetings to decipher new trends.

I just rush out and do it! Working at Grazia I’m surrounded by a team who are really and truly very talented and excited about fashion, week on week, so that makes the job a pleasure - despite it being a very demanding place to work. The parties and a few freebies aren’t bad either!

NF Whats the best part of your job

The last minute dashes and stories that I have to do or organize on a tight deadline! Seeing your name in print never ever gets boring, I could look at that every week and feel proud that I’ve produced some tangible that other people will read and hopefully enjoy!

Organize a fashion cupboard and to purely have the confidence to just get on with it.

NF What are the perks to being a Junior Fashion and News Editor

Having an ear to the ground of such a won-derful industry to hear all the latest news first is fantastic, but access to fantastic shows, clothes, events and being able to meet inspirational people are all major perks too.

NF What’s the best peace of advice you have for Graduates

I think it’s important to have worked at a few magazines beforehand so that you arrive armed and ready for Grazia. It’s very fast paced, you have to be on the ball and know your stuff about PR companies, where prod-ucts come from, how to organize a fashion cupboard and to purely have the confidence to just get on with it.

you’ll have on”“The harder you strive the more

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WE’REBRINGINGSEXY BACK!

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NF Hi Mya where have you been? What have you been up to?

MYA Hustlin’, Grindin’, perform-ing, travelling, promoting the most recent project “K.I.S.S.” taking care of my family, etc., etc., etc.

Let’s Keep It Sexy and Simple (like what we did here)

NF What’s your favourite track on the album?

MYA Ha! My favorites are bro-ken down like this… Favorite slow jam … Mr. Incredible, Fa-vorite Club Banger: Earthquake, Favorite Substance Record: Evolve, Favorite Queen Record: Somebody Come Get This Bitch

NF K.I.S.S is an appetizer for your 8th album, what can we expect to find on there?

MYA We’ll that’s going to remain a secret :) But I can tell you that I’m simultaneously working on multiple projects right now.

NF Your previous album’s are all quite emotional, you recently said your track ‘ Love Comes Love goes ‘ made you cry, why was this?

MYA Yes that is true. Luckily I was in the studio alone when I recorded this song and a big part of what K.I.S.S. stands for is eliminating baggage, negative energies and getting back to self so that everything about self is sexy. Loves Comes Love Goes

was a part of the purging process to reach simplicity, self love & ultimate happiness.]

NF Are you currently signed?

MYA I’m actually not signed to anyone. I do business with Manhattan Records overseas in Japan. But I have my own label Planet 9 and am strictly inde-pendent which allows me to do business anywhere, anytime.

In late 2007, due to the acciden-tal album release of “Liberation”, I parted ways with Motown/Universal and started Planet 9 immediately. Professionally speaking, every year after that I’ve released a project indepen-dently.

Sugar & Spice ‘08 (Japan),The Perfect Edition Double Disc ‘09 (Japan), Beauty & the Streets Vol 1 ‘10 (U.S.), K.I.S.S. (Japan) April ‘11, K.I.S.S. (U.S./Canada) Dec ‘11 and K.I.S.S. (World) Feb ‘12.

During that time I’ve also been teaching at my summer program (tmatf.org), have worked along-side Northshore Animal League (animalleague.org), Africare (africare.org).

NF So the producers that you’ve worked with on K.I.S.S.give us a little information about them.?

MYA Chuck Harmony - a very talented musician/producer produced the title track “K.I.S.S.”, Junior Sanchez (A house/electro DJ/Producer) produced “Take Him Out” f/Spice, Y

Young Yonny (musician & urban producer) produced about 4 songs on the album.

I also teamed up once again with One Up on “Fugitive of Love”who produced one of my earlier hits “Fallen.” There are lots of established & upcoming producers, songwriters all over the album.

Lee Major, PJ Bianco, Reco Lynch, Cedric Gervais, Snatch & Grab, John Ho, Jeff Miyahara, DJ Drew G, etc.

NF If you could choose one person to work with (one U.S, one U.K) who would it be?

MYA I’d personally love to simulta-neously work with Quincy Jones & Rod Temperton in the studio. I’m quite a fan of all of their timeless work. U.K. - Well any underground house DJ’s with a new sound with in-credible mixing skills is what I’d love.

NF So what do you think of the US music scene right now?

MYA I think the newest generation of artists are really doing their thing. There’s a wide variety of all types of music in the industry & so happy to see so many types/genres of music fused, cross marketed & artists of dif-ferent genres collaborating with each other. I’ve also been inspired by the new generation of entrepreneurs in Hip Hop especially.

MYA It’s so nice to see young broth-ers coming together, helping each other win, taking control in owner-ship and ruling the airwaves and setting up the future for the next generation from a business perspec-tive. Empowerment. Respect!

A sit down with MYA....

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NF Which artist is on your “Most Played” playlist on your iPod?

MYA Well since my iPod is the mini Ipod Nano for predominantly work outs, I have an archive of Trap Music (mostly Jeezy). And the chosen few dj’s are constantly on rotation. I stay amped up with that combo. In my laptop however, you can find lots of 70’s & 80’s music… Minnie Ripperton, Mil-lie Jackson, Teena Marie, Donna Summer, Marvin Gaye, Stevie, Rick James, Prince, and the list goes on & on.

NF You left your label in 2007, and decided on your own to re-lease your K.I.S.S album in Japan, did leaving your label give you the courage to make those decisions?

MYA I left for professional reasons and didn’t feel like going through a lawsuit.

So I decided to spare myself, stress, time, energy, money and proceed. It was really an issue of courage. It was essential to just make mu-sic for my personal sanity and self reassurance in working through a storm to find sunshine at the end of the day reliant upon no one else but just me, May from that point on.

NF Over the years you have made some classic songs including ‘Case of the ex’ , Lock U Down, and Lady Marmalade.

What’s your favourite track you have worked on in the last 14 years?

MYA Some of my most favorite tracks I’ve worked on are not even the singles nor even released yet. But as far as what’s been released,

I’d have to say, “Man In My Life” from the Fear of Flying album, “Nothin’ At All” from the “Lib-eration” album “Why You Gotta Look So Good” from Moodring. “Cry No More” from Sugar & Spice”, “Go Hard or Go Home” from Beauty & the Streets Vol 1, and “Rear View Mirror” from K.I.S.S.

NF ‘Mr Incredible’ has proven to be a huge hit with your fans. In the song you mention finding someone who is almost perfect.

Are you speaking on a past rela-tionship?

MYA I couldn’t possibly speak-ing about the past. If he were THAT incredible, he’d be the present in my presence RIGHT NOW (laughs). I’m speaking about my future.

NF For me personally, ‘Love Me Some You’ is my favorite track K.I.S.S. You collaborated with long time friend Marques Hou-ston on the track, how did the collaboration come about?

MYA Yes, a lot of people love that one. It’s such a feel good vibe (Shout out to Young Yonny!) Marques an I collaborated on a song called “Holdin’ Back” for his album “The Veteran.”

I figured, I’d call Marques to see if we could work out a trade off situation and make the solo version of the song a duet. I’ve always been a fan of female/male duets. We recently had a show in Holland together where I gave him a copy of the world version of K.I.S.S.

NF Finally, Nuflex Mag is dedi-cated to young individuals start-ing out and supporting them, what would you advice a young singer just starting out in the music industry.?

MYA There’s not a standard piece of advice that I’d give. I initially started out with an inde-pendent/major deal.

But this day & age unsigned, in-die artists can utilize the internet to their advantage with viral vid-eos, music, do direct deals with Soundcloud, Tunecore, iTunes, InGrooves, etc to get their music distributed.

In addition to perfecting the craft, standing out, I’d recom-mend that aspiring artists create their own websites

& get connected with social media, attend as many industry events as possible. I’d definitely recommend building & assem-bling a team (musicians, photog-rapher, videographers, produc-ers, managers, etc) that can grow with you & help you project your movement. But keep in mind, before, during & after hours of practice, recording of albums, etc.

It takes money to make money, so save your money, because it’s necessary to invest in yourself and ALWAYS keep God first. It’s essential to survive, main-tain your health & succeed the RIGHT way.

A sit down with MYA....

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