1. Is life getting harder because I’m simply getting older, thus more aware?
2. Is life getting harder because Dubya is the root of all evil and thus even the rice grain sized plot of land on the map that is Malaysia is also affected?
3. Is life getting harder because we just have incredibly stupid (or incredibly smart, depending on how you look at it) people running this country?
4. If life is getting harder for me, what about those people who are poorer than me?
Being in this industry is tough. There are two types of reaction whenever I tell people what I do. First, the blank face. Sure, they’ve heard of public relations but they don’t really know what it means. A girl who did my manicure actually thought I was a “working girl”, especially after I mentioned that I work from home. She sort of put two and two together.
The other reaction, an “Ohh” with a knowing nod and almost immediately followed by the noise of a wall construction. Yes, I made the latter part up but I swear sometimes I could hear the bricks banging together while they build an arm’s length thick wall between them and I.
Sigh.
Meeting people from the same field is such a learning experience for me. Admittedly, I did not receive any formal training in PR and I’ve only been doing this by myself for less than a year, I literally have so much more to learn. While things could sometimes get pretty rough and I’d find myself 100% lost, sometimes I’m just glad that I had decided to follow my own rules before I’ve familiarised myself with all the bad habits in the industry.
I’m really glad to have met and gotten to know people like David and his equally admirable colleagues who have allowed me see another side of PR that involves no bootlicking or air kisses or overpromising or just-getting-the-AVEs. It’s not about getting coverage without paying for advertisement. It’s about communicating effectively across layers, not just to the media.
I’ve come to a point where I’m very selective with people I work with. I’d rather help my clients to slowly but surely build a positive reputation rather than frantically gather a bunch of media reps for a single event that I myself barely know about. Has any product or service ever become THE talk of the town after one kickass launch anyway? The day after the free booze and massive media coverages, who remembers still?
Yes, it’s not easy on the bank account but at the end of the day, all I really want is this: When I tell people what I do, (1) they won’t think that I’m a prostitute or (2) not recoil in horror with assumption that I’m a two-faced witch who are just smiling for something in return.
I did some camhoring in my free time.
It’s so bloody hard to camho with my D70s. But I guess I could count myself successful if I weren’t so bothered by my out of focus face.
I’ve taken the liberty to do some fake bokeh background with the blur tool on photoshop, cause my bedsheet was sharper than my face -_-.
Here I am, of what I told the boo, my best impersonation of a cocktail waitress by day, trailer trash hooker by night.
Would you pick me up?
For you who are curious as to where I got my inspiration from….it’s from this picture:
Kimberlycun circa 1988.
Don’t ask my Mom what she was thinking.
Anyway, here’s another blast from the past:
Dad still has that ‘Risky Business’ Ray Ban I was wearing, hehe.
I think we were going for the mafia couple vibe.