Alice Catherine

As I’ve gotten older, I have come to appreciate the advice of others and how lucky I am to have such consistent and grounded people around me. I have always been someone that’s great at dishing out pearls of wisdom to others – but terrible at absorbing any of it myself. Particularly when I was younger, I would often make impulsive decisions and worry about the consequences later – not always the most advisable way to get through your teenage years, but a vital learning curve that many of us experience…

My mum would always turn to me and say, ‘you’ve always known exactly what you want and you don’t rest until you get it’ – it’s kind of odd when others make observations about your character, suddenly you’re sucked into this void of panic and left contemplating over your every move. Am I really like that?

It’s safe to say that enough people tried to put me off fashion for me to be suitably put off the idea of a career in fashion. Unobtainable, unaccessible, too competitive, maybe you shouldn’t bother actually. Yet somehow I paved a way of my very own into an industry I always felt very much on the outside of, and have catered it to suit the lifestyle that I want. That’s the best thing about freelancing, you can make yourself as busy or as available as you want – you get to be in control of the projects that you take on board and the people you surround yourself with. There’s something endlessly satisfying about the lack of routine and the fact that no one week is the exact same – something that I hated when I arrived at my office job each day. It fast became all about getting through the work each day, rather than enjoying it and bouncing ideas back and forth to create something new and exciting. I’ve always craved that creative side in any previous jobs, but instead found that the business side of things always seemed to be a priority. The one positive element that often got me through the tedious days were the wonderful people I met along the way. People that had similar stories to tell and had a genuine love for the same things as me – the friendships you build in the jobs you hate are invaluable. Nothing bonds people like a mutual dislike of a place and the endless hope to escape to something better…

It’s these soul destroying jobs and work situations that I now count as blessings in disguise – they pushed me to keep searching for the next job, and eventually to take the leap into full time blogging. Not only have they been character building and made me a much more grateful and hard-working than ever before, they have also introduced me to people I now couldn’t picture my life without. Now that I work entirely for myself, I am the one who has to make all the decisions and trust that they are the right ones. It’s true that sometimes two heads are better than one, particularly if I’m having a bad day and likely to make a decision that I will later regret. This is when I’m most thankful for the strong and supportive women around me – whether it’s the best friends I have known for years and who have been there through every heart ache and bad haircut, or the new friends that the blogging industry has introduced me to. The ones that offer nothing but support and kind words from across the internet, and are always happy to offer advice when I need it. It’s a great feeling when your life finally feels like its heading in the right direction, and even better when you have the right people to share it with…

Alice x

Photography by Adriana

Blouse c/o – AFRM Clothing (similar here) | Jeans – Whistles | Boots – Acne Studios | Bag c/o – Lancaster Paris (similar here) | Sunglasses – Mango

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