The Glitter Files

Hi everyone! Welcome to my little corner of the internet!

Nerd by day and glitter fiend by night, my life is a constant juxtaposition of contradictions. I have dual personalities, skills & even names associated with two very large (and until now, seperate) parts of my professional life. By day I’m a designer/general admin/marketing/ecommerce professional in the retail sector, with a strong background in visual art, drawing & design for web. In my spare time (the by night part) I’ve spent the better part of 10 years studying the art of bellydance, discovering a love of movement and an insatiable obsession with glitter. Do not even ask me about my costuming addictions. It’s pretty bad.

The thing about belly dance is that it sucks you in and you are hooked. You start out learning the moves awkwardly and before you know it you’ve got sixteen necklaces on your head and coins attached to your bra and you are shimmying like a champ with your classmates. It’s much more than just a hobby, it becomes your creative outlet, your safe place, your social life, your community. I’ve been lucky enough to have had the opportunity to travel across Australia on the odd occasion to teach and perform in many different communities. No matter where you go, it’s always the same: you are accepted because you are a belly dancer and therefore that makes you awesome.

In the mean time there’s things called bills and an annoying habit I’d like to call ‘getting hangry’ which calls for the necessity to be able to support one’s self, in a non-dance related job (unless of course, you are working towards a full-time performance/teaching career. I’ve decided that I’m definitely not). Mine happens to be of the digital design variety. I’m also a social media manager/copywriter as a part of my current job which is something I’ve definitely picked up along the way in terms of skillset. So you could say that my career marries very well with the promotion/management side of any business, be it retail or not.

As a designer and marketer I’m constantly seeing the benefits of my professional skills when applying to my ‘secret life’ self. As a belly dance soloist of over 7 years my skills have helped me get noticed as a performer , and I’m now finding that on my travels I tend to impart many little nuggets of wisdom (take that with a big pinch of salt please!) in conversation with friends and colleagues – so it might be time to start writing them down and share with you all!

So in this blog you’ll find a myriad of content – design updates, marketing ideas, dance inspiration & general tips, plus I love a good recipe! We’ll see how far this journey takes me, and I hope you’ll come along for the ride!

 

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