Nikki Ellis – Miss Rosanna

If the shoe fits

Well, I felt like the real Cinderella on Friday at Banyule’s Women in business lunch held at The Centre Ivanhoe with key speaker celebrity stylist and shoe business entrepreneur Lana Wilkinson. With my hired Alemais dress from GlamCorner, vintage fake fur jacket and leather boots and borrowed bag from my bestie Jules – it was a lovely excuse to dress up.

And what a fabulous event it was, even with COVID-19 lurking in the background. My fairy god-sister – local identity, personal trainer and podcaster Nikki Ellis – hosted a table of Banyule’s leading business women pictured left to right below: Amy O’Shannessy (Perform Physiotherapy + Pilates), Kate Heslop (State of Solace and Be Podiatry), Jodi Crocker (Baketico Heidelberg), Cinch Training rep Justine, Cinch Training nutritionist Stephanie Canning, me and Nikki (Cinch Training/Find Your Fierce with Nikki Ellis), Nicole Webb (Greensborough Remedial Massage & Myotherapy), Ilene Kairouz (Aqueous Designs) and Karyn Harte (Bees Knees Marketing & Design).

Our power table of 10 local women in business

This Women in Business event was particularly stylish from the beautiful plants by The Greenery Garden & Home and table flowers by Floral Impressions to the typeface used for signage and name cards. I think the Banyule Business team did an outstanding job including an event timed to perfection – starting at 11.30am and finishing exactly at 2pm (according to Nikki’s Apple watch!) and there was a quick turnaround with an evening event being held at the same venue. The food by Peter Rowland Catering was also excellent and I think they hold the bar in Melbourne along with other long-term-ers The Big Group. Locally, I have used Luckman Catering and would use them again for future events.

L- R: Banyule Mayor Elizabeth Nealy (at lectern) and CEO Alison Beckwith

It was a momentous event not only in that it finally happened after two years of lockdowns but also in that Banyule Council has both a female Mayor in Elizabeth Nealy as well as a female CEO in Alison Beckwith (who did a great job as MC having a fireside chat with Lana Wilkinson) so women in business all round. A big thank you too from me to the women behind the scenes in Dani Ahimastos and Jacinta Simms at Banyule Business.

L-R: Alison Beckwith and Lana Wilkinson in conversation

Lana herself was very impressive – articulate, authentic and very down-to-earth highlighting not just the glamorous side of her business (she’s worked with the original stylist turned entrepreneur – Rachel Zoe -and clientele includes Megan Gale, Rebecca Judd, Whitney Port, Millie Macintosh, Rachel Zoe, Ruby Rose, Zoe Foster Blake, Anna Heinrich, Elyse Knowles, Rachael Finch and Natalie Bassingthwaighte) but also the lowlights and stresses with finances, managing staff and a young family coupled with opening a business just before the pandemic hit. What stood out to me was her work ethic inherited from her drycleaning business father – most highly successful people have this in common but it’s always a balancing act. I was glad to hear she prioritises self-care with training three times a week.

The event was the highlight of my week – with the surge in cases in Melbourne – my organisation has given employees the option of working from home over the next four to six weeks. I’ve now had my second booster and masked up on Friday so not only hoping to avoid getting COVID again – I’m also thinking of our strained healthcare workers who are both burnt out and understaffed. While it’s been very challenging as a knowledge worker – it pales in comparison to those at the frontline.

While I haven’t lost my glass slipper, it is back to reality this week but how wonderful it was to have lived the fairy tale life on Friday.

She’ll be apples

I mentioned green being the new black a while ago fashion-wise and it’s a particular shade called Bottega green. I’m more of an emerald girl myself but I’m loving all the colour. It was interesting too to read about P.E. Nation’s collaboration with Virgin Australia – I’ve got a lilac sweat top that I’ve worn to death and know their activewear is very popular.

Speaking of style, after a two year hiatus the Banyule Women in Business lunch event is back with a vengeance on Friday 15 July at The Centre Ivanhoe and I’ll be attending as a guest this year sitting at local influencer, trainer and speaker Nikki Ellis‘ power table of 10. This year’s keynote speaker is celebrity stylist and entrepreneur Lana Wilkinson and I love that you can recycle old clothes with Upparel – who Banyule has partnered with for this event.

I’m so excited that I’ve already hired my outfit (with a back up outfit in a smaller size) from Glam Corner and have some vintage and other accessories to match it up. All will be revealed if you’re coming along! It’s been a long time since I’ve worked in fashion but I thought you might like this 90s throwback photo of me (above – check out the fringe and dark matte lipstick) as Daimaru house model in Kenzo long before the days of Instagram and Tik Tok.

I worked in the international designer area selling Armani, Max Mara, Kenzo and other labels in the Valentino boutique while studying Public Relations at RMIT. Some of my fellow staff alumni from the time include Jacqui Bonnett Hoppe – the current owner of Chapter One in East Ivanhoe, my New York-based friend and stylist turned sustainability warrior Susan Joy as well as my former Divisional Manager Leigh Forster (who happens to be singer Chrissie Amphlett’s sister – a coincidence I discovered later as I am named after Chrissie, which is another story all together). I am still in touch with all of them and they were heady days indeed.

From my time there I ended up moving into fashion PR with my first career job at AMPR (Ann Morrison Public Relations) working with the inimitable Ann and her daughter Catherine Hancock (Ab Fab eat your heart out!). I then went on to work as beauty PR for Aveda (around the same time as Aesop with both companies being started by hairdresser entrepreneurs) prior to the company being bought out globally by Estee Lauder, before ending up as PR for David Jones in the days of the travelling European and Australian Designer Collection fashion parades up and down the eastern seaboard.

While I am now in a more serious stage of life – I do think it’s possible to be a woman of both style and substance. I’ll forever be grateful for my early years in the creative industries surrounded by creative people. It has given me an edge in my professional career with the ability to think laterally and add a different string to my bow – no experience is ever wasted.

I hope you’re coping OK with the onset of winter – it’s got very cold very quickly. A quick shout out for my friend Alcohol Mindset Coach Kathryn Elliott who is running a free Living Well conversation with Holly Ransom (above) this coming Tuesday night at Be Well in Hawthorn. You will need to register on Eventbrite if you’re going along.

As an arts lover, it’s been great to see the Rising Festival also resurrected – The Wilds at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl looks like a lot of fun if you’re brave enough to venture out in the elements.

Nb. Miss Rosanna is attending the Banyule Women in Business event as a guest of Banyule Business.

Dee-lighted

It’s been a long week and I must admit I’ve been collapsing into a crumpled heap come most Fridays. I am going to take a couple of days off during the upcoming school holidays and will consider taking some further leave in term 4.

Like many people I’ve delayed taking annual leave when there is nowhere to go but I have recognised we will burn out as workers if we don’t just have a break. It has been hard going and hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel but vaccinations are increasing every day and I love some of the more colourful products on sale such as these ‘Fully Vaxxed’ statement T-shirts from Well Spotted and Vaxx Cakes from Beurre Cakes, which have been doing the rounds on social media.

I’m very conscious too it is a middle-class privilege to work from home, which I’ve mentioned before and my line of work sees me dealing with people very high up in the public sector who are in the midst of grappling with all the issues we read about in our news media – the health divide that exists between the haves and have nots with culturally and linguistically diverse communities in poorer parts of Sydney and Melbourne disproportionately affected by COVID. I’m very glad that pop up clinics and mobile vans as well as community engagement in priority suburbs have been part of Victoria’s response.

If you’re lucky enough to have groceries or take away meals delivered or other goods couriered to your home, please spare a thought for the man or woman doing this work – they are often young essential workers who have to travel to do their job, to keep food on the table, to pay their bills and it is this demographic who are getting infected and then inadvertently spreading COVID to their families (often large, extended families) at home in the northern and western suburbs.

Speaking of online deliveries, I have bought some Christmas gifts from local store Run to the River in Eltham, while last week I bought the lazy person’s strength training hack – a pair of Bala Bangles. While they won’t come remotely close to doing a proper, supervised class guided by a qualified fitness professional at somewhere like my friend Nikki Ellis’ studio Cinch Training in Macleod, I have worn them while doing housework and out walking.

I miss the simple things too like going to the hairdresser or visiting cafes and restaurants and have been thinking of Jonno at Valiant Barbers and Luis at The Pioneer Cafe at this time. It’s interesting when I think back to my honeymoon spent in Vietnam where all this daily activity actually took place outside on the street! I am hopeful local businesses will bounce back if they’ve been able to pivot and sustain themselves over lockdown – however it may be more challenging for Melbourne’s CBD as much as I’m sure Melburnians will return to the bright lights of the big city for arts, culture, sporting, food and other events in time. It’s also been heartening to read about the many hospitality businesses in and around Melbourne giving free meals to people at this time (extended lockdown is so last year!).

Image credit: *Heide Museum of Modern Art*

Spending time outdoors is probably the safest bet at the moment – you may be lucky enough to have Heide gardens in Bulleen in your 5km zone or the Alphington Farmers Market – both of which are still open to the public. Open Gardens Victoria and Bulleen Art & Garden are also running online workshops and classes for those who have indoor plants or live in small spaces.

And finally, while the big game is now going to be played in Perth, the highlight for our family this week was Melbourne winning against Geelong on Friday night and the Dees sealing their historic place in this year’s AFL Grand Final. My youngest son called it early with his Father’s Day drawing for Mr Rosanna ‘Fired up’ (below) – you bet we are…

Let there be light

My past week has been pretty turbulent and I was glad to celebrate the solstice today with a potluck dinner with friends outside on our deck in front of the fire last night. Given the rise in COVID-19 cases in Victoria, the continued state of emergency and tightening of restrictions, it’s been a rather shaky week. I hope we manage to suppress the virus again if we remain vigilant and play by the rules. Mr Rosanna and I expect to stay working from home for an indefinite period of time.

jared-rice-NTyBbu66_SI-unsplash — Photo by Jared Rice on Unsplash

I’m always glad to see the end of the shortest day of daylight and this past week has been world meat free week and today is the International Day of Yoga. Our friends who came over last night have long been pescatarians so we had soup and fish for dinner. I bought Hetty McKinnon’s latest cookbook ‘Family‘ (below) on sale a while ago on the recommendation of another vegetarian friend who has a couple of Hetty’s other recipe books. When we were in the office, I would often have food envy looking at her lunch creations! While we are not completely meat-free, Mr R and I have incorporated more plant foods and seafood into our daily diet and I have managed to lose some of my iso-kilos from lockdown although still have a while to go.

I’ve been running as well as continuing to practise yoga over Zoom during this period and think that anyone who owns an activewear brand has probably done well over this time and I do love some of the designs of Pip Edwards’ Australian brand PE Nation – a little bit 80s and a whole lot bold (below). A reminder too local people that my friend Nikki Ellis’ Cinch PT studio will re-open from tomorrow if you’re also needing to get into shape and shed some of those iso-kilos!

Finally, Finders Keepers at Home has been on this weekend and if you are in a position to support local artists buying gifts for yourself or others, it’s a good time to stock up. My cousin Beck Ng is one of those artists and I’m glad she’s had other options to sell her wares besides markets and bricks and mortar stores. It will be interesting to see how many retailers stay online and how many go back to physical outlets once the pandemic is over.

Content is king

Don’t I know it. One of my colleague’s whole job is producing all sorts of content for our Alumni communications channels including our monthly e-News – listicles, video vox pops and social media on Facebook and LinkedIn. It’s a big job which keeps her very busy and while I miss content writing from my previous freelancing life, I’ve also been glad to move on to more strategic work, which will still be operational in nature next year when I execute my Young Alumni plan.

I went to Shine On with Jules Lund at the Rosanna Golf Club on Wednesday night as a guest of Banyule Business. It was a great event with close to 100 local small business people there to see Jules present. He’s had a really interesting career change from Getaway TV host (followed by radio) which saw his Facebook page for radio the most highly engaged in Australia at one point. His interest in graphic design and photography (visual content) has resulted in his move into the entrepreneurship space with his global marketing technology company Tribe. It was a fascinating discussion made all the more interesting by his back story as a Reach Foundation protege mentored by the late, and great, Jim Stynes (and Reach Foundation founder) at the age of 15 – something I wasn’t aware of.

Jules has had a stellar rise in the digital marketing industry but learnt a lot of life lessons on the way including the need to step back once a CEO is in place and the anxiety that comes with running a business of his scale that has grown exponentially from him as founder to 70 plus people globally. He stressed the need for prioritising sleep over work and the power of meditation. While he is focused on building wealth at the moment, I do question whether it’s worth it and I hope that he one day returns to the giving space supporting Reach. Money is not always everything and balance has become increasingly important to me as I get older – easy to want but hard to put into practice especially with competing needs of family, friends, work and your own interests.

It was fantastic to see three of the Banyule Business small business awards (presented after Jules Lund) go to sustainable cleaning company The Pure Green Fairy, Leni Swims and The Ode Wardrobe – the latter two businesses create sustainable swimwear and bridal wear. I spoke to Thanh Nguyen from The Pure Green Fairy after her win as well as a number of other media people there (including my friend and ex-colleague Anastasia who won the door prize!) and La Trobe alumnus and Tribe staff member Zach Karengalis.

Networking also took place before the event so it was lovely to also catch up briefly with my friend Nikki Ellis from Cinch Training who has moved to the public speaking circuit on top of still running her business.

It was hard to go out on a school night but evening events will become more common in the lead up to Christmas and with summer soon upon us – the Summer Night Market has started at the Queen Vic Market in the city while the Coburg Night Market is also on next weekend. I was in the city briefly today walking past the heritage listed Victorian Artists Society building (above) and it was glorious in the sun after the heat of yesterday. Have a good one.

An idea needing to be made

Heide’s ceramics exhibition with this intriguing name opens today in Bulleen and I love a bold idea at the best of times. As I get older, while ideas are great, it’s the realisation of them and their outcomes that interest me more – skill comes in the actual implementation of ideas but without a vision to start with, there can be no real progress.

Speaking of ceramics, local artist Lene Kuhl Jakobsen is a finalist in this year’s Manningham Victorian Ceramic Art Award with her piece ‘What We Know Now’ (images above) addressing the challenge that is climate change. The related exhibition opens on the 14 August at the Manningham Art Gallery in Doncaster. Lene is also exhibiting at the Craft Atrium at Watson Place (off Flinders Lane) as part of the Craft Cubed Festival which starts on 1 August and I love the image she’s used (below) on her new business cards.

It’s Open House Weekend and lucky you if you’ve already visited some of Melbourne’s most iconic buildings and hidden surprises. I had a private tour by Dr Gillian Shepherd of the Trendall Research Centre (a previous Open House venue) at La Trobe University the other week- the centre was designed by modernist architect Robin Boyd and houses a number of rare books and artwork left as a private library and mid century apartment (time capsule!) of former resident academic – art historian and archaeologist Arthur Dale (A.D.) Trendall to the University. A private person, not much is known about his personal life except that he worked as a cryptographer (Japanese code breaker) during World War II – my colleagues and I were quite enthralled by the story regaled to us by Gillian over a cup of tea while seated at the Fler dining table . It was a little bit Indiana Jones and Gillian’s passion, and vision for the future, was very inspiring. The western sky views over the University from Trendall’s private floating balcony were also awesome to see.

Speaking of Robin Boyd, his namesake exhibition Design Legend starts at Heide Museum of Modern Art on 3 August. While I will always love Art Deco, mid century modern is probably second on my list and Boyd is one of Australia’s design champions of that era. It’s National Tree Day tomorrow and I hope to feature a local artist inspired by local nature shortly on my blog. A couple of other local happenings include the opening of new cafe, bar and grill Tres in Rosanna, which has replaced Jillian’s on Lower Plenty Road and I wish the new owners well. If you are a home based business you may be interested in a Banyule Business networking event being held on Tuesday morning at Hunter Lane cafe, where you’ll get to meet and hear from my local friend and trainer Nikki Ellis from Cinch Training.

Oink oink!

The Lunar New Year of the Pig is about to trot in next Tuesday and if you’ve had a false start to the year – here’s your chance to start all over again. My trainer Nikki Ellis from Cinch Training in Heidelberg Heights has signed up for FebFast and laid down the gauntlet for all her clients to do the same – and not just for alcohol but sugar, screens and anything else you may be better off reducing in your life.

It is the Year of the Pig and I’ve bought a set of commemorative gold coins (above) from the Australian Mint as a keepsake gift – the Asian in me couldn’t help myself. Unlike western astrology, pigs are a symbol of wealth in Chinese culture and pig people are known for their beautiful personalities and good fortune in life – lucky you if you were born in the Year of the Pig or know someone who will be born this year.

My past week has been a whirlwind with the return to school and extra-curricular activities on top of a new job although I suspect we’ll be feeling it more next week once we complete a whole 7 days – it sure is busy and one part of me is always a bit incredulous that kids start school at the hottest time of the year. I guess there’s no getting around the weather in Melbourne no matter what you do.

One of the highlights has been taking delivery of our art deco cabinet (above in our somewhat dark room) from Contemporary Vintage in Alphington and it now taking pride of place in our formal living room. However – the thing with getting ‘new’ pieces for home sometimes has a knock on effect and you realise other things around it need to be replaced or upgraded. In our case, the painting which hung about our old cabinet is now too small so we’re now on the hunt for a new painting which will be more in scale. Speaking of which, one of the work highlights for me is finding out my new building houses some of the La Trobe Art Institute collection including a Sidney Nolan painting that I walk past every day. I did manage to have a quick chat yesterday with the acting LAI Director Sandra Bruce and hope to catch up with her at some stage soon.

Speaking of Heide artists, Heide Museum of Modern Art in Bulleen is holding a Showtime Night Market tonight, a Date Night x Midsumma on 10 February in the Heart Garden near Heide I as well as Art by Twilight on 16 February. It is very calming to spend time in galleries around art as well as in nature so enjoy if you make it there. Happy New Year!

Summer lovin’

Well we all got there in the end. I wish you a very Merry Christmas and may the New Year bring all that you wish for and more. It’s not even 2019 yet but the year has already rung in changes for me and for other people including my sponsor Hunter Lane Cafe in Rosanna. After two years, Dani and Dennis Ahimastos have decided to hang up the apron (!) and have sold their business to new owners who will be taking over from 8 January. I was in there for my own farewell lunch last week not realising it was also farewell for them. The business will continue as Hunter Lane Cafe and staff will also be staying on so I hope those of you who are local will continue to support them.

I also managed to drop into my other sponsor’s house party the other week – Nikki Ellis from Cinch Training – who has also had change with her business moving to a new location this year. It was lovely to celebrate with Nikki in her beautiful home full of beautiful things (she’s a woman after my own heart as a fellow antiques lover with a great eye) along with a number of her other closest clients who are also friends. I feel very lucky to know her and be included in that select group of people.

I’ve had a massive week of ending including my own Hawaii-an themed Divisional Christmas party at the Thornbury Bowls Club which was heaps of fun! I was surprisingly better at bowls than I thought – hitting the jack on my second try but regardless, it was just a great way to say goodbye to Marketing and Recruitment at La Trobe. While I have previously been invited to lawn balls (and to trugo – another Victorian-era lawn game) – it was the first time I’d ever played. I particularly loved the group of old timers at the front bar I said g’day to who looked like characters out of the movie Crackerjack!

I have realised this Christmas that there is much to be grateful for and I’m looking forward to an even bigger, better and brighter New Year in 2019. I would say bolder as well even though I am departing from the Bold Thinking Series and I did want to leave you with some summer listening. My very last task was to create a video of highlight speakers to be used for the Facebook advertising campaign that kicks off on Boxing Day – I hope you enjoy it and any of the podcasts that are now available from this year and last – my legacy on the series. With love from Miss Rosanna x.

Find your fierce

Easy to say but not always easy to do. It’s my trainer Nikki Ellis‘s mantra and tagline on the window of her new Cinch Training studio at 1 Orr Street in Heidelberg Heights. For locals, it’s the old Shu-Way shoe store completely transformed into a one stop health, wellbeing and fitness centre right next door to Jam and Cream cafe (where you can work off any scones eaten). My photos don’t quite capture how spectacular her new space currently looks but I love the aqua feature wall and Nikki’s sense of style. And yes, while Nikki sponsors this very blog, her studio was one I already went to as a new customer a number of years ago and I have followed her ever since. When you do find the right people for you, it’s important to stick with them and Nikki’s been part of my entourage of warm, supportive and inspiring people in my life for a long time now.

I’m happy to say it’s been a pretty seamless move from Macleod to Heidelberg Heights for her and the new Cinch studio space is more than twice the size of the previous one allowing for lots of room as it used to get pretty tight in the old studio. Nikki herself looks amazing particularly on the back of a recent procedure and a business trip to San Diego. As for her mantra, I think it’s hard to separate mind from body – if you cultivate a healthy and fit body, the mental benefits are priceless and you see this in something like the recent Invictus Games for those injured or ill after serving their country – Invictus meaning ‘unconquered’ and if you can conquer both your mind and body, there is nothing you can’t achieve.

The format for Nikki’s new classes is a bit different in that you’re given your own worksheet to follow so while it’s a bit more self-directed, it allows your respective trainer more time to check and correct technique and frees them up from having to facilitate the entire class. This format is also considered optimal for results as much as it was fun having different themes every week prior to the move. There’s a lot to be said for keeping things simple and consistent. I expect to be feeling it in my arms tomorrow!

Have a great long weekend for those of you lucky enough to have both the Monday and Tuesday off work – spare a thought for those of us at Universities who don’t get Cup Day off!

Disclosure: Miss Rosanna is sponsored by Cinch Training

Wishing you well

Wellness is one of the buzz words of recent times but I was first exposed to the whole concept back in the mid 1990s when I worked as PR for global environmental beauty company Aveda (now owned by Estee Lauder). Back then, aromatherapy, wellness and holistic health were considered a bit out there but I’m glad to see the rise of it all now and the subsequent explosion in health retreats, spa culture, active wear (#athleisure) and more healthy body images with #fitspo. When I worked in PR at David Jones, I was responsible for recruiting models to use at our fashion showings and remember one time knocking back a model who was clearly underweight. I have people close to me who’ve suffered from eating disorders and it’s a been a long road to recovery.

f87bcace5096f24896b31eeb998c9602 — Nikki Ellis – Cinch Training

On a more positive note, my trainer the fabulous Nikki Ellis from Cinch Training has moved again from her studio in Macleod Village to the former Shu-Way building around the corner from Jade Kingdom Chinese restaurant off Waiora Road just before Jam and Cream cafe (which still does fabulous freshly baked scones but was looking a bit tired last time I visited) in Heidelberg Heights. I believe she officially moved there today and am looking forward to classes at her new location, which is closer to my work at La Trobe University. It’s a far cry from my first assessment at Nikki’s home studio in Rosanna a number of years ago and I’m really happy for her.

Speaking of fitness, it’s National Ride2Work day this Wednesday and a number of my work colleagues are already regular cyclists who ride to work. Mr Rosanna has long been a weekend warrior and one of the many middle-aged men in lycra you see riding in groups. It’s been great to see more female cyclists riding the past few years while I’ve been living here in Rosanna and I hope to become more of a regular cyclist myself as I get older.

I’ve been hitting the local shops and have started Christmas shopping early. I noticed new cafe The Daily Harvest (pictured above) in Ivanhoe East (which has replaced Bittersweet) over the weekend and it was great to see a write-up for Hurstbridge sustainable locavore hotspot Greasy Zoe’s in the Age Good Food Guide 2019. Apparently Melbourne’s dining epicentre is still the north with Cutler & Co, Bar Liberty, Marion, The Recreation and Run as well as the Carlton Wine Room and Scopri all getting listed.

Banyule City Council has also been busy promoting some of the best retail outlets around with its Shop to it video series including one of the shops I visited today but more on that another time.