Networking: getting into the zone

Kia and I first met at an event and whilst we were talking she found out that I wanted to be a journalist.

“Cool.” She says. “And that’s exactly what you will be. You will shadow me and reveal all to the whole world.” She had grinned.

“Write about you?”

“Yep,” She had said, waving at people from the side of my eyes. “I’m going to be a great young writer one day and everyone will read my book and love It.” she had said. “And as you want to be a journalist I think you should document my journey.” Before could say another world, she was pulled away to meet even more people. Was she serious? And if she was, would I? Do I want to?

 I knew she worked in the fashion industry and her name was becoming big. People were starting to know her as Nikki. Yet as more opportunities came her way, she was more determined than ever to be known as Kia Storm the writer.

“That’s all I ever wanted.” She had said to me once. “That’s all I want.”

After our conversation on that day, she had given me her contact details to call her. Sounds easy, right? No way. It was so difficult to get hold of her and when I did, she was either rushing to a meeting, had just rushed from a meeting or was late to a meeting. And being such a busy person, she did not contact me for a few weeks.

At this point, I could have let go but no one had ever given me their personal contact number before and asked me to keep in contact. I was encouraged to slowly build a relationship through Facebook, emails and texts until one day; she contacted me with this opportunity to shadow her.

“So you ready to write about me then?” she had asked before I could even get a word out.

“Sure,” I blurted out.

“Awesome! Let’s set up a meeting,” she had said and then she was gone again. I thought it would be more emails, Facebook before I would even get a chance to set up the meeting with her.  But she was serious and she stayed true to her world and the rest, as they say, is history.

I look forward to telling all her readers about her adventures into the big time and believe me, they are worth talking about! Kia gave me the confidence to pursue other individual projects which have involved interviewing Sebastian Coe on the International Paralympics Day as well as getting involved in Roundhouse multimedia projects.

If I could come out of my shell, then so could you. Kia’s mentoring means that I get to attend events and talk to people that would have previously been impossible. As a young writer, Kia has helped me realise that meeting new people on a regular basis can not only help with story ideas but would also introduce you to people with different skills who could add something to your work/ persona.

Wouldn’t the world be a boring place if everyone had the same ideas and experience? Variety is the spice of life and this variety can become reality when you build relationships with different types of people.

Even Alan Sugar, who regularly takes individuals out of their comfort zone for his TV show ‘The Apprentice’ explains how stepping out of your comfort zone is never easy.  Some business giants like Bill Gates and Richard Branson would fail desperately at being quick on their feet. He says, “If I woke them at 6am, gave them 500 quid to go to the meat market, make sausages, go to some Lord Mayor's Show and sell them, they'd be completely out of their comfort zone. The ones on the show who succeed show an aptitude for absorbing something very quickly."

On another note, Daniel Radcliffe, the Harry Potter star has mentioned that he is drawn to the risk of theatre as it is out of his comfort zone. "I am so much more comfortable out of my comfort zone. To me there's no point in doing it if it's not a challenge, particularly at this stage in my career. I've got plenty of years later if I want to sit back and take it easy if I can. Now is not the time.” It is always best to start exposing yourself to new situations now rather than later.

So, next time you are looking for inspiration, why not try something different? 

Your next opportunity could be right round the corner...

Getting out of your comfort zone

Earlier on in this journey, Kia asked me to attend one of her networking events. It was a fashion show that she was involved with and she was eager to introduce me to people she thought would really help with my writing experience. Since I was eager to explore her world of networking, meetings, latte’s and lunch on the run, I had no choice but to man up to the challenge. I would have to act like I was a pro at this.

If only Kia knew how shy I really was. But as usual she had that bright smile on her face that said, “It’s okay Rochelle, you’ve got this.” As she introduced me from one person to another, I could feel my heart beating against my chest, especially as she was introducing me as the next big thing in journalistic history.

“What?” I nearly screamed in disbelief.

She smiled and squeezed my fingers as if to way, don’t worry, you will one day.

And suddenly I felt a little bit more reassured. You see, Kia had a way of making you feel as though you could achieve anything in the world.

“The world is everyone’s for the taking.” She would often say, “You can be anything you want to be in this world and maybe even the next, who knows. I mean ever year we get older, so why not get older chasing our dreams, right?”

She was such a free spirit. I wondered if anything really scares her. 

“Why did you choose to name yourself Kia Storm?” I shouted over the roar of the crowd. I couldn’t tell if she hadn’t answered because she couldn’t hear me, or maybe she didn’t want to tell me, but as if oblivious to my question, despite repeating it a second time again, she pulled me into the depth of a crowd of smiley importance people.

Ask yourself this question. Do you dread trying out new experiences? Am I taking the coward’s way out, just hovering by the drinks stand all evening instead of interacting with new people, pretending that I’m not listening to conversations from afar?

A sensation of déjà vu overcomes me as I know I have been in this exact situation; preferring to apply for new opportunities behind the safety of my computer without having to engage in spontaneous conversation with anyone.

Just in case I said the silliest thing and suddenly they will look at me as if I have a cat on my head or something. I remember being perfectly happy never breaking out of my own bubble, never doing anything extraordinary and never breaking out of my own space.

Someone once told me that public relations can never be taught; it is something that you must learn through practice. I used to hate networking.  Many teachers told me that I should start networking in the media field as the most interesting opportunities are passed on through making contacts.

I always felt uneasy when networking, especially if I was networking with the aim of trying to get job. I knew that I was only speaking to employers in order to get into the professional world. I was not interested in knowing more about them as an individual person and building a personal relationship with them even though I knew that this was what I was supposed to do. I rarely followed up initial meetings thus, giving them the impression that I was not serious about getting into this industry.

So has meeting Kia made a difference at all?

But when I was introduced to Kia, my fear of meeting new people seemed to vanish, at least for a while.......

Wishing on a star

Excited about fantasy? It has exploded in bookstores and onto our TV screens, in the last few years and has changed the lives of many forever. Young, upcoming authors within this exciting spectrum now have new challenges and opportunities; new ideas are imperative as well as understanding that your audience is constantly evolving with the rapid growth of new technology and media.

Keeping up with this audience is essential as you divulge into undiscovered terrain to create your unique signature...

Meet Kia Storm of Story Star publishing, a bold intermediate fiction writer who encourages writers to move out of their comfort zone. Gone are the days when ‘brainiac’ writers only emerged from the darkness, after finishing their long awaited novel.

Instead, Kia’s name is fast becoming known in the literary world for her passion of networking at exclusive events. Inspiration comes from meeting diverse individuals and exploring new opportunities and reality.  It is not enough for young writers to only be great at writing; a vibrant personality coupled with their own sophisticated brand or attitude should also be presented to their readers.

In the age where video games seem to have replaced a love of creativity, Kia installs a deep affection for personal expression through her work and transports her teenage readers to a magical land of entertainment. Creativity is not only fun and glamorous but a way of life.

In reality Kia is also fast becoming known in the beauty and fashion world.

“You know life sometimes relishes in playing dirty tricks on you.” Kia laughs. “Whilst wanting to become a writer so badly, it is becoming easier for me to break into the fashion world without even trying. Opportunity presents itself to me. Yet the one thing I want from the pit of my soul seems almost elusive. Isn’t life funny?”

I guess I could fully understand that. I reflect on the jobs I had desperately wanted in the past and the ones I couldn’t care much about. Yet they were the ones brimming with enthusiasm to hire me for a post which I then begrudgingly accepted. All this whilst trying to get over a broken heart from a post that I had convinced myself that I absolutely must get.

I had accompanied Kia to a London fashion week show, where the company she worked for had sponsored a styling team for the event.

Glamour was present in abundance at London Fashion Week and created a beautiful mirage between reality and fiction; the perfect source of inspiration for a writer. Of course, it is true that the mainstream fashion catwalks might just follow mundane fashion trends and so might not instigate any new writing fodder. So what surprise was in store for me when I arrived?

Step forward ‘Fashion’s Finest’, a part of the fashion show that offers new/upcoming designers a chance to showcase their work. Through being a guest at the Sunday night show, I discovered that having no restrictions on what to produce and no brand to follow is very exciting and can arouse various creative thoughts.

Personal expression was explored to the fullest through a display of diverse fashion themes along the lines of nature, minimalistic as well as gothic. Traditional statements were simply pushed aside and the audience was propelled to another dreamlike dimension where beautiful creatures had their splendour enhanced through extravagant colours, exquisite fabrics and bold hair styles, in a candlelit arena.

“Isn’t it amazing?” Kia was having fun watching the models make their fierce and bold appearance on the catwalk. “It’s almost like the world I create late at night in my room. When I write I see things and can create an amazing colourful world before my eyes. Isn’t it just beautiful?”

I had to admit it was. I was getting to know Kia as someone so deeply engrossed in her work. She seemed fun and bubbly, kind of like me, eager to keep learning new things.

As I watch the magic, becoming even more immersed in it and this amazing new world, I asked myself the question:

Why is this surrealistic fashion world important? Like Jacqueline Wilson, one of Britain’s most popular authors, Kia considers a sense of imagination to be central to writing the perfect novel. The fashion shows, with its expressive concepts and designs presented new ideas that could be easily explored in her next fantasy novel. Inspiration for fantasy can be found in any situation and so exploring all avenues is critical.

Jacqueline said, “I had no brothers or sisters and from an early age I became one of those weird children who live in their imaginations. For inspiration I would cut out photos of girls from pattern books and stick cardboard on the back to turn them into paper dolls, each with its own personality.” 


Each model in show the show had their own personality which, was creating by their image but also by their unique swagger. Kia thinks that writers could not only have excellent writing material but could also learn important lessons about presenting/ marketing yourself as an author. 

As the saying going ‘seeing is believing’ and often seeing an idea in a physical form makes it easier to write about it on paper. Where else could you gain unique imagery set in a kaleidoscopic landscape than at a fashion show dedicated to showcasing the unseen part of the fashion industry? 


William Gibson, known as ‘the father of Cyberpunk’ felt that his latest book, ‘Spook Country’, came into being through visual impressions of places. He said, “My big imagination isn’t me sitting around at a coffee shop thinking I should write a novel about—that’s not it. It would be a bad novel. It would be all in my head and for me that would mean it would be dead. 


With Spook Country, it happened as visual impressions from a fairly consistent point of view.” Kia knows that the images seen at the fashion show will help keep it real for her readers and entice them into a world never experienced before.

So keep reading, keep writing and never forget to mingle… because you never know what you might discover!

Until next time…