Nov
18th

I am very excited to publish the first entry to my “What Motivates You” series, which will profile hard-working and inspirational individuals in all disciplines. The question is simple: What Motivates You? These will all be written by the featured guest and submitted in any format they wish.

Today, the spotlight goes to Erica Lam, who runs a popular blog, TheStyleSpy.com; one of Canada’s leading fashion lifestyle websites. I’ve been following Erica before The Style Spy was even The Style Spy— when she was still an aspiring blogger, blogging at Xanga and now look where she is today! It’s amazing to watch someone grow and achieve their dreams.

Erica Lam - Social Media Planner at Dare, Editor-in-Chief of TheStyleSpy.com, Contributor to The Vancouver Sun

Working at the digital agency Dare, Erica has worked with clients including Sony Ericsson, Baileys and McDonald’s Canada on their social media strategies and campaigns. She also founded TheStyleSpy.com, one of Canada’s leading fashion online publications. She runs the site with a team of 10 contributors across Canada. In addition, Erica also contributes to Vancouver’s largest daily newspaper the Vancouver Sun where she most recently interviewed Vera Wang and Leighton Meester.

Sooo… what motivates you?

I believe my drive and motivation started with my solid upbringing. My parents immigrated to Canada and had to work hard to provide opportunities for myself and my brother. I follow the same work ethic that my parents showcased.

As a social media planner, I get brought in for pretty cool clients and projects, I also work with a brilliant team. When you have that kind of combination, it’s hard not to want to work hard or excel in your own work. You want to show to your peers that you know your stuff and can add value to the project. It’s also nice when you get props from your boss or an email from your client telling you – you were a pleasure to work with and you delivered good work.

The Style Spy: Erica's popular fashion website.

At TheStyleSpy.com, it’s all the little things that motivate me. It can be something very simple, like a reader coming up to me in a store and telling me they love the site, read it everyday and bought something we recommended. Recently, I was at a club and two girls came up to me and asked me if I was The Style Spy and asked for a picture. Sweetest thing ever, but things like that really make it worthwhile. I started the site over 5 years ago – back in the day – companies didn’t really get ‘blogging’ and didn’t necessarily consider it a legitimate media source. This past year, I got flown out to New York to interview Vera Wang and Leighton Meester and LA to meet David Beckham. When opportunities like this arise, it reminds me why I work so hard and gives me that extra push to keep going. It is a long-term commitment to see your dreams come to fruition. There’s rarely a free pass card.

My secret combo to achievement is working hard – always go above and beyond. You’ll be surprised how many people don’t. I’m genuinely nice to people, why waste energy being mean? People will also be more likely to help you out if you’re nice to them. Good karma. Surround yourself with good people. Nobody toxic, nobody dramatic. Just good, smart, solid people. You are who you associate with. If all that good stuff is in place, you’ll notice things will start to go your way. Which ultimately leads you to a more positive place, and greater motivation to keep goin’ at it and trying to reach your goals & dreams.

Follow Erica on Twitter at @TheStyleSpy and read TheStyleSpy.com at www.thestylespy.com.

Nov
17th

This has nothing to do with cold showers but IT'S SO CUTE.

I shower at the gym 5 days a week because I workout Mondays to Fridays and after years of doing that, I’ve learned to appreciate cold showers. At first, I only did it to cool down, especially if I didn’t have enough time to stretch and recover after a workout because I hate being all red and sweaty after getting back to my desk. Sometimes someone would have to talk to me right after and there’d be like beads of sweat forming on my nose… all because my body is so sensitive to heat! Yuck! Later, I discovered all the healthy benefits of cold showers so I continued doing it and gradually made the water colder and colder. I don’t always take cold showers but I always end my showers with a blast of ice cold water.

Advantages of Cold Showers

1. Better Skin. Cold water closes all the pores that hot water opens up which will prevent pores from being easily clogged by oil and dirt. It also rejuvenates and tones skin, giving you a healthy glow.
2. Healther Hair. Cold water closes your cuticles, making it stronger AND it makes your hair shinier.
3. Mood lifter. People swear that cold showers are a stress reliever, helps with depression and for me, gives me an energy boost— this is why a lot of people take cold showers in the morning.
4. Makes you feel like a badass. The Spartans thought hot water was for the weak and cold water tempers for your body for some vigorous ass-kicking, so why not? Ice cold showers are definitely not for the weak.

More on cold showers…

Nov
16th

Read the rest of this entry »

Nov
15th

The bad thing about working in the video game industry is that it makes me lazy and inconsistent— in terms of looks and fashion. When you go out, you should always look your best because you never know who you’re going to meet, but at my workplace, where networking does happens, I don’t do always do this, and I should!

If you know the industry, you would know how relaxed it is. We wear whatever we want, we have beer fridges, we attend fitness classes, play games, take our dogs for a walk, eat or simply grab a coffee whenever we want. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely not all fun and games here, but this atmosphere is designed to balance out our high-stress work environment.

Some days I’ll come to work all dressed up with my 4” heels, make up on and hair done while other days I’ll arrive looking like I just got out of bed. I’ll go to the gym in the middle of the day and come back to my desk with my hair still dripping wet and my face beet red— my colleague walked by once and asked, “is it raining outside?” I would rather look hideous for a while than fry my hair with the dryer, every single day, okay. With this being said, I swear I am going to try making an effort… at least 90% of the time.

What do you wear to work? Do you make an effort to dress up everyday?

Nov
14th

I don’t want sparkly things… I want shiny things.

After trying to come up with a wishlist for Christmas, I realized how different I am from most girls I know. Things I want as gifts (and usually buy for myself) includes electronics, books and appliances. I want a DSLR, an iPad (although I’m sure I’ll never use it), a new Blackberry Bold, these snowboard boots, a set of knives, a Bamix handblender, a carbon-fiber road bike…

If you get me clothes, jewelry, shoes, bags or make up, you better give me the receipt so I can return it and buy something useful instead.

$3000 purse? Uhhhh… someone tell me what I would do with an expensive, designer purse?! iMac please!