Hot – or rather, very hot these days – and like every July for six years now, the project for which I work all year round comes to an end.
Mestieri-LAB® is a community where creativity, education and industry meet, and ISKO I-SKOOL™ is the project that most represents this real bridge.
It is all about sharing knowledge and values, shaping ideas and – most of all – love for denim: this is ISKO I-SKOOL™, the educational project started back in 2013 that has won the whole industry over year after year.
My role is to create a network of prestigious fashion schools all over the world, teachers and tutors interested in denim, young designers intrigued by this living raw material. ISKO is the company based in Turkey that promotes this initiative, a great company that believes in innovation, young talent and sustainability.
In September we work on the creative theme and then present it to schools in November. We collect creative portfolios in February and then select the best 20 works. The 20 finalists take part in the educational phase, which this year we delivered in the form of a webinar during the month of April. At the end of June we did an amazing shooting (can’t wait to share the results!!!): that was the time when I told you about the fertile emptiness.
And here we are today at the grand finale! Yesterday I moderated the jury, composed by 12 international talents from the fashion world, and today we will see the award ceremony!
I’m writing all this because many of you asked me what my work with schools consists of: in addition to my classes on creativity and soft skills I’m involved in this project, which takes up a third of my working time.
“So you do more than one work?” A client asked me recently.
As an entrepreneur I have more clients: companies, schools, individuals.
The mission is the same: to act as a bridge between young talents and industry.
With private clients and training institutions, I use creativity as a tool to make them express their potential.
The question that follows is: “how do you do so many things together?”.
The answer is that I don’t do them all together, I organize my time so that I can focus on different projects at different times.
Relational skills are fundamental for me, as well as creativity, but you also need a good dose of planning and time management skills.
In practice:
The timing of the ISKO I-SKOOL™ project is clear, it can vary, it can intensify at times – like this one – but it is clear to me how much time to spend and who to involve. This activity is marked in blue on my calendar.
The lessons with the fashion schools are scheduled from semester to semester, and appear on my calendar in yellow. Lessons with managers in green.
Mestieri-LAB® webinars and personal growth paths in lilac.
The design of the courses, the in-depth study of texts and supervision are also highlighted in the same colour.
Using colours I clearly visualize my working time: when I see so much blue I don’t make appointments for individual sessions because I know that if my energy goes into a project where we collaborate in a multicultural team I then need time alone, in silence. Before meeting the other person and be able to counseling, I need to find my center first, to be then able to feel and support you.
So, basically, I focus on the colors of the calendar.
One final note: you know very well that I don’t have children, so the hours of concentration can be many without time limit. In the calendar, in orange there is sport, and in red all the activities that concern our family. I say this for mothers with small children, and I promise to write an article dedicated to you. In the meantime, good work!
