The reality of trying to balance marriage and a career.

Imagine you are a recently married woman. Life is great for you. You have a new husband, potentially a new home and the prospect of starting your own family has suddenly become very real. This is exactly why you need to be careful if you want to start your career now.

Employers are becoming increasingly aware of employing recently married women because of the high risk of them going on maternity leave shortly after they have started their new job. This is a logical reason however, it is highly discriminatory. Employers will not want to admit to this for fear of being branded ‘sexist’ or worse, ‘politically incorrect.’

However, this is an issue women face on a daily basis. Many women are finding it difficult to be employed shortly after being married, even though they have the necessary qualifications for the job.

Emily Thorpe, a full time working mum, says, “I would suggest starting with a smaller commitment [than starting a family] and building up to empire building!”

The author says that it is possible for women to begin their career at the same time as starting their married life however she says there needs to be a compromise and sacrifices have to be made in order to fulfil the two needs.

The commitment required in family life can sometimes
 be too much for someone starting their career.
The time and money is astronomical.

The Happy Working Mum blogger says, “Like a tightrope walker, you can find yourself leaning a little too much to the left and then have to redress the balance with a lean to the right.”

Emily believes there is the perfect balance between work demands and personal life demands. She said there was a fine compromise between the two however with enough time dedicated, she believes it is possible to have a successful career and have a family as well. “There are lots of routines and structures to ensure that you manage your time effectively and everything runs smoothly,” she says.

Her opinion contrasts greatly to young assistant accountant Sophie King who says, “I’m not married but I think if I was married or had plans to get married that would have affected by chances of getting this job, if I’m being really honest.”

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

The 22-year-old explained that she got her job because she was young and unattached. “My employer didn’t say it during my interview, but after I started the job it was basically implied that I was chosen because I’m not settling anytime soon,” she says.

On the one hand, it is easy to understand why an employer would prefer a young and single candidate over someone who is either attached or has a family of their own or both. However, on the other hand, it is absurd to think that this underlying discrimination does take place. 

Bethany Grey; the queen of picking herself up and trying again!

By Hannah Thompson

Life can be cruel sometimes, it can throw pain and suffering your way when you least expect it, leaving you with only your broken self to try and pick up the pieces. It’s that strength that is said to define us, it builds character.  I’m not talking about the hurt and the suffering, I’m talking about the ability to stick your pieces back together and carry on with your life even after the most unfortunate events.

Twenty-one year old Bethany Grey is no exception. Her story is one filled with horrors, however after a long journey it seems that she’s finally basking in the light at the end of the tunnel, and she is celebrating in rather a remarkable way.

After having to defer her entry for The London Marathon last year due to ill health, Beth, who is as spritely as anything and constantly wearing a smile the Cheshire Cat would envy, is over the moon to tell me that she has been given the all clear and is running 26.2 miles this year for Cancer Research  UK!

Beth, who was involved in an ice skating accident at the age of 13 which resulted in severe cartilage damage in her hip and nerve damage to her legs, has gone through a lot for someone who has only recently turned 21. After her accident, which had the potential to leave her paralysed, she endured years of excruciating pain which could only be dulled by excessively strong pain killers which, in the end, damaged the lining of her stomach so badly, they caused internal bleeding.

Eight years after her accident, Beth still admits to being in a lot of pain. However, after witnessing the strength of her mother who was diagnosed with two aggressive types of breast cancer in 2010, Beth found her strength and was inspired by her mum’s fight to do something amazing.

“My mum is without doubt the bravest person I have ever known, and probably ever will know. She is a massive inspiration to me,” she says, adding that after seeing her mum go through cancer she knew she had to raise money for the “amazing charity that helps people like my mum, survive.”

Beth, who admits to being “stupidly terrified”, but also quite excited about the marathon has reached nearly 70% of her target and hopes to raise more money nearer the time.  

Like Bethany, Ryan Goode is also running this year’s marathon for Cancer Research and again is inspired by his mum who finally was finally given the all clear on the 23^rd March 2015. “After watching my mum suffer with breast cancer since 2008 I’m so happy that she has gone into remission. What perfect timing, I’m running the marathon nearly 4 weeks to the day!”

Ryan, who has applied to run the London Marathon in the past but never been successful, feels “so lucky” to have finally got a place and can’t wait for the big day.

From all of us at Dolce Vita, we wish you good luck! 

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Infamous Internships

By Hannah Thompson

They have been described as exploitation and even slavery. They are the unfortunate rites of passage that most semi-professionals have to endure in the hope of getting ‘that’ opportunity. They are, for most post graduates, the only option available to ensure they can get their feet firmly in the door.”

That’s it, we’re talking about infamous internships and the fact they’re renowned for being especially bad in the ‘creative’ industry, with journalistic jobs, PR and Advertising agencies topping the bill.

According to CIPR statistics 49% of PR interns do not receive the National Minimum wage and a large percentage feel they can’t take “low-paying or unpaid internships” simply because they can’t afford it. 

After graduating with a first class honours degree, Millie Hughes, 24, decided to go into the world of advertising and found herself on a paid internship program which paid a mere $12,000 a year. After admitting to not wanting to settle into a “dead end admin job” she set her sights high, however she said that she found herself accepting such a low salary, because “most of the other roles were un-paid.”

“I’m not sure how they got away that salary, but I guess at the time there were mostly unpaid ones around in London so it was actually the best I could find: I wanted a decent job in the creative industry.”

After interning for 6 months, the novelty of the paid internship had completely worn off and Millie became frustrated because she was doing “the same work as people with a thirty-grand salary.”

“Even though I proved myself, I felt that there was almost a ‘stigma’ attached to the idea of being an intern. I got all the ‘shitty’ jobs – you name them, I did them.”

Millie finally left her intern and landed herself a job with another agency which thankfully, meant she was receiving a salary that she deserved.  

It seems that even though there is obvious exploitation happening in the industry, employers are still using interns to save budget, which really, is wrong.

Josh James, owner of an advertising company on Old Street, Shoreditch, admits to hiring graduates to do un-paid internships to “keep costs down.”

“It’s been this way for a long time, I did an apprenticeship for a company twenty years ago and was on awful money but that is what this field of work is like,” he said, insinuating that you can’t put a price on good work experience.

“Graduates come here to learn, we offer something that prepares young professionals for the real world and to be honest you can’t really put a price on that.”

Millie says she felt slightly ‘tricked’ into taking an internship, the idea was sold to her as “you won’t be the office bitch, you’ll be thrown in at the deep end.”

“I wanted to do more than make the tea and do photocopying, but I didn’t think it was right that I was doing a lot of real work for a lot of big clients. I was given too much responsibility.” 

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Tattoo removal: Is it worth it?

By Hannah Thompson 

Most regrets in life are ones that you can get over, with only mental reminders occasionally coming back to haunt you. Regretting a tattoo, however, is something that you’re constantly reminded of simply because; well ... it’s inked onto your skin.

The slight scent of burning hangs in the air, similar to the smell you get if you accidently singe the ends of your hair with a lighter whilst trying to light a cigarette after one too many glasses of plonk. The room is spacious, clean and gives the impression of quite a sterile environment, but somehow still has flare a that a beauty salon would. It’s not a place you would expect to have your tattoo removed. 

Situated at the bottom of Sara Armstead’s garden is the home of her successful tattoo removal business, ‘GoInk’, which she says is “doing really well at the moment because summer is coming, people are starting to get their bodies out and realising that they hate their tattoos ... it’s brilliant!”

Sara, who is 32 and living in Barnet, North London, has been in the game for 5 years after ditching being a beauty therapist simply “because it wasn’t bringing in the money.”

“I needed to make a decision whether I wanted to carry on with waxing people or if I wanted to do something exciting,” she laughs: “Someone actually came forward with the idea for me, I took it and it took off!”

Whilst explaining to me how her business developed, Sara is setting up her workspace in preparation for her last two clients of the day. After rolling paper onto a beauty couch she explains how the treatment works and what it does.

“It’s basically a small laser that comes out of this (she says whilst holding up rather a large pen shaped object) that hits the skin and breaks the ink of the tattoo down.”

It’s 6:15pm and her clients have arrived, both of which are over 6ft, sporting designer facial stubble and are obviously no strangers to the gym.  

James Hill, 32 from East Finchley is first up. It’s his fifth session and he’s currently having a large tattoo removed from the top of his left arm that he got when he was “25 and stupid.”

“I was going to get a full sleeve but lost interest after I got the first bit, it’s expensive and now it looks stupid so I’m getting it gone,” he says after handing me a pair of red tinted glasses.

The procedure starts and it makes a sound similar to that of a gas cooker being sparked up. After 15 minutes of what looked like a light flashing over James’ skin, his sixth session is completed and his tattoo looks lighter and softer.

“It stings, it isn’t comfortable to say the least.”

Sara moves onto her second client, who seems to be a lot more nervous than James.

“It’s my first one (session) obviously I’m nervous,” he says and on that note I leave, leaving Sara and her successful business to carry on booming. 

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

WHY MANNEQUINS SHOULD NOT BE BIGGER.

The last couple of years we have seen countless high street retailers named and shamed for using mannequins which were deemed “too skinny.” But who gets to determine what’s too skinny and since when was fashion supposed to be a replica of the ordinary teenage girl? Saying someone is too skinny is the equivalent of calling someone too fat.

Topshop Manager, Robbie Eastment, explains “Mannequins are made out of fibreglass, some don’t even have heads - they’ve never been a representation of the average female.” Mannequins are purely for visual merchandising, and a slim mannequin makes work a lot easier for the VM’s, as garments can be slipped on and off much easier than a curvy mannequin. Of course, how a mannequin is styled and the clothes which hang are supposed to inspire customers, but the mannequin itself should be seen as a blank canvas.

We're sorry for any offence caused by our mannequins, we take customer feedback very seriously, please read more - http://t.co/GSqDFhRVLK
— Whistles (@thisiswhistles) February 25, 2015

Last month, Whistles went out of their way to apologise to followers, after a mannequin caused outrage for being too skinny. “We do take customer feedback very seriously and will be removing this style mannequin from shop windows” said Whistles to The Huffpost Lifestyle. The mannequin does have protruding chest bones, but what’s the difference between a solid piece of fibreglass looking underweight and overweight, neither are unhealthy because let’s face it – it’s a mannequin we’re talking about.

Whistles mannequin taken in Angel, London 

Ok, so a mannequin may be interpreted by some as a reflection of the “ideal body”, despite that not being its purpose. So if all mannequins with a thigh gap, protruding bones with the “perfect” size C cup were no longer allowed, would that really solve women’s body issues? Doing this is likely to make them worse. Women have completely different body shapes and it would be impossible to have mannequins which reflected each and every one of our shapes and sizes. “I’m naturally skinny and a size 6, even though I agree that some mannequins are very skinny, if all mannequins had to be a size 10 and over, this wouldn’t help either. Calling skinny mannequins ‘disgusting’ makes skinny girls feel even more self conscious” says Maya Preston from Wolfreton High School.

If we look at catwalk shows, we can see that they are over the top and an unrealistic reflection of what the majority of us would actually wear. They have to be entertaining, otherwise no one would be interested, like a musical, they need to be theatrical and that’s how fashion has always been. In tudor times being overweight was a sign of wealth because that’s what was fashionable. People should interpret fashion in their own way and not take fashion so literally. Have fun with fashion, it’s supposed to be enjoyable - you can be anyone you want to be. 

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

MEGAN MORGAN: LIFE AS A FASHION ILLUSTRATOR

Megan Morgan caught in action at the Longchamp X Vogue in November 2014.

In her second year at university, Megan’s career as a fashion illustrator is kicking off, she illustrated live for Paul Smith’s footwear collection in autumn 2015. She tells us quite literally how she “popped out of nowhere.”

Megan Claire Morgan is a British born Fashion Illustrator, raised in Leeds. Inspired by her art teacher at high school and at the age of just 16, earned herself a place on a foundation course at London College of Fashion. Her father who also started university at this age; it’s in the Morgan genes to two years ahead of the game. Megan now specialises in live illustration for events and is continuing her work with affiliations including Paul Smith, Coggles and Joseph, on a freelance basis.

When Megan moved to London she never imagined having a career in illustration, despite it being her favourite hobby.  “I thought I’d end up as a designer or a costume designer for theatre” she says. Growing up in an arty and music orientated family, she has always drawn and was fascinated by artwork but only really saw a few illustrators which made her think, “wow I’d love to work doing something like that.”

To see more of Megan's work visit her website, mrscmillustration.com.
Follow Megan on Twitter to see what shes's been up to!

“Things started to get going after my first show as a live illustrator, which seems weird and I’m incredibly lucky” she says. After being picked up by the team at Fashion Scout, one of the UK’s largest fashions showcases throughout London and Paris Fashion Week she featured later that day. “I loved the work I did with Paul Smith last year but PFW shows knocked everything out of the water - Anrealage and Moon Young Hee were just incredible.” After that it’s been nonstop for Megan and bigger clients have started to approach her. “I’m currently doing some private things for PR stunts and really random commissions as well as collaborating with musicians; you may have seen the live artwork I did for Roscius, a Parisian musician.” Honestly, you should check it out.

Despite the competition in fashion illustration looking low to outsiders, according to Megan it has been back on the rise over the past few years and competition is huge. “I try not to look up to specific people as I’m very easily influenced and can sometimes take too much of what I’m being inspired by so I take an intake of a lot of people” she says. Catwalk illustration isn’t as common, especially doodling at a live event. “I’ve only ever managed to meet 6 others, most who have worked in the industry doing this for up to 40 years.” So what set’s her aside? “Her willingness to make mistakes and how she embraces her natural drawing style is what sets her aside from competitors. She’s very free and experimental” says her close friend, Jeanine Kebbie.

Megan admits she did kind of “pop out of nowhere”, but it’s completely out of luck that her drawing style is different to other live illustrators. “By not being fashion I almost am fashion” she says, but mistakes do happen.  “I did massively screw up the proportions of a model, whilst sat next to two very important editors at Issey Miyake and just hoped they didn’t notice. Megan is a massive over-thinker and lives by embracing her mistakes as an aspiring catwalk illustrator.

Live illustration at the Macha MA show.

Running to catch the @wearevillage #pressday on my break at work... #dedication #fashionillustrator
— MRSCM Illustration (@MRSCMillo) March 26, 2015

Being single in London

Being single in London is not unheard of. In fact, there are 100 single women for every 155 single men in the Capital. London is notorious for being a city that is the ideal place to start a career. Home to 8.3 million people, London has endless opportunities. And yet it is considered to be a lonely city.

Is London as lonely as it can feel?

Nixalina Watson, editor at Sex and London City, says, “Sometimes, you can be standing in a crowded room unable to move and feel the loneliest you've ever felt in your life.  London is all about fast pace high stress and a replaceable lifestyle.”

Nixalina founded her blog after realising she wasn’t alone in thinking that London can be overwhelming as a single woman. “Meeting people is not the problem, London is great for that.  But beginning a trusting relationship is more difficult. What with the variety and lifestyle that London holds, often people do not want to settle down with just one as there is too much offerings going on elsewhere,” the blogger says.

“London is the best place to be single because you can meet so many new faces daily, or stay out partying until the sun rises. You've got more variety and more volume of single people in the city than most other towns or villages. But to grow? We'd have to define that first.  To grow individually, yes, but if you're looking for a love that Shakespeare would struggle to put into words? Then I am not so sure,” the London socialite says.

However, Charly Lester, editor of the 30 Dates Blog and Global Head of Dating for Time Out, has lived the single life for three years in London and has recently started a relationship. She says, “If you want to enjoy single life in London, you need to take opportunities.  It's an expensive city to live in, and people aren't as approachable as they are in small towns, so you have to make an asserted effort to date.  Be creative with the way you date - the more you get out, and have fun, the more relaxed you become, and the happier you become in yourself.”

“It's definitely possible to balance a career and a committed relationship, but you just have to make time for your partner. Most of my most successful female friends, who are in long-term relationships, have always made a point of scheduling regular date nights. They book trips away with their other half at weekends, and make sure they spend quality time together. The reality of London life is that you won't be the only one in the relationship thinking about your career, and you'll both be busy, so it's just a matter of making sure you both make time for one another,” the Global Head of Dating says.

“The great thing about London is that there is always somewhere or something new to try, so you can have a really fun, enjoyable time dating,” Charly says.

Women like Nixalina and Charly show that London can be a fun place to live if you are single. In fact, it is estimated around half of London’s population is single. What’s stopping you from having both a career and dating?

Charly says, “It's definitely possible to balance a career and a committed relationship, but you just have to make time for your partner.”

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.