How Art Director Lulu Chen Helps Brands Tell a Story to Customers

In Chapter 10 of 16 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, art director Lulu Chen answers "As an Art Director, How Do You Help Brands Tell Their Story?"  Chen notes how brands are in effect personalities and working on brands comes down to understanding the customer, the customer lifestyle, and putting a consistent, on-brand message in place to connect with them. 

Lulu Chen is a photo art director working in retail e-commerce in New York City.  Previously, Chen worked as a freelance stylist for leading fashion catalogs and magazines.  She earned a BFA in design and art history from the University of Michigan.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: As an art director, how do you help brands tell their story?

Lulu Chen: Well, it’s really important to stay consistent, and on brand. Which basically means that you’re always answering that same question, like, “Who is the customer?” “How does this fit into the customer’s life? Her needs, her—his needs, you know, their lifestyle, their budget, even, you know. And all of the things that the target audience represents.
Once you understand the brand, and once you understand what the goals are, I don’t think it’s hard to stay on brand. It’s like understanding a personality. 

Erik Michielsen: And that’s just something that you try to figure out through conversations as a team?

Lulu Chen: So much of it is something that you grew up with. You know, there are so many brands that you already know without thinking about it, or without having to break down what that brand is, you already know it, right? I mean, think about it, you know. I think it was in an interview and they said, “Do you know this brand?” And I said, “Yes, of course, I grew up with it.” You know, we used to go to the mall and we used to shop there. Yes, you know? Yeah, so even if you don’t think about it, you know, I think you’ve been exposed to brand identities your whole life. 

How to Use Concepts and Storyboards When Planning a Photo Shoot

In Chapter 11 of 16 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, art director Lulu Chen answers "How Do Concepting and Storyboarding Help You Direct a Shoot?"  Chen finds putting town ideas on paper facilitates more effective collaboration.  Writing down concepts and storyboards provide examples that help others understand your thinking.  This creates more effective collaboration that results in presenting photo shoot ideas to the creative director for approval.  She notes how limiting creative brainstorming can result in a game of telephone. 

Lulu Chen is a photo art director working in retail e-commerce in New York City.  Previously, Chen worked as a freelance stylist for leading fashion catalogs and magazines.  She earned a BFA in design and art history from the University of Michigan.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How do concepting and storyboarding help you direct a shoot?

Lulu Chen: You know, what we do is so visual. And it’s very hard to convey, just something that’s in your head, you have to put down on paper. And whether it be something that you mock up that’s just purely a vision that you have or an idea or, you know, you pull inspiration or swipe and I think it’s easier to collaborate and have talking points, and to show what you’re trying to convey. It’s very hard to be like, “Oh, I want the light to look like this.” You know, you start talking and it’s also what you’re expressing verbally may be totally different in somebody else’s head, or if their perception of, you know, it’s like telephone, except that, you know, you’re there in person and then it could just become a hot mess. Yeah, I think that it’s really important to have specific examples, so that everyone can understand exactly what you’re thinking.

Erik Michielsen: And is that more of an individual task or is it a collective task?

Lulu Chen: So, it can be both. You can work on it by yourself. But ultimately, in my past experiences, you’ve had to present it and there’s checks and balances. So you talk to your creative director about it or other people on the team, just to make sure that everybody’s in sync and on the same page.

Erik Michielsen: And is there a sign off process?

Lulu Chen: Sometimes. Yes. You know, it depends on how elaborate the shoot is.

Erik Michielsen: And how does that work?

Lulu Chen: Well, you present your ideas, and they say, yes or no. Or, you know, they might say that we like this aspect, maybe we should explore this direction a bit more or, you know, this chair looks a little funny, like maybe we should get some more options or I think that’s just, you know… off top with my head but, yeah, it’s definitely a collaboration.

Lulu Chen on Learning Art Director Skills for Fashion Photo Shoots

In Chapter 12 of 16 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, art director Lulu Chen answers "What Has Taking Direction as a Stylist Taught You About Giving Direction as an Art Director?"  Working on-set as a fashion stylist, Chen gets to work with a variety of talented art directors and creative directors.  She learns how approach and prepare for jobs as well as how to motivate teams and stay organized in deadline-driven environments. 

Lulu Chen is a photo art director working in retail e-commerce in New York City.  Previously, Chen worked as a freelance stylist for leading fashion catalogs and magazines.  She earned a BFA in design and art history from the University of Michigan.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What has taking direction as a stylist taught you about giving direction as an art director?

Lulu Chen: Well, I was lucky enough to work with a lot of different art directors. And if I had been an art director coming up the ranks, just as an art director, I think I would’ve been limited to how many different approaches and different people that I could’ve worked with, so I was very lucky and I worked with a lot of really talented art directors and creative directors. And what I learned from them is some really great ways on prepping jobs, how their approach was, how they communicate, and then not to sound negative but also what not to do. So, you know, all the things to do and strive for, and then some of the things that maybe, you know, I should try not to do.

So my take away from that is that organization is really helpful. And sometimes it’s hard because you’re wearing the creative hat, but you really have to get things done in a timely manner, you know, there’s always deadlines. And there’s a lot of money at stake, you know, photo shoots are expensive, you have to get certain things done in a day or two days, and it’s a lot of pressure, to see how other people handle that, to see how people communicate well—actually, how they also motivated and inspired their teams, was really nice to see. So I did learn a lot as a stylist. I was able to observe.

Erik Michielsen: And so now you’re on the other side of the fence.

Lulu Chen: Oh, definitely. I definitely try and keep all those things in mind, you know, all the things that worked for me, or that I really appreciated, and I try and do that as well. But it’s funny because a lot of people tell me that I’m so nice, and—which you’d think is a compliment but sometimes I am like, “Did they not think it’s genuine?” Because I like someone speaking to me in a certain way so I’m going to try and speak to everyone else in that tone, you know. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not gonna be able to get my job done, you know. But I think it’s always nicer to talk to people in a nice way, right? Yeah, it’s like I don’t have—I don’t wanna go there unless I really have to.

Lulu Chen on How Fashion Stylist Work Leads to Art Director Job

In Chapter 13 of 16 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, art director Lulu Chen answers "How is Your Graphic Design Education Relevant in What You Do as an Art Director?"  Chen talks about how a traditional art director job candidate has design and layout experience.  Chen talks about her unconventional path of working on sets as a stylist and how she came into her art director role. 

Lulu Chen is a photo art director working in retail e-commerce in New York City.  Previously, Chen worked as a freelance stylist for leading fashion catalogs and magazines.  She earned a BFA in design and art history from the University of Michigan.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How is your graphic design education relevant in what you do as an art director?

Lulu Chen: The traditional candidate for an art director is somebody who came up the ranks more focused on design and layout. And, you know, I came up the ranks being on set, you know, and logging in those hours, and I did have that advantage of being an art director at the magazine because you play, you know, you play dual roles, and I also had the background, so I was able to kind of bridge that.

Just the experience and all the different shoots that you’ve been on, you know, there has—you know, there’s been good days and there’s been bad days, there’s been all different kinds of talents, there’s been all different kinds of projects, there’s been all different kinds of art directors, you know, having seen that, and learned from it, you know, that was my bridge. But it took somebody really giving me the opportunity to show that I could do it, because I wasn’t a conventional candidate. And I will always be appreciative of those people who believed enough in me to give me that chance. 

Lulu Chen on Directing Models and Crew on a Fashion Photo Shoot

In Chapter 14 of 16 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, art director Lulu Chen answers "What Do You Do to Bring Out the Best in the Fashion Models and Crew You Direct on Set?"   As a photo art director, Chen tries to let the models and crew do their jobs and verbalize encouragement and feedback during the shoot.  She bridges the constructive criticism by being sure to communicate what she is trying to accomplish and to try to be helpful in the direction she gives. 

Lulu Chen is a photo art director working in retail e-commerce in New York City.  Previously, Chen worked as a freelance stylist for leading fashion catalogs and magazines.  She earned a BFA in design and art history from the University of Michigan.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What do you do to bring out the best in the fashion models and crew you direct on set?

Lulu Chen: Well, I really try to let them do their own thing. I try and let them do their jobs, and I really—I try to encourage them. And so if things are going—if there’s a certain—if there’s a certain shot or a certain position or a certain thing that’s working, I definitely verbalize that and just, you know, I just keep giving encouragement, like, “Oh, that looks great.” And, you know, sometimes I’ll point out little things but, you know, ultimately I trust in the people that are working with me.

Erik Michielsen: How do you kind of bridge that, you know, constructive criticism and make sure that you’re providing the input you need to as a director without overstepping your grounds?

Lulu Chen: Well, I also—I’d like to add that I think it’s really important depending on what kind of project you’re working on to really let the team and the model know what it is that you’re doing, you know? Like to know the layout or if it’s a full page or what you’re trying to establish. Because they can’t do it unless they know. It’s like help me help you type of thing, so I definitely try and give them information without over saturating them with it.

And also, I’ll try and point out little things that they probably know but they’re not cognizant of, like some people have quirks, you know, so an example is, one of my models sometimes they do this with their hands, and the problem is, you know, if I don’t have enough frames without it, then I have this in a shot. And I know it’s not—I mean I couldn’t do it, you know, I probably have these strange quirks of my own, so I just try and watch out for it, I try not to point out anything too negative, you know, but I also try to be more constructive, so if there’s a couple of frames, I’ll just—that I really need like a safe shot or something really, really simple and straightforward, I’ll just say, “Oh, you know, can you just keep your hands like really straight,” or something. Just to cover it, you know, but I try not to make them feel self-conscious ‘cause I would never want to, and it’s something that you don’t even realize, I think, that you’re doing.

And also it’s a collaboration so sometimes people point out certain things to me and, you know, it’s also my job to point out, like, “Oh, you know, maybe that should change,” or, maybe we should fix something that they might not have seen right away.

Lulu Chen on How to Work With Someone Who May Feel Misunderstood

In Chapter 15 of 16 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, art director Lulu Chen answers "How Are You Learning to Work More Effectively With Different Personality Types?'  Chen loves the entertainment and fun that come with working with different personality types.  She finds being understanding and patient with people that may act differently than she does opens the doors to positive working experiences.  She finds it important to give people a chance and get to know them. 

Lulu Chen is a photo art director working in retail e-commerce in New York City.  Previously, Chen worked as a freelance stylist for leading fashion catalogs and magazines.  She earned a BFA in design and art history from the University of Michigan.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How are you learning to work more effectively with different personality types?

Lulu Chen: I love working with different personality types, because it can be quite entertaining. It’s more fun, you know, you never have a boring day. I don’t know—you just go with it. I think I have a very high tolerance and I also think that a lot of times, a lot of people are misunderstood, and they might come across a certain way but, you know, you just have to give them a little bit of time and try and be understanding. I have a good friend who’s very talented and, you know, people just say, “Oh, he’s crazy,” you know. But he’s not really crazy, he just care so much and he’s so passionate so that sometimes, you know, his mood and his approach to things might come across misunderstood but he really is coming from a good place, and has the best heart.

So I think sometimes, you know, that doesn’t always come out the first time you meet somebody or work with somebody. You have to really give people a chance I think. 

Lulu Chen on What to Do When Life Does Not Work Out as Planned

In Chapter 16 of 16 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, art director Lulu Chen answers "How Have You Learned to Adapt When Things Have Not Worked Out as Planned?"  Chen notes why expectations are important, specifically how you set and re-set expectations as you live your life.  While planning is important, she notes it is not about keeping pace with family and friends' milestones and achievements.  Rather, it is about adapting to how your life goes. 

Lulu Chen is a photo art director working in retail e-commerce in New York City.  Previously, Chen worked as a freelance stylist for leading fashion catalogs and magazines.  She earned a BFA in design and art history from the University of Michigan.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: How have you learned to adapt when things haven’t worked out as planned?

Lulu Chen: Well, I think a lot of it has to do with expectations, you know, you adapt to maybe giving yourself a little bit more time, you know. Or a little more lead way with certain things. I wasn’t necessarily a planner but, you know, at some point, there are certain checkpoints in your life, certain big birthdays, you know, or watching your friends or your peers achieve certain things, or—you know, or have—start families or things, that you start to think about, you know, “Oh, oh, was I supposed to be there at a certain time, or was I supposed to earn this much at a certain point, or,” you know, just like all of these expectations, and you might disappoint—you might be disappointed but then you make new goals, and you make new expectations, and you adapt, you know?

You adapt to how your life goes, not how your life should’ve been, or what you think it should’ve been. So you roll with it. No, seriously, you roll with it. I mean, like, you know, what are you gonna do? What are you gonna do? If like, shit hits the fan, you gotta just—you know, you just brush yourself off and you pick up and you keep going.

Hattie Elliot on Changing How You Work to Be Happier at Your Job

In Chapter 1 of 19 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, female entrepreneur Hattie Grace Elliot answers "How Are Your Personal Priorities Changing as You Get Older?"  As she turns 30 years old, Elliot becomes more realistic about the importance of making a certain amount of money running her business.  Elliot shares how she became frustrated from not getting paid enough for the work she was putting into her business.  She steps back, reevaluates her model, and addresses the problem by altering her business plan.  Hattie Grace Elliot is the founder and CEO of The Grace List, a social networking company that creates destination events and experiences to forge lasting personal and professional connections across its young professional members. Elliot graduated from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where she studied economics, philosophy, and politics.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How are your personal priorities changing as you get older?

Hattie Elliot: I think I’ve always been someone who finds just kind of personal happiness in, you know, again with what I do for a living, really creating and wielding a career path for myself that if I’m gonna work really hard, I really want to deduce pleasure from it. But as I get older, I, of course still, you know, being happy is important, but also I think I’ve kind of become much more realistic in terms of the monetary return that I expect. And I’ve become much more honest with myself about that. I’m just not I guess willing to put up with what I might’ve put up with 3 years ago or 4 years ago ‘cause now, it’s go time. Now is a time when, you know, I think it’s really important to reap the benefits and the fruits of all of the labor that I kind of structured and put in early on and continue to put in to my business.

Erik Michielsen: What do you think about that realism that’s coming with experience, what one example or two examples stand out in your mind in kind of shaping the direction you’re taking?

Hattie Elliot: It’s almost impossible to ever actually monetize the amount of work and the ridiculous, you know, MacGyver in you have to do from the time—from concept to execution. And, you know, till you tie that pretty bow around that event, like the amount of work that goes into it. So, you know, it’s definitely—I think I began to kind of get a little bit bitter and a little bit frustrated with the fact that I was putting so much effort into the business and that, you know, that certain things, like membership fees and certain aspects of my company were making money, but then I was constantly churning out events that were a ton of work and they weren’t as profitable, and so I kind of had to step back and really do one of the most difficult things to do which is, you know, really assess and reflect back on, you know, why I was feeling this way, and why I was, you know, feeling frustrated and dissatisfied. Which is very, you know, humbling, wonderful and terrifying task to do. And, you know, really reevaluate it and come up with a plan moving forward to address it, and to really MacGyver and fix the situation.

Hattie Elliot on What You Learn Producing a Reality TV Show Pilot

In Chapter 2 of 19 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, female entrepreneur Hattie Grace Elliot answers "What Happened With Your TV Show Pilot and What Were the Takeaways from the Experience?"  Elliot talks about what she learned producing a docusoap reality television series called "The Grace List" based on her life and her business.  The experience gives her a firsthand view of how television is made and how a show concept and characters can change after a network buys the show. 

Hattie Grace Elliot is the founder and CEO of The Grace List, a social networking company that creates destination events and experiences to forge lasting personal and professional connections across its young professional members. Elliot graduated from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where she studied economics, philosophy, and politics.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What happened with your TV show pilot and what were the takeaways from the experience?

Hattie Elliot:  Wowsers, that was an incredible whirlwind. So last year, I was producing a pilot for a TV show on my business called The Grace List. And it was really kind of a pseudo—they called it a docu-soap, it profiled my personal life and my search for love along with, you know, “the daters,” you know, members of The Grace List. And it was a great concept. It was an incredible, incredibly unbelievable, unbelievably frustrating, chaotic, ridiculous experience, but at the same time, really extraordinary, and like I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world, but I just now understand why Lindsay Lohan and all these celebrities are so dysfunctional, ‘cause I feel like I’ve got a very good head on my shoulders and I’ve worked very hard for years, but even I was like, wow, to keep—be level-headed in this industry, it’s tough. 

It was a huge undertaking. I was very, very proud of the initial pilot, which the network bought, they then decided to re-tweak it and reshoot it, and change the premise quite a bit, and cast the characters, and I was really devastated, to be honest, about the final product, I was absolutely—I really worked so hard and was very actively involved, but the final edit, I was just didn’t feel—I didn’t wanna put my name on. I wouldn’t. It was very upsetting especially after putting all that time in. Do I have regrets about doing it? Never. It’s like I would rather have loved and lost, you know, I would have rather had that whirlwind experience, I learned so much. I don’t regret it. 

But would I do a show again? I might with caution, but now I understand why reality shows are never around real businesses, you know? Because when you have a real company, it’s your baby, like I take great, great pride in this company that I built, and what I do, and I’m very protective of my friends and family, and so I’ve never just been willing to sell out, you know, for 5 minutes of fame, and, you know, crouch shot on the cover of Us Weekly or something, like, it’s just not my thing. 

So at this point, the project, the second round went actually to an offsite which is basically like where all the network execs meet and see if it’s gonna go to season, made it through the offsite, went to focus group testing, and I think about halfway through focus group testing was dropped, and it was a real blessing, actually. And there’s definitely some other show concepts in the works, but they’re very different. And they are concepts that I really believe in and that I feel like I can really do justice to now that I realize what goes into a show and what—what’s negotiable and what’s not negotiable, and what the actual process is, time-wise, commitment-wise and, you know, what you have authority to have edits on and stuff, so I’m excited. It really has—it was a—it really led to a lot of opportunity for me, a lot of opportunities, so—Yeah, it was a trip. Albeit an entertaining one.

Hattie Elliot on Why Travel to Distant and Unfamiliar Places

In Chapter 3 of 19 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, female entrepreneur Hattie Grace Elliot answers "What Have You Found Most Rewarding About Traveling to New Places?"  Elliot notes how she find motivation to travel by her curiosity and interest in learning about family dynamics and social dynamics of different cultures.  Additionally it teaches her to value her liberty, freedom, and security she has as a United States citizen.  Hattie Grace Elliot is the founder and CEO of The Grace List, a social networking company that creates destination events and experiences to forge lasting personal and professional connections across its young professional members. Elliot graduated from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where she studied economics, philosophy, and politics.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What have you found most rewarding about traveling to new places?

Hattie Elliot: Wowsers… I’m just a curious person. I love to experience the different cultures, and everything that comes along with that, the tastes and smells. And, you know, the different relationships people have with their careers, with their family, like family structure, and the way they treat their elders and their children, and the way elders treat their children, and the way that, you know, they—that they—their expectations on different, everything from homosexuality to marriage to political affiliation. I find all that stuff really fascinating because I think—especially in a place like the States, it’s very easy to become content and think that, you know, it’s our way or the highway. You drink the Jesus juice. 

And, you know, when you step outside of that box, I think in many instances, you—it gives you a new perspective and you’re able to realize that there’s other ways to think about things and other cultures that have really wonderful qualities that are really valuable, and that we can really deduce a lot of value from and really benefit from here, and personally, you know, things that we can take lessons from. And it also—on the other end, really makes you realize in many circumstances how lucky we are for certain freedoms we have, especially for me, I lived in South Africa for so many years and I love that country, but, you know, I really appreciate now more than ever how much freedom I have to travel, to speak my mind, that I’m safe, that I don’t have to lock my car door and worry about that every single time I step into my car, or walk into my apartment. 

So I think it just—it’s good for everybody, it’s—it gives you a better perspective on the world that it’s something that challenges you to—to just, like, any of these things to really, you know, reevaluate the way that you think about life in the world, and your home, and your friends and your family, and your everyday life, your career, all aspects.

Hattie Elliot on Using a Passion for Travel in an Event Planning Career

In Chapter 4 of 19 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, female entrepreneur Hattie Grace Elliot answers "How Are You Learning to Apply Your Passions in New Ways?   Starting her business, The Grace List, by embracing her passion for entertaining and connecting, Elliot evolves her model by adding a destination travel and event element to what she does.  By crafting destination trips, from wine adventures New Year's yacht sailing trips, Elliot is able to take her event production business to new levels.  Hattie Grace Elliot is the founder and CEO of The Grace List, a social networking company that creates destination events and experiences to forge lasting personal and professional connections across its young professional members. Elliot graduated from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where she studied economics, philosophy, and politics.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How are you learning to apply your passions in new ways?

Hattie Elliot: Wow. That’s kind of a difficult question, because I feel like I built my business, the kind of the forefront of my business was taking advantage for my real passion for entertaining and taking care of people. I guess that shifted slightly because we’ve kind of focused more in the last—and this is kind of very specific to what’s going on in my company right now, but I love traveling and experiencing the world and so I’ve kind of taken that ability to connect people, like great people great events, and taking it on the road, taking it on the plane, taking it on the boat, with these Saint Barths trips that we do and created that experience in different countries and different destinations and my events always, our weekly events that we threw were always based around like learning and doing something new, whether it was a food and wine pairing event, or private flying lessons.

We go to places that I personally am very passionate about, and you’re really able to craft this really thoughtful customized experience which is really impactful when you think about the first time maybe someone’s going to Italy and these wonderful, you know, little vineyards that you arrange for them to go to and winemakers that they meet and really it’s a pretty powerful thing to be able to, you know, forever in their mind when they think back to Italy, or even when they drink a glass of wine, that’s gonna change the way that they, like, you know, their whole experience of it, and that’s kind of powerful and wonderful and what the wonderful thing about—I’ve always been passionate about traveling and how I think as I’ve had the ability to with my clients, I’ve kind of infused the business more with the destination kind of side of—kind of event production, and that’s definitely kind of taken everything to the next level of the company. 

Hattie Elliot on Growing Your Business by Making it Less About You

In Chapter 5 of 19 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, female entrepreneur Hattie Grace Elliot answers "What Obstacles are You Trying to Overcome as You Grow Your Business?"  Elliot learns to make her business less about her and her personal brand and more about The Grace List events, and progressively the destination trips, that allow her business to grow.  This helps her create a more manageable business model that can scale and benefit from her business network relationships. 

Hattie Grace Elliot is the founder and CEO of The Grace List, a social networking company that creates destination events and experiences to forge lasting personal and professional connections across its young professional members. Elliot graduated from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where she studied economics, philosophy, and politics.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: What obstacles are you trying to overcome to grow your business?

Hattie Elliot: This has actually been a really, really challenging but incredible year for The Grace List. There’s always gonna be evolution, it’s always gonna be a work in progress. But I got to the point where I realized that I was beginning to get just—I was really kind of worn out, and I was starting to lose what I think made me so great at what I do which was this genuine, unadulterated love for bringing people together, for people themselves, for creating this wonderful—these amazing environments to connect them within. And I think that when I really had to reflect back and look at what are the issues that I’m having, why am I feeling this way, which was a tough process, and I realized that it’s because for the amount of effort I’m putting in, you know?

I feel like the business needs to be more profitable, so then I had to reevaluate the profitability, what makes money, what doesn’t. Then I realized it needs to be more scalable because it’s so Hattie-centric, you know, after I had this huge lawsuit, this intellectual property suit over the name of the company, I really stepped forward myself as kind of the pillar of the company, you know, and I did a lot of TV and I did this reality show, and—I really did that to keep the company afloat during a tough time, but in order for the company now to go to the next level, I needed to really make it less Hattie-centric and more scalable by kind of stepping back again, and making sure that the business would work and could grow if I wasn’t there. 

So those were two like really big things--profitability and scalability, so there was, you know, some major restructuring that happened. I realized that doing these events every single week, as much as I used to love them, was just exhausting. And I started losing my love for it, because it just felt between kind of hustling—making sure that, you know, we got people there, and actually setting up the event, the prep and then the cleanup and then actually putting together—all these like little thoughtful things that made the events wonderful, you know, when you’re doing it every single week in all these cities, it was exhausting. However what did make money was we started doing these big trips. 

So I decided I was gonna focus more on doing destination houses, and doing these big trips, and less on the weekly events. So that kind of solved the profitability factor, ‘cause we really make money off of membership fees, and ideally events, so now, hello, like, it’s going much more profitable, it’s also scalable because once you’ve kind of come up with a formula for these destination houses, like certain special thoughtful touches, and what people expectations they can have, you can really turn it over, you know, that formula, these special things that I do, and have other people running these different houses and trips part-time. 

And also in terms of scalability, I decided that it would be a really good idea to bring on a board of advisers and to help continue to just—to really do justice to our demographic by growing it organically through friends, and friends of friends, but doing it so through their networks. And these are people who I felt were representative of the Grace List, you know, accomplished, fun, adventurous, dynamic, just really wonderful people from different—a really diverse group of people from all over the States and all over the world, who really had great networks of their own. And that they could really take ownership in the business and get involved, and that they could be faces for the business. Because it’s all about just great people and that we could grow the membership with—through their networks, and their contacts, and it really also meant that because the destination—the offering now—the Grace List offering is much more destination based and travel based that we can open up membership worldwide. 

So it really means the business is incredibly scalable because we’re getting houses in the most, you know, exquisite and exclusive locations in the world, Aspen, you know, London, Saint Barts, The Hamptons, you know, Cape Town South Africa, so they’re places that, you know, for people of a certain age, who travel a lot, and want to mix business with pleasure, and go to these extraordinary destinations. It doesn’t matter whether you live in London or Montreal or New York, you can, you know, really reap the benefits of membership.

Hattie Elliot on Getting Family Support in an Entrepreneur Career

In Chapter 6 of 19 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, female entrepreneur Hattie Grace Elliot answers "Where Has Your Family Been Most Supportive in Your Career Development?"  Elliot notes how her parents have supported her by celebrating the highs of her entrepreneur journey and also being there for her during hard times.  The experience seeing her parents find joy and pride raising a family makes Elliot realize how much she wants kids.  Hattie Grace Elliot is the founder and CEO of The Grace List, a social networking company that creates destination events and experiences to forge lasting personal and professional connections across its young professional members. Elliot graduated from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where she studied economics, philosophy, and politics.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: Where has your family been most supportive in your career development?

Hattie Elliot: You know, there’s obviously ebbs and flows in business, as in life, and especially with the career path that I’ve particularly chosen. And when there’s been tough times and down times, they’ve been just really supportive and encouraging and warm and wonderful. And when things have been great, it’s been like fireworks and happy new year, and they might as well have a parade and just—they’ve just been so wonderful and really focusing on the highs and really taken so much pride and—It also makes me realize how important and what a wonderful—and how much I want kids, because it’s just—to see as—you know, my brother and I have gotten older and as our careers have changed and our lives have kind of evolved, how much pride that they’ve really taken in that, and how it’s made their life so wonderful as well. I mean I feel like they’ve made my life wonderful but I really do see the joy that they deduct out of these things. 

And when I go through hard times, they’re there for me, but they’re ridiculously over the top proud and supportive when great things happen. And it—you know, whenever I’m going through these tough things I can always look back because there’s so much love there and so much support for when things are great, it’s enough to kind of like keep you going, you hold on to that little wonderful moment, that little vignette in time. And sometimes it’s all you need, just to take a breath and get through the day.

Hattie Elliot on How Family Relationships Change With Age

In Chapter 7 of 19 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, female entrepreneur Hattie Grace Elliot answers "How Are Your Family Relationships Changing as You Get Older?"  Elliot shares how as you get older, you have a choice on how much you want your family involved in your life.  She notes family relationships are rarely normal and Elliot talks about not only accepting different types of family but also viewing close friendships as family.  Hattie Grace Elliot is the founder and CEO of The Grace List, a social networking company that creates destination events and experiences to forge lasting personal and professional connections across its young professional members. Elliot graduated from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where she studied economics, philosophy, and politics.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How are your family relationships changing as you get older?

Hattie Elliot: Well, I’ve always been really close with my family. When you’re younger, you know, you’re stuck at home and you kind of are born into whatever situation you’re born into, you don’t have much of a choice. But as you get older, you can really choose to a capacity, you really want your family involved in your life, and I really, really value my family. And I also feel like your friends, especially as you get older in a place like New York, also become kind of your surrogate family as well. I’m fortunate that I come—my mom’s from a big wonderful Midwestern family. My dad’s from a super dysfunctional small New York family. So it’s kind of a comedy there is the two. 

But I’m very close to my family, to both sides and to my parents. And I continue to stay close, but what I also really love is, through the years, my close friends, whether I’ve known them from kindergarten or even the last two years, have really also become my family. And part of, you know, my family here in the city, but also part of my extended family. Because I really think family is what you make of it. We don’t—I feel very fortunate for the family I was born in to but not everyone has that, but what you do have as an adult is the ability to create and craft a life for yourself and the family for yourself that makes you happy, that gives you pleasure, that’s your own. And that doesn’t necessarily have to be biological. It’s what you make of it. And so I think that’s been really wonderful how my friends—my close friends have, you know, become part of that, have become part of my family.

Hattie Elliot on Turning 30 and Updating Life and Career Plans

In Chapter 8 of 19 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, female entrepreneur Hattie Grace Elliot answers "How Are Your Personal Experiences Shaping Your Professional Aspirations?"  Elliot shares how she recently turned 30 and how it has put a more immediate timeframe on her personal and professional goals.  From meeting your financial and savings goals to getting married and starting a family, Elliot makes a point to work through what she wants and how she is going to achieve those goals.  Hattie Grace Elliot is the founder and CEO of The Grace List, a social networking company that creates destination events and experiences to forge lasting personal and professional connections across its young professional members. Elliot graduated from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where she studied economics, philosophy, and politics.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How are your personal experiences shaping your professional aspirations?

Hattie Elliot: Well, I’m getting older. I don’t know if I would say I’m necessarily super wiser, but older. And I think part of that is that, you know, I—there’s certain things that I’ve really wanted in my life, and it’s a lot easier when you’re in your, you know, early 20s, I turned 30 last year, I’m gonna be 31 this year. I’ve really enjoyed getting older, but at the same time you’re not in that position anymore where you’re like, “Someday I’ll have a family.” “Someday I’m gonna buy a house.” Someday this, someday that, like, today is that someday. 

So I think that that these personal aspirations and personal experiences and where you wanna be—especially when it comes to having a business in your professional life, you realize you kind of have to make sure that your professional life, especially in the case when you have your own business is able to provide you or that you’re able to, to the best of your ability, attain the personal aspirations that you want with the professional means that you have. That comes, you know, monetarily, you know, sense of security, because you wanna start building, like, a nest for yourself. A nest egg and be able to take care of yourself, and if you have kids, hope—you know, your kids and your parents as they get older, and your family. You want to be able to just live the life you wanna live. You know, you don’t wanna constantly be nickel and dime’ing it. 

If you wanna travel, or you want to live in a certain area, you wanna be able to actually provide that and be able to build that and do that for yourself and so you have to, you know, be able to—you know, whether it’s you feel like you need more time in order to do so more, personal time to, you know, build real relationships, to build a romantic relationship, to maintain relationships with friends and family to make you happy. You need more money to be able to actually just, you know, live your life the way that you wanna live it, you have to take that into account and structure your professional life accordingly. Whether it’s, you know, having more flexibility time-wise, and, you know, being more disciplined about that, or bringing in, you know, the amount of, you know, fiscal income that you need. So I’ve definitely become, you know, much more aware of that, and become much more strict about it.

Hattie Elliot: How to Survive and Thrive in New York City

In Chapter 9 of 19 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, female entrepreneur Hattie Grace Elliot answers "How Do You Make the Most of Living in the City?"  Elliot talks about the inspiration she gets from New Yorkers and how she finds motivation in progressive, forward thinking and big ambition mindsets of New Yorkers she meets.  Hattie Grace Elliot is the founder and CEO of The Grace List, a social networking company that creates destination events and experiences to forge lasting personal and professional connections across its young professional members. Elliot graduated from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where she studied economics, philosophy, and politics.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How do you make the most of living in a city?

Hattie Elliot: Wow, I mean, I think New York City is just—it inspires me. I feel like it’s my lover. It’s like a character in my life that just like the people that I love, that inspires me to do better and be better and just the dynamism of New York, it’s not for the faint at heart, just like being an entrepreneur is not for the faint at heart, but for me, it doesn’t matter what incredible place I’ve been in the world, the moment that I step off the plane, you know, I don’t care if the city is, you know, if it’s hot and “fragrant.” We all know what New York smells like in the summer. Or freezing cold and I just came from Saint Barts, I just—I feel like I’m at home. I can take a breath. 

And that’s how I know I love New York. And I feel like the incredible influx of culture and people and restaurants and just the geography of New York and the architecture and the history are so inspiring. And New York is not kind to those who are stagnant. New York forces you in a brutal but wonderful way every day to move forward. There’s just—If you’re gonna survive in New York, you have to be a progressive forward-thinking person, and this city that just has a way of doing that to people. And I personally thrive off of it. And I feel like it’s been, you know, hugely beneficial in my business and just realistically, you know, the connections you make in New York, this is a city that’s full of some of the most, you know, successful people in every different, you know, field and profession, and real movers and shakers in the international world. 

I mean you are a little fish in a big pond. You do not come to New York, you know, to be Joe Schmoe, the prettiest, tallest, hottest, wealthiest person because there’s always gonna be someone in this city who’s more than that. You really come here to be pushed. And I really love that about New Yorkers, in general. And it’s something that inspires me in my personal and professional life every day, and one of the reasons that, I mean, I can wholeheartedly I just am so proud to call this city home.

Hattie Elliot: How to Reflect on and Improve Your Life

In Chapter 10 of 19 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, female entrepreneur Hattie Grace Elliot answers "What Role Has Reflection Played in Shaping Your Personal Growth?"  She finds what separates the inspiring people in her life from others is how they reflect back, learn from their choices, plan for the future and execute on these plans.  Hattie Grace Elliot is the founder and CEO of The Grace List, a social networking company that creates destination events and experiences to forge lasting personal and professional connections across its young professional members. Elliot graduated from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where she studied economics, philosophy, and politics.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: What role has reflection played in shaping your personal growth?

Hattie Elliot: Wow, reflection I think is one of the most painful, difficult, spectacular, and just brutal processes but ultimately in life, one of the most unbelievably rewarding. It’s why—you know, when I think about New Years and birthdays and things like that, and anniversaries, it’s why people oftentimes get very sentimental because it’s a time that you—you not only look forward but you often tend to look back, it forces you to reflect. For me, as tough as it is, I think my life has been so much more rewarding to me because I just—I force myself to kind of constantly kind of acknowledge where I am and reflect back. Coming here for instance, you know. Checking in every year with you, and talking about the business, it forces you to reflect about when I was like sitting in this seat last year, like where was I? What’s changed? But I think one of the most liberating and awesome things in life, too, about being an adult, is you have the ability, you reflect back, you reflect on the good stuff, the tough stuff, but then you have the ability to really figure out--to change what’s wrong. And I think that that’s really what separates people that I really admire and that inspire me from others is that they are people that can confront that, they can reflect back, they can acknowledge it and be accountable for things in their life and what they might need to change, and what their aspirations from what they want and they come up with a plan, and not only do they come up with a plan, they’re not all show no blow, they actually execute on that, and to their best. We’re not always gonna be successful at everything but, you know, to the best of their ability. It’s something that I really strive to do in my life, and it’s something that when I look at people that I really—I hold dear and that I really admire, and wanna be surrounded by, who inspire me to do better and be better, that’s a quality that they have as well, is ability to really reflect.

Erik Michielsen: Where do you even get started with that?

Hattie Elliot: First, I think it’s realizing what reflection is and that’s what it is. It’s that feeling that you have on those particular days, the day that your father passes away, the day that your niece was born, the day that comes around every year, something significant in your mind. I kind of even trick myself but, you know, I set up—and this is just my own little trick that I play with myself but it forces me to do it, is I set up little, you know, marks that I can use, like kind of I hedge timelines in my mind, whether it’s every Friday where I was the week before, or the first weekend of every month, and there are just specific times where I force myself to look back at my to-do list the week before and what was going on, and—what was going on with everything in my personal life, my professional life, with my finances, with the—with our membership members, with the events that I was doing, with things that made me happy, sad, and just kind of see which of those things that I can personally change, or there—that I can take action on, that’ll make this time next week Friday when I reflect that I’ll be in a better situation. Or this time next year on a date that will forever be set in my mind. Because whether it’s a happy date or a sad date, where hopefully I’m in a better place because you make your future. You make your destiny—I mean we can all be struck down with bad luck, but we do have choice, we do have the ability to be better and do better and to move forward. And that’s what I choose. That’s what I choose.

Hattie Elliot on Managing Adversity by Embracing Challenge

In Chapter 11 of 19 in her 2012 Capture Your Flag interview, female entrepreneur Hattie Grace Elliot answers "How Have You Learned to Adapt When Things Have Not Worked Out as Planned?"  Elliot talks about the highs and lows of her life experience and the importance of acknowledging disappointments, picking up her chin, and moving forward by executing her plan.  She refuses to play the victim role and tries to emulate people who take difficult situations in stride. 

Hattie Grace Elliot is the founder and CEO of The Grace List, a social networking company that creates destination events and experiences to forge lasting personal and professional connections across its young professional members. Elliot graduated from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where she studied economics, philosophy, and politics.

Transcript: 

Erik Michielsen: How have you learned to adapt when things have not worked out as planned?

Hattie Elliot: I guess for me I just don’t think there’s any other option than, you know, I can choose to sulk in a corner and have a pity party or I can choose to lift my chin up and, you know, walk forward. It’s one of the reasons I, you know, love the city, that I love being an entrepreneur, because if I don’t show up or I have a sick day, I can’t pay my bills. I just—I haven’t given myself another choice. Things constantly in my life, I’ve had such extraordinary high highs and, you know, and I’ve experienced real heartache and real tragedy, and real disappointments, but there’s, for me, something very empowering about just, you know, acknowledging, you know, the disappointments, and the times when things haven’t work out, and you know, great, take a breath, take a little ohm moment, whatever it is. And then picking my chin up, and coming up with a plan, you know, of how I’m gonna move forward in my goal, and how I’m gonna fix this, and then, most importantly, actually, you know, executing it. 

It’s—you know, never easy but it always feels so much better to me to at least know that, you know, to not be the victim and just to do and be the best I can, you know, with the situation at hand. I think that—you know, I’ve heard it said that, you know, extraordinary people are those who just kind of, act in such a way, you know, during really difficult situations, just act in a—as they would normally and conduct themselves normally. It’s not that you’re, you know, over the top, and you’re like going and saving the world, but it’s just, you know, being gracious, and handling the system—you know, the situation to the best of the ability in a way that I hope when I look back, whether it’s today, tomorrow, in 5 years, I never have any regrets about how I treated anyone, and I never say what if, I just know I handled it to the best of my ability, and that’s all I can do. I’m not perfect, but it’s just taking the deck of cards that we all have, sometimes it’s satatious, sometimes it’s fabulous, and doing what we can with it, making the best of it. Making margaritas out of limes, you know?