SHE JUGGLES IT ALL (AND SHE DOES IT WELL!)

Creatives are bursting with bright ideas and tons of passion, it's kind of the nature of the beast. As a result, some of us become overwhelmed and scatter brained as we fall into the Jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none archetype. Not for Francesca Mey. In her lifetime she's launched a print magazine, a successful photography studio and most recently a robust digital platform for modern business called, Freja Daily. As robust and layered as Freja is, you would wonder how Francesca manages to run the site daily all while maintaining a successful photography business without yanking out her hair.

Read on to see why Francesca Mey is a Daring Creative.

In a few sentences, please tell us about yourself

I’ve been moving around for the last 10 years. I lived in Luxembourg, London, Paris, Berlin, Chicago and made regular stops in South East Asia. So let’s say that the word “nomad” would describe me the best.

Otherwise I do photography for a living and my main subjects are rap artists and brides, two complete opposite worlds, so add to that some mild schizophrenia and I probably described myself quite well.

When did you decide to pursue your current career path?

Right now I’m in the process of switching careers. I’ve been a freelance photographer for the last five years but I’ve always secretly wanted to be a designer. This year I’m making the jump by getting into UX/UI design.

I’ve been running a side project for more than a year now. It’s an online magazine about female entrepreneurs in creative fields called Freja Daily. I don’t make any money through it as for now I would like to keep it as independent as possible, but it takes a big part of my time and life.

How did you go from idea to execution?

I have side projects/business ideas every single day. Usually they come up while under the shower. I then forget about them as soon as I’m fully clothed. When they resurface (usually while I’m commuting) I write them down in my iPhone, read them the next day and find that most of them don’t make any sense and feel like a failure for not having outstanding ideas such as the Yo! app and then decide to follow the least worst of all.

Freja Daily had been on my mind for a while. I had started a print magazine a few years ago and felt the need to launch something similar but online. I usually don’t think too much about the execution before starting a project, if I did I would probably never do anything. It’s too scary to see how much work there is behind any creative project. So I just jump into it. Learn by doing.

For Freja I started by writing down the type of articles I wanted to write, found a Wordpress theme and then started spending days on re designing it until I understood that I was trying to delay the launch out of fear.

So, to force myself to launch it I just sent thirty interview requests to some entrepreneurs I admired. Fortunately enough more than half of them replied “yes”. As soon as I interviewed the first one I had no other option than to hit the publish button.

How does the city you live in influence your creativity?

I think it’s mostly people that influence me. Big cities such as Chicago, Berlin, New York and Paris, to name a few, are great places to meet people from all cultures and backgrounds. Hanging out with people from different backgrounds, ages, religions and with different points of views, is what fires up creativity for me.

In your words, what does it mean to be a “creative”?

To think with your own head and to do with your own hands.

Has rejection ever affected your creative process?

I do get down quite easily even if I don’t really show it. But I’m lucky enough to have the memory of a goldfish (my mum would say I have a selective memory) so usually the next day I’m up and running like nothing ever happened.  Rejection might affect me for 24 hours, usually I just curl up, bore[my] friends about what a loser I am and then go back to business the next day.

In thinking about the things that you have created, is there something that you hated but the public may have loved - and perhaps purchased?

Like most creative types, I’m usually very critical of any work I do. But usually I [don't] release work I’m not 100% happy about. That doesn’t include contract jobs. If the clients love it, it’s good for me, I just don’t include it in my portfolio.

What advice would you give to someone who wanted to pursue the same career as you?

Start.

Always learn more.

Don’t seek approval.

Step out from your comfort zone.

Hang out with people who are not like you.

What has been the pit and peak of your week so far? (a low and a high moment)

Two days ago I had a mini melt down in front of my laptop after a frenetic session of browsing other designers portfolios. I got to a really low point telling myself I would never get to that level.

I then reminded myself that everybody was a beginner at one moment of their life and that it takes a lot of work and patience to get to a certain level. I was kind of proud of myself for figuring that out. So I had my low and high moment in a matter of two hours (talking about schizophrenia).

Who is someone famous that you think is killing it at the moment? In other words, is there someone whose career you admire.

I love the design work of Tobias van Schneider (father of the amazing Authentic Weather app) and the super talented Lotta Nieminen who I had the chance to interview for Freja Daily.

Finish this sentence:

I want people to remember me as: a positive human being...that changed the world (I mean...one should always dream big)

If I only had 24 more hours to live, I would do: Eat swiss chocolate in a bathtub with somebody special (no names) :)

If I had to choose a theme song to represent me it would be : Spice "Like A Man" ;)

For more on Freja Daily, visit the site here: frejadaily.com

For more on Francesca Mey, visit her site here: francescamey.com