https://www.youtube.com/embed/bCOF54TYPrs
press africa is bringing you a hot episode the impact series where we're talking to ordinary people that are doing something or making something with a difference in the community to start off we're interviewing adelaide based designer linda monzelli i can't wait for you to watch this and to meet this amazing woman i would basically describe myself as an upcoming fashion designer um and all this is just passion honestly everything i do just learning seeing thinking and building and developing myself in the field of design um i was born in kenya and was still there what was it like growing up in kenya well i grew up i was raised in a very good family my mom was very very strict so yeah um i studied very well um i studied actually um chemistry never famous i can understand some chemistry it involves the techniques of chemistry so um when i when i wanted to actually when i was in kenya it was all okay but then i wanted to challenge myself and like explore the world so one thing i had told myself was i have to go somewhere else to study my master's degree all right i was excited to come here i feel like i forgot i forgot every problem forgot everything all ready to explore this new world meet new people see new people honestly um i came in and then the first i think after two weeks i started my uni and for one i i did listen to what the lecturers were talking about i felt like they were speaking either too fast i was paying attention but i just couldn't get it and this chemistry and i have to say i felt the same way when i first got when i first got to australia i could hear what people were saying but i couldn't understand it because there's a different way in which the people speak so it's like you have to your ears have to adjust to the new world yes it's like you have to pay attention ten times more than you usually do that was me the first few times just when i finished uni um so studying kenya i started doing um i would say like a business like i started teaching myself how to do hand sewing all right so i did some pattern designs for basically just pillows that's all i wanted to do just pillowcases for bed for sitting area that's all so i did that but then when the journey of coming to australia came in my mind i was like wow where will i get an african fabric or tailoring things to actually do it i honestly struggle to make friends like but good thing was the easiest part to make friends with i came through church so being introduced to the first church you go you get to make friends or you are classmates but unfortunately chemistry is i don't know whether i should say it's a technical um subject where i find not all the ladies are there so 90 percent honestly of the class were the australians and two or three of us were just like international students so we had to be friends like we had to to maintain our friendship and once in a while just try if we could be friends with the australians so during that i tried to do a research and i found public health was the perfect course for me yeah so i checked out and i found i can actually study master's in public health in torrance university that's when i enrolled and it was an absolute um topic of course that i really wanted to do linda is into fashion and design and why fashion or why design where did that where did that start um i would say when i was in uni back in kenya i used to like dressing funny thing i used to actually um buy a dress and sleep hungry that's how much i used to that's how much i used to like wait a minute you buy a dress and sleep around here oh my gosh that is next anyway so i did notice that i had a touch of test and i i liked doing that so when i came here i remember one day i was just dressed in one of the a smallest piece actually of african fabric or african attire and i was in church and then someone told me linda this really looks good on you have you thought of doing a business related to this i was like what do you mean that business i just bought this back in kenya and i never actually thought about that idea anymore like it was just not in my mind those um gala event that happened i think that was in 2019 and um after not liking that just make me anything think of something um maybe something i was like sure give me uh your shot he was a guy because i'll just like give me a shot and i'll make something for you i made something for him pretty easy really and i didn't attend the gala that time i was student and i needed to walk because i was like today i'm not going so he went and he was like people love this this is even even australians are asking me who who need this so basically a men's shirt i mentioned here with uh like um both high and a bow tie neck multi how do i say this a bow tie and a necktie combine together all right okay so and it was like permanently on the chart where are you on instagram by the way um um the monsalee the monsale so you can see all hair designs there so then this guy goes to this event he's wearing um the shirt that you've made and then people fall in love with it and it sparks an idea yeah and then what do you do with it so when he came and told me that i was like this is it this is all i needed i had already actually bought a sewing machine like three months ago for my thing i was just not using it really in business you used sewing machines before no okay no what happened actually i bought the sewing machine first um i went to visit a friend and i saw a sewing machine in her place it looked like this one is in australia she was like yes so she told me wait i can buy one and she just showed me like one thing to do like just basically how it operates like it's actually not manual like the one i used to see in canada it's actually electric so i saved up and i wanted to buy the cheapest and simple um sewing machine because it was my first time and learning i've seen with your work it's not just uh sewing so the main part of it is design so where did that design element come from if you always say that create a spark within you um i say everything comes with growth um the first time i started was just basic t-shirts putting a piece of fabric on a t-shirt oh yeah talking of t-shirts guys she's the one who dresses me for those beautiful press african videos the one i did on axum that jumper hoodie that i'm wearing she made it and those t-shirts with the beautiful africa map and then she's the one who makes it but yeah you started with a t-shirt so i started with i remember my designs were really really bad like i'm looking at it and i'm like wow at that time if you were the best right now growth growth i remember even at some point i didn't know how to use pins to attach a fabric on a t-shirt so i just use glue and assume these will stick forever little i know this shape needs to be washed but then with time i started learning yeah the good thing actually i think when you when you when you when you have a heart or passion to do something you'll want curiosity grace will keep you going so with that as time went by i started developing and growing into making goodies and i think i did that for a whole year so depending on the season what comes in the season i make it according to the season just learning slowly by slowly until eventually during the pandemic covey should i say thank you to kobi okay but honestly yeah um during the pandemic i was not um like i would say my business was not doing really really good but i took that opportunity to learn new things so that's when i started making scarf or like making things from scratch not just customize a hundred percent so i started teaching myself i would actually see a design somewhere and just think maybe this is how it's created and i try it doesn't look really good i try the second time and it looks good so most of the things that i actually do i've noticed it's just like trial and error but eventually it turns out good because of constant trying and trying to perfect or more learning and learning wow that is amazing and i've noticed that you know you've been expanding um the things that you make and then when i came into this house which we will show you in a minute you also seem to be in interior designing as well you know just seeing how you've decorated your house your space and you know it's like you take bottles and then you modify them all simple picture frames it's just beautiful um how how do you manage to expand your horizons in such a manner when i dress myself i would always go out there and people would naughty so i figured in my house i want to welcome friends i want them to see my work as well in the house and get the option some people maybe do not like too much african prince on them but they can like it in their house so that's why i have the option so i i thought this is what i like i decorate my house first i make one for myself and have a chance to show the wall i wanted to realize like my passion what's my talent what can i do best that's not going to work so when i started doing sewing and i realized this is what i like i want to keep doing this i wanted i kept doing it and i realized this is my talent i have the potential to to do this so my main goal actually of doing all this design is actually to inspire anyone out there who has an idea it's basically it starts with one idea one idea you want to put in action that's all it's all about um realizing what you can do best and do you have a practice around that so do you have things that you do every day or do you love reading what makes you stay in that mental position or what makes you stay in that mode where you are creating things and where you're self-driven like that i would say it's two things um passion and curiosity when i get curious i wouldn't even go to bed i have to make sure i i i get it done so most of the time i can actually think of a design i could just be relaxing coloring and then something just kicks on my mind passion of just wanting to grow to develop myself and probably or someday someone will see that someone who has no training or any schooling in tailoring can actually create their own business because that's coming from the house it's just passion honestly you need passion to keep going and stand up and just be like this is what i love doing i want to try and go ahead and try this and has it been easy has that journey been easy you know i know like let's say you're doing something that you're passionate about but do you feel like it's been easy to get here or it's been challenging um to get your work out there and get your voice heard um it's i would say there has been a number of challenges i remember when i first started i used to just hop forward like just one one person to like one person to comment lately that i love your work unfortunately click it i got some likes but then when someone was like this is a very common thing uh why would you want to do something very common everyone is doing it but that did not stop me because like i am doing it and i'm not everyone and i'm not everyone this is linda this is me doing but then i didn't reply negatively the person i'm just like here thank you but i'm just doing this in australia so i was like when i see an opportunity i want to take that opportunity but honestly it hasn't been an easy journey remember when i started doing this design or when the ideas packed in my mind i was still having master's degree to do and i was still going to work so for me to actually be able to manage i decided um i had to create a list of priorities what would come first uni have i needed i need to get good grades so i need to do the assignments do i have any pending orders do i need to go to work today so i had to create a list of opportunities so at some point my work my life just revolved around uni home um going to work just those i would say with time it gets easier and you get to support your friends some friends do actually come in and support you like genuinely support you because there's some friends will be like yeah i'll help you that's okay but then the people who are just out there ready to discourage you yeah but no matter what comes your way the power just wanting to keep going keep doing it keep pushing keep pressing on and trusting the process is what keeps me going until today that's amazing so tell me linda where do you see yourself in the coming five years so we're in 2021 now so what do you what do you see yourself in the coming you know they're saying 2026 because sometimes we tend to you know someone said we tend to overestimate what we're going to achieve in a year and we underestimate what we can do in five years where do you see the monsale design business heading i would love to create job opportunities for people there are people out there who just love fashion but they don't wanna they don't wanna try because going maybe going to work is easier it's easy money but i wanna create opportunities for people and for me to do that i think eventually i will first launch this business officially the manzali and that would start um creating opportunities for people but generally um i may not be um i may not have any any degree any certificate in tailoring or design but deep down in my heart and to become one of the best fashion designers in australia like that is just my dream i would i'm happy to learn i'm happy to go through the process of learning and everything but two main goals is to get job opportunities for people in this field of design yeah for anyone who's really interested or passionate about trying out something in conclusion i would like to ask you do you have any words that you would like to tell someone who's looking at you right now and you know maybe they aspire to do design or maybe they aspire to start their own business and they feel like it's not possible because they use you know certain limitations in the industry um i would first say if you have an idea it is until you put it out there that you will be seen or you'll be recognized or that's when you will the first step is always put yourself out there give yourself a chance because i've noticed there's so many people out there with opportunities i sit with people and they're telling me how much they can do with just the basic things that they put out there do they put themselves out there not really because they think oh it's really small but trust me god works in miraculous ways like things happen you meet people opportunities come your way it's because you put yourself out there one person may see you and that may change your life one thing can just happen and that's it i would say one idea at a time you may find someone has 10 ideas of the possibilities that they can do they can become photographers they can become models they can come tell us they can become all these so basically just one idea at a time other those will open other other things you can always do it once one has been completely successful thank you so much that was just amazing guys please if you have not done so already check out linda's work on instagram and if you've never ordered anything you know what are you waiting for she can even design you and what's your instagram name again um the monsale on instagram and linda monzale on facebook great so please make sure you follow her like her if you haven't done so already order a t-shirt order a woody you would definitely love it linda please keep on doing this amazing work and thank you so much for being here with us today on press africa thank you
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