Finally I managed to squeeze some time out to write this blog post. I gave myself the goal to write a piece every week and ideally, it would get released every Monday, but apparently I failed for the past 4 weeks. Not only that, I had been quite quiet on IG Story (follow me @iamhakme, if you haven’t already) as well. I guess the only thing that is still running according to schedule is my YouTube channel. Well sometimes LIFE just takes over and the priorities shift. Today I thought I would bring you up to speed on what’s going on behind the scene – as usual, nothing dramatic! It’s just a lot of self-created work LOL!
Outfit Details
Top: Balmain Cotton T-shirt (Link)
There are white and black to choose from if you are not into green (Link – White, Link – Black)
Jeans: Paige Jeans (since I bought it long time ago, so it’s not available anymore, but here is a pair that’s similar from the same brand)
Shoes: Golden Goose Sneakers (again, got them awhile back, but you can check here for different ones, there are lots to choose from)
Bag: Bottega Veneta The Pouch (Link)
Since 1st of March, I have been creating a lot of work for myself to do. Now I know some of you must be thinking, “WHY? Why do you make yourself busy and why don’t you just sit and chill?” I guess there are a few main reasons here:
- Loss of Time. I think most of us can agree that with Covid. Our life has been paused and resumed so many times. There are things that we want to do, plans that we want to execute, but somehow we can’t, because we don’t know what tomorrow would bring, so we constantly are forced to press the “stop”, “start” buttons all the time. That doesn’t feel productive and that doesn’t drive momentum, so while we were pausing, I always felt that I was wasting precious time. Well, I think we can all agree that when we try to think back of “what did we do in 2020?”, nothing apart from worrying and getting frustrated come to mind. That hollowness reminds me that I need to play catch-up seriously.
- Being Busy Keeps Me Sane and Positive. If you watch my videos, you must have heard me saying, “control the things that you can control”. Yes, due to Covid, we still can’t somehow see the light at the end of the tunnel just yet; but I have also come to terms with I can’t control Covid and I can’t control the outside factors, so instead of drilling into the big black hole, I constantly ask myself everyday, “what I can do today to make today more productive and meaningful (for myself) than yesterday?” Not giving myself any excuse is the mentality I want to maintain. We could all very easy to use all our time getting irritated by Covid and say “Covid stops me from this and Covid stops me from that”. But in a way, that would be like surrendering to Covid. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t welcome Covid and I get irritated by it from time to time. My point is allow yourself with a small dose of frustration to release that anger, but never let it get to your heart and soul. The way I don’t let it ruin me is to keep myself busy, at least when I am busy, I feel some form of sanity and normality.
- Try and Not Surrender. It’s a time that’s extremely difficult for every individual and business. It certainly takes way more brain power, energy and inner peace to combat what life is throwing at all of us. We all need to somehow survive this battle. I totally agree that sometimes it seems impossible, especially during the darkest hours. However, I think it’s equally important to keep telling ourselves we are human for a reason, we can think! We can think our way out. It’s a time that we need to think outside our comfort zone; it’s a time that we train ourselves to be flexible and agile. During good times, we don’t need that much effort to just live, because everything is very easy. But during bad times, it’s a test to see who got the perseverance. I am not saying you try something and it will succeed immediately, like baam, all your problems will magically disappear. No. You might need to fine tune along the way, you might even have to hop on another path, but it’s always better to try than not trying. I believe the Universe do look after those people who don’t surrender and decide to fight till the end.
With all those in the background of my mind, I force myself to leapfrog, I force myself to do even more than before; and here are the few things my team and I have been working on diligently:-
- Hakme Beauty App: It will finally be here. All these years, we are asked time and time again when you can collect points when shopping at Hakme Beauty. The reason that I didn’t give a green light before was purely because I hadn’t found anything that suited my vision. I personally dislike the idea of collecting physical stamps (let’s be honest and realistic here, many of you would lose the physical stamps anyway); and our internal systems don’t support point collection. If I want to do something, I want to do it right; not just doing it for the sake of doing it. So, it took us sometime, but we have settled on a platform (still not perfect LOL) which allows us to do what we want to do. We are now in the training and testing period. Probably we will have it ready sometime next week. I will be announcing this baby to you once we are ready. Not long now.
- Luxury Bag & Small Leather Goods Resell Service. I did ask in IG Story last month if any of you would be interested to use our service IF we had it. Many of you said YES. OK, by now, you know that I am a luxury bag lover, but I do sell my bags from time to time because they don’t fit my style anymore or they are not as practical as I would like them to be…etc. I noticed when I sold my bags, some people tend to counter offer ridiculous prices. Hm…I am a bag lover, I respect the bag and the brand even though I don’t find the bag relevant anymore. Many of you have asked me time and time again where I sold my bags; some of you mentioned the crazy prices offered. That’s why the idea came into my mind. Our community love luxury goods, so why don’t I be the bridge between the two? It makes sense. I spent some time in March to get an authentication service. Now we are in the process of the final stage of creating the process and logistics. Once we are done, I will be announcing this as well. I can’t wait to see what kinds of handbags you all have LOL!!! BTW, follow @hakmeluxury on IG no matter if you are interested in selling, buying or simply browsing at luxury goods.
- More Consultation Services at Hakme Beauty MK. Our approach in the stores has always been consultation. Our BAs listen to your concern and then they would recommend the solution products to you. That’s how I taught them, that’s how I see we bring value, and that’s the approach that I know would be most beneficial to you. And now, we would like to step up the game a bit. With the aid of technology, our BAs can offer more accurate consultation to you, no matter for face or scalp; so you can understand what’s going on and then bring a few samples home to try first. I know, it might sound scary now, “ohhhh, usually BAs would say I have XXXXXXXXXXX (so many) problems and try to hard sell me lots and lots of products.” Yep, I’d been there, I totally got what you meant. Don’t forget, I haul a lot and I am a customer myself, I totally understand your concern. That’s not what we want to do. Hard sell is never in our DNA. We will give you FREE consultation and after the consultation, you will get suitable sample(s) to go home and try. I am confident our products will impress you and you will come back. Yes, I am that confident LOL. Again, we are in the final fine tuning stage, and I will be announcing this service shortly. Follow @hakmebeauty IG if you are interested.
- Hand Massage at Hakme Beauty CWB. Well, our hands are tortured by various disinfectants and they could be screaming for some love. What’s better than getting a hand massage from our BAs and chill for a little while. It’s very soothing and de-stressing. My lovely colleagues have been practicing for months now. They are very good at it and I think you will like it too. Again, an announcement is coming at you next week.
- The Influencer Side. Personally I have been working on some projects as well, like podcasts, an accessory collection collaboration, planning and booking different restaurants and staycation for more vlogs…etc. Basically, I work on anything that makes sense and would transpire into more valuable content for you all. This side never stops.
So, there is a method in my madness right? I am not saying everyone of the above is going to be mega successful. All my team and I can do is to try the ideas which make sense to us. If we don’t try, we will never know. It’s better to try and fail than not to try at all. And there is no “fail” in our dictionary anyway, every thing is an experience and every “failure” is a lesson in itself. The lessons will bring us closer to the goal, as long as you don’t take it personally, and as long as you get up and try again, nothing can stop you. Remember, in difficult times like this, it’s not your IQ that matters, the winning factor is your attitude of not giving up and willingness to combat what life throws at you. Whatever darkness in your mind, I understand, but I urge you to spend your time to come up with one idea which can maybe change your life around. Every great idea comes from one small idea, you just need one to start and adjust as you go along. We are in this together, and you always have my best wishes in whatever you do! Go now – go work on that one idea!
