Brighton Blogger and PR person Pippa is the final respondent in our Brightonian New Years special. Her last New Year’s resolution was to get a job in Brighton and she achieved that in a month. What will the next one be?
What is it that you do? I’m the Head of Outreach for a global productivity training company in the weekdays and a creative lifestyle blogger (known online as Pippa Says), writer and social content and PR helper to projects I whole-heartedly believe in, during the rest of the time. I like to think of myself as a storyteller, choosing methods to share these tales based on the audience.
What inspired you to do what you do? I’ve always loved telling stories, especially those that promote the talents of others. Pippa Says is the product of my 17-year-old self, frustrated by the lack of exposure for talented musicians. That has since developed into sharing stories of talents across all the arts, along with advice on how they can pursue their careers. Taking my love of writing to cyberspace opened up a whole world of promotion I didn’t know existed. It’s an ever-changing world too.
What can you tell us about yourself? Outside of work, I’m also a songwriter and an aspiring yoga-type. I even studied Songwriting at BIMM Brighton in 2010, which is where Pippa Says was given the opportunity to truly blossom. For anyone interested, I sing and play the piano. I’m also slowly (very slowly) writing an EP.
I discovered my love for Yoga back in May when I realised I needed to release stress in a healthier way and see if ‘living in the moment’ is really a thing. I’m very much a beginner, but it’s made me fall in love with my body again. I have Kalula Yoga to thank for that.
Have you always lived in Brighton? No, but I have family across Sussex so I’ve been coming down here for years. I moved to Brighton at 18 to go to BIMM, then moved away for 3 years to go to journalism school at the University of Sheffield, and moved back here again last February. I just couldn’t keep away.
I spent the first decade of my life in Luton and the second in Milton Keynes. They are not the most glamorous of places, but I’ll forever cherish the one or two times a year that a big artist would play at the National Bowl, which was beautifully close to my parents’ house. My friends and I would sit by the lake outside the bowl (conveniently an open air venue) with a few cans.
How do you like Brighton and what do you like about it? Brighton allows you to be whoever you want to be. No matter how old you are, you’re entitled to explore your personality and experiment with different traits that you discover about yourself. For instance, there’s more vibrantly coloured hair in Brighton than in anywhere else I’ve ever been to in the UK.
I love that the Brighton community are supportive of small businesses, artists and the rise of mindfulness. There’s an array of independent shops, several pockets of start-up and freelance communities and venues on almost every street in the city centre. I even went to a gig in an old Barclay’s bank vault the other day. I sat in total darkness (follow Pitchblack for more of these).
How do you celebrate New Years? I don’t really have a specific tradition for New Years. I saw this year in with one of my dearest friends, Elf Lyons, whose comedy career I recommend you all follow. I’m seeing 2016 in with three very dear people in my life, playing board games, eating beef stew and drinking some kind of booze.
Have you made a new years resolution? I have! I’m a real resolutions girl. Even if most of them aren’t kept!
What is it?
- Become more confident at speaking Spanish
- Finish, record and release my EP
- Read one book a month
Did you make one last year? Just one, to find a job and move to Brighton. I was determined to get back to the life that I’d created down here.
Did you keep it? I did that just one month into the year.
What is the highlight of 2015 to you? 2015 has been the most life-changing year of my life. I moved to Brighton, spoke in front more people than I could see at the Brighton SEO, rekindled old friendships, started new friendships, visited Barcelona twice and opened my mind up to the world of mindfulness. If someone had told me this time last year that I’d be regularly meditating and practicing yoga, I would have suggested they were talking about the wrong girl.
What would you really like to see happen in 2016? I want to keep building on the person that I’m becoming. I want to write more, travel more, exercise more, laugh more and love more. 2015 taught me how these things are possible, I just hope to keep this fire in my belly going enough to make it all happen. I have no idea what 2016 is going to bring. But I can feel it’ll be something good.
