The Ladies collection is driven by the desire to give each of my ladies a chance to empower herself by stepping in front of my lens and by recording her written thoughts in the interviews about kindness, confidence and giant hamsters. The Ladies series can never truly be complete for there will be always be an endless list of ladies that I’d be honoured to capture in a frame. Want to take part or know more?
I’ll be posting my ladies’ interviews in whole (rather than the shortened versions in the books), featuring my personalised quotes and introductions. Enjoy!
I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass.
—Maya Angelou
Asha is from one of the three mother-daughter combinations featured in the project for she and her mum Ritu found the project by chance through Facebook posts. This is how they officially became my first two unconnected ladies! Make sure you read her mum’s answers after Asha’s because there is some lovely synergy between the two strong women. Thank you for being brave enough to turn up to my call out for participants and it is an honour to have met you. Keep kicking ass!
To you, what is confidence?
I think confidence, to me at least, is being able to be comfortable with myself. It’s knowing that I am rocking an outfit or being brave enough to go after opportunities I really want. On a good day, being confident to me means feeling absolutely kickass and not hesitating when it comes to speaking my mind.
What is on your bucket list?
My bucket list is a mix of places I want to travel to and adventurous things I want to do. I have a whole list of countries and places I would love to go to Carnival in Brazil and visit Antarctica. In terms of adventurous things, skydiving has been on my list for forever but I’d also love to walk El Camino across the north of Spain.
What, to you, is the most pressing issue women face?
I think one of the most pressing issues that women face is imposter syndrome. The feeling that even if we are fully qualified you are not meant to be there and someone is going to expose you as an imposter. It can be such a big barrier to putting yourself out there and I know I’ve felt it and I know so many women around me have too.
What book did you read last? And what books are on your to-read list?
I last read Annabel Crabb’s The Wife Drought and her witty writing style was fantastic. There are so many books on my to-read list – Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Any Ordinary Day, Crazy Rich Asians, and so many more.
What would you choose as your Little Miss character to describe your personality?
I think I relate to Little Miss Busy the most but if I could create one for myself it would definitely be Little Miss Sarcastic.
To you, what is kindness?
To me, kindness is being selfless and noticing the needs of others around you. It’s about putting others before yourself and even going out of your way to help people. That being said, you don’t always need to go out of your way to be kind and sometimes small things you do that you barely even notice can have the biggest impact on someone else.
If you could witness any historical event, what would you want to see?
I would love to go back in time and watch the moon landing. It’s just such an iconic and important event and one that we haven’t had the chance to see again. If we aren’t putting any limits on this, it would be really cool to watch it from the NASA’s mission control room.
What is your signature dish?
I really love baking and have started experimenting with cookies. My favourite so far have been brown butter chocolate chip cookies.
You’re happiest when?
I’m happiest when I’m travelling to, and exploring, new places.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
I say sorry all the time and a friend once told me ‘If you think you’re going to do something again, don’t say sorry, say thank you instead’. This definitely made me stop and think about how much I say sorry and how saying ‘thank you’ instead can be a more positive comment. Her comment really helped make me more aware about thinking of gratitude towards others rather than regret of your own actions.
