Blog Author Mellissah Smith - Page 38

There is so much talk on influencer marketing that at long last, they have a point, and in most effective marketing strategies, there is a new category that has to be integral to the overall tactical marketing outcomes of a business.

I was very proud of Emma Watson when she did her speech for the United Nations promoting HeForShe. It was a significant move forward in looking at the whole gender equality issue in a different, more level approach.

I thought long and hard about the women that work for me and the women and girls that are my family. This speech meant something, and I felt more men were standing up and saying that we should respect each other.

About two years ago, I was driving in my car with a man who use to own nightclubs and bars, and he said to me, "women will do anything for coke - I should write a book on it". I looked at him and said, "maybe you should". By bringing the issue out into the forefront, maybe it might create a situation where women think about what they want in life and how they want to be perceived. They may also think about the fact that doing cocaine is illegal and it doesn't make you a better person.

When I was young, sub-25 years of age, I never had an opportunity to go to a conference that had a line up of speakers quite like that of the North Queensland Entrepreneurs Conference. In fact, I really didn't know it existed. Well, it doesn't and certainly a lineup as inspiring as the one put together for Townsville on 8 November 2016, has not been done before.

In the 17 years of being in business, I have screwed up an awful lot. Sometimes I learned my lessons, others I was taught a few more times before I actually got it.

I cannot say that I am not nervous about the upcoming North Queensland Entrepreneurs Conference. Of course I am! It's going to be awesome. Without sounding Trump-ish, "Let's make North Queensland Great Again".

I've been in the Netherlands for 4 days and I am mesmerized, as always, with its sheer beauty. From harbour views through to fields of everything imaginable, you watch from the side a sustainable country go about its day on bikes, without seamingly a care in the world.

Arriving in to Amsterdam at 7am is a hard slog, even if you are flying at the front of the plane. One of the worse times to arrive after a 22 hour flight, as it is inevitable, lasting the day or at the very least, until your room is ready is almost impossible – even for the seasoned traveller.

I had heard about The Toren Amsterdam, a luxury, boutique hotel in the centre of Amsterdam on the famous Keizersgracht canal. When their tag line says “designed to charm” they were very serious on making sure that every visitor feels extra special. I was no different.

As a child, no-one asked 'why' more than me. I was so annoying to everyone around me because I was curious and I wanted to know 'why' things were done the way they were, or why mother nature did what it did.

That has followed me mercilessly through life, and I say it like that because without doubt, it has gotten me into some trouble or at the very least, ruffled a few feathers.

Helen Reizer has been a friend for a good part of the past 10 years or so. She has always been the person who manages the big events in Melbourne and sometimes other parts of the world. Her events are perfectly organised, and a celebrity-full with a bunch of the who's who walking around sipping french champagne and canapes.

Growing up in rural township, Charters Towers, has its positives and negatives. Firstly, with so much time on your hands, you really do have time to think, and dream.

The negatives, believe it or not, I forgot. But my journey back as an adult, the ‘small town syndrome’ hit me firmly straight in the face, knocked me back a few steps and as I was about to trip, I somehow found my feet and continued.