Bargainista

Vanessa calls herself a “bargainista”. “I’m always buying things on sale; I never pay more than $50 dollars for a piece of clothing,” she says. “I believe fashion should be affordable.” She shops mainly from fashion brand H&M (“It’s the only brand that fits me; most local designs are too petite for my frame”) and has amassed 200 pairs of shoes in her personal collection. “I would describe my style as fun, easy to wear, with a touch of chic,” she says. “Something like Michael Jordan meets Carrie Bradshaw.” The unusual description stems from Vanessa’s belief in having fun with fashion, and wearing the unexpected. “I think going for a safe, unpersonalised option is something that really annoys me. Fashion, and clothing in general, is meant to help us communicate our personality, not hide it behind a risk-free, knee high black dress.” It helps that she works in an entrepreneurial environment that lets her dress a bit funkily; as a headhunter, she thing she loves most is being able to creat value from authentic human connections, and to help companies shape their future operations. She’s learnt the importance of being engaging and brave in her work, something which she wishes to pass on to others. “It took me several years to learn it, and I wish someone would have told me when I started.” Vanessa says that if she wasn’t working where she is now, she might have gone into fashion, or politics, and says she loves to spend her time speaking about the topic, as well as sociology and anthropology. Whether it’s her work, fashion, or current affairs, Vanessa believes in one thing: “Be consequential with your thoughts, words and actions.”