In 2013, Heidi Nazarudin started her blog The Ambitionista to showcase how ambitious, intelligent, hard-working professional women can still be stylish (and fabulous). And it seems people applaud her approach, with Heidi currently sitting on over 600K followers across Instagram and Twitter.
Featured and mentioned in a number of top media outlets including Marie Claire, US, Vanity Fair, Entrepreneur, Fast Company, CBS, BBC News, and Fox News – Heidi has carved out a name for herself in the publishing world. But it wasnβt a straight line to the top. When starting out, there was a very important lesson to be learnt – and that is: Find your own voice.
“I started to look at myself and ask βwhat are my strengths and what are my weaknesses?ββ βΒ Heidi Nazarudin
βMy first two blogs actually failed because I was simply trying to be an LA fashion blogger; but there are millions of girls like that, and theyβre 22, and theyβre skinny, and they always wear bikinis on the beach. Thatβs great, but Iβm never going to be able to compete with that, so I started to look at myself and ask βwhat are my strengths and what are my weaknesses?ββ Heidi explains at a recent Secrets of Successful Women Entrepreneurs event.
βNumber one: Always benchmark yourself after the best in your field. Second, have measurable goals, and have action plans toward the goals. And third: know your field inside out. Iβve seen girls who, when they say, βI want to be a fashion blogger,β I name a few top fashion designers that just walked off the runway in Paris, and they donβt know them. Itβs alarming. You have to know your goal, no matter what it is. Once you know the playing field, then you can strategise.β
Main image:Β @theambitionista