Keep in mind that the health advisory issued by the US State Department on March 31 still stands. It instructs US citizens to avoid all international travel due to COVID-19 while the CDC lectures “travel increases your chances of getting and spreading COVID-19.”

As Coronavirus cases in the United States passed the five million mark, more and more people sought the need to get out of the house at the worse times—protests, going back to bars and parties, and family vacations. The majority of U.S. citizens are opting to stay local, choosing to stay off airplanes and opting for shorter road trips instead of international air travel and for good reason. Absent from the European Union’s list of 15 countries whose tourists are allowed to visit is the United States.

Once one of the world’s most formidable travel credentials, the power of a USA passport has withered in the haze of the coronavirus, with borders looked down tighter than that vaults that contain all of the conspiracy theories of what is the real deal with COVID-19. With almost 200,000 deaths credited to the virus, most countries now view the United States and their tourism dollars with apprehension, proving that it doesn’t matter how much they want American greenbacks when US travelers could be carrying the deadly virus with them no matter how asymptomatic they appear.

Now with constraints easing up for some destinations, Americans are still on the restricted list for approximately 200 countries, but the Big 12 that left their doors open offer simple entries [think a temp check before and after boarding and a COVID-19 test before getting your passport stamped] into foreign land. It’s worth pointing out that anyone that boards an international flight should check with the airline and the US Embassy prior to finalizing travel plans, and oh, pack a couple of comfortable, full cover masks.

So without further ado, here are the nations where US passport holders can visit without quarantining for days or weeks and jump right into living it up in a new land.

Albania

Albania

Perhaps the most underrated Mediterranean destination in the entire world is Albania, which sits just across the Adriatic Sea from Italy, The former communist country recommenced international commercial in June. Known for its scruffy mountains, glistening beaches, and fortress towns, Albania was closed to foreigners for much of the 20th century. The first set of inquisitive travelers found a land where ageless codes of conduct still held influence and where the wind shrilled through the exhausted remnants of half-forgotten ancient Roman and Greek sites. A quarter century later after throwing off the constrains of communism, Albania’s gorgeous mountain are the perfect backdrop that rivals any other Mediterranean country.

Antiqua & Barbuda

Antigua & Barbuda

Their tourism site screams, “Escape 2020 and visit Antigua and Barbuda, where we’ve got the sun, the sea and plenty of much needed space.”

Antigua’s ribbed coasts embrace dozens of picture-perfect coves splashed by mesmerizing powder-blue water, while the secluded bays provided sanctuary for everyone from pirates and yachters. If you can pull away from that plush beach towel, you’ll unearth divergent English overtones to this island including the humming capital of St John’s, in the splendid English Harbor, and in the bygone forts that pay homage to its colonial past. At the same time, you will discover that Antigua classic Caribbean, full of story-inspiring villages with a liquor-infused smoothness that make the wide-smiled locals even that much more appealing.

The flamingos of Aruba

Aruba

U.S. citizens who want to escape our bitter winters have catapulted Aruba into the most visited island in the Southern Caribbean. The inducements are apparent: abundant all-inclusive resorts, miles and miles of famous white-sand beaches, and the delightfully condensed capital of Oranjestad. Now it’s welcoming Americans who want to escape the coronavirus lockdowns. Here is all about fun in the sun.

Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic

With magnificent mountain panoramas, desert backwoods, redolent colonial construction and beaches everywhere, The Dominican Republic is one of the most geographically diverse countries in the Caribbean. The coastline defines the DR and doubles down on its diversity with palm-lined white-sand beaches in some spots and rocky cliffs in others. You also get your fair share of dunes landscaped by the winds and placid mangrove bayous. With plenty of resorts that can deliver your every vacation need, the aquamarine waters showcase the temperature seas where migrating humpback whales play where pirates once ruled. Add unbeatable scuba diving and water sports and you have a grand vacation awaiting you.

Kosovo

Kosovo

Europe’s newest country, Kosovo is an enthralling destination at the heart of the Balkans. The country happily gives visitors implausible hospitality, delightful mountain towns, grand hiking expeditions, and Serbian monasteries awash in medieval art…and that’s only the beginning.

When Kosovo professed its independence from Serbia in 2008 only half of the world’s countries diplomatically accepted it with nearly 100 unaccepting. The past tragedies are hard to miss with their roads peppered with memorials to those killed in the 1990s and NATO forces present to guard the monasteries. For the naysayers who have never set foot in Kosovo will tell you otherwise, it’s entirely safe to travel here. Because of this reputation, Kosovo sits as one of the final off-the-beaten-path destinations in all of Europe.

The Maldives

The Maldives

Maldives has perhaps the finest beaches in the world. With an immaculate beach on nearly every one of the nation’s 1200 islands, you might be inclined to be bored with such perfection. To a person, most agree that you won’t find whiter-than-white powder sand and incandescent aqua-blue water like this anyplace else on earth. This truth alone easily produces one million plus visitors annually to this petite, secluded and otherwise little-known Indian Ocean utopia. Unparalleled luxury coupled with a remarkable underwater world makes the Maldives an understandable selection for a genuine vacation of a lifetime.

Chitzen Itza in Mexico

Mexico

Mexico’s pre-Hispanic peoples erected some of the world’s boundless archaeological shrines, including Teotihuacán’s soaring pyramids and the superb Maya temples of Palenque. The Spanish colonial era left stunning towns full of tree-shaded arcades and opulently-chiseled stone churches and homes, while the modern Mexico has seen a swell of abundant art from the likes of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. World-class museums and galleries detail the country’s intriguing history and its endless creative vitality. Popular culture is just as vibrant, from the visionary fusion cuisine and street art of Mexico City to the breathtaking handicrafts of the indigenous populace.

Serbia

Serbia

A landlocked country in the center of the Balkans, Serbia is pleasantly off the tourist track and offers a little something for everyone. The art nouveau town of Subotica revels in its Austro-Hungarian heritage; the unconventional Niš reverberates to the clip-clop of Roma horse carts, and minaret-dotted Novi Pazar prods the most blessed of Serbian Orthodox monasteries. Time-honored wine regions and thermal spas clasped in rolling hills date back to Roman times. On the slopes of Zlatibor, Kopaonik, and Stara Planina, ageless customs coexist with après-ski bling, while the scenic Tara and Đerdap National Parks overflow with the prospects of rafting, hiking, biking, and kayaking.

Tunisia

Tunisia

Although its place on the map is a slender wedge of North Africa’s massive horizontal expanse, Tunisia has plenty of history and varied environmental beauty that would envy many a larger nation. With a temperate, sand-fringed Mediterranean coast, fragranced with sea breezes and jasmine, Tunisia is an elite land for a forthright sun, sea, and sand experiences. Outside the beaches is an electrifying, unappreciated destination where divergent cultures and implausible extravagances of landscape—the Sahara and forested coastlines—can be explored in just a few days.

The Blue Mosque in Turkey

Turkey

Located in the Mediterranean and connecting Asia and Europe continents that are separated by famous Bosphorus, Turkey is a unique destination that welcomed last year about 40 million tourists. The country that has always been a hub for cultural interaction and home to varying climates inspires the visitors today with its history, nature and gastronomy that reflect the diversity of civilizations for centuries. Located at the crossroads of cultures, Turkey has a distinctive understanding of art and fashion, which is the synthesis of tradition and modernity.

The post Itching to Travel? There’s 10 Countries That Still Want U.S. Travelers appeared first on Media Guy Struggles.

**Exclusive from ALO magazine.**

The pandemic and social justice are dominating the headlines—as they should—this summer. For me, the impact on my normal travel is starting to weigh on my being and I’ve been searching for solutions as I watch the growing list of countries that don’t want U.S. travelers potentially bringing Coronavirus into their lands.

I was excited to see a small list of countries open to U.S. citizens without restrictions: Albania, Dominican Republic, Kosovo, Maldives, Mexico, North Macedonia, Serbia, Tunisia and Turkey. The one that stood out the most is Turkey. With non-stop flights from multiple U.S. cities, including my home base of Los Angeles, I imagined Turkish Airlines incredible business class whisking me to Istanbul from gate to gate in around 13-and-a-half hours. What the worst that can happen up in the air for half a day, right?

In the middle of my fantasy, CNN and Dr. Anthony Fauci screamed across my television, talking about second and third waves and the meteoric surge in COVID-19 cases throughout the States. It made me think twice about jumping on a plane this summer.

But while my summer travel is still pending, I imagined a way to work out my travel bug at home. How? Turkish cuisine, that’s how.

A little backstory for you…

Turkey is located at the meeting point of the Middle East, Asia and Europe with its geographic serving as one of the most critical routes along the Silk Road. Spices were incredibly valuable in the global trade. It is said the salt was just as valuable as gold. Imagine that. With that kind of history, it’s no wonder that Turkey has remained as the center of the global spice trade for centuries.

In the inimitable and delightful dishes of the Turkish cuisine, spices are never used in excess, but rather judiciously curated, ensuring that spices are just as important as the key base ingredients in every meal. Considering how rich the Turkish cuisine is in terms of spices, it’s certainly not a shocker that İstanbul has one of the most revered spice markets in the world.

Hosting visitors since 1664, the Spice Bazaar is one of the oldest covered bazaars in İstanbul. Situated on the European side of the city, the Spice Bazaar is a historic landmark spread across a large area where various genuine items that belong to the Turkish culture as well as all kinds of spices are sold.

Let’s dive into some of the most popular spices of the Turkish culinary culture:

Bay Leaf—Grown in many regions across Turkey, the bay leaf is a spice that has long been used in the Turkish cuisine with its pleasant smell and distinct aroma. Consumed in main dishes and salads, bay leaf is dried before being used in various areas such as dishes, sweetened fruit juices, tomato pastes, pickles and soups. Bay leaf adds zest to meat and fish dishes with its aroma. Particularly added to sauces used for meat dishes, bay leaf is also used to marinate fish, in pilaf, fish soup as well as in the bottom of the pot while boiling turkey and chicken. When bay leaves are placed inside large fish during grilling, the fish meat will absorb the smell and taste of the leaf, gaining a very delicious aroma.

Cinnamon—The king of the sweets. Obtained from the bark of the cinnamon tree and known for its strong and sweet flavor, this spice is widely used in the Turkish cuisine in both desserts and salty dishes. It is used in all types stuffing including stuffed mussels, seasoned rice, dried fruits, and chicken dishes that create a special flavor unique to this cuisine. As a sweet spice, it’s also useful to cut down the sugar intake, becoming an indispensable part of Turkish desserts. It plays the lead role in cakes and traditional Turkish puddings such as sütlaç (rice pudding), kazandibi (white pudding with caramel base), and muhallebi (milk pudding). Add a stick of cinnamon while brewing tea to add extra flavor in place of a processed sugar cube.

Clove—When combined with cinnamon, clove offers decadent flavor and because of that it is widely used in cakes and desserts, tarts and fruit. In many Turkish restaurants, and in meat and kebab restaurants in particular, it is served after meals with onions and garlic to eliminate bad breath. If you have a toothache, you can bite down on a clove and it will lessen the pain (it works, trust me!).

Cumin—A member of the parsley family, it’s used to spice stuffing, meatballs, and soups, and it is an indispensable ingredient agent in meat sauces and foul beans (breakfast dish). Used as a medicinal herb since the ancient times, the black cumin seeds contain approximately 100 different essential elements including carbohydrates, minerals, proteins and fatty acids.

Mint—The dried version is widely used in soups, mantı (Turkish dumplings), and on cacık (a yogurt side dish), while fresh mint is added to salads and served as a calming tea steeped in water.

Red Pepper Flakes—Grown in the Southeastern Anatolia region, this spice is added when you want to add heat to recipes. Most restaurants serve it in tableside next to the salt and pepper. It can be added while cooking meat sauces, soups, legumes (beans and chickpeas), and stews.

Rosemary—A versatile spice used fresh or dried in red meat dishes, poultry and stews thanks to its pleasant taste and aroma. It’s sometimes added to omelets and soups or to the raw dough of breads and pastries. Most home chefs add a teaspoon of dried rosemary to their potato puree for a distinctive Turkish taste.

Saffron—Cultivated in Safranbolu saffron usage originated in Ottoman cuisine. Saffron is typically diluted in rose water or vinegar for pilafs and meat dishes. It is also the critical element of milk pudding recipes due to its pungent aroma and hay-like taste.

Sumac—One of the most widely consumed spices in the Turkish cuisine, sumac gives the dishes a sour and piquant taste together with a pleasant aroma. The spice comes from the crimson part of the sumac plant before grinding it together with table salt. It is popular when mixed with red onions or regular onions and parsley to be eaten as salad or mixed into yogurt as a dip.

Thyme—As a species that naturally grows in the Aegean and Mediterranean regions, classic thyme is produced by drying and crumbling the leaves. It can be used poultry or lamb marinades. A simple pinch of pinch of thyme in a bowl of olive oil as a dip for fresh bread is also very popular. Fresh thyme is preferred especially in salads for both its taste and aroma. Many choose to place a small twig of fresh thyme in olive oil dispensers to add zest with the aroma of thyme.

Cinnamon

Cumin

Mint

Rosemary

Saffron

Sumac

Thyme

The post Try Turkish Spices to Cure Your Pandemic Woes appeared first on Media Guy Struggles.

In case you missed this memo while watching CNN bash President Trump in every story or opting for Fox News’ overt love for the President in every story, let me remind you that SPORTS MATTER.

They mater because they generate revenue.
They generate jobs.
They generate passion.

Now with the return of the National Football League, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, and Major League Baseball—all at once it seems—sports will generate billions in advertising revenue. This is exactly what the country needs. And right now.

At the four-month mark where every major professional sports league went on hiatus due to COVID-19, the return of live sports is just what we all need. Live sports signals an important return to normal for the country and spark a television advertising sales marketplace that was left in a disparate place. During the last full season, each sport played, the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL produced nearly $7 billion in ad revenue for networks across the United States. That’s not to mention the billions produced overseas and the remaining parts of North America.

Don’t think that sports matter? Here is exactly how much national ad revenue the big four sports leagues added to the networks’ gross sales during their last full seasons (*according to Kantar Media):

• NFL—Regular Season: $3.3 billion, Playoffs: $1.3 billion
• NBA—Regular Season: $528.2 million, Playoffs: $877.5 million
• MLB—Regular Season: $144.7 million, Playoffs: $338.5 million
• NHL—Regular Season: $35.9 million, Playoffs: $102.2 million

Seth Winter, EVP of sports sales for Fox Sports says that “the reopening of live sports is “a very symbolic and real indicator of the move forward to whatever the TV ad industry’s new normal will be post-pandemic.”

Jo Ann Ross, president and chief advertising revenue officer, ViacomCBS domestic advertising sales says that, “There is a thirst and a hunger for live sports.”

All you have to do is look at the few live sports that aired recently to demonstrate how thirsty advertisers and audiences are for any sort of live sports:

• UFC 251—1.3 million people purchased the event on pay-per-view That’s among the highest in the sport’s history. UFC has generated this many buys only four times previously with the the most recent coming in 2018, when Khabib Nurmagomedov defeated Conor McGregor at UFC 229. That event generated a record 2.4 million buys.
• The Match: Champions for Charity golf tournament, which aired on May 24 and featured Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning vs. Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady drew 5.8 million viewers across TNT, TBS, truTV and HLN. WarnerMedia reported that this telecast was the most-watched golf match in cable TV history. The WarnerMedia’s ad sales team sold every spot a month in advance with the expectation of this type of outcome. 
• When NASCAR races resumed on Fox one May 17th, over six million viewers made it the most-watched NASCAR Cup race on any network (outside of the Daytona 500) in 2018.

All of this comes of devastating news that U.S. advertising revenue plummeted 31% in May due to only those few events take place due to the pandemic. What makes this worse is that the Standard Media Index reports that majority of major ad categories reduced their media spends drastically—by 10%-20% or more. Only pharmaceutical manufacturers spent more in May than they did in the same 2019 period.

Two media companies saw ad revenues deteriorate as a direct result of the absence of NBA games when the playoffs take place in May, broadcast by Walt Disney’s ABC and ESPN and WarnerMedia’s TNT. WarnerMedia saw ad revenue decline by 45.5%, while Disney saw it tumble by 39.6% for the month of May.

First up is MLB on July 25th followed by the NHL on August 1st. I can wait to see what advertisers have in store for us…

Michael Jordan: The gold standard of sports advertising.

The post Sports Are Back to Save the Ad World appeared first on Media Guy Struggles.

Photo credit: Instagram/heinz

Okay, so where am I?

Well, I’m working. More than ever it seems. The COVID-19 lockdown has pinned most to our homes and according to Ladders we are working three more hours a day on average. Nonetheless, I am thankful for the continued employment and remaining safe during this unprecedented pandemic. I carry a heavy heart for those lost and the 20+ million who had to file for first time unemployment benefits. Amidst all of this I must say that I am quite fortunate that my decades of work has paid off for the stakeholders I serve. All of my advertising and marketing numbers show double digit growth as we have shifted every campaign to virtual. The results have empowered other programs that will remain evergreen as we move into a new normal of conducting business.

All of this work hasn’t staved off the need to cure boredom, however. Nights that were spent going to hockey games, writing subsequent columns, and seeing family and friends need to be filled somehow right? You can only clean the house, or rearrange your man cave, or work on your great American novel so much. You need an outlet. My daughter suggested jigsaw puzzles and what a novel idea I thought. The last one I did was at a museum in Helsinki and it soaked up a lot of time and not as mind numbing as I remember.

So imagine my glee when scrolling through Instagram I saw this among all of the cooking displays, Stay-At-Home memes, and throwback sports posts:

View this post on Instagram

This might be the slowest puzzle on earth. 570 pieces. All Heinz red. Tell us who you wish you could finish this with. #heinzketchuppuzzle

A post shared by Heinz Ketchup (@heinz) on May 5, 2020 at 1:15pm PDT

Heinz has really nailed the branding and capitalized on it as of late. Everything from the Oscars Snub Campaign to the real placement of the Don Draper ads that were imagined in Mad Men to this 570-piece all red puzzle. Brilliance quite simply.

Yeah, yeah, I am sure you are thinking, “A puzzle? Brilliant?” Consider this…

Helsinki puzzle completion.

This all-red Heinz puzzle is truly limited edition. You can’t go down to your local Target and buy one along with your shaving cream and shampoo. Heinz has only made this one available through an online giveaway only. What’s more, there are only 57 puzzles to be had. Fifty-seven in honor of the 57 varieties of Heinz that’s labeled on every bottle.

To have a chance to own one of these beauties, you need to comment on the Heinz Instagram puzzle post, telling them who you want finish the puzzle with. From what I can see, some have already won, but there are some of the 57 are still available.

Brian Neumann, senior brand manager at Kraft Heinz Canada, told Clio Muse that, “Heinz is known for its iconic slow-pouring ketchup. In a period when everyone has a little more time on their hands and puzzle popularity has skyrocketed, we wanted to help pass the time by connecting the two. We’re always looking to deliver fun, contextually relevant ways to give our consumers a smile, and this ridiculously slow, all-red Heinz ketchup puzzle seemed like the perfect fit.”

Brilliant.

Even better (for Heinz), those who do get the puzzle will engage with Heinz for hours outside of a meal, because, well, this isn’t your typical COVID-19 afternoon activity. With all 570 pieces the identical red pantone of the famous Heinz ketchup, assembling this one will take quite a while without lines to guide you or an image for reference.

Anticipation…it’s making me wait!

The post An Uncommon Cure for the COVID-19 (Boredom) appeared first on Media Guy Struggles.

I’m just like the rest of you, hunkered down watching Anderson Cooper talk to 22-year-old Harvard researchers predicting a two-year nightmare of mask wearing and hearing reports from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti tell us that the Hollywood Bowl is closed this year and we won’t have sports until 2021. No exactly what I was looking for in 2020, that’s for sure.

A 1910 advertisement from Ma Bell.

A few weeks ago, spending was up up up in the media world with all of us Ad Men scrambling to understand the effectiveness analytics and reach our target audiences with bull’s-eye precision. Brands like Miller were still touting good times centered around cold brews, KFC pushing “finger lickin’ good” chicken like a drug dealers marching sentry in Baltimore, and the Charmin Bears were touting the brands delivered the cleanest bums.

These days when you turn on the TV—and for many of us the TV is on nearly 24 hours a day—all you see are COVID-19 tribute commercials. This represents quite a pivot in our socially distant coronavirus live where ad agencies and their clients are facing an unparalleled level of ambiguity. The Interactive Advertising Bureau reports that 70+ per cent of brands, media planners, and media buyers believe that the coronavirus will have a larger advertising influence than the 2008 financial crisis. Although you probably feel different watching television, but overall expenditures on traditional media (Radio/TV) is down almost 40% from what and digital advertising was down a third from what agencies had expected to spend at the start of the buying year.

But the folks at Nielsen have some data that supports our general feelings. Their data shows that when people are forced to stay inside (weather, illness, etc.), they watch around 60% more content than they usually do. And, the major brands took note, replacing their ad campaigns that were in rotation and replacing them with relevant coronavirus-centered content. Citibank is celebrating our heroes, Uber is thanking us for not using their service, Papa John’s is touting contactless pizzas, while Captain Obvious from Hotels.com reminds us of the obvious: Just stay home.

Currently, like all film production, commercial shooting has been locked down during the pandemic. Even so, brands haven’t stopped re-purposing content or using new footage provided from their staff’s family or shooting single camera B-roll to re-imagine their messaging and stay in front of millions in this ever growing television audiences and everyone scrolling through digital platforms nearly every waking moment of every waking day. Brands, even those not considered essential or shuttered, are finding ways to enter the COVID-19 conversation with their spending power.

A March 2020 survey by GlobalWebIndex asked internet users in 13 markets whether brands should continue advertising as normal. Nearly four in 10 US respondents ages 16 to 64 agreed, and a similar share (35%) were neutral, compared with 28% who disagreed. (The global results were on par with those in the US, at 37%, 36% and 27%, respectively.)

So until we are freed up a little bit or things re-open or another controversy arises, get ready for a steady stream of alarming medical news, wearing masks to the grocery stores, and commercial gems like these…

Apple

Citibank

Dunkin’ Donuts

Fitbit

Walmart

Go Daddy

Amazon

The post The COVID-19 Commercial Pivot appeared first on Media Guy Struggles.

The answer is…the pandemic!

But never fear, I’ve found just the person who can make everyone look cool in a mask. Meet Irena Murphy, owner and operator of Stitch Bitch Masks.

Irena-approved style…

Her story hasn’t been a simple path to beautifying a pandemic. She lost her job as a hairstylist during the shutdown of Los Angeles and leaned on her two years of tailoring and design skills acquired a lifetime ago and dusted off her sewing machine to craft masks to donate to hospitals. After running out of material and having to buy more it dawned on her that she might be onto something. If she had to buy more, why not do something different, something out of the box. She wanted to curate a look that’s “Irena Approved.” The Irena-approved look quickly moved to Etsy where she developed styles that alleviated a lot of problems she identified with other masks on the market. Then when her website Stitch Bitch Masks website launched she was quickly (and temporarily) sold out of everything. But here she is and with the world short on masks, Irena Murphy is a mask maker and a business owner.

MEDIA GUY: That’s certainly a nice career pivot. Have you always been an entrepreneur by nature?

IRENA MURPHY: I have always been an entrepreneur. I guess being a hairstylist is running your own business. But I’ve also sold other things on Etsy. I tried a small pinup headband thing for a bit and I used to make homemade lip balm, packaging, labeling selling it online and to local salons.

MG: I heard that your masks sold out immediately, why do you think yours stood out above the others?

IM: My masks did sell out immediately and it was overwhelming. I think there are a couple reasons. One, the world was seriously out of face masks. There was a call to action article in Forbes magazine last month asking seamstresses to donate to hospitals because they were out or short. Well, guess what? Regular people couldn’t get masks either. Bigger companies were starting to sell them but they were sold out too. Buying from independent people like me meant we had it on hand and were shipping out sooner than later. But there’s a ton of sellers on Etsy, I think mine did so well because they’re cool. I buy specialty fabric and I’m able to source some designs that you can’t buy at regular fabric places. I also add wire in the nose to make it more form fitting and the elastic I started using is thinner and you can tie it to adjust. I think everyone is scrambling to supply the demand. It’s like the Gold Rush now. But these companies putting out masks are not necessarily designers and they’re putting out masks that are baggy, plain, thin, generally not made well and I think people are catching on.

MG: To get everything going, you hired models for the visuals? Where did you find them?

IM: I’ve been modeling everything because of the stay-at-home order. I have to be my own model. I’ve started using a few friends, popping over and shooting them at a distance. I figure we’re all in masks so it’s a bit better!

MG: How has the transition from stylist to seamstress been?

The Stitch Bitch Ninja Mask

IM: Honesty, it’s been rough. I’ve never worked so hard in my life. (Laughs) I’d get up and start sewing and wouldn’t stop till midnight. But that’s because I’m building something new; both in learning to sew the best mask out there and also learning to grow this as a business. I finally started hiring people to help and it’s been going better! I love creating so the transition with that is easy. Creating new hair as a hairstylist, designing new masks, or creating a new business. As long as things are new and exciting I can handle it well. It’s the monotony of doing the same thing I don’t do well with.

MG: Does this give you aspirations to work on other clothing items?

IM: Yes, my God, yes! I’ve always wanted to go into fashion design. It’s the whole reason I took tailoring to begin with. I just didn’t realize how easy it was till I was pushed to do it. I haven’t had anything mass produced yet but I’ve talked with manufacturers and put together tech packs and tutorials on my sewing techniques and it’s honestly not that hard. You just need money. (Laughs) I really want to focus on masks right now and as long as that’s a need.

MG: Tell me about this vintage van you’re single-handedly remodeling.

IM: aaaahhhh hahahaha! Yes! The Dream Machine! Vanlife baby! #vannin haha! I got so obsessed with van life on Instagram. There’s something about running away and also being at home that just hooked into me. Although I’m not doing a full build out, my plan is to do a rad shagin’ wagon retro conversion that also just doubles as a sort of glamping mobile. I went down the rabbit hole of YouTube videos and learned how to do the flooring and insulation and now I’m reupholstering the walls. I was gonna work on it during the quarantine and then…started a mask business! So it’s on hold. Every now and then when I want to get away and I can’t I just go sit in there and drink my coffee. It’s nice to get out of your house, even if that means going to sit in your car. It’s also nice to have air conditioning, a rad stereo in your car and a fold out futon in your car

#VanLife

MG: You have done everything it seems—actress, writer, screenwriter, model, hair stylist, director, and now a seamstress—which is the most rewarding career choice?

IM: I have done a bit everything and I’m really hoping it all amounts to something some day They are all very useful skills in different ways. But what kind of rewarding are we talking about here? Financially rewarding or emotionally rewarding? They are usually different. I wish they were one in the same. But emotionally rewarding has to have been filmmaking. It’s something I never thought I could do and then I did it. Having an idea, a feeling or even a moment and being able to communicate that in a way that’s exactly how you feel is an amazing feeling. It’s like poetry, or maybe I’m just not the best with regular words, but when people see a film and say, “that’s how I feel!” or “I get that” or “I’ve had that conversation.” It’s all those things that connect us as people that become profound and there are so many moving parts to capture that. It’s a pretty big accomplishment. Financially rewarding? That’s yet to be seen and I really must keep this mask business going, right? So far designing something and making a company around that is like making a film. There’s a lot of moving parts. If I can keep the plates spinning It might take over as the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.

MG: Launching a business in the middle of a crisis can’t be easy in the middle of a pandemic – what were your biggest obstacles?

IM: It’s been crazy and I’m a crazy person for doing it. The biggest obstacles, of course, have been that everything is closed and no one can help me. Seriously! Fabric wholesalers or even consumer fabric shops are closed. I can order online but it’s been a guessing game as to when the supplies will actually arrive. I’ve just had to be creative and really dig for different suppliers and ultimately I’ve had to pay a lot more in both shipping and the cost of fabric and then just wait and make do with what I have. It’s also been hard because I’m picky and want to do everything. But then I tell myself something like, “Bill Gates didn’t create a huge company by demanding that he build every single computer himself…” or something like that. Plus, the world is bonkers crazy right now. These are just some of the problems with trying to grow a business in a pandemic.

MG: Staying sane during all of this – what’s your blueprint?

IM: I am not sane through any of this, let’s get that straight. I wish I had a blueprint. I used to mediate twice a day and you’d think with all this time I would be. I go to sleep with a million thoughts and I wake up with a million to do’s. I guess in a way what’s keeping me somewhat sane is that I have something else to focus on other than the crazy mess that’s going on outside. I rarely go to the grocery store or anywhere. I just make masks. It might be making me a crazy but in a better way because it’s given me a something to talk about and keep my brain turning with creative ways to run a business given the limitations. All of which are not the big overwhelming elephant in the room: The Pandemic along with the depression from loss of income, uncertainty of the future, inability to connect in person. All that isn’t on my mind because my focus has been designing the perfect mask and figuring out how I might be able to grow a business from my home.

MG: Where do you want to see this business go?


IM: I’ve worked consistently for months and put a unreasonable amount of money into this business so… I want to see this business go as far as it can! I could see this being in stores like Urban Outfitters and boutiques. And I’d like to get more sales over seas where mask culture already existed before. I’ve also made video tutorials on how to sew my designs so I could see making that available. I think it’d be so cute to make some mask and matching outfit combinations one day. But for now my immediate goals are to get out all the designs for masks I have in my head and make them available. I still have a lot of ideas for making “Summer Masks” and a retro series and even some different cuts I think would work well with different elastic combinations. So there’s a ton of possibilities!

Connect with Irena… 

Website
Instagram

The post Just Who Is That Masked Lady? appeared first on Media Guy Struggles.

Okay, so where am I?

I’m hunkered down in my office disinfecting everything, including my phone, my desk, my water bottles and mugs, and even my 10-minute sand timer that’s been on my various desks for thirty plus years. Yes, the coronavirus (COVID-19) hysteria has hit multiple workplaces. Yes, people are freaking out. I mean, even Costco has stopped giving out free samples and the stock market is tanking. And no, I don’t have the virus and I have seldom even been susceptible to the flu. It’s business as usual for me.

Or so I thought…

But now it’s hitting the sports world and this Media Guy is none too happy. Most of you know that in addition to the four jobs I already have, I cover the Los Angeles Kings at various levels. One of the things I do are game recaps (here’s a couple recents: vs. Colorado / vs. Minnesota / vs. Vegas). This may or may not involve locker room access, but now that’s a moot point as four major sports leagues (NBA, NHL, MLB and MLS) have banned media from locker rooms due to coronavirus. The four also jointly announced that locker room access will be limited to players and essential personnel. The Professional Basketball Writers Association issued a statement saying it would temporarily comply with the ban.

Now teams aren’t allowing contact with the players and the media. Some, like the Calgary Flames, are putting do not not cross lines in pre- and post-game interviews instead of the normal scrums outside lockers in the dressing rooms.

Other teams have only banned actions (handshakes, knuckles, hugs, sitting) and not actual media members…

In California, they took the outbreak a step further. Santa Clara County’s Public Health Department announced today that a mandatory order requiring cancellation of “mass gatherings” of more than 1,000 people for three weeks is in effect. They put the order in place while it studies the spread of the virus. This means that the status of three San Jose Sharks games, the NCAA women’s basketball tournament at Stanford, and an MLS game are in doubt. They could be playing these games in empty arenas. I remember in 1980, NBC tried a game with no announcers. But a game without fans? How surreal.

I guess that is better that canceling the outcome of an entire season where Germany’s pro hockey league announced the end of its season, with no playoffs and “there is no German champion this year.” Here’s the official announcement (use the Google translate option to read in full).

In Italy, there are no sporting events…

The post Banned Media appeared first on Media Guy Struggles.