At the beginning of May this year I decided to start blogging and on May the 29th I covered my very first event! This event was Fashion TV's Full Moon Party at the Jade Buddha Bar in Brisbane. I had spent all afternoon researching information about channel 123 and the people on the guest list. Although I had watched Ftv on occasion for years I did not know much about it and when I found out that the owner of Ftv was going to be at the Full Moon Party I was so very excited! I had decided early on that if I was going to have the confidence to cover events I had to jump in the deep end and interview my 'Mount Everest' (the 'biggest name' on the guest list or the person I felt the most intimidated by) first and the theory is that the other interviews would get easier (it works!). That night Aaron O'Donnell was my Mount Everest! To be honest I didn't manage to interview him first as 1. I couldn't find him and 2. when I did I was waaaay too nervous so I picked my second 'Mount Everest', went to interview her and then finally after a 'pep talk' from my friend I bit the bullet and went and introduced myself. We have been friends ever since! He is so friendly, laid back and happy to meet new people which is not at all what I expected! I also assumed that he would be an older grey man that was a designer at some stage and lived in Melbourne... not a 35 year old, entrepreneur who lives on the Gold Coast! 5 months later I have covered numerous events, have grown in confidence and find myself sitting in the Ftv headquarters on the Gold Coast getting ready for my biggest interview yet!
Where did you grow up?
I was born in Brisbane, grew up in Cleveland and went to school in Wynnum. I have only been on the Gold Coast for 9 years and I made the move for the opportunities in work and property and of course for the lifestyle that the Gold Coast has to offer!
Whats your favourite childhood memory?
One of my fondest memories is... when I was from about 3 years of age until about 12, we went to Hervey Bay every September school holidays and went fishing on the long Jetty. I also got my first kiss there!
What did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to fly F-111s and that was not going to happen for me so I thought I wanted to become an architect and then I basically decided that I wanted to be self supportive and entrepreneurial.
How did you come to own Fashion TV?
I was sitting watching Fashion TV about 6 years ago and I noticed there was no Australian content so I made a series of enquiries and the lady who answered my inquiries, the Vice President of Fashion TV Asia at that time, had actually done business with me 6 years prior in China! So she knew who I was, my business ethics and so forth. I then spent two years traveling the world negotiating the deal as Michel Adams wanted too much for it. I kept negotiating until we both got what we wanted. He originally wanted me to take on a franchise and I said no, if I am going to do it I want the whole thing, I want to own it... the brand, the TV channel, the whole lot. So we are now the only ones in the world that are separate from him and can do everything ourselves.
Who is your favourite model?
Tough call! In Australia... Abbey Lee Kershaw, Jessica Heart or Bronx Whitehorn.
Overseas Isabeli Fontana, Natasha Poly.
What is your favourite fashion week? Milan because it has the best designers in the world, it's sexy, great people, fun and it's a good time of the year. In Australia I like Perth Fashion Week because it's fun, exciting, new and not pretentious like some of the others. Some of the best models in Australia come from Western Australia. |
Where is Ftv Oceania heading?
My plans for Ftv are, basically, to expand the brand. The television is the television and we make good content. There is a lot of content that is yet to be made but where I am taking the brand now is the franchise systems, the licensing, the merchandise and the website stuff. We will have bars, cafes, restaurants, model schools, gyms, hair salons, vodka, energy drinks, champagne, jewelery, water, and clothing so the future is to have, in Australia, franchise systems in the market place so that anyone who doesn't know Fashion TV... will know it. The Vodka should be here before Christmas and the first hair salon will hopefully open early next year.
If you could go back ten years what advice would you give to yourself?
Have patience and believe in yourself. Go with your gut instinct. Don't bring family into business and don't rely on other people to do what you know you can do better, just go and do it.
If you could go forward ten years what would you tell yourself?
Where is my next pina colda coming from! haha!
Wow you did it....! Wow it's still exciting....! I don't know where I will be in ten years. I could still be doing this, I could be living on an island or I could be broke! I don't know! That's life... it has it's ups and downs. You have to go to the bottom before you can go to the top. I really believe you have to hit rock bottom in your life once before you get to the top. Not just money wise, it could be emotionally or anything. Look at all the most famous millionaires or billionaires, they hit rock bottom before they got to the top and they learn from what happened to them.
Any advice for emerging entrepreneurs?
Be yourself. Stick to the basics. You can go outside the box but how you approach business and deal with business on a day to day basis you really need to stick to the basics. To be an entrepreneur you have to be able to lead. So if you cant do something don't expect your staff to do it. Like being at work on time! Patience is a big one. Entrepreneurs are usually wanting to make a million dollars overnight. You just need to stick to it and keep going and keep going and never give up, eventually it will come.
Aaron with Alex Perry at the Palazzo Versace on the Gold Coast.
Stay fabulous!
CLE
Love bio's on how great thing evolve! Thanks for sharing. C
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