Remember girls, you can make everything possible and be whomever you want. Simonetta Lein
When I meet strong, independent women, I feel very proud. When they are also fellow Millennials, it is pure joy. I strongly believe in women helping and supporting each other. I believe in girl bosses that dare to be innovative. Today I have an entrepreneur who just turned 27, she is an app inventor who’s creation merges technology and fashion. She is the inventor of Brick And Portal and her name is Anjelika Kour.
When you were a child, did you wish for the career and for the life that you have manifested today?
At the risk of sounding overconfident, I would still have to say - Absolutely! I am very happy to answer this question as this is something I bring up quite often around my close circle.
I grew up in a very entrepreneurial household and was always kept to very high standards – which formed the values I uphold and cherish greatly to this day. By all accounts, I still have a ways to grow – as much professionally, as personally – but I feel I am on the right path. Looking back to when I was a child and what I was envisioning for myself, I feel that living in Manhattan, building a technology company, and creating an Influencer TV docu-series, would very much be on the list of my life’s goals.
**Very proud of you! If you win you can encourage so many other people!
Name a wish that you had for your life or for humanity that finally came true.
I would have to say – Globalization. Not in its economic definition, but rather as a social and philosophical idea of our world. With the mainstream convergence of internet, smartphones, and affordable travel, the world, in a proverbial sense, has finally come full circle. We are now able to not just communicate with and visit distant, exotic places on the map, but can also learn any language at our fingertips, live abroad without interrupting our work, share our values internationally, and more effectively provide from the more fortunate places in this world to the less so.
Additionally, the exponential advances of technology. Using digital platforms - such as Instagram – we are now able to share more of the world and connect with the most distant of places via a single web of ever-growing data and information archives. No place is left unknown and no stone is left unturned. No place is left undocumented. For this reason in particular my team and I decided to create the first-ever Influencer Exposé on film through the “Brick & Portal Weekend” project. Digital influence has always been something of an enigma, and still highly misunderstood by pre-millennial generations. Through this project, we’ve set out to answer the question of what makes a digital influencer and how they live out their day-to-day routine. We aim to dissect the life unmanageable without a mobile phone, a laptop, and a camera – to reveal how and why kids of today have opportunities to carve out professions previously non-existent. I would love your readers to follow our journey on social media through the unique hashtag of #brickandportalnyc and the dedicated webpage at brickandportal.com/weekend
**Being an influencer myself I feel Anjelika’s project very dear to my heart. I have been asked constantly what do I do during a typical day. People are still trying to understand exactly what an influencer does. There are many types of influencers but, in my opinion, an influencer is a person who excels in something and communicates it on social media very well and people start to be interested, empowered by that person, and decide to trust him/her following what he/she does. Behind this there is a whole world of preparing yourself to reach that level of “being interesting for people”, know how to communicate it effectively, be real and interact with as many people as possible like in real life: social media is part of real life. Being a true influencer means knowing what you are doing and what you are talking about. There is an incredible ammount of work behind every picture someone sees, every post written, every blog post or article, every digital campaign. Thank you Anjelika for showing all this and bringing the excellence together, I am very honored to be part of your project as well.
If you were granted one wish for humanity or for our planet, what would it be?
That everyone on the planet, regardless of their circumstances, could have access to great quality education - the one cause I’ve been most passionate about throughout my life. I would say that now, with ever permeable worldwide borders, education is becoming more accessible to those eager to learn thanks to the profusion of much-needed infrastructure. Knowledge reciprocity has been something I’ve always yearned and wished for – and although it is a wish still far from realized, it is something we are and must continue to strive towards as a global society.
The digital age, which we participate in as consumers and as technology-creators with my company, Brick & Portal, has been the foundation of information accessibility and hence the ability to learn, practically any subject, from the comfort of one’s home or discover new interests/qualities in oneself through the variety of information sources available today, from every device. This is why we’ve set out to make a documentary project on not just influencers, but the overall Digital Age as we know it.
If you could go back in time and ask one question from anyone from history, who would you want to meet and what question would you ask?
I would love to have a conversation with Theodor Herzl, the European journalist, playwright and activist; the first intellectual to conceptualize a proto-Israeli state in a time when such an idea was inconceivable. I would want to know how he was able to radically probe prevailing cultural mores in such a way that opened up a path towards a tangible future reality.
Otherwise, of course, Steve Jobs. I’d ask him how in the world he came to realize that font stylization on a personal computer was such a paramount feature when the industry at the time found the issue ludicrous.
Two very different people from history with two very different issues – but both share very similar traits as to why I would love to have met them. They thought different and radically challenged the status quo, and consequently they are trailblazers that impacted the world in wonderful and previously unimagined ways.
Please tell me what influences your unique sense of style?
I am very versatile in style and my current lifestyle is very much representative of this – one day I am in a corporate boardroom in NYC pitching to investors, the next I am at a blogger/media event in Sydney discussing wearable fashion aesthetics. I am constantly on the go and have a lot of ground to cover – so I always strive to wear comfortable yet bold looks. I prefer edgy fashion, often with a dark, even military undertone. But by no means am I afraid of color. Best way to learn more about my style is to check out the unique looks I’ve built through our Apple Store App - Brick & Portal. Look for my profile through my handle - @globalnewyorker
Who is your favorite fashion designer or brand right now and why?
I continue to be inspired by the ever-inventive Tom Ford. As well as Karl Lagerfeld – whose work at Chanel is of particular interest. I find it to be very innovative yet traditional at the same time. I have also been a huge fan of United Nude, the Amsterdam based shoe line with truly new forms. Their shoes are the epitome of digital world meeting craft shoemaking – fascinating and reliable.
My other favorites include Marni, Moschino, MSGM, Tibi, and Alexander Wang. Most recently, I’ve also been quite intrigued by the latest collection from Gucci. Risqué, yet chic – just the way I love my fashion.
**Tons of respect for all these top artists.
What is your fashion mantra?
Running a tech company is often like being on a battlefield – I prefer to think of my fashion as my armor and ammunition. Check out my looks on Brick & Portal and you will see why for yourself!
What is your final message for our readers?
Don’t be afraid to experiment to find the thing that you’re both really good at and really passionate about: that’s the absolute best. Try to explore different subjects and challenge what you are “supposed to do.” Learn and discover, dive-in, educate yourself in an array of topics, find what excites you and brings you energy, travel and immerse yourself in different cultures, and above all - take risks. And of course – follow all our docu-series updates through brickandportal.com/weekend and dedicated hashtag #brickandportalnyc on social media. To follow us on social channels, look for: @brickandportal @globalnewyorker
**Thank you very much to Anjelika for being part of my personal battle: demonstrate that women can, and they do it even better together. See you at Brick And Portal.
As Always, make your wishes come true.
From Philadelphia, The Celebrity Wishmaker Simonetta Lein
