The Famous Glass Wall

When you have discus something important like NOW, NOW.

Like really now.

#MyBossIsCoolerThanYours

Induction Day

That was the highlight of my week 2. Work was picking up, met so many new people, went for meetings, organizing events, went for health screening too and in between all these I had my FV Induction Day. 

This was the day we learned about FV's history which isn't something that most people don't know, pitching for our design to the buying team, doing a social media posting and learning the processes at the warehouse. I'm sure many of you knew the story about Vivy wanting to go from one brand's shop to another, KL city was just super jam packed, Fadza was obviously driving, they both got annoyed and that was the light bulb moment!

"Why can't we have all the brands in one place and skip all the traffic hassle?"

I remember clearly the day when Vivy told me about going ahead with this idea in November 2010 - She, Asma' and I were in Alexis BSC having lunch and I remembered asking her "Do you wanna hire me?". Haha! :P Of course all those were only jokes at that time. I just started CIMB, she said she could hire me if I did it for free and that was that, we laughed it off. When I visited them at their office, everything was there! That's where they work, they prayed, they had meeting, they stored the stocks, they packed all the orders and where their pantry was - all in that small office that only had 3 staff. Fadza, Vivy and Asma'.

I used to just get them half a cake when I come :PP

Fast forward 7 years, I'm now working at FV and their warehouse is 10 times bigger than that mini store at their first office! I feel so proud! So proud of them, the hardworking founders, proud of how much they've grown the company and super proud of the brand the amazing team they've created. 

Part of my induction was to complete customer's orders at the warehouse and mannnn I have so much respect for my warehouse colleagues. It may look easy, but boy is it not when you've got thousands of orders to pick, scan, pack and deliver. I was only doing one customer's order, but by the end of it I was drenched in sweat. Warehouse is massive! (And of course most customers are like me, you don't buy just one thing, so off we go on a journey in the warehouse). I was so amazed by how systematic the warehouse is, it's built in such a way that it is most efficient when picking out customer's order, and the scanning system would detect if you picked out the wrong item. Not only that, there's also a specific way to pack the items so that customers can use the same packaging for any returns. Yup, I never knew!!

It's so full of surprises for me right now, there's always something new that I learn everyday and it just gets me excited to go to work! #ilovemyjob :)))

Industry Change - First Week

Am I allowed to wear jeans?

Can I wear sandals?

What if I actually don't know anything about clothes?

What if I don't know how to complete my task?

How much tech knowledge do I need to have to be at par with the rest of my new colleagues?

How well do I know the Corporates?
I only really know how to do Banking, what if it's very very different?

A day before I began my journey at my new work place, I felt so anxious. It felt like first day of school all over again and honestly, I've always hated that feeling. I wanted to feel happy about going back to work! I wanted that old me who's always excited when Monday comes and sad when Friday arrived. Where did that Alia go?

Fast forward to a week down. Learning so so much more about the company and the brand! I've had nothing but an amazinggggg first week at Fashion Valet with all the buzzing group chats, multiple meetings and corporate events! Everyone was so welcoming and friendly (who am I kidding, they were already so welcoming even before I joined. Can you see I was the only one without the team baju but yet I was in the team photo), HR even lets me choose what laptop I wanted (so cool!!), work pipeline looks freaking exciting this year (and the next few years!) and I can't wait to work alongside the team to make it all happen, everyone was very focused with their task, yet they knew to have fun at the same time - I LOVE IT ALREADY ALHAMDULILLAH! :)))))

 Back in 2017 with my FV Family

First day at work, everything was different from how things were done at my previous organization. Everything took on full speed immediately. I had 3 meetings to attend and after every meeting I felt so excited and proud of this brand that is working so hard to stay relevant and awesome that by the end of the day I was babbling to Aiman because I was probably overwhelmed. Every task that we were assigned to made me feel that it's not just about making it happen, it's about how well can we execute it to benefit the receiver and how big can we further build this brand. It's more than just selling clothes, we're working to create a direction for the Fashion industry. There was a much bigger purpose to what each and everyone of us was doing in the company, it's amazing!

A total change in industry for me definitely and working for friends. As scary as it may seem, I'm looking forward to the fast paced roller coaster ride with my new FV family to grow the brand and take it to new regions as a team, InsyaAllah! Praying that God make it easy for us all to get through every challenges that come our way. Here's to a continuous roller coaster ride :))

....and really, if my boss is gonna do this shoe-five thing every morning I better make sure I'm in before her, haha! :P

Happy 2018!

We're 3 years old and I think we've both agreed that getting married on the 1st of January is a splendid idea because we'll begin every year with a public holiday and it's about us and we get to spend the entire day together - Aiman and I.

This year will be an entirely new adventure for the both of us with our new jobs! Most importantly, there are things I would love to do differently. Let's just see how long I'll be able to hold on to this new years resolutions!

• To lead a healthier lifestyle - to drink less coke (not ready to say bye to Vitagens yet), to snack less on junks and basically find time to exercise. Let's be real, I don't exercise, so maybe once a week to start :P To also wake up earlier everyday and be more discipline about getting to bed by a certain time at night

• To be more patient - everyone close to me would know I'm one of the most impatient person, when I want something I just want something. If I put a deadline, I'd get annoyed with myself/them if I/they did not meet it. This year I plan to take one thing at a time, solve a situation one by one, one day at a time and to know that there is never anything that requires for you to kill yourself over it just because things did not go your way.

• Continue to see the positive in everything that happens - nothing is truer than "things happen for a reason". When you see a purpose in everything that took place, you'll be a happier person in no time and I've always tried to stick to this belief!

• To always let Kindness win over Being Right - sometimes it's best to stay kind than to fight your way just because you know you are right. It's never the end of the world :)

Most importantly, I want to be able to continue striving to be a better version of myself. Happy 2018 everyone!! May it be a greater year for all of us Insya Allah!