So then I start up floating those bad mirror selfies with Valencia.
Oh, I love Valencia to controls.
Of the least of my worries. My theory silence is violence. English was my second language. I did EOCEL at school. You never know what someone's background is, you never know where they've come from.
Welcome to the Sees the Ya Podcast. Busy and happy are not the same thing. We too rarely question what makes the heart seeing. We work, then we rest, but rarely we play and often don't realize there's more than one way. So this is a platform to hear and explore the stories of those who found lives they adore, the good, bad and ugly. The best and worst day
will bear all the facets of seizing your yay. I'm Sarah Davidson or a spoonful of Sarah, a lawyer turned unentrepreneur who swapped the suits and heels to co found matcha Maiden and matcha Milk Bar. Czya is a series of conversations on finding a life you love and exploring the self doubt, challenge, joy and fulfillment along the way.
If you've been on the Internet at all over the past decade or so you've likely been influenced by Rosalia Russian, who I feel comfortable calling one of the og influences of our time. While many of us embrace the mirror selfie and the Valencia filter from the beginning, not all of us then transformed into one of the country's most sought after opinion leaders, brand ambassadors, and dare I say, icons, with over a quarter of a million followers hanging on
to her every move. What I love most about Rosa, though, isn't her effortlessly immaculate style or perfect grooming. Although I do screenshot her tips on pretty much everything. It's the lesser known parts of her story that make her perhaps more down to earth than you might first expect, arriving in Australia with two suitcases and two hundred and fifty dollars, her early life in ESL classes at school, her hilariously refreshing approach to motherhood, and the most well adjusted approach
to online trolling that I think I've heard. Fun fact, I've actually been there for most of this ride, knowing Rosa, not only since before social media, during our clubbing days that was so much fun to relive, and before her surname became Russian, which yes, was a coincidence, but since our teeny tiny ballerina days at the Australian Ballet School. So it's with a weird sense of pride that I've watched her flourish but also use her influence for wonderful
causes over the years. This year, Rosa is one of the ambassadors for the Witchery White shirt campaign, which you've likely seen both of us post about, that supports ovarian cancer research. One woman dies every eight hours of ovarian cancer in Australia and less than half of those diagnosed will live beyond five years, so the work of the
OCRF supported by the campaign is crucial. Last week we celebrated the tally for this seventeenth year of their campaign of over half a million dollars raised, bringing the total to over seventeen point six million dollars to date. We're both wearing the beautiful shirts from this year, designed by Victoria and Woods in the episode video and they are still on sale while stocks last, even though the campaign
has officially ended. So I'll pop the links in the show notes so you can grab yours for an incredible cause. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did. Rosa Russian, Hi, Hi, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me. Oh my gosh, this is so exciting. We have been friends since. I don't know if a lot of people know this, and I tried to find a photo, but since we were in primary school, I want to say, really, yes, primary school?
Well did you start the ABS in primary school? I think it was primary school maybe, or maybe I was high school.
I don't know, or I always say, if you want to tell me a secret memory is like a sieve.
It goes in one ear and out the other. I'm it's I think it was because I left. So for context everyone, we were at the Australian Ballet together when we were very, very tiny, and that was the first first chapter of knowing Rosa. So it's been a privilege to have followed. And as you guys know, I get really excited to tell people stories when I've been there
for quite a few chapters. And I'll always remember you and Lauradona had the most immaculate hair, and I kind of then I always wanted to do my bum the same way that you did with the middle part and the slick back, like the original slick back. I insist you have been not just the OG influencer since the Internet, but since like nineteen ninety five or whenever that was. I was the original. Literally, I'm still going nothing change,
nothing change. I remember, I think, because I was maybe eight when I started, and I was only there for five years, five years thirteen. I quit thirteen or fourteen, So it must have been primary school. Must have been.
I finished up in year ten, Yeah, that's when I left. So year eleven I went and I went back to a normal.
School, finished school. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yes. So we've known each other since primary school and our first versions of ourselves were as many ballerinas and taking it very seriously. The Australian Ballet School is an amazing place if you want, you know, your career to go in that direction. And I love to start at what your younger selfs, hopes and dreams were because I think it's really interesting to look back now and think, yeah, what you thought you'd
be and how different that is. So did you think that you would do that as a career. Is that where you wanted to be when you were little?
No, I actually knew, I didn't really, you know, I know, I know all the way along bombshell. Yes, oh my god, Miss Roles would be horrified.
I know.
No, Like I will say, before going to the Australian Ballet School, and even whilst I was there, like I will say, like I did love ballet and I enjoyed it, but for me it.
Was never my career.
And my mum was a gymnast back in Russia and she all always wanted to do ballet. So she always said to her mum, if I ever had a daughter, she's going to do ballet. So I feel like many strong European mothers, strong wild Yes, yeah, she put all her hopes of being a professional baller reader onto me and very early on, as I said, I loved it and when it was you know, it was fun, it
wasn't serious. And then once I got into the Australian Ballet School, I again like I enjoyed it, but I didn't audition to get in either.
I read that And if you were the first student ever who was scouted without an audition, which guys, if you don't understand this, think about Australian idol and like the cues to audition, like that's the Australian Ballet School in the nineties, and you just got scouted.
I got scouted. I was there on a summer program, just having, you know, just.
A fun time, a fun time.
My mom had to work, so she's like and just drop you off exactly.
So I was just doing like a summer program.
And after a couple of days I approached my mum and they said, would like to offer her a spot at the school.
She's iconic since the beginning.
I kind of you, but no, so straight away, like I didn't really know the impact. And I went along with it and I loved it, like I genuinely loved it. But then I don't know if you remember, there was a moment as we're approaching graduating, and I remember they sat down and they said to us, okay, so what's going to happen is you're going to audition for different companies, so you know, the Australian Ballet, the New Zealand Company, Sydney Dance and they'll take one female and one male.
And I remember thinking like, oh, looking around the room like this, like I don't know, twenty of us, thirty of us, and right, so what happens to the rest of us, Oh well, you know nothing. You might go work at a cruise ship. You might do this, you might And I was just like it was like that petty drop and I'm like, oh my gosh, Like this isn't something that I was like, wow, giving my all and I really wanted to do. Yeah, I was very fortunate that was just naturally flexible. I naturally had all
the right proportions and the turnout. So it was just something that came easy to me. But it's something that I learned very early on that talent will only get you so far. If you don't push and you don't drive yourself. That girl that's working harder than you, she's going to get the spot, not you. You can't just rely on talent. And it was at that moment that I'm like, I don't have the.
Drive to do this. Wow. So yeah, I said to my mom's side, broke her heart. I was going to say, how did she take it? She still still brings up to this day. It's still a so spot. Don't mention it.
Oh my god, No, it made Willow do ballet and I was like, oh my god, yeah, it wasn't you. I see where they came from I remember your mom actually less. Yeah, anyway, that was my ballet career.
Oh my gosh. And that's so interesting because it is the opposite of I think a lot of us back then, like I thought, I was like a little eight year old taking my life very seriously. I was like, I have career opirations at eight years old, this is my future. And I probably didn't have as much natural talent, but was the girl that just worked so relentlessly on pilates and had my archers bending under pianos to kind of will my body to do the things that it wasn't
maybe naturally born for. And I look back and think I wasn't going to have that penny drop moment myself. And it was probably the reverse where my mom could see that at some point, it is going to funnel down to one place, you know, in all the ballet schools in the world, and even if you get there and you're injured, it's such a short lived career and
you might not have something to fall back on. So she engineered that pennydrop moment for me and was like, you're going to have to go back to normal school and if you still love it afterwards, then you can go back. And of course by then I'd met boys and parties and doing fun things on the weekend, and I was like, I don't want to go back to ballet. But it's interesting that you didn't think that that was your future. So what did you think you'd be.
I wanted to be a forensic psychiatrist stop, or a forensic investigator. I was obsessed with the show CSI as a kid.
As a kid, I was obsessed. That's why I like to note it books now. I love Modo Boox.
But also I'm like, give me a name, give me ten minutes, Ye'll find.
You anything, anything and everything about them. I'm the same. I'm the same. That is amazing. That's a life skill. It is a life skill. In another world, you could have gone into that. So then, okay, so you've had your pivotal moment alongside did you have part time jobs? Were you thinking about what you had to study to become a forensic psychologist? Like what was in your brain around that sort of fifteen year ten? It's quite a pivotal time in your life. It is.
So year ten, I was still at the Australian Ballet and I did schooling at the Victorian College of the Arts, and it was very the bare minimum.
Of schooling, so for two hours a day, two hours a day, so it was nothing.
So by the time I got to year eleven and twelve, it was like a rude shock and a rude awakening. And naturally I'm not very BookSmart. I disagree, but yes, you know, like some people who are just like so booksmarts, so academic, that is not me at all. As I said to you, my memory is like a ciev it goes I read one paragraph and it goes out. You can read books over and over again. So clear south you from Money said, but I didn't really know what
I wanted to do. I was always very creative, and I'd also still liked the idea of some sort of like a business or corporate company, and that's where I kind of landed on like marketing and advertising, and I thought, okay, this is cool. I'm creative. I get to think about, you know, different things and come up with different ideas and concepts. So that's kind of where my mind went.
I feel like, coming from immigrants like parents when we land in Australia, they were obviously just you know, trying to survive. So they didn't necessarily they didn't understand how schooling worked here, how universities and maybe different career paths as well. Like it's such a different world where I'm from. So I think that it was maybe hard as well for my parents to guide my brother and I just because they didn't understand the culture. They didn't understand the
options that we have here. So yeah, in terms of my first.
Job, I was Coles check Out. Really I love that.
Yeah. Yeah, So when I was fifteen or nine months, I worked at Coles. Then I went on and worked at Diva Stop.
I loved Diva. Diva's like the old Labisa. It is, yeah, guys, the original. We're doing so so we have recording at producing and Josh in the corner who's listening, is twenty three and is about to get like a full blown education on the era immediately before him. So much to learn, Josh Clubs. We're just translating everything. Yeah, yeah, a lot to learn, a lot to learn. And so then I was studying like advertising.
And marketing, and again I was just like just not really passionate about it. I was just doing the bare minimum. And again I had no idea what I want to do, no idea, and this is all before social media. So I was working at Diva, that I was working at a clothing store.
Then I just started going out.
And having a great time at nineteen, and then that's when I met my husband Nick, when I was working at retail.
Yes, oh my gosh. I mean you've touched on so many things there that I think people listening might not know or maybe know. But I think it's so easy to walk into someone's life like your own, and right now it's you're so good at what you do, and you're so clear on what influence you have and how to use it beautifully, and you've got beautiful children. But it's easy to forget that you spend a long time
not knowing what you wanted to do. And also the thing that people say about pathways is you don't know where you'll end up, but particularly because the job you're in now might not have existed then, and it didn't like you're in a job that didn't exist at that time. And so if anyone is earlier in their journey listening has no idea what they want to do, don't worry. It's normal. We all started there. I still don't know what I want to tell. Yeah, and it's so normal.
And again, like even in ten years you might be doing something that doesn't exist now. So I think you're such a good example of that. But also there are so many Australians who are immigrants or who've come from immigrant families, and there are different pressures and different circumstances that help shape who you want to be and what you can do. And so did you find the expectations of your parents or of wanting to make the most
of your place here really hard? Did that add an extra pressure to go down certain pathways or to be more academic, or to you know, not quit ballet, Like was that a factor in your mind about what your future would look like? Yeah, definitely.
I you know, absolutely applaud my p and especially my mum and have so much respect for what she did and how they came to the country with two suitcases, two hundred and fifty dollars and absolutely like nowhere to live, no idea what to do. And she is very academic, so she went to university and she at nighttime would translate things from English and too Russian. So she's got multiple degrees and she's yeah, she's so smart.
So and there's me.
But I feel though, because that's the way that she was, I feel that she expected the same from me, and it's something that I'm so mindful with my kids. So when it came to like year eleven and twelve, she put me.
Into like maths and sciences.
Maths, yeah, science, what's that chemistry like? And all these subjects, I was like, what am I doing? This is not my jam, but I was I couldn't say anything. I was too scared to say thing because that real Europe and pressure of performing well. So I would love to have done visual arts and you know, more of those kind of subjects. So I failed my vacea. I got the worst ender school. And it's because, like I feel not to blame anyone, that maybe I wasn't guided into
the right past and the right subjects for me. And that's why I said, that's something I'm so mindful of my kids. It's like, you know, you tap into their talent and what is it.
They're good at.
There definitely was a lot of pressure, but as I said, you know, times are so different back then and people don't realize as well. English was my second language. I did a cell at school, so that blows my mind.
Yeah, people like when like the people type.
On my my comments, Oh your Gramdmar's a awful yes, yeah so yeah, as I think, as you said, you never know what someone's background is, you never know where they've come from. And that's why I'm so I have such an open mind to like my kids or anyone in their career paths, what they choose to do, and just everyone's story.
Like you just don't know what people are going through. And I love the platform that this show allows me to have where I get to focus and spend like quite a lot of time on the part of your life that isn't the part most people ask about. They you know, naturally, so many people want to know about what you do now. But I find this part fascinating.
I want to remind everyone, like Rosa didn't speak English first, Like it makes it so much more impressive everything that you've been able to achieve because your parents did land here with nothing, and it's so easy for people to look at you now and think she gets so much privilege, and you know, things came easy, and it's like nothing came easy. You have no idea now hard she has worked together.
There No nothing's come easy. And that's why I just hate that whole online narrative of you know, oh well what would you know? Or you're so privileged as he says, it's like, yeah, well, I am in a very lucky, fortunate position now, but I wasn't. I didn't start, but I didn't start like this. And that's why I never judge people. I always am open minded because you never know what someone's background story is and the struggles that they have had to take to get themselves to this position.
We always see everyone's best moments in the highlight.
Well, speaking of, there are some best moments and highlights that you don't see as much of because when we were having them in this glory chapter about to embark upon and teach Josh all about, there wasn't really social media in the era that you've just kind of caught
us up to. Around nineteen. We both met our respective Nicks around the same age for us on dance laws and your nick had Eve nightclub and my nick had broke and they were kind of like rivals, but they had different nights, so they'd kind of come to each other's Friday and Saturday and for anyone listening. They were the nightclubs to be at. And the photographer there'd be one nominated photographer who would come and they'd take your
photo and they were the only photos. That's the only content you would get from that night, and it was amazing.
Tell us about that era again, as said, my head's full of secrets and I can't remember.
I don't remember that era. I think something controversial happened. I don't remember the who.
No, I mean those times were wild, the best, the best, best.
The best.
Yeah, So as you said, I meant I met Nick when I was nineteen. He was twenty eight, and he owned this club in South Melbourne called Eve where they were just like lines out the door every single night and it was like the who's who, Like I'm talking about every single AFL player was there.
Then we're talking about like Jason Giulo, Yes, oh my god.
Yeah a rule I forgot about that, Britney Spears like it was Carnie West, like you name it. It was the moment they were there. Yeah. And the best thing about those days where there was no social media, as you said, so everyone was just there having the best time. There were no photos being taken as you said, unless it was the club photographer Anthony lookuria.
Shout out, and he would like, get our good site. Just let us have a few and take it again, take it again, always great flash, great complexions, looks amazing yeap gausch and blur edit on the face yep. And then you would have to wait the whole week until Facebook uploaded those images.
Being the girlfriend of the owner, I managed to get photos in advance.
Oh my gosh. And did you get to take it? Did you take out the bad ones that you hated? No? I was nineteen. There was no bad photo. True, that's true. That's true. Oh my god, how iconic? There were none? There were no We're just all beautiful. But it's one.
Look at girls now, Yeah, you're nineteen, You're like gorgeous. How can you take a bad photo? You're happy, carefree, you're sleeping at night, you're sleeping through the night.
Oh my god. Yeah.
But we'd know where to post the photos. Oh, Facebook, we'd post the photos on Facebook.
Yah. Albums, yeah, the whole albums per night. It was just such a to that multicolor dance floor, like some god, some stuff went down. They were they were great times. But I was telling Josh that to kind of describe how the world of influencing began. I truly like it's I laugh about it, but I truly think you were the og influencer because even before there was anywhere to put this information, Facebook existed, but you weren't really friends with people you didn't know yet, but everyone knew who
you were. And of course because Nick was the owner and you were his partner, everyone would see you every Saturday and they'd see what you'd wear, and you had this this ability to influence. Like immediately people would ask you in real life, like imagine it's like leaving a comment, but like in your face. They'd be like, where did you get this dress? And or where did you get that whatever? Or where do you get your fake tann
or whatever. You know, although we were real tanned back then because we had time to outside, you know, that's where it began. Like everyone wanted to know everything that you were doing. But it happened in real life. And so it's so crazy to me thinking about having watched you have the same influence you have now, but just
in different forums kind of through the ages. So it started back then, and I've heard you describe it as that you fell into what you do now, But can you actually describe to us how it went from influencing people on dance laws on the weekend and then seeing them turn up the next week in the exact same thing to what you do now? Like what was that that kind of bridging?
Like, well, I think naturally, as you mentioned, people were just curious because I was, you know, his girlfriend, and all the different events that are happening now like a David Jones Runway show or the Levatzavarqui we were going to back then because we were invited you know, via Nick and Nix was like he had this incredible network of people, so we were already in that scene. I was working a corporate jobs, so for me, I was like Monday to Friday in the office and then on
the weekend. But obviously just you know, the time of our lives, have.
A great time.
But there was no again, there was no social what I said, there was Facebook back then, there was no Instagram and then it wasn't until just before we were getting married. Nick was going to Vegas for his Bucks party. I still remember, and he was showing me this like app He's like, oh, there's this new thing called Instagram, and I'm okay, so I like downloaded it and then so I started uploading photos of my girlfriends and I whilst when we're out, and that's when the comments started like.
Oh, where's your skirt from?
Well, where's your you know, and so I'm like, oh, okay. So then I started bloating those bad mirror selfies with Valencia Vali and it was like, here's my age sequin miniskirt.
With my furtherest and MYVA.
Earrings and my Steve Madam boots, like the ankle boots.
Do you remember not an ankle boots? Yeah? What a time.
Yeah, So then uploaded photos and but then people like, but okay, we know the outfit, but what about you blush?
What blush color you're wearing?
So then I'm like, oh, there was no selfies, so it was selfies.
There were mirror.
Selfies, miror selfie, but not like you know, like face selfies. So then I naturally started uploading that. And then that's when all of a sudden, brands would reach out to Nick and say, hey, does Rosen want a dress? And we'll send her something, and it's kind of like it started like that, and Nick again turned to me very business and he's like, I reckon, you can start making money off this. So that's when we started off. Kind of remember what it was like one hundred dollars for like.
A post or something. Wow wow yeah, but it was like, you know, good money back then though, great money.
Yeah, So it just naturally. And then we got married and I remember all these different people wanting to following me, and someone had been tagging photos of me, of my wedding dress and uploading photos on their profile and as.
In like, oh my god, this is amazing.
Yes, and so people started wanting to follow me. I'm like, these randoms, how weird? So I declined them all and went on to Prime and decline.
Your you were not to prive this is random?
Yeah yeah yeah, but I still find it weird, you know, like when I sit there like looking at the videos and wait, so I'm talking. Who am I talking to about what I'm wearing?
Like why do they care?
I still find it really bizarre when you sit there and break it down. It is a very weird concept. But that's how it started.
Oh my gosh, And it's funny. I look back now and think about those wild clubbing days were. At the time, I'm sure our parents were like seriously concerned about us being out four nights a week for my whole union degree. But now I think about it, I'm like, actually there
was some business around it. Like there's firstly, a lot of the networks I have today even knowing you, and a lot of almost in fact, almost everyone at a lot of the events that I still see through our businesses now I met back then, and those relationships all came from being out and about and meeting people in person and developing relationships. But also like we got paid to be there, like we were promoters. And I was trying to explain to Josh the concept of turning up
picking up your little envelope with cash. Money used to be cash, so cash in an envelope and little drink cards, and I'm like that was kind of entrepreneurial, Like I made money to go where I wanted to go anyway, and then I didn't have to pay for drinks, and then I saved that money to go traveling, and like, that's entrepreneurial from the very beginning. So there were real plus sides to that time. And I'm sad that the current generation won't get that.
I know, I hear that they go to Yochi for dates.
So sad. Why why, like you know, like so many years of that time, Well, you're missing out. I'm all for.
I'm like, go out, get drunk, get it out of your sister days to have.
A good time.
Have you seen that meme going around of like, you know, girls in their twenties talking about their you know, their diet and their health routine and their exercise routine and they're like gorgeous and everything.
It's like, mate, when I was your AJ McDonald's.
Every every single Saturday, barely relect got drunk every single day of the week very much.
I probably shouldn't have been encouraging that.
Like I partied, I lived, I still looked amazing. It's because you're is it because you're twenty. Come back to me when you're like late thirties, forties and then tell me you know your diet and your exercise routine. Yeah.
I do feel like they skip a chapter, like they're all immaculately made up and so aware of yeah, of what they look like. And there's content and there's so much focus on content when you go out and I'm like, just didn't I love the liberty of not Yeah, I just enjoying it and looking fairal and being so sweaty on the dance floor that your hair has ruined. But Anthony already took your photos, so like, it doesn't matter what you look like by the night, who care?
And if you don't like the photo, you untag yourself.
And no one can see see it all over. Yeah, Millennials listening to this, this would be a dream like the throwback to the glory days. Oh my goodness. But now, I mean, it did start in such a random, haphazard way, but you were on the platform so early, and then it's continued to be your career since then in such an incredible way. And being so early, I think you have kind of seen every part of it. You've seen the amazing way that it can make a livelihood and
support a lifestyle and open up incredible opportunities. And then there are also parts that I'm sure you cringe about, and parts that a struggle. Like every job has downsides as well. So can you take us through maybe some of the most surreal, cool places or people you've met, or things you've ended up doing that you never expected, some of the cringiest things you look back on from your early content, and then some of the downsides that you have struggled with or still do.
So what are the highlights, I'd say a couple of years ago. So I have been working as an ambassador with Bull Green Jewelry for a few years now, and a couple of years ago they flew me to Tokyo to launch their new Bullgrey hotel.
There.
That's right. I remember that and it was unbelievable. Like anytime I think that I'm like stuck in a rut or you know, you just you think about going overseas and you think about those moments and you're like, oh my god, the world is so big. I know that sounds so cliche that you're like, oh my god, the world is so big. There's actually so many opportunities. There are so many amazing, interesting people that I haven't met. Like Anne Hathaway was there?
Yeah, people found girl? You do you found girl? People? Yeah? Yes, you record? That makes sense? Yes? Yeah, yeah, what did you do? I just walked past her. I couldn't speak to it. I was just like I just kept it walking past. I've been trying to get a photo with her in the background. Like any normal person. I love that.
Because I was like I was, I was up there with so many influential people. I couldn't be that little Australian who was like fangirling and being like, oh.
My god, would have done it. Baby, got one chance in life to get your photo with Anne Hathaway.
She was beautiful, like wow, like in terms of like seeing someone in person, she was just like porcelain skin.
Think about you just saying no, you know, like that star factor she just had. You could she has it.
She had that presence. So that was amazing being given that opportunity. The most cringiest moment is just any outfit from like five years ago back hot love it.
That's probably like I look back at my outfits and my hair, I'm like, oh my god, crim I love them. I can think of some like even of my outfits of yours and mine like that where we were all in the same category in particular eras and I'm like, wow, like the green with envy where we'd all get like the same dress or like the same kind of like gasp type dresses and think they were the ship that top with like skinny leather leggings and like a platform with like a peep toe, like a peepte.
So many bads, so many but we're we're just like, oh my gosh, we're so hot.
And also they're like walking to the front of the line when you knew obviously you got to do that because of Nick. But I'm like, we weren't married to Nick, and we would just like.
Past everyone and be like, oh, I got Does everyone hate us because we did that?
Yeah? I should hate you. What about the downsides? Have you had? Trolls, like, how do you cope with the level of You've had public scrutiny on your life since before most of us have been introduced to that world, And you do have to have a really thick skin. And I think you always seem to have such a good head on your shoulders about it and are so down to earth, which people I think would be surprised by because you get to do such incredible opportunities, but
always so events. You're always so normal, and I think it's just one of the most endearing things about you. But how do you keep a good head on your shoulders with all that stuff?
I think two honest trolls are the least of my worries. Yeah, like you're sitting in there criticizing me. I'm criticizing myself because my next job depends on how good my previous job was.
So that's what people.
Don't realize about social media, Like trolls don't really get to me, and I'm quite fortunate, Like I don't really get trolls because I don't really voice my public opinion.
It too often or.
Too much, because it's just it's honestly, it's not worth it for me. I'm here to do a job, and that's how as well. I think I keep things very neutral and I don't get affected because social media is a job for me and I still share like my kids, my day life things, and I do enjoy doing that. But for the trolls, I'm like, what are you trolling me? Like you don't let my outfit no worries.
You like you don't have to wear it. You don't have to wear it. I probably won't like it by next week either. I didn't like it at the time. It was my best work.
No, So trolls honestly don't really get to me, and I think though that's also it's taken me a good ten years to get to this stage. Had you have asked me this question five years ago, completely different story. I was that person who I'd write back and your response was never good enough, and then they would keep on going and they keep fighting. Now the power of ignore. Okay, that's fine, that's your opinion, no problem, just move on the power. My theory is silence is violence. Yeah, yeah,
I love that. Yeah, and I just I'm like, okay, no problem. Like I had one person message me about something and they're like, oh my god, the way you.
Talk is so slow and so boring.
And I'm like, no problem, thanks for following me, you know, best of luck.
Just act of luck. It's like so passive, aggressive lot it.
She was like, oh, no, sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. I'm like, trust me, you haven't offended me.
That's even more of a flex, Like babe, I'm fine, I'm fine.
And she's like, no, I'm just saying to you, I'm just going to skip your stories. I'm like, no problem. If you want to follow me, that's completely fine as well.
I have to announce it.
You need to know no as I'm saying, like it just honestly hand in my heart does not affect me if you don't like my collection, Okay, well that's a bit of a problem. Yeah. Kids, Again, my job is to create you know, a certain amount of obviously, you know, like sales, and but.
Also it's like, babe, it's sold out. You can't get anyway. So I don't care what you think. Yeah, it's on out multiple times. Yeah, what do you think about that? Yeah?
But I think though, if if I could give advice to young girls or guys who were starting out social media or even like you know, they're five years into it and are still getting effected by those comments, I think you need to distinguish between work and what's real. And for me, I'm like, if the people whose opinion I care about, if they're upset with me, then I can't sleep at night. It eats away of me. If I don't know you, your opinion of me does not
affect me. But that's your opinion though as well. And you're more than entitled to your opinion and I won't hold that against you either. Yeah. So I think you just need to try and create that balance, and that's the best way to be able to switch off as well.
That is so powerful and so reasoned in a time where it is easy to spiral and to lose perspective. I think because it is a blurry line between that's me that you're attacking and it's my value versus it's
the perception of me and my career. And I think I'm quite similar to you in that I do make quite a conscious choice, and sometimes I wish it was different, But I do make a choice to not voice really controversial opinions even when I think I would like to use my platform that way, because it is worth it to me and I love being vanilla. I want people to come to my page and be I could have a lot more followers and engaging and if I wasn't, but I want people to come to my page and
not have their heart rate really change. I don't want them to feel stressed. I want it to be a safe, happy place where they find some stuff they're interested in, but they don't have a breakdown or no one feels you know, I just and I don't want to have a breakdown either, which means I'm the same. I haven't had many trolls, and I can enjoy it for the lovely place that can be.
But that's the thing, Like the world could be so dark and so heavy that you don't need to add to it. I like to escape from certain things as well, and so you know, I go on TikTok and my algorithm is most random things like cats, like attacking, like dogs.
Like puppies. It's so cute, like it's happy. Yeah, I don't need, yeah, mindless.
Sometimes I don't need everything to be so heavy around me all the time.
Yeah, yeah, I love that. Do you ever get and this is just a question that's quite timely for me? And I think you're probably one of my role models in this area. Is even if it's not other people's opinions that you're worried about. I do get sort of caught up sometimes in the relevance race, like I really want to take time away to be with Teddy and to be a bit offline, but it is my job. So I also want to be there creating content and
I love doing it. But then I'm like, if I'm not honored enough, am I going to fall out of relevance. There's a whole new young generation coming up, Like how do you find that balance between I need to be there, but I also don't want to be there all the time, but yeah, how do I keep interesting if I'm not going to voice public opinions and stuff.
Look, I do think it's hard topic to discuss. And for me, for example, the downside of social media for me is that you see the jobs that say like that you went for and didn't get and see someone else you see who got that's true, or you see other people working you're like, oh, I didn't get that job, but I wasn't invited for that. So it's like that constant slap in the face, that real highlight of you know, maybe no, you weren't good enough for that job, you
didn't get it. So it can be very hard. And this is why you do need to distinguish between well, that's not me personally, that's they didn't you think that I was the best alignment for that brand, for whatever
it is. And it's really hard. So when I feel like that, I actually step back, and I did so recently, Like so the past six months, like I haven't really been working that much as I've been focusing on my health and taking a step back, and whilst I was still checking social media my head, I just couldn't get any clarity on what I wanted to do my next step. So I actually took some time away. I didn't check my social media for a week.
It's not well, but no, it's funny that it sounds silly, but that's a long time in our world. Yep, yeah, came back and I'm like, right, I'm back. I'm back. I know what i want to do, I know what my next movie is. I'm back.
I have motivation. I'm ready, I'm ready to work. I'm ready to go. And it's hard because, like any job, you need to have holidays.
So think about.
Any corporate job or you're a school teacher. You have you don't work on the weekends, but you also have a couple of weeks off here and there. And it's the same thing with social media. You need to have a couple of weeks off.
One hundred percent. And I think it's hard because no one's going to force that holiday on you. Like you. It's structured in a teaching job, but social media doesn't close, so you have to pick it yourself. But I think one of the really beautiful and positive things about it is that when you do want to use your influence in a positive way, you also do that for things
that you're really passionate about. And one of the campaigns you've been part of and that we both I think have been part of for a couple of years is the Witchery and OCRF white shirt campaign and we're both wearing the white shirts from this year. Every year they do an incredible I think it's the age seventeenth or eighteenth year of making this incredible seventeen years of making
these incredible bullhirts. They're different every year, and all of the funds go towards the ocire of incredible research around ovarian cancer. So how do you choose when you're going to be part of a campaign like this and why is it important to you? I know your health has been something that has been playing up over the past year and probably brings it more to the forefront of your mind. Well, I think.
If we don't have our health, we don't have anything. You could have absolutely, you know, all the different handbags you want in the world, or you got your dream job, you could have, you know, the most amazing house. But at the end of the day, if you don't have
your health, you don't have anything. And having a daughter as well, it was so important for me to be part of this campaign because it's so scary to think that there is no early detection test and less than half of the women who were diagnosed with ovarian cancer will survive the next five years. So the statistics are very confronting, and having a daughter, I think it's something that I know you want to create a better world,
a better future for them. The Witchery White Shirt campaign, as you mention, has been going on for seventeen years. They've raised seventeen million dollars and extraordinary research is really
progressing really fast. And when I attended the event in Sydney for the launch of the campaign, they had some amazing women speak and one of the women who was speaking, she was diagnosed when she was like young, like a little girl, and it's something that I've never even heard about, Like I didn't that was possible, yeah until just now, until now, And she said in a way she was grateful that she was so young that she didn't realize what was going on the impact, So that was an
unbelievable story. Then on the same stage, we had a mum who had two small kids same age as me, nine and eleven, and she had Christmas news, Eve was going out for a run and then all of a sudden, just one day, just didn't feel right. You know. She went to the doctor and they were like, you know, it's the festive season, and she's like, no, just something just didn't feel right. Her own intuition, she was just like, something just doesn't feel right. And she had over ering cancer.
And the treatment that the young woman was having when she was a little girl is pretty much the same treatment options that we have now. So it's scary to think that in all those years, how little we have progressed. And I think it's absolutely amazing that Witchery have this initiative and really pushing for some sort of detection test that we can at least have a chance to catch it early before it's too late.
Yeah, it definitely seems like one of those areas of her where you lose so much time by not even knowing that it's there, And there's if you don't have any education around symptoms of what to look for, or I think sometimes there aren't symptoms that present, and so why would you go and get an early detection test unless you knew that it existed and it was possible, like it's so hard when you're up against a situation where you can't refer people to a test because it
doesn't exist. So the research is so incredibly impactful, and I mean, seventeen million dollars goes so far in an area where otherwise I think without this campaign, there are so many women over the last seventeen years who wouldn't have heard of ovarian cancer or know anything about the statistics. So it is incredible that people like yourself are lending their platform to talking about it and being yeah, so generous with your platforms to make sure that people know
and can donate. So what are some of the ways that everyone can be part of it? Obviously the shirts one of the biggest ways.
YEAP so this year the shirt was designed with Victorian Woods. Mayu was the founder. Is an credible person and role model as well. I've been fortunate to be friends with her for quite quite a few years and her own mother is going through ovarian cancer.
At the moment.
I know that, yeah, so it's something that's very close
to her heart at the moment. So she has designed this beautiful shirt and it can be worn multiple ways, and the shirt you can be purchased instore online, with one hundred percent of the proceeds going to research in finding an early detection test because, as I mentioned prior, the fact that less than half the women diagnose will survive the next five years, that's an absolutely shocking statistic and just something that you know, we need to try and find a cure or a solution for.
Yeah. Absolutely well, I'll make sure to include the links. You can buy them online as well, guys, So I'll include the direct links and also links to more information about what the OCRF does in the show notes. And so grateful for the incredible work that Witchery, the OCRF, the tron Woods and Rosa and the ambassadors are doing this year. I have so many questions to ask you,
and we have so limited time. I feel like there's a million places that we could go, and particularly with motherhood, because I've followed you so closely and you were I always say I'm so grateful that I wasn't the first in my group because I feel like I could see a realistic view of everything that I could expect. I had no surprises, really like obviously your surprise when it happens, but I kind of had a good, realistic introduction. But you had kids so young, and you just seem to
juggle it so well, so I couldn't not ask. Do you always seem so immaculate? And I think that's one thing that we all love you so much for, is you're so put together, but so effortlessly. But do you ever have a feral grocery run moment? Or I know you have struggled over the last year, you had shingles recently and have been unwell, you just still seem to always look incredible. Do you ever just look like a
total bum? Absolutely? When this morning, when gal this morning on my coffee run, do you know what I wore? Tell me please? I had my pajama top on? Is it on your LTK? No, had my pajama top on? I put a I just put a hoodie over the.
Top of my pajamas.
Hot and but I was cute though you still look cute? How it hadn't washed my face? Nice, didn't even brush my teeth?
Stop it.
Yes, I don't believe you would leave the house of that running. And I walked down the street to my coffee shop. I was desperate for a coffee. You did not know.
I actually can't be if I said that aloud. But no, I was Feryl so glad.
That makes us all feel so much better. I just don't believe it. I just don't believe it.
No, Honestly, the majority of time I'm in my gym clothes. And every single year, my news resolution is to get dressed every.
Day, to get or shower every day.
Again, See, you're like you, but you did think I've been talking about how disgusting.
I know. I want you to talk about it. That's my favorite part.
No, because you're so busy, Like as a mum, you'll realize that when your kids are older, when you wake up. So I'll wake up at six six thirty in the morning and I just throw on some active were because it is you know, if I haven't made the lunchboxes, the lunchboxes the next day, do you.
Have to make lunchbox of course, of course, forget about when they get older. And then the breakfast.
Yeah, it's the breakfast, it's emptying the dishwasher, it's feeding my zoo of animals, zoo animals, zoo animals, like there's always so then I'll like quickly run to the gym, or I'll like to take my dog for a walk and then I'll come home, I'll jump on my emails, do a load of washing, and then before you know, I'm like, oh my god, it's two thirty. I need to do school pickup. So am I going to shower now? Or can I do another load of washing and then some more emails and shower tomorrow and.
Shower next week.
Or shower as I can at nighttime before jumping into bed. And so it's just prioritizing your time.
And not your hygiene so much awful. It brings me so much joy. We believe it. But it's the best fart.
It is so reassuring to hear that because you are so good at being put together, and we do see you at events and you just always look at baculate. It's very reassuring to hear that you can leave the house without brushing your teeth or showering. I love that. It's so But in order to say, for example, tips on how to look put together whilst being feral and not like, you know, hygienic, yeah.
You know, like give us a tip. I need them.
I always make sure I really look after my skin and my health. So it's kind of like, do you know what, if my skin feels good, I'm like, I don't need to be wearing makeup. I'll put on some sunscreen and that's it, and I'll slip back my hair and instantly you feel put together because you're like, do you know what? My skin looks great, My hair's out of my face, it's all clean. Everything just looks like neat and clean, even if it's.
Not even if I'm wearing my pajamas underneath.
But then as well, my wardrobe, My wardrobe is very simple, very basic, like all my active wads just like black. So there's never that moment of like, oh my god, it's like, where are my leggings to match this crop? I was like, no, everything just matches ghost together all the time. So the benefits of a black order, yeah, just things like that.
Yeah. I feel like you probably get this question a lot. I think you've answered it before. Speaking of your skin and your face. You have just the most perfect skin, and I know you you're really good at sharing that you do have flare up sometimes. Also when you had shingles, obviously your eye was really affected. And you're really good at showing us when you aren't necessarily feeling yourself. But one of the things that I always see in your question boxes asked is what do you get done? Do
you have botox filler? Are there any treatments you've tried and loved or something you've tried and didn't rate. I've heard a lot about Profilo recently and like, you're you're the expert. I mean, I feel like you are. Literally the your face looks like you've had died. I've had nothing. You've amazing, but it's the Asian genes and I'm like, but it will run out, and I'm going to need a list. And so I've already screenshot you just like so funny how much of your Q and as I've
screenshot about that sunscreen that your dermatologists recommended. There's a couple of things that you've recommended that I'm like, I need that. So now I'm like, what else do I need?
But I'm constantly educating myself about skin, and the thing with skin is I'm a very bit advocate that it needs to come from within as well. So every morning I drink a bone broth, do you yeah?
Everyone?
Instead of coffee, I'll have a bone broth in the morning and throughout the day and at night time, Like I love a bone broth celery juice as well. First in the morning.
Bone brother is so Russian of you.
Yeah, it's only in New like it's a recent thing.
Just start off.
Yeah, But so I think, like I really look after I just want to stress that I do look after my skin internally as well, because it's not just about you know, botox and fillers, because your skin texture does also play a super important role and they can't fix that now. They're not textural or glow related. That's like purely structural.
Yeah.
Yeah, And I think previously why I personally didn't speak about, you know, injectibles was because I think that a lot of the different brands that I would work with, you know, it's like they don't want you speaking about injectibles. They don't want you speaking that you have hair extensions because like, no, no, this serum is going to fix all your fine lines and wrinkles. And it's like, well it will be to a certain point, Like it's a combination of things. It
can't just be skincare. It can't just be botox, it can't just be diet. I mean it can be, but I believe that it needs to be everything these days, I'm like, you know what, if you don't want to work with me, you don't want to work.
With me, this is what I do. This is what I do. Like, I still love your product.
But if you don't want to work with me because I get a bit of botox done, well you know what, so be it. But in terms of what I've had done so botox, yes, I get regular botox.
I have had fillers done.
I don't love fillers because with fillers it takes a while for it to resolve. So what can happen is that your filler will pilon pilon pylon. Then it can migrate as well. And then that's when you start using like little lumps and bumps.
And you don't Yeah, they have that little filler pockets there.
The last time I had filler in my lips was like years ago, and I ended up having like little like nipple like like little nipples. It was not a good look. Then I had all disaster. Then I had all my filla dissolved.
So it doesn't dissolve ever itself. You have to get it five to six years.
Okay, that's if it hasn't migrated.
Yeah, at the top.
Before you have to actually get it dissolved, yes, which you can see when people's lips migrated. It's like, so then I had it dissolved. And do you remember that episode of The Kadashians Chris Janna, she had that reaction. That was me.
That was me.
My whole face was live from dissolving, from dissolving it. I can't I'll show you the video. Oh my god, please do. It was hilarious, like you do, just just go down event steroids and his to me.
And so I had a reaction to the Yeah, my poor kids.
Because I'm very protective with my daughter about not needing to change what you have. So I really want her to not be so focused on how she looks. And that's why I don't really talk about like botox or filler like she she's cluely now, like she sees girls with like big lips and stuff, and she's like.
It's my great. Yeah.
But so I'm very mindful. So at the time, I just said I got stung by Bee. Like any good loving parents, what moms will say, I'm stung by Bee. Yeah, I'm so glad I haven't cauite reached the stage where I can understand.
I'm not sure what happened.
I start making up, like yes, because I used to take them to appointments and they just just to sit watching on the TV.
I don't know, dad, but they don't know.
But now I would never take her to an appointment and like watch her see things get injected.
But I do not want to traumatize it, not yet yet like that.
Yeah, So that was my last dealing with filler. So I haven't had to filler for a really long time.
I can see why you just bit scared of it for now, let's just give it a break. I did get threading done.
Oh, the most painful experience.
Really, it's amazing. You literally get like threads in.
Yeah, it's like barbed wire threads is it wire?
It's like a little wire shark. Why?
And then they pull pool pool like I looked unbelievable, but the pain I could not do it again.
Really do they stay in there or do they put them? They seen there?
And then so for a few days afterwards, I could feel my face being listed.
It was the most bizarre experience.
And I have a pretty high pain threshold, and you still and I was still.
Like, oh my god, never again.
Wow.
The downtime, Like I was swollen for ages. Yeah, that's also the thing. Downtime. It's like, especially when you're filming. Yeah, I've got a film three days time. I can't be puffy yeah, or be stung yeah, be stuck. Melbourne a big problem. It's a big Yeah.
But that's like in terms of like injectibles or anything like harsh, like in terms of cosmic that's all. I've had done skin treatments. I've had the homage done again. Brutal really yeah, brutally not recommend it's like a tightening, skin tightening. And the doctor, my doctor was like, you know you're going to see the results in six months.
Well within that.
Six months, I've had botox, I've had filler.
How do I know, I've had threats. How do I know what actually works? Yeah? Also six months is too long, too long. Atally, I had a high food facial and they said, which is another ty. I think it's like a heating thing. There was no downtime for that one, but they were like in six months, whoa, And I was like, I can't. I don't know time.
The time is pasted it, I'm not gonna I want now yeah, I can't at least like within this week.
What's the motivation. Yeah, that's way too long for me.
Yeah, but no, I do regular facials. That's something that I really prioritize. Love laser genesis. I actually really want to do skin needling. I have a few friends who have.
Done a needling. I suppose you haven't done that. It's the pain you're not numbing cream. Okay, I must not have like my nerves must not be right at the surface because I didn't need any numbing leam at all, and I found it fine. But some people can't deal with it. It's it's probably like a two day downtime of not putting makeup on because your skin's quite red and tingly. But actual poor size, which again like injectibles, can't change that. The poor size.
Everything goes tight. Yeah, and it's it was beautiful. That's going to be my next thing, skin needling.
Yeah, I mean here you go. Yeah, Oh my gosh. Well again, I have a million questions I didn't get to but this has been such a joy. I would love to finish with two of our little fast fire questions. And that is just what you do for pure joy and also kind of escape, and especially when we do jobs that blend so much in with our lives, it's really hard to switch off because our personal life is kind of similar to the things that we share. What do you do for joy? Is that why you love reading?
I read to put me to sleep, That's why I read. Yeah, No, I do enjoy reading. But I would say a couple of my pure joys. One is playing like ball games with my kids sometimes, Like especially my son he's eight. He's such a silly boy and he just puts on these like accents and it's just he's just silly and he makes everything so light.
And my daughter.
As well, she's got a great personality.
I'm very lucky.
Like they're the kids that, like you just want to hang out with, you know, like, oh my god, my kids are like no, no, I love hanging out with my kids. They've got great personalities, Like they're hilarious, take after me. Obviously, people in the world like I made them that way, but know that we love love playing ball games together with them, and and yeah, that makes me happy. But then also I love doing things with
my girlfriends. We've just started doing like once a month, trying different groups.
I love that I saw that.
So we went to like the comedy festival the other week. We're going to go on a ghost to our Yeah, I really want to do fencing one day. Yeah yeah, Actually, Ange and I do you know Ang?
Have you met An? You know, the little Vietnamese.
She's always with me anyway, she's just moving to stay, which is so sad, but she's a big part of CZA.
She's one of our closest friends. And she's like ten years younger than us, but that shows my level of maturity that she's one of my closest friends. But our thing was for CZA. We'd book like for each other's birthdays or just every month, a random activity like let's go back and do gymnastics. All let's do we did like ceramics, and then we did what's that thing we're tufting where you like tuft those mats and like just
arts and crafts and random activity like fencing. We just go, I want to do taekwondo, like let's just do a class, and you don't do that as an adult anymore. And it's so nice when you just remember no one's stopping you, no.
One's stopping just a schedule, just a kids, your kids sporty ATV. That's your think that's stopping me my day to life schedule.
And also you thinking that it's silly, like I think we think if it's not, if it doesn't progress me in some way, or like it's a kid's activity, why would adults go to a bouncing castle or whatever? And it's like, why wouldn't you just do it? It's the best time. We're in amazed once, oh freak. And final question, what is your favorite quote? If you have one.
One quote that I always reflect on when it comes to work in business is this hockey quote.
I don't know if you've heard of it. I'm sure you would have heard of it.
I'm probably going to mess it up because it's memory.
No, but it's something along the lines of.
Don't go where the puck is going, go with a puck is going to go next.
I love that. Yeah.
So in short form, yeah, just all you're always trying to be a few steps ahead because by the time people have caught up to especially in the line of work that we do, you constantly need to be thinking ahead. Yeah, so don't do what everyone's doing. Now, do what everyone's going to be wanting to do next.
Oh my gosh, and you're the queen of that. I feel like that's been your entire career, and I've found that has always been really important in my life until motherhood, where the space of my brain that usually has space to think that many steps ahead has just been like a sleep for a little while. I'm waiting for it to wake back up, and I think I'm getting there.
But that's incredible advice. And thank you so much for being so generous and open, and in the like thirty something years that we've known each other, every time I see you, I love you more and more and I'm so grateful for your time today. Thank Youwan, congrats on the podcast. It's amazing. Thanks for having me. Thank you. This was so much fun. Oh my gosh. Reliving those glory days brings me so much joy. But also, I just love Rosa Moore. Every time I speak with her.
She's honestly one of the most perfectly groomed, beautifully presented people I've ever met. But I love how easy she is to talk to. And I know it sounds so cliche, but just so down to earth. It's such a privilege to share parts of people you don't see as much, and she was just so open with us. So if you did enjoy especially any of the throwbacks, if you identified with any of those, please do share the episode, tagging at Rosalia Underscore Russian and Us to thank her
for her time and openness. And of course, the links to the witchery white shirt are in the show notes, along with links to Rosa's pages. I also hope you all had a beautiful Mother's Day. To those who celebrate, I have some seize the baby thoughts brewing that didn't get published on time, but will be coming your way, and sending all my love to those who find it a difficult day to celebrate, especially the mothers to be. I have been there and hold you all in my heart.
I'll cut myself off there because I could go on forever, but hope you are having a beautiful week and are seizing your yate