Anjeza lives in Milan, Italy, is the operations manager for a luxury goods company, a freelance writer for fashion and luxury travel magazines and the creator and writer for The Dolls Factory. From the corporate world to the fashion industry,  check out her story below!

iG: Where did the idea for your blog come from?

Anjeza: I have always been blogging, mainly keeping a personal diary of photos of events and trips, which wasn’t shared publicly. After I came from a study experience in Spain I had some extra time left and then I decided to write publicly and opened The Dolls Factory. It was initially meant to share the events and exhibitions in Milan Given that Milan is one of the fashion capitals of the world, it came to be a fashion blog due to many fashion oriented events in Milan.

iG: Who is you blog for and what can readers expect?

Anjeza : My blog is like a child who is growing day after day trying to find out what is he going to be when he grows up. I have always seen it as a work in progress and I don’t follow an editorial line. The main rule is that the center of the blog shouldn’t be me but what is happening around me. I’ve been sharing fashion news with an opinionated writing.

iG: I read on your about page that you worked in the ‘corporate world’ prior to fashion; talk a little about the transition.

Anjeza : The transition came as a decision made at a point where I embraced the philosophy ‘You have to love what you do’. I have an education in Business Management so for sure I wasn’t going to be a designer or stylist, so I just looked out there to put my skills in the use of what I loved doing, and what I loved was working in the fashion industry. I had no expectations of having the easy way just because from the outside the fashion world looks sparkling. People always forget that what drives whatever industry is the bottom line of money making. So let it be banking or designing bags there is a lot of work to be done and there is no easy job.

iG: What was the hardest part about the transition?

Anjeza : The hardest part has been the insecurity that you feel when you start making changes in your career path. You don’t know what is going to happen; if you are going to make it, mainly because you show a curriculum with a complete different path and you hope you’ll convince people that you are serious about the decision. Many people have misconceptions about the fashion industry; they think it is a world of freebies and parties. And people working in the fashion industry are used to external people who act like ‘fans’.  Showing that you are not a ‘fan’ but that you can actually bring an added value to table is the first step in undertaking a career in fashion.

iG: What keeps you motivated to continue to supply new content and update your blog?

Anjeza: My blog is my space online. Instead of staying hours on Facebook checking friends what-abouts [sic] I put my free time in the blog. Moreover the fan base that the blog has built during this year (with 15.000 unique readers and millions of page views in one year) makes me write more willingly. I appreciate every single comment and critic. Given that my blog is not my source of income I feel free on what I write and I don’t feel any pressure on accepting collaborations with brands that I don’t feel strongly about. This makes the blog be a mirror of my own vision.

iG: How would you describe your style?

Anjeza: My style has changed very much through the years. As a teenager I’ve had my fair share of pink hair and statement shirts with mottos like ‘Girls with brains’ etc . When I moved to Milan I had the opportunity to get more information about trends, styles and subcultures, which made me find my own style, fashion piece by fashion piece. Now I can easily go from romantic looks to punk chic with no effort. It depends on the mood and the place that I’m about to go, but I always try to add a piece of accessory which will stand out.

iG: What motto do you live by, what inspires you?

Anjeza : ‘Happiness depends upon ourselves.’ – Aristotle

This is my motto, and this doesn’t regard just our careers but love, friends; every part of our lives. Whatever doesn’t make me happy gets immediately written-off from my life and I never look back.

iG: What does inner glam mean to you?

Anjeza : Inner glam is what comes out after we have gone crazy on hormones in our teenage years, and find the women inside us. (smile)

iG: What advice would you give to women who may not know who they are or may rely heavily on media influencing their behavior or style?

Anjeza : Finding our style is like finding out what food we like. They have to keep on trying and experimenting with different looks and styles. This needs to be done early in our twenties, this is the time that we’ll be forgiven for wearing overalls, dying our hair blue or going around town with UGG boots. After we have had our good share of disapproving looks we’ll find our way. It is very important to try the trends that we see in the media, but not follow them blindly. Once you see that high waisted skirts make your legs look longer and slimmer , keep on using them even if the runway shows tell you that shouldn’t.

iG: What would be your advice for someone with an entrepreneurial spirit, what suggestions or tips would you give them on their journey to pursuing their dreams?

Anjeza : Being an entrepreneur is harder than working in the corporate world. You have no working timetable; no secured income at the end of the month. So someone who wants to persue a dream and has a project needs to have a lot of internal strength, be very passionate about their project and be ready to fail and try again.

iG: If readers only get one thing from your blog, what is it that you would want them to get?

Anjeza :I want them to see the behind the scenes of the fashion world. My blog isn’t there to throw in your face my designer bags and shoes. I want readers to follow the events and get to know more about what they are wearing and why. I will quote the scene from The Devil Wears Prada where Anna Wintour oops Miranda Presley was trying to choose between two apparently similar belts and Andy snickers because she thinks they look exactly the same.

‘... that lumpy blue sweater, for instance because you’re trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don’t know is that that sweater is not just blue, it’s not turquoise. It’s not lapis. It’s actually cerulean. And you’re also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves Saint Laurent… wasn’t it who showed cerulean military jackets? I think we need a jacket here. And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers. And then it, uh, filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic Casual Corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and it’s sort of comical how you think that you’ve made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you’re wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room from a pile of stuff.’

Ok maybe this was a little bit exaggerated.

iG: Anything interesting that readers may not know about you?

Anjeza: The building I live in and where I blog from was in the late 70s the factory where Barbies were made. That’s why my blog is called The Dolls Factory, it is actually the name of the building.

Check out Anjeza’s blog The Dolls Factory, and follow on Facebook or Twitter! Have a question for Anjeza? Shoot an email to dollsfactoryblog@gmail.com.

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