Author Archives: Emily Facoory

We all know the benefits of yoga and how Pilates can help you maintain a trim core but if you’re looking to diversify your fitness routine then take a look at these genius ideas. They will add that much needed fun factor into your life all the while benefiting your body.

As Christina Aguilera famously said, ‘show me how you Burlesque.’ Burlesque can be defined as a style in drama that mocks or imitates a subject, a common style is the vintage striptease made famous by Dita Von Teese. The Bombshell Burlesque Academy located on Edward Street in the city, focuses on that specific style, with elements of dance, circus, narrative and comedy fused together to create a performance. If you’re looking for something a bit special to add to your humdrum fitness routine then Burlesque is perfect!

Were you always jealous that your brother got to try karate when you did ballet, well now’s your chance to give it a go. The ancient art will not only build on fitness and core strength but will also help with confidence and pushing through your physical and mental boundaries. Give Brisbane Goju Karate or Bonsai Karate a go.

If you’ve always dreamed of being a coordinated human being on the dance floor then now’s your chance. Whether it be hip hop, ballet, jazz or tap, whatever takes your fancy, you can now become an expert of sorts. Try Mad Dance House near The Queen Street Mall or Dancecorp located near Woolloongabba.

Not for the faint hearted, Roller Derby combines roller skating with what can be considered as low level violence. With skaters using only their bodies to push the opposite team’s main skater down. This sport contains a lot of thrills and spills, but you’ll end up having heaps of fun while getting a wicked leg workout. Visit Brisbane City Rollers or Northside Rollers for more information on how to join.

Ever dreamt of scaling mountains and becoming a fearless adventurer, well you can try the next best thing. Rock Climbing will not only provide you with strength and stamina but it’s a great activity to do with friends or as a solo activity, climbing rocks while you contemplate life. Try Urban Climb West End or Rocksports at Fortitude Valley.

Published on January 12, 2018 on She Society

Feel like you’re not doing enough for the environment? Well just by doing a simple web search you can help plant a tree that will contribute towards a range of global issues. Such as the fight against climate change, deforestation and the chance to provide much needed nutrition, employment, education, medical assistance and political as well as economic stability.

Ecosia works by planting a tree every time someone makes a web search in Ecosia’s own unique browser. The Ecosia community plants a tree every 1.7 seconds and as of today have already planted over 17 million trees, with their number constantly on the rise.

They have also announced their mission to plant 1 billlion trees by 2020.

Considering that worldwide, the livelihood of 1.6 billion people depend on forests, its an extremely important cause to get behind as trees create oxygen, and I’m not sure if you’ve noticed but we kind of desperately need it to breathe. They also clean the air by filtering out pollutant gases.

Ecosia has helped many struggling areas of the world by helping to decrease the chance of deforestation. One example was the region of Burkina Faso, which Ecosia is helping to stop the increase of desert conditions and to make their land fertile again, helping to bring back life and economic gain to the region.

Nicaragua has also experienced heavy deforestation due to the area being lined with volcanos. By planting trees, Ecosia has helped the region to avoid further soil erosion, and is helping to restore water sources.

So we advise you to change your browser and take joy in the fact that every time you search for something on the web that you are contributing to a wider and very important cause.

Published on December 7, 2017 on She Society

With summer well and truly in full swing, we have made a list with all our new favourite products that have helped us to beat the heat and enjoy these scorching hot summer days. We hope these beauty’s will help you survive the summer months ahead.

With this intense summer heat, many people are prone to the uncomfortable feeling of chafing, especially…in our shoes, as the sweat cultivates into the closed off space causing blisters, sores and infections.

Blister Balm have come to our rescue and have created the ultimate spot-relief balm to combat shoe chafing and to free your tootsies from pain. Ideal for men, women and children alike, Blister Balm’s unique waxy formulation is applied to high-friction areas of the feet, such as toes, heels, instep and outstep, in order to ease discomfort, protect from infection and repair skin.

Providing intense relief for a range of footwear styles, including lace-ups, heels, boots and runners, Blister Balm is housed in a convenient travel-friendly stick for easy use at the office, gym or beach.

Let me guess, you didn’t apply sunscreen and now you’re completely burnt from your day at the beach. While you may wince in pain now, you’ll be sighing with relief when you apply Burnaid Sunburn Gel Spray. Created with aloe vera and Australian melaleuca oil, the spray helps to cool the skin to reduce pain and redness and rehydrates to minimise peeling.

Your welcome! We just found a product that lightly tans your skin while firming it to give you less noticeable cellulite marks. Is this not the holy grail moisturiser you’ve been looking for? Jergens Natural Glow + Firming Daily Moisturiser has taken us by surprise by creating a natural-looking tan with no disgusting odour. It’s also clinically proven to reduce the appearance of cellulite in as little as 7 days.

Are you a smoothie fanatic thats feeling the urge to upgrade and supercharge your daily smoothies? Then these Smoothie Bombs will be perfect for you, full of natural, healthy ingredients that will keep you refreshed all summer long.

By crumbling one pre-portioned Smoothie Bomb, adding a piece of fruit, and either water or milk and then blending, you will have created a nutritional and flavour boosted smoothie. All Australian made and created by a nutritionist, Smoothie Bombs also boast being kid and pregnancy friendly, vegan and gluten free, with no palm oil.

Published on December 8, 2017 on She Society

Christie Murray from Christie Millinery found her love for millinery by chance after walking into a store. “I actually came across a millinery shop and it was a totally instinctive thing, like I just walked into this shop and was just sort of left speechless about what was around me.”

“I couldn’t describe why but I just sort of got lost in the shop and ever since then I’ve had this feeling that it was what I was meant to do. I still went and did my degree and travelled and did all that stuff but I still had that same bubbly feeling when I thought of millinery.”

Christie said that she had to do justice to this gut feeling that she had so she moved to Melbourne and did a course in millinery. She ended up becoming a physio but always knew that millinery was what she was meant to do.

After deciding to go out on her own Christie reached out to Creative Enterprises Australia, a creative co working space that runs out of QUT campus. “It’s a big hub of small creative businesses and they have an area that’s dedicated to fashion businesses and have a program that helps people to launch their own businesses.”

Christie was the first milliner to be accepted into their program.

“From a business perspective the biggest lesson I have learnt is the power of your brand and how important it is to be true to what you’re about with every decision you make as a business. It’s a constant evolution, you’re trying to find out who you are and what you’re about but the thing about really good brands is that they have this core DNA to who they are. Whether it be words or feelings or an aesthetic or a design type, but everything you do has to speak to that brand.”

One of her career highlights include a collaboration with Australian label Camilla last year, where Christie made headwear for all their stores around Australia and for David Jones.

Her plans for the future include breaking into the bridal market. “At the moment I’m shifting my focus from fashion to bridal headwear, I’m in the middle of designing a new manufacturing process of bridal headwear that combines traditional millinery headwear, sort of couture elements with modern manufacturing processes. My goal is to bring a modern edge to a traditional art form.”

Christie was also lucky enough to be approached by Vogue to do headwear for the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival. She designed 5 different headwear pieces with all of them saying Vogue, each made of different mediums. One was made of feathers, one was made from a 3D printed Vogue in script writing with Swarovski crystals all over it and one 3D printed Vogue lit up with LED lights.

“The coolest thing was that I had no idea how they were styling the show, but the most amazing thing was that just as the show was about to start all the lights went out and Madonna’s Vogue song came on, all these strobe lights started going around and this model came out on the runway. She was wearing just my Vogue headpiece lit up, but everything else was dark and as a designer that’s kind of a dream.”

Christie’s favourite places in Brisbane include, Bakers Arms in Woolloongabba, New Farm Park, Mount Coot-tha, and hiking in D’Aguilar National Forest.

Her three words to describe Brisbane are, eclectic, the perfect size and great weather.

Published on November 29, 2017 on She Society

Australian country music singer, songwriter Amber Lawrence’s voice has been gracing our radio stations for the past decade, singing her way to numerous awards and number one spots on the country music charts. But this time around Amber has decided to get fully into the Christmas spirit by releasing a children’s Christmas themed album called Aussie Aussie Christmas, full of cheery, fun tracks that will have the kids singing along in the car.

“I had really enjoyed doing the kids music as a bit of a side project, so I just wanted to release another project and so I just thought what a better time to release music for kids than Christmas,” Amber said.

“For me that’s the most fun I have as a songwriter and I think with kids songs you just have to have fun, you don’t have to over think it. They don’t think whats the deep and meaningful of this, they just want a song that will make you sing along and laugh and that’s what we did, it was really fun.”

While next year Amber will be focusing on her own original music. “This year was about the collaboration with Travis Collins and doing another kids album and I guess I just squeezed it in by getting it out for Christmas.”

Amber’s favourite Christmas tradition always includes either a blowup pool or an in the ground backyard pool, having a competition over who can do the biggest bomb dives.

Nominated for a whopping six Golden Guitars last month, Amber said that to get six was just mind blowing.

“It’s quite gradual, because they read out the nominations one by one, so there’s one nomination and then there’s two and then there’s three and you start thinking I’ll be pretty happy if it’s just three. Then it’s four and by the time that hour of announcements is up, you go hang on a minute how many was that,” Amber said.

“Previous to that the most I had was three nominations so to have six is just a real validation for the song and the writing and all the effort that went into it.”

Starting in her early twenties, Amber’s journey in the music industry has been long lasting for 15 years, after initially deciding to follow her passion and leave her accounting job behind. “My music was my passion and when music, something that I loved doing became viable to have a career in, I had to make the decision and I couldn’t juggle both. It was kind of an easy decision to pick the one that actually made me happy as opposed to one that made me just get a pay check and not necessarily drive my excitement and passion, so it was a pretty easy choice,” Amber said.

Her plans for next year include writing and releasing her 6th studio album, she said that she’s not entirely sure on the theme but that it could revolve around stories about Australian people, events and characters.

Published on December 1, 2017 on She Society

Katrina Ryan is the chef and co-owner of The Golden Pig Cooking School in Newstead. She shares her favourite recipes and Christmas tips for a successful holiday season.

Her favourite Christmas meal is not one that you would certainly expect. Katrina said that it was “the Christmas lunch when I found an antique ring that I had lost. I bit down on something very hard in a slice of walnut and quince jelly tart and it was the ring! It had come off when I was making the pastry a couple of weeks before. My husband had originally given it to me for Christmas when we first met. Very serendipitous!”

If you are looking for some tips to help make Christmas cooking that little bit easier, Katrina has some great ones. “Prepare as much as you can the day before, all sauces, desserts such as berry/cherry trifles and peel, bone and marinate any meat or seafood. You want to spend the morning lounging around in pyjamas opening presents!”

A love of eating and dining in restaurants as a child created Katrina’s passion for food and guided her to become a chef.

Before deciding to start up a cooking school, Katrina taught at Spirit House for many years as well as undertaking regular visits to teach at Sticky Rice Cooking School in Adelaide. “When we moved to Brisbane in 2012, I wanted to utilise my skills and create a school that offered a wide variety of lessons in different cuisines and skills as well as wine and beer education.”

A signature dish that she always seems to come back to is a salad of tea smoked salmon with fresh figs, labneh and walnuts finished with a drizzle of vincotto. While her most refreshing meal for the summer months include a Thai watermelon salad with fresh coconut, mint, coriander, lemongrass & sticky pork.

Her cooking philosophy is to “always taste everything and think about the balance of the dish or dishes that you serve together. A delicious meal has varying textures and balance between sweet, sour, salty and bitter, wet and dry, oily/heavy and light and fresh.”

The best piece of advice she received was from Andy Davies, now Head Chef at Locale, Noosa. “He taught me very early on in the kitchen to do everything as fast as you can. It holds you in good stead when you are flat out busy.

“I’m a strong believer in the adage, ‘Don’t put off until tomorrow what can be done today,’ it keeps me focused and productive.”

While the biggest lesson Katrina has learn’t over the years is “that there is no right way to do anything and to be open to different techniques and approaches.” Katrina’s proudest moment was when she was asked by prominent Australian chef Neil Perry to be his head chef at Rockpool in 1988.

Her favourite spots for a good meal in Brisbane include the Birds Nest in the Valley, Becofinos for pizza, Maru Korean BBQ and Arlette’s kitchen in Albion for a beautifully cooked classic bistro style meal.

Published on December 6, 2017 on She Society

Vulcana Women’s Circus are set to present two shows in partnership with Brisbane Powerhouse, Monsteria and The Modern Guide to Heroism and Sidekickery.

Monsteria revolves around the ideas of identity and feminine bodies, using circus to portray extreme strength, flexibility and contortion. According to Celia White, artistic director, “when the body can be twisted in unexpected ways, or turn upside down or seemingly inside out it gives us a palate of movement that can express startling, surprising, strange or ridiculous images that are fun to play with and hopefully engaging for audiences to try and untangle.”

Wanting to be in control of how bodies are being watched and to challenge the watcher by changing expectations. “Circus often sexualises or eroticises the performing women’s body and Monsteria is aiming to confound that while also owning and celebrating whatever sexuality is expressed,” Celia said.

While The Modern Guide to Heroism and Sidekickery deals with the common tropes and stereotypes that are prevalent in today’s representations of super heroes. Creator and performer, Michelle Zahner wants to ask the real questions that never seem to get answered.

Vulcana Women’s Circus are determined to empower individuals and to use the traditions of inclusiveness, strength, excitement and daring. Working with a wide range of creative people, Vulcana also focuses specifically on creating spaces for women, deaf and disabled people, LGBTIQ communities and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities.

Director of Vulcana, Celia White came to performance through a street theatre company in Western Australia called Desperate Measures, but found that circus was a really exciting way of engaging audiences and creating a wow factor.

“It’s also about the potential to become an artist. For people to be able to use what they have learnt to create either fun or entertaining circus theatre performances.”

“It’s fantastic seeing strong women on stage,it’s inspiring and I think it challenges the way people think, that women are not just there to be sexualised objects. Sometimes circus can be used in that way, look at that woman, she’s so bendy and flexible and she’s got a beautiful body.”

“While we’re more interested in the circus where there are real bodies that are strong and healthy, they may be big, they may be small. But it doesn’t matter, they are strong and they have something to say,” Celia said.

According to Celia, theatre is a fantastic way to challenge stereotypes of women. “Because the voice or body of the woman performer has primacy in the theatre, all focus is on the performer and her “word” is left to resonate. It is a perfect vehicle for women to articulate their reality and present images of women alternative to those in popular culture where women’s voice are still struggling to be heard clearly.”

“It is changing but there is still a strong resistance to diversity of representation for people who identify as women without potential condemnation and unasked for sexualisation. How a woman represents herself should be her decision but the rules are still far too proscriptive,” Celia said.

Vulcana also offers classes all year round for women to come and learn new skills, we also offer mentorships, incubators and residencies. “Supporting women to have confidence in themselves to apply for funding, giving them skills to speak the language of funding processes and supporting them with administrative resources are other strategies for supporting women circus artists,” Celia said.

With big plans for 2018, Vulcana will also present works at other Brisbane Powerhouse Festivals, MELT and Wonderland again, a cabaret in July, as well as producing a new work, As If No-one Is Watching, a powerful exchange between emerging circus performers and mature aged dancers from WaW Dance.

Published on November 21, 2017 on She Society

Jane Anderson is Australia’s leading personal branding expert, helping professionals and organisations build trust-based, high-impact communication with their staff and customers. Moving from human resources to leadership development and career counselling, helping people was always at the forefront for Jane.

“What I noticed was that most of my time was spent teaching people how to communicate well and market themselves effectively and be clear about their strengths, their weaknesses, and what they do really well.”

Her advice for women who are wanting to start their own business sticks to an honest approach. “It’s harder than you think, you really need to be able to sell and even if you don’t know how to sell, you need to go and learn. The truth is, if you know how to package what you’ve got and it’s relevant and you know how to sell, the dollars will come. So, you have to push harder than what you think and learn how to sell.”

“My advice to influencers is to really tap into the problems and fears that your customers have and the people who are connected to you. So, whether it’s through social media or the following on your blog, focus on your customers, don’t focus on you. Focus on what it is and develop a compassion and empathy for those people who are connected and following you. Then, you can provide your insight and help them and educate them to become the best that they can be.”

“What drives me is seeing people who have incredible skills, knowledge and expertise, in particular women who have the ability to create a practice that is commercially smart and to be able to help them see how amazing they are.”

“Constantly struggling with self doubt, the biggest lesson Jane said that she learn’t was the importance of confidence. “Whilst I always felt like I had a contribution to make, I just felt when I worked in corporate roles that, because I was quiet, I wasn’t as valued or my own confidence really held me back.”

“Now, I think I’m on the other side but having been through lots of tough challenges, your confidence gets really knocked and just trying to work on how to build that up has definitely been the biggest lesson for me.”

‘Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure and it is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who are you to be brilliant and, what’s the rest of it, by letting our light shine we give others permission to do the same,‘ By Marianne Williamson.

“I think that quote is really quite extraordinary, it’s always stuck with me because we share the same birthday, and I felt like that quote really resonates with me and what I think we’re all put here on this planet to do.”

Three words to describe Brisbane: accessible, great lifestyle and innovative.

Published on November 22, 2017 on She Society

Defined as a cheeky, fearless and strong all-female circus production, Resting B*tch Face is sure to resonate with women of every generation. The circus production is set on tackling stereotypes and examining the social expectations that are put upon women every single day. SheBrisbane chatted with two of the performers behind the show, Maddy Grant and Shannon Egans.

Supported by Vulcana Women’s Circus, Maddy and Shannon hope that audience members have fun seeing Resting B*tch Face but that they also leave with some food for thought. “It’s a pretty funny, quirky show, we’re tackling some serious topics, like aging, beauty standards and biological clocks, but it’s in a really kind of comedic way.”

The resting b*tch face phenomenon has translated into a common expression now, a sort of nod to strong and powerful women. “I like that it has become more well known, people have become more and more aware of the expectations women are facing, like we are constantly being forced to smile and to be easy going.”

“I think that now more people are becoming aware of these expectations, it’s kind of taken off, like we know about it, we have a name for it and I know some people are adopting and reclaiming the title,” Maddy said.

Why circus performance was their chosen outlet for the show was because of the strength it takes. “With circus you have to be really strong, you’re putting yourself on display using your body in a powerful way and I think women are discouraged from doing that and being strong. So circus is an amazing tool for becoming more comfortable in yourself and your body.”

Removing these expectations is an important part of the show and its main message. “We need to keep having these conversations and keep making art and challenging and having dialogue around these things wherever we can.”

“It needs to start with the arts in Australia and internationally recognising that they have, not just a women problem but a colour issue as well as a trans and non gendered issue. So the first step for us as white women with well paid jobs, is to make sure that we make space for people who don’t have the same advantages that we do,” Shannon said.

“We’re not at the top of the circus heap because we are not white men, but we are higher up the ladder than other people and that’s the same across the performing arts. So I think the very first step is the acknowledgement that we need to lift everyone up to the same level and listen to those voices and to not try and speak for those people but to advocate when they ask us to. Then I think the discussion can start about making that change on a broader level.”

As they say, “smiling gives you wrinkles, resting bitch face keeps you pretty.”

Published on November 23, 2017 on She Society