#VESTICollective : Creative Conversations Series 01

BRONIJA ALES

Slovenian beauty Bronija Ales narrates her story of how having a global and multi-cultural background helped her diversify not only as a model but now as a co-founder of a design art studio based in the Philippines. Discover the colorful world of influences that shaped her views on art, business, and creativity. Read on to ride along with her journey.

What is ‘Art’ in terms of your chosen career?

What I really like about modeling is expressing myself silently. All the emotions are conveyed in my eyes, the way I move, the connection I have with the photographers. It is like silent acting and so the interpretation of the picture is up to the individual.

Same as with other forms of art, it allows you to dream and gives you an ability to escape into a different reality.

How does creativity lead your life?

Since I was young I was always drawn to fashion and expressing myself through clothes. I could spend hours watching fashion shows or old movies and dream about the world- that was only a dream then.

Today, creativity reflects in my current choice of career as a model and owning a design art studio, Brik by Brik, where we conceptualize and execute art for commercial and residential projects.

Where and how do you get inspired?

Most of my inspiration comes from following different designers on IG and platforms such as Vogue Runway for staying up to date on newest collections and fashion season, Black Swan for negotiations, Tom Bilyeu for self-improvement. For few years now I was interested in different kinds of negotiations. So my first choice was a book by Chris Voss – Never Split The Difference. Easy read and incredibly well structured with great examples from his career as an FBI hostage negotiator. There are many techniques anyone can apply and I must say this book and his website, Black Swan, made great improvements in my work.

I am very fortunate being able to travel for work. So it would be quite hard to select just one favorite city. More than that, there are few places that left a great impact on me and one of them was Humayun’s Tomb in New Delhi, India. Istanbul and Bosporus ( Turkey ) are magical too. If you have a chance to visit it with a local friend as they can show you authentic places and best places where they serve amazing Turkish food. My favourite one is Dolma or Sarma - stuffed vine or cabbage leaves with vegetables or meat.

I don’t know a person who wouldn’t love Japan. Since I was young I was a great enthusiast of its culture and traditions and I always find myself amazed whenever I have a chance to travel there. My favourite cities are Nara and Tokyo.

During quarantine I spent a lot of time reading books on self- improvement and different books on topics that I was always interested in and that are closely tied to business. First book that I would highly recommend to anyone is MINDSET by Carol S. Dweck. This is one of the books that should be a good foundation on which everything else is built on. Another book I’ve read in one breath is Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Dr. Joe Dispenza.

For staying motivated, the above mentioned book, MINDSET, had a great impact on me. The realization and importance of having growth mindset and that anything can be achievable and improved through disciplined practice is key. What works great for me is writing down and making a list of what needs to be done the night before. I also make sure that I dedicate time for reading every day and working on new skills. I assessed many habits during quarantine and I am trying to improve or replace with new ones that will make me more productive and accomplish the goals I have.

Whenever I feel homesick, I listen to Balkan singers, from old rock bands such as Plavi Orkestar, Prljavo Kazaliste, to newer singers, such as Nikolija, Aca Lukas, Magla Bend to name the few . Being half Serbian, this is also the easiest ways for me to feel connected to my roots and culture while I am away. I love Ibrahim Maalouf - he is an incredible Lebanese jazz trumpeter and composer. Few of his songs I find incredible are Beirut, Red & Black Light and True Sorry.

Bronija Ales’ sample works

In this current global crisis, what do you think is the importance of being a creative?

Being creative is very personal. Before the pandemic, everybody was forced to collaborate as a matter of profession. Given the lockdown, now may be the only time where we can focus undistracted on a task of our choice. This can mean experimentation with different media or re-discovering the joy of creating for ourselves. Aside from being a practice that might keep people mentally healthy during the pandemic, it is also the best time for skill acquisition in our own creative practice.

What do you hope to see and accomplish in the near future?

Primarily I am grateful for health of all my loved ones, everything else on business plan will follow eventually. In modeling I haven’t planned anything since many shoots are postponed for later time. When it comes to my company, Brik by Brik Company, we are hoping to successfully graduate projects that are continuing and for a successful digital rebrand that will happen in next few weeks.

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#VESTICollective

Name: Bronija Ales

Work: Model & Co-Founder Brik by Brik Design Art Studio

Location: Makati, Philippines

Instagram: @bronija

Star Sign: Taurus

Favorite Movie: La Grande Belleza by Paolo Sorrentino

A Career Highlight: To create a true dream moment takes a lot of people and effort and happens one too little times. When looking at a beautiful pictures as an outcome, I often associate it with people that were working on a project/ shoot and the great emotions I felt at the time. I would say highlight would be people and incredible places I traveled to, and pictures are here to remind me of the that time.

Contact: bronijaales@hotmail.com

Bronija Ales’ work for VESTI