#WeeklyDisruptor: Tiffany Lui, Founder of LeftBanked

Each week at Embrace Disruption we introduce you to an influential person in the entrepreneurial, digital, blogger, arts, culture, film, or media world! Every Thursday, you can check back at EDPR to find out who we think is particularly amazing at ‘embracing disruption’ within their respective industries.

This week, we’d like to introduce you to Tiffany, an aspiring luxury travel and lifestyle PR pro and founder of LeftBanked, a luxury travel blog.

What’s your official job title, and where did you go to school?

I went to Ryerson University to study Fashion Communications, and I just graduated last year. I am currently a luxury lifestyle & travel blogger, and I also do freelance PR and marketing (mostly focused on the beauty industry at the moment).

Elevator pitch. Describe yourself in a nutshell (or sea shell, or any shell for that matter).

My name is Tiffany. I am 23 years old, and I live in downtown Toronto. My interests include travel, luxury, fashion, and design. I hope to get a career in any of these industries and someday move to Paris, my favourite city in the world!

Why did you pursue what you’re doing now? What was the inspiration?

I have been a blogger for several years now (started in 2008). I began my personal blog when I moved out to live on my own, as a way to document my new life. My blog grew and eventually I started focusing more on it as a way to generate extra income and make contacts in the industry. After I graduated from studying Fashion, I still had no idea what I wanted to do. I took a couple PR internships (both agency and in-house), and realized I really enjoyed it. Now I do it freelance and hope to continue with it as a long-term career.

What is the best part of your day-to-day?

I love working for myself and setting my own hours. I also really enjoy the industries I’m in so it doesn’t feel like a job. Part of my (PR) job involves social media for a beauty company so I spend a lot of time researching makeup trends, products, articles, etc. On the blogging side, I love taking photographs, attending events and being able to work with brands that I love.

What’s the most challenging?

The most challenging is probably the travel blogging. I love it but at the end of each day on vacations, I need to dedicate a few hours to “work” – reviewing hotels/restaurants, resizing and editing photos, etc when I’d rather be out exploring the cities as much as I can.

If you took a look in the cliché crystal ball, what do you see for yourself?

I see myself travelling around the world, living in a new city every couple years or so before living permanently in Paris.

How do you embrace disruption in your work and personal life?

I embrace disruption by constantly telling myself that every challenge would be a lesson and setbacks/difficulties will pass with time. I just focus on my end goal and never give up until its achieved.

What is the most memorable moment in your career?

The most memorable moment so far was probably last year when I took a few weeks’ trip to Europe by myself. At that time I shifted my blog to more of a travel blog (I was able to make a lot of contacts in the industry and work with several travel brands when I was there), and realized I wanted to pursue blogging as a career as well.

Tell us what you see yourself doing at 65 years old.

I hope to be living in Paris by that time & possibly retired.

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