> COVER STORY / YOU
WITH SWIMMING ARCHITECT, KARLIE PRICE
At the start of this year I put it out there to launch my first shop by year’s end. I have been selling my own label of shirts and dresses online for four years now and it was about time I got my brand out there in front of more women. How or when, I had no idea – I just knew it was my intention to grow the business. Eight weeks ago, changes occurred with my husband’s job, which gave us the freedom to move back to Sydney from Perth where we were living. I thought this was my opportunity to start my store, to move across country and set up shop. We found a place in Sydney and secured a shop not knowing if this was the right thing or the right time or the right price. Sometimes you feel the fear and you do it anyway. Against other people’s concerns that retail is down and it’s a bad idea to open your own store, that it’s risky, that it may not work – I’ve put myself out there, followed my dreams and I’m giving it a go. It’s been a complete shake up to my little old life in Perth. Sydney’s faster, bigger, louder and prouder and you have to keep moving or you’ll get crushed. Feeling completely overwhelmed with the massive task ahead of fit out, design, set up etc, I was feeling defeated, as though I’d made a mistake; that this wasn’t the right move. I was doubting my capability. I then stumbled upon a newsagency and saw Issue 23 [of The Collective] beaming at me. It’s so refreshing to know you are not alone and it’s people like us that shake the system, break the rules and make magic happen. By the time your next issue comes out, the shop in Balmain will be open.
> BE THE STORY-TELLER
WITH JENNIE GEISKER
Channel swimming is arguable the most unglamorous sport in the world. We purposefully gain weight in order to achieve our goal and prevent death due to hypothermia. It is also a lonely sport. Hundreds of hours are spent swimming alone in pools, lakes and oceans in order to prepare the body and mind for spending up to 16 hours alone in the Channel. Few swimmers have media coverage or sponsorship. For most of us, like myself, it is a personal accomplishment that drives us forward and motivates us to achieve the impossible. I am a married mum of four awesome kids aged 4, 8, 10 and 12. I am a self-employed architect and I have to find time to swim 30km to 40km a week. I set out to swim the English Channel in August 2014. It is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and the water is between 14 and 16 degrees Celsius. The swim is 34km in a straight line. Two years of training, hard work and sacrifices – not to mention 14kg of intentional weight gain. The day of the swim arrived and I was mentally and physically prepared. However, the Channel had different plans that day. The wind increasingly got worse and after 11 hours and 16 minutes of swimming, my boat pilot made the decision to abort the swim. It was dark at night and they could not see me between waves crashing over the boat. The wind was blowing 30 knots and safety of the swimmer always comes first. Due to tides and currents, I had swum 42km and I was only three miles from France. Life always give you another chance. I will have my day. I flew back to Australia and had surgery on my shoulder from injuries caused from swimming in rough conditions for those 11 hours. Two weeks later, I booked my next attempt to swim the Channel in August 2016. That is my story, until August 2016, when I will crawl up the beach in France, look back across the Channel to Dover and smile. >