NOTES

Hello Classy People,

In an industry obsessed with the latest technology, I remain loyal to one of the oldest inventions in professional history: pen and Paper.

Yes, I use digital tools. They are efficient, fast, and sometimes indispensable. 

But when it comes to thinking, analyzing, designing strategies, preparing interviews, building collections, or negotiating projects, nothing has ever replaced my notebook.

As a fashion journalist, fashion designer, and communication consultant, I have learned that writing notes is not an administrative habit. It is a professional discipline.

A notebook is not a diary of memories. 

It is a diary of decisions.

Write Your Current Version, Not Your Past One

One of the biggest mistakes professionals make is believing they are still the person they were a year ago.

If your career is moving forward, your capacities have evolved. Your expertise has expanded. Your network has changed. Your priorities are different.

Regularly write down the skills you genuinely master today, the partnerships you are actively nurturing, and the opportunities currently within your reach. 

This exercise reconnects you with reality instead of nostalgia and prevents you from making decisions based on an outdated version of yourself.

Document Your Mistakes Before Your Brain Deletes Them

Memory is surprisingly selective.

After completing a project, we often remember the victory but conveniently forget the small errors that complicated the journey. Unfortunately, those forgotten mistakes have an annoying tendency to return.

I always dedicate a page to everything that went wrong in my latest mission: communication errors, timing issues, unrealistic expectations, poor negotiations, or creative decisions I would never repeat.

Reading these pages before starting a new assignment is remarkably effective. Your notebook becomes your personal warning system, reminding you of lessons your brain would rather archive than revisit.

Write People’s Names, Not Their Titles

One section of my notebook is dedicated to people.

I don't necessarily mean famous and influential people, I'm talking about useful people, ethical people, and reliable people.

The professionals who elevated my work through competence, integrity, and genuine collaboration.

Titles change. Positions expire. Companies evolve. Character is far more stable.

I write full names, not job titles, because I want to remember individuals for who they are, not for the office they temporarily occupy.

Likewise, I consciously distance myself from relationships where the exchange only goes in one direction: people expecting access to your contacts, ideas, or network while contributing little to your professional growth.

Two highly competent collaborators will always outperform an oversized team that depends entirely on your decisions. Excessive dependence is not teamwork, it is often disguised inefficiency that consumes both productivity and energy.

Every Project Deserves a Blank Page

One of the easiest professional traps is recycling yesterday’s formula.

A successful project does not automatically become a successful template.

Every client, collection, publication, event, and negotiation has its own context. Similar circumstances never produce identical realities.

This is why I keep what I call an Adaptation Sheet.

Before every mission, I deliberately start from a blank page. 

I bring my experience, my savoir-faire, and my methodology, but I adapt all of them to the present challenge rather than forcing an old solution onto a new problem.

Experience should guide your thinking, not replace it.

Leave Space for the Ideas That Arrive Uninvited

Some of the best ideas refuse to schedule appointments.

They appear during a phone call, while adjusting a garment, between two interviews, or halfway through a meeting.

If you don’t capture them immediately, they disappear just as quickly as they arrived.

That is why I never fill every page of my notebook in advance. 

I intentionally leave empty space for what I call instant magic: those spontaneous observations, unexpected concepts, clever headlines, strategic solutions, or creative directions that only exist for a brief moment.

The page waits patiently until inspiration decides to visit.

Long story short, in my universe, technology stores information beautifully, while paper preserves thought.

Perhaps that is why, despite every innovation surrounding us, the most valuable partnership in my professional life is still a simple pen and an empty notebook.