TIFFANIE’S 10 REFLECTIONS ON LIFE, LOVE & BUSINESS
1. SOMETHING I KNOW ABOUT MYSELF NOW THAT I WISH I UNDERSTOOD FIVE YEARS AGO.
I’m incredibly resilient. I genuinely believe I can get through anything, and I wish I’d understood that five years ago. Sometimes we give so much weight to the things we worry about, without realising that we’re going to get through them regardless. There’s so much comfort in knowing that whatever life throws at me, I’ll find a way through it. That’s something I want to carry with me into the next five years, trusting myself more and worrying a little less.
2. WHAT HAS SUCCESS TAUGHT YOU THAT YOU COULD HAVE NEVER LEARNED WITHOUT EXPERIENCING IT FOR YOURSELF?
Success has taught me that the levels are endless. There isn’t really an endpoint, and I think it’s important to remember that success is subjective. There have been so many moments where I’ve reached a goal that my younger self would have been completely blown away by, thinking, “We’ve made it!” But you get there, and you realise there’s still so much more you want to do.
I’ve learned the importance of being happy at every stage, rather than constantly chasing the next milestone and forgetting to appreciate where you are. Success also comes with a price. There are sacrifices you have to make and decisions about what you’re willing to give up along the way. For me, it’s about finding a balance between being ambitious enough to keep growing and being present enough to enjoy what I’ve already built.
3. PARALLEL X STUDIO HAS BECOME SUCH A RECOGNISABLE PART OF YOUR JOURNEY. WHAT HAS BUILDING THE BRAND TAUGHT YOU ABOUT YOURSELF AS A FOUNDER AND A BUSINESSWOMAN?
It’s taught me that I can define what being a businesswoman looks like for myself. I think sometimes there’s this perception that you need to know all the buzzwords, understand all the jargon and have everything figured out before you can build a successful business. I came into this knowing very little about business, and I didn’t have many examples around me of what building a successful business could look like. So, in many ways, I taught myself as I went and built it in my own way.
When I eventually started entering rooms with people I respected in business, I realised that, in many ways, we were all figuring things out as we went along. That gave me the confidence to trust my own approach rather than feel like I had to fit a particular mould.
It’s also taught me just how much other people contribute to your journey. I have so much respect for people’s time, and I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who has chosen to invest their time, energy and talent into bringing my vision to life. From the team I’ve worked with to the people who have supported the brand along the way, I’ve realised that building something meaningful is rarely a journey you take alone.
4. WHAT DO YOU KNOW NOW ABOUT BUILDING AND GROWING PARALLEL X STUDIO THAT YOU WISH YOU KNEW WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED?
Plan for growth from day one. I came into this as a creative first. I’ve always loved making things, customising pieces and reworking things I already owned. I was the person who would buy something, cut it up and re-sew it into something completely different. Building a brand felt like a natural extension of that creativity.
What I wish I’d understood earlier was how important it is to put the right foundations in place for the business you want to become, not just the business you are at that moment. Even when nobody knows your name or your brand, you have to operate with the mindset that it’s going to grow. There were things I later had to go back and put in place that would have been much easier to establish from the beginning.
I’d also be more focused in how I introduced the brand. Looking back at my first launch, I might have started with one really strong product rather than an entire collection. Sometimes, being more specific about what you want to communicate and giving people one thing to connect with can be more powerful than trying to do everything at once.
5. WHAT HAS LOVE TAUGHT YOU ABOUT WHAT YOU NEED, WHAT YOU DESERVE, AND WHAT YOU’LL NO LONGER ACCEPT?
This is a deep question! I think love, whether romantic or platonic, has taught me that I need to have fun. I want relationships that bring joy into my life. I’m quite easy to entertain, and I consider myself someone who can have fun doing almost anything with the right company. The moment a relationship consistently stops feeling enjoyable, I start to question whether it’s right for me.
In terms of what I deserve, I believe I deserve the same energy I’m willing to give. I think we talk a lot about what we deserve as individuals, which is important, but I also believe in reciprocity. If I’m showing up, making an effort and investing in a relationship, I expect that to be matched. For me, it’s about mutual effort rather than expecting something I’m not willing to give myself.
And what will I no longer accept? Poor communication. I’m very clear about my thoughts, feelings and emotions. Talking has always been one of my strengths lol. I value people who can communicate with that same level of openness. It’s a non-negotiable for me.
6. WHAT’S THE VERSION OF YOURSELF YOU’VE HAD TO OUTGROW TO BECOME THE WOMAN YOU ARE TODAY?
I’ve had to outgrow the version of myself that reacted purely from emotion, particularly in business. When you build something from the ground up, it becomes incredibly personal. Your brand is your baby. You’ve invested your money, time, sweat and tears into it, so naturally, things can feel like a personal attack when they don’t go the way you hoped.
But I’ve learned that you can’t make every decision from an emotional place. Business requires you to take a step back, assess situations objectively and respond with intention rather than react in the moment. Not everything is personal, even when it feels that way. Learning to separate my emotions from my decisions has been a huge part of my growth, both as a founder and as a woman.
7. WHAT’S SOMETHING YOU USED TO CARE DEEPLY ABOUT THAT SIMPLY DOESN’T MATTER TO YOU ANYMORE?
How I’m perceived by other people. Especially in the social media age we live in, there’s so much emphasis on perception: how we look, how our lives appear and whether everything seems perfectly put together.
I think there’s an expectation to present a version of yourself that has everything figured out, and people can easily make assumptions about your life based on what they see online. But you never really know what someone is experiencing behind the scenes.
It’s something we hear all the time, but I don’t think we always fully absorb it: what people see is only a small part of the picture. I’ve reached a point where I’m much more comfortable with the fact that not everyone will understand me, and not everyone needs to. I’d rather focus on living a life that feels right to me than constantly worrying about how it looks to everyone else.
8. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT FRIENDSHIPS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF WHO YOU KEEP AROUND YOU?
I’ve learned that it’s absolutely everything. I believe your friends are your chosen family. Many of us spend as much, if not more, time with our friends than we do with certain family members. They become our community, our support system and the people we share so much of our lives with.
I remember growing up surrounded by all these uncles and aunties, only to realise later that they weren’t necessarily family; they were my parents friends. That always stuck with me because it showed me how much the people around us can become part of our lives and shape our idea of family.
I think it’s important to surround yourself with people who share your values and morals, but I also think there’s so much value in being friends with people who are different from you. Having lived in different countries and experienced different corners of society, I’ve been fortunate enough to build friendships with all kinds of people, and that’s something I really cherish.
Being around people who see the world differently from you can hold a mirror up to yourself. It challenges your perspective, helps you understand yourself better and teaches you how to coexist with people whose experiences might be completely different from your own. I think there’s just as much to learn from our differences as there is from our similarities.
9. WHEN LIFE GETS OVERWHELMING, WHAT BRINGS YOU BACK TO YOURSELF?
Spending time in nature is a big one. I also find myself drawn to physical media and things that remind me of my childhood. I think I crave a time when life wasn’t so dominated by technology, so I love looking through old magazines or watching older films where everyone isn’t constantly on their phone. There’s something comforting about reconnecting with a time, or even just a feeling, that existed before everything became so digitally driven.
I think going back to the things that resonated with my younger self helps me reconnect with a simpler version of who I am. And, of course, having fun. I love doing random activities, spending time with my friends and being around people who energise me. Sometimes, getting back to yourself isn’t about doing anything particularly profound. It’s just about doing the things that make you feel alive again.
10. IF YOU COULD LEAVE WOMEN READING THIS ONE REFLECTION TO CARRY INTO THEIR OWN LIVES, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
The only reality we’re guaranteed is the one we’re living right now. I think we spend so much time living through other people’s realities, particularly through our phones and the lives we observe online, or longing for a version of the past that we’ve romanticised. I do it myself sometimes, looking back at other eras and wishing I could experience that kind of life.
But in doing that, we can forget that one day, we might look back at the lives we’re living right now with that same nostalgia. We spend so much time planning for next week, next year or some future version of ourselves, as though we’re guaranteed to get there.
I’d encourage women to really live in the present. Be where you are, enjoy the people around you, do the things you want to do and stop waiting for some future moment when everything is finally perfect. This is our life happening right now, and I think we deserve to be present enough to actually experience it.
FIND TIFFANIE ON SOCIALS
