COVER STAR
A model student Petra has the perfect mixture of brains and beauty. She has already had amazing opportunities in the Finnish fashion industry but looks forward to studying in a university. Interview Anna Parkkinen Photography Anna Parkkinen
was not to double check the opening times of a building where this interview was meant to take place. A tall girl with her hair in a ponytail wearing high heeled boots and warm winter clothes walks up to me with a big smile ready to greet me with a handshake. I meet Petra Komppula outside of a music academy embarrassed to realise the building was closed for holidays. We quickly decide to drive to another location nearby, a cafĂŠ which is particularly popular with the older generation. By the time we get to the car, we are in full conversation. Petra, 18, is a half Finnish half Russian who is in her last year of Finnish high school. She is a confident, chatty and beatutiful young woman who has already made a name for herself in the Finnish fashion industry and now has her sights set on her future studies. MY FIRST MISTAKE, AS A JOURNALIST,
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“Be social, be happy, be interesting and go talk to people you don’t know.” This is advice Petra received while filming the Finnish television show Modelling school (Mallikoulu). She was one of the ten girls who got selected to the programme. When asking about why she applied to the show, Petra enthusiastically replies with a smile: “This is actually a funny story.” She tells me how it all was a coincidence: “I was at a party at my neighbour’s when a grandmother approached me saying that I should apply to the show.” It didn’t take long for her to decide whether to apply or not. “I thought why not, I don’t have anything to lose.” Petra moved to Helsinki in the middle of school year, for two months, to film the show. “All my teachers were very understanding and supportive.” And so were her parents. “They have always been there for me.” She mentions how exhausting and sometimes frustrating the filming days were. “We weren’t allowed to tell anyone anything.” But she ends her answer by saying: “It was still always interesting and that’s why I didn’t want to go home.” DESPITE PETRA’S SUCCESS ON THE SHOW, she doesn’t see modelling as a future career for her. “It’s more like my hobby.” But she has a specific plan for her future studies. “I want to study marketing and business in Aalto university in Helsinki.” She explains how the degree will give her options when thinking about careers and she
adds by saying: “One of the reasons why I want to apply to the university is that you can take individual courses on fashion marketing.” When asking about her dream job, Petra laughs and replies: “If you would have asked me this two years ago, my one and only answer would have been French Vogue, that was all I wanted.” She doesn’t have a specific job in mind but mentions that her biggest goal is: “to work and not notice I’m working.” Living in her hometown, isn’t Petra’s dream. “I want to live in a big city… and travel a lot.” She can speak three languages fluently, one of them being English, and on top of that she studies Swedish and French. When talking about her future, she says she wants to keep her options open but moving abroad wouldn’t be a bad idea. Petra has hundreds of followers in her Instagram and blog, I’MA BE YOUR MOTIVATION, which she started five years ago when blogging became more popular. She started by sharing her outfit pictures on her blog. “They weren’t really good,” she admits. Petra mainly reads lifestyle and fashion blogs and names the Swedish blogger Angelica Blick as her favourite blogger. She still posts her outfit pictures and writes about her travels and beauty but she has added makeup tutorials and other Youtube content to her blog. “I think Youtube is a great way to express yourself and people get to see the real side of you.” Her blog is a part of the Finnish blog portal, Indiedays, which has one of the most popular Finnish blogs on it. Even though the blog is ’just’ one of her hobbies, being regocnized by a blog portal is a big thing. This makes Petra smile and she ends up agreeing with me. AFTER A WONFERFUL CONVERSATION with Petra I realise it has already been an hour and a half. We continue our chit chat as we are leaving. After talking outside of the café for a few minutes, we make plans for the next week and then wish each other goodbye. You can find Petra’s blog from imabeyourmotivation. blogspot.co.uk
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