Skills To Trump Artificial Intelligence In The Working World : Flexiblity

In the process of making training contract applications where I am asked to answer competency based questions, I’ve realised that I’ve been in a lot of part time jobs. On the one hand it may seem quite dull and repetitive, but on a deeper insight my part time experiences have strengthened certain attributes of mine. Attributes that are essential to navigate through this fourth technological revolution that is Artificial Intelligence. 

Today I talk about flexibility.

For those wondering, this picture was taken on my way home from work today at 21:05pm. In actual fact, I was supposed to finish my shift at 20:00pm. To understand why I didn’t leave work till it was almost going on 21:00pm , you must first understand something else. A typical company would have different departments, each with their own distinct roles and set of tasks to complete for the working day. In the hospitality and retail sector, these varying departments don’t work in isolation of one another.

True understanding of team work would bring you to the knowledge that there is a bigger picture here. A landscape where each section works together to add to the complete whole.

With that in mind we can proceed to my story. So, I’m working in my section which specialises on cheese and charcuterie. I make various platters and also serve nibbles like crackers and olives. My section is right beside the bar, which makes sense, cheese and wine go well and pies and beer go well. 

Already we are short staffed and I notice a queue beginning to build up over at the bar. Things are quieter over at my end and I go over to help at the bar where the only member of staff there is the store’s hire hand for the day. 

When we regain control of the queue, the duty manager sends the hire hand away for hislunch break. This leaves just another colleague and I to stretch ourselves between the two sections (speciality and the bar). The hire hand returns at ten to eight and it is only then that my colleague goes for her own lunch break. For those of you wondering, I had already been on mine, around about 4pm just before the evening rush hour.

So, there is one person at the bar and since my colleague has been sent away for her break, I am now the only one at the speciality section. I think to myself, perhaps my manager had forgotten that I was due to clock out at 8pm. Having closed the store working a 12:00 - 23:00pm five nights the prior week, I was so very looking forward to having an early finish today. 

Without much fuss I understood about covering for each others backs. I understood that we were all working together, representing the brand and delivering excellent customer service. This heightened understanding of team work is what made me stay.

Technically I could have clocked out and gone home, technically I had finished my shift. In spite of this, I was flexible, ready to adapt to the changing situation, with a willingness to go above and beyond what one might at first expect of me. 

I say all this to say that, in this new technological revolution, flexibility is a crucial attribute. And although I have only spoken on a small angle of the skill, there are various other ways one can exercise flexibility. It’s all fair and well to acknowledge the usefulness of these skills, but as I’ve also explained, these skills require a heightened understanding of other skills. It is this awareness about our surroundings, the rapidly changing situations and our ability to be flexible and act accordingly, that sets us apart from the programmed robots that are soon taking over our working world. 

If you made it this far, I really do appreciate it.

As always, I’ll 

Unearthing Myself From Post-grad Blues

I’m not going to apologise for my absence. As much as it’s nice to have people read and enjoy my thoughts on things. This blog is really for me. 

From a tender age I’ve always enjoyed keeping diaries. Not to say that I’ve had top-secret secrets that were for no ones eyes but mine. It’s just that, I enjoyed getting down my feelings in a mode that felt most comfortable when confiding in an actual person felt more like self sabotage. I know right ! Talk about anxiety! 

So yeah, I often write when I don’t know what I think until I’ve read what I’ve said. Sometimes certain things won’t seem to make much sense when it’s bottled up and jumbled around in my head. Drawing together the dots is a lot more easier when there’s a page from which you can make the connections. 

Today I want to write about my thoughts on graduating. It’s amazing to think that all my life up until now I’ve worked so hard to be in this position where I can stand and call myself a graduate. My journey here was far from easy. With multiple distractions, disappointments, self-doubt and discouragement. I’m proud to say “Thank you Jesus!” And “Mama I made it!” 

UNBOXING & REVIEW | TREASURE TRESS BOX APRIL 2018

Treasure Tress Box

I've just done my last washday of the month and thought it was about time to share with you all what I received in this month in my Treasure Tress Box. 

It came with a card that detailed all the products with recommendations of how they are to be used. I thought this was really nice, it’s definitely perfect for someone who’s new to the whole natural hair care journey. 

So what did I get?

First up was the matching Moisture Rich Cocoa Butter and Peppermint Oil shampoo and conditioner by Palmers. They were full sized products and the scent instantly reminded me of the chocolate After Eights ! The shampoo has a creamy consistency and was a pearly cream shade. I did find that it took me three washes until I was satisfied that my hair was cleansed. I will say that the shampoo is great for when there isn’t any buildup in your hair but you just want to soothe the scalp. 

The accompanying conditioner smelt the same way and has a thicker paste like consistency. It squeezes out the tube and when left on the hair for 10mins my hair felt über soft! I was a little disappointed with the amount of product that’s in the tube because I found that I really need to squeeze a lot out to coat my hair. It’s thick and does not have any slip , so I would advise wetting your hair a bit before you apply. I wouldn’t call he product a conditioner, as it seemed more like a mask to me. All in all I did use up 2/3rds of the product these past two weeks. If I ever feel desperate for restoration to my hair, I wouldn’t mind falling back on  this up. Below is a picture of what my hair looked like with the conditioner sitting in. I did not aid it’s absorption by applying heat but I’m sure this would maximise the benefits of the products to my hair.

Moving on to the styling products, this box came with a Leave In conditioner from Activilong. This is the Actiforce Sapote and Black castor oil leave in for frizzy and kinky hair. I found that this best applied to damp ( but more on the dry side ) hair. It leaves no grease yet adds suppleness to my 4b/c kinks. I absolutely loved using this .  The final step is to seal with the oil, and this box came with Love Row Naturals Hair Amour in ‘Flora Blossom’ . I was intrigued by this oil because of the light blend of oils used. It has almond, grape seed, jojoba , castor oil and their essential oil blends. This is my FAVOURITE product from the box. My hair thoroughly enjoyed it despite not being the thick and heavy oil that I’m used to applying into my hair. The smell is quite fresh and herbal. I must confess it does remind me of washing up liquid but not in a repulsive way. It did make my scalp tingle a bit so I knew it was working ! My hair felt nourished and these two weeks I’ve seen greater shine and lustre.

To style I tried something new last week and did a hanging Bantu knot on braids. When I took those down my hair was still moisturised and despite being  heavy handed my hair was bouncy and light. It didn’t feel weighed down at all. I find that the oil and leave in are a perfect addition to my hair care journey and I’m exited to see what next month has in store for me! 

Lastly there was a swivel stick of the Palmers Cocoa Butter. At first I thought this was a lip balm - because to be fair that’s what was written on the front. However after a day of applying it onto my lips and something not feeling right I decided to read up on the ingredients. I compared it with my actual full sized Cocoa Butter by Palmers and noted that the list was the EXACT same. Ingredients were just listed in a varying order. Now that I know that,  the butter  is handy for when I’m going out and don’t feel like carrying a heavy jar or cream. I can just pop this into my handbag and be on my merry way!

As always guys, if you haven't already done so, subscribe over on the Treasure Tress website so you too can receive a box full of goodies!

Products I Received

The Day My Kinks Decided To Get In Formation!!

I have no words to describe how unravelling my braids made me feel on Wednesday morning. This is the first time I’m starting to appreciate shrinkage. It makes my hair appear fuller and denser which is awesome considering the fact that I naturally have thin strands. 

At first I thought, 'this is going to be a disaster', because my hair hadn't fully dried like I thought It had. This meant that most of it was still a bit damp- but it held to the braidout regardless!

I went in to university that morning feeling like a brand new woman! Take a look at the photos below to see why!

Not only did I recieve crazy definition-( I’ll do a post on how I achieved this very soon) , but my hair literally hung in a loveheart shape! It’s so beautiful isn’t it? 😍😍😍

I didn’t cut it I promise !

This is just a testimony to how versatile natural hair it! One day you can have it stretched such that your length is noticeable. The next day you can have it shrunken into a cute Afro!

I never knew my hair could do this! It most certainly is amazing! I LOVE my kinky hair!

It’s  so important to keep record of the little amazing things like this, so at the end of the year you can look back and reflect on how much your hair has flourished.

Have you witnessed something amazing from your hair recently? I’d love to know, so share down below!

How I Chose My Detangling Brush

Made by Gorgol

Since incorporating finger detangling into my hair care routine, I've noticed reduced breakage. This makes sense because combs and brushes are prone to snagging on the hair strands. When you have a lot of knots and tangles, a heavy-handed use of a comb can pull out extra hair strands along with the knot. Not only does this stunt length retention, but it aggravates the scalp. It is essential to detangle one's hair, but the best way to do so is when you aren't in a rush and approach your hair in a gentle and loving manner. The aim is to untangle the hair and get ride of knots. My hair is often easily mistaken for free-form dreads when I don't detangle it regularly!

Whilst on my hair journey of love this month, I noticed that my twists were quite frizzy. Perhaps I wasn't finger-detangling my hair properly, but I wasn't so fussed about it when wearing my hair in loose twists- I guess the frizz added to the look! However, this week I have worn my hair in chunky twists with a flat-twist side fringe. It didn't look as cute to have puffy frizzy twists on day one! 

To combat that,  I decided to get a detangling brush, to smooth in my styling products, such that the product is evenly distributed throughout my hair strands. 

Yesterday, I went in search for a Denman brush. This is the holy grail of the natural hair community for detangling and evenly distributing product through the hair. To my dismay, the bristles on that brush were hard and I couldn't phantom how I was supposed to rake something so hard into my soft hair. As well as that, the bristles of the brush were tightly packed together- and we all know small tooth combs aren't good for natural hair, so why get a small toothed brush? I know that some naturals, pull out the bristles from every other row, to make the Denman brush less dense, but what's the point? They cost about £10 and then I'm going to spend my time taking out bristles!? - No thank you !

I stumbled upon this Gorgol brush in TK MAXX and fell in love instantly!

The brush is made from 100% wood that is derived from well-managed forests. It's narrow headed with a comfortable handle. The cushion is 100% rubber and the bristles are plastic with a rounded top. There are five rows which makes it wide toothed! The brush can be used wet or dry. 

When used on my hair, the brush glides through my strands. Of course it pulls out the shed hairs, but I made sure to gently brush through small sections at a time. It also doubles as a scalp massager, the rounded pins and cushioned base make it truly relaxing. 

To clean I put it under cool running water and rubbed away the residue from my oils and butters. Then I placed it face down to dry so that the water could drain out. This would hopefully ensure that the gum which secures the cushion to the wood, does not wear away too quickly.

At a price point of £3.99, you really can't go wrong! 

I'm excited to see how this brush hold's up months down the line. I'll definitely keep you guy's updated at a later date.

Has this post been helpful? I would like to know some of the things you look out for when choosing your detangling brush. What do you steer towards and what's a no-go area and why?

Looking forward to your lovely comments down below!