Chi Chi Xu – How to Travel without a Map

A quick fact about me – there are very few people in the world that I respect more than self-made women. The sheer thought of the effort that is put into climbing a corporate ladder stuns me, and I’m left feeling inspired, thinking, “Wow, I want to be just like her!” I first met Chi Chi at a Revlon activation at the East Rand Mall a few years ago, where my mom was the official photographer. I tagged along for the day as her assistant, and although I didn’t talk to her, Chi Chi made a huge impression on me. She gave off the aura of someone completely in control; someone who loved her job and in turn, was incredible at it. At that stage, Chi Chi was working on retainer as Revlon’s brand activation manager, but when I chatted to her over the phone, I realised that there was much, much more to her story. You see, it was never actually part of her plan to become involved in the corporate world of cosmetics, but sometimes life is a journey; you might not always arrive where you expected, but you will most certainly end up where you need to be.

Chi Chi has always been quite ahead of the curve – evident even as far back as her honours degree, which she wrote about using Facebook as a marketing tool for businesses in 2007. To put this into context, Facebook was launched in 2006, and it would be long time before the platform became a marketing stalwart. She first began her career in digital marketing for an IT distribution company, but soon moved onto a digital agency, dealing with content and social media. Here, she learnt skills such as how to build her own websites and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Her talent was soon recognised, and she was headhunted by MWEB, where she worked for two and a half years.

From a very young age, Chi Chi was motivated by an intense desire to travel, so whilst she was working a full-time job, she also helped to mark and moderate papers at Get Smarter, a company offering online-accredited courses from the world’s top universities. Soon, she was marking 300 to 400 papers a week. Another thing that she did in her spare time was writing blog posts about hobbies that she enjoyed doing. There were posts about vertical gardens, origami tutorials, as well as features on nail designs… as a child, Chi Chi had always been fascinated by the intricate details of things, but she had certainly never thought that these posts would be the breakthrough into the glamorous world of cosmetics. Soon, she learnt how to schedule posts, meaning that she could now do five nails designs at once, scheduling one design to appear every day.

“It was actually Michelle Stevens [Revlon’s communications manager] that first picked up my designs,” Chi Chi remembers. Michelle invited her to an event that was being hosted by Cosmopolitan, where she met Adele du Plessis, the director of communications for Revlon and the person who would eventually draw Chi Chi’s talent for miniscule artworks into the spotlight.

It was at that stage that Adele first approached Chi Chi to ask whether she would be interested in working on a project, a whopping eighteen nail designs in five days. Being the hard worker that she is, Chi Chi was eager to accept, but this is where the incredible part comes in… Chi Chi was still working a nine-to-five job at MWEB, which meant that after work each day, she would come home and have a quick meal, at which point Michelle would arrive with the photographer. “The shoots would sometimes go on until 1 or 2 am, and on the last day, we only ended at 4 o’clock the next morning.” But Chi Chi didn’t mind – in fact, she thrived. “Because the job was so short, it was really exciting and each day was different,” she tells me.

Chi Chi became more and more involved with Revlon, coming along to many of their activation events, learning the tools of the trade and helping out. The first event that she was very involved in was the ‘Cosmo Summer Party’ in Cape Town, and then the Billabong and Revlon ‘Girls Get Out There’ tour. Later on, although it was an incredibly difficult decision for her, she decided to resign from her job at MWEB, and instead focus on her developing work at Revlon.

From there, Chi Chi’s business just took off, and her hugely successful company, ‘Nails by Chi Chi’, was launched. She headed many editorial shoots, TV advertisements, and was even contacted by Lilly Allen, who wanted a unique nail design for her new music video. Chi Chi would work her mani magic for four years in total.

Sometimes, it is the smallest changes that make the biggest impact on your life, as Chi Chi soon understood. After four hugely successful years, she took a step back and realised that work had been the most important aspect of her life thus far. She was based in Cape Town, but spent a lot of time in Johannesburg, where most of her work was based, and she felt like she was never either here or there; instead always in between the two places. She thought about what she still wanted to do, and arrived at her conclusion: she had always wanted travel, and to go back to university for further studies. Because her now-boyfriend was based in London, she looked around for universities in the area, and after much consideration, she took the plunge. Chi Chi would enrol to the University of Arts London for a course called ‘Applied Imagination in the Creative Industry’. “What I tell people when they ask me,” Chi goes on to explain, “is that the course is all about creative problem-solving. It’s not just about having a good idea… it’s about giving you the tools to think completely differently in applying those good ideas.” Because of her recent move to London, she has the freedom to recreate herself in any way that she chooses, and I for one, am thrilled to see the outcome. Chi Chi now has time and the ideal placement to do the other thing that she has always loved – traveling. I smile at her delight when she tells me about the special on airplane tickets to Paris. “They’re cheaper than the ones from Cape Town to Jo’burg!”

She also loves running, which she took up about six years ago, and she tells me that this is a way she’s made many new friends in London. Sometimes, her sportiness boggles me, because in addition to having done the half-Two Oceans marathon for all six years that she’s been running, she also dabbled in the art of pole-dancing when she was still in South Africa. “I feel like with pole-dancing, getting fit and in shape was just a side benefit. It’s so much fun to learn new moves, and every class was always different. It doesn’t feel like you’re working out – you’re there to have fun!” Easier said than done though, especially when one looks at the variety of positions she holds on her Instagram page – simply scrolling through exhausts me…

Chi Chi’s life is certainly one well-lived, although it has barely even started. The thing about Chi Chi that amazes me the most, is that she isn’t one of those people who were successful for a short period in their lives, and then suffered a severe case of this illness called reality. Chi Chi is different; she’s smart and she knows what she’s doing. She’s extremely creative, but she has the skills to build a business. She loves traveling, but she is impeccable with her finance skills. In short, Chi Chi is a go-getter, and an example to young girls everywhere. Although I’ve written nearly 1 500 words about her journey thus far, this is only the beginning. And truthfully, I cannot wait to see where she’s headed next, because I have all the faith in the world that whatever she does, she’s going to be the best in the business.