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29-year-old Melissa moved to Jersey in her early 20s. An events and marketing professional, her gusto for writing led her to start a lifestyle blog, Jersey Girl, in 2014 to help promote the island she has fallen in love with to a wider audience, and support local businesses.
It became the first ever Channel Island blog to be shortlisted as a finalist in the UK Blog Awards 2016, in the Lifestyle Blog category. This year it is once again among the finalists in the International Influencer category.
This week, Melissa has told Express about the five things she would like to change in Jersey.
As you might imagine being a blogger, I am always looking for something new to try, which can be difficult at times in Jersey. I think Jersey could really benefit from getting behind local entrepreneurs who want to bring something new and fun to the island.
Pictured: Melissa would love to see more pop-up restaurants in Jersey, like this potato pop-up bistro selling Jersey Royals in London’s Covent Garden last year.
I really like the pop-up restaurants and installations you can find in London and would love to see more of these in Jersey. Instead of asking people to jump through metaphorical licensing hoops to achieve their creative ideas, we should support them and encourage them to help diversify what we have to offer.
I spend a lot of time on social media platforms and it often gets frustrating to see the amount of negativity surrounding news articles and businesses on Island, especially when potential tourists or people looking to move to the island may also be reading these comments.
Pictured: On social media, and elsewhere, positivity and kindness really do go a long way!
Instead of expressing negatives, let’s try and express constructive opinions (which everyone is entitled to) and look for positives and opportunities to improve in each situation. Showing a little kindness and understanding towards one another, really does go a long way!
Having come from a hospitality background, I cannot champion the industry enough. I was afforded invaluable experience in so many areas through hospitality, from customer service and networking to managing huge corporate accounts. In only a few short years, I progressed from hotel receptionist, to director level, it really is a great place to start a career and gain life experience.
Pictured: Melissa does her bit to support the industry by featuring local establishments on her blog.
The industry also suffers from a lack of available licenses every year, so it would be fantastic to see more local, young people getting into the hospitality world.
I know Daphne East and the Town Centre Partnership are working incredibly hard to revitalise the streets of St Helier and the way we currently do our shopping, but it would be amazing to see Sunday shopping finally win through in Jersey.
Pictured: Shopping on a Sunday, when many people are off, seems like a no-brainer to Melissa.
Given that many of us have the weekends off work, it would be nice to have the option to be able to shop on whichever day we choose, rather than having to do so on a Saturday.
This has been suggested a million times over by now, and certain event organisers and groups have been continually pushing to help bring new and exciting events to our island, although I still think there is a long way to go.
Pictured: Live entertainment and themed nights should become the norm.
I’m not simply referring to DJ nights, I think there is so much more that can be done in the way of live entertainment and themed nights, but instead of having these events once in a blue moon, let’s try and make them the norm and give islanders more choice.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not those of Bailiwick Express.
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