#AlternativeVoices is a series dedicated to our beloved creative alumni that we’ve managed to meet along our school’s journey and develop in a feisty creative family, with ideas and jokes flying around our heads. A place where we often brainstorm is in our #Above106 group, our place for future prospects and projects, a way of working on paying it forward to the younger creatives paving their way into the industry.

We are continuing our list of #AlternativeVoices with Lorena Enache, part of the new wave of young writers in Romania and creator of Cozy Poetry Night. She became part of the family after impressing the jury with her colorful ideas during the Cannes Lions Design semester.She managed to win the 3rd place with her other half Amalia Vornicu, through their Citrique team. Smart ideas, with a little bit of zest, is the best way to describe their ingenious way of working on the school’s real-life briefs, including George by BCR, Glulam and Love&LOBBY Festival. You can check out their work right here.

In 2017, at just 21 years old, Lorena-Ella Enache made her poetry debut with “Self-Analysis”, and recently, has published her third volume, “Sweet Girls”, published by Charmides Publishing House, which you can now find in Carturesti, here.

A creative queen and fierce lioness, to say the least, she had a beautiful evolution and joined our CannesWeek/TalentBet event, this time as a speaker, talking about her experience as a poetress with a presentation on How to overcome stage fright. Let’s see what she has to say!

1. What makes you happy at work and beyond?

You caught me in a Schopenhauer phase of life. I believe him when he says that happiness is a negative and unstable emotion. So I enjoy others, which apparently make my happiness flourish. I’m happy when it’s not a busy day at work and so I have time to read at the office, possibly to see a movie (yes, I sin a lot), I have time to work on my copywriting skills or do homework for faculty. Apparently, the current job makes me happy when it doesn’t demand too much of me and gives me time to take care of my creative side.

What makes me happy, beyond work, is to see my friends blooming, shining, watching them grow, because this gives me hope that there is room for well-being in this world and that we can all stand up.

The mountain, a well-done advertising spot, a freshly clean house, the holidays all by myself or with someone dear, the Monday morning coffee with someone loved or just with my cat and some sun; I don’t need too many when I know that if I want them, I can have them all.

2. A childhood story announcing the creative person you are today.

I would not call myself a creative person, yet. I would rather say that I have finally found the ideal environment in which to practice and sharpen my sparkle.

But if I have to remember a childhood story (up to 7 years old, let’s say), I have nothing special to announce a future copywriter or whatever I’ll become in life. Or maybe, now that I think about it, I was asking for all sorts of possible toys. I was desperate for plastic and wooden lego, porcelain dolls, remote-controlled cars, playing cards, puzzles, robots, I wanted to play absolutely anything, especially ball games. And I remember that at one point, my father made a wooden sword for me. No one had a sword among the children, so I played alone. And that sword held me for a few years.

Yes, I wanted to play everything and be good at everything.

3. A trend / pre-trend you smell in the air and you would like to embrace & promote.

Spirituality all over the places. I mean, maybe the trend seems to have already started, maybe it’s just the perspective from my bubble, where it can be seen in the distance. But the fact that we are beginning to normalize the therapy, the failures, the respect for the other members of the community, the acceptance of our own body between four walls in a vacation where we go alone; well, that’s what I call a positive manifestation of spirituality through humanistic values.

Ah, and one more thing. Sports. God, people started to love sports, physical exercise in general. They understood that it is an effort that guarantees the quality of life. And so often the peace of mind. I would like to somehow link sports with art, to train the mind and the soul at the same time.

4. An inspiration source that always gets you in a creative mood.

I would love to have a source of inspiration, to which I can return from time to time in moments of crisis. But when I open my laptop to write, I’m my own fountain of ideas. But let’s say there are situations in which I can stimulate my creativity: I have a few friends I can count on for this, I could actually call them blessings for my creative side. And I do better with innovation and ideas after some physical movement, whether it’s with the bike, gym, or fencing, I always go back to the laptop with the ideas nicely placed on the shelves of the mind.

5. A project you’ve done and people had a crush on it.

Definitely, the Cozy Poetry Night project, which has 2 stories. It’s an online project, organically grown, which promotes fresh voices in the field of poetry, but also takes care to bring to the public’s attention contemporary consecrated poets. At the same time, Cozy is a complex live poetry show, which I curated from the first day when even I thought it was a phase.

We combine music, poetry, discussions with the public, and the charisma of each of the participants so we manage to offer an event where the public is not niche, people approach poetry with pleasure and they go home with this special experience. Cozy is a vibe, I dare say. And it’s been vibrating for 4 years, getting louder and louder. Bolder and softer.

6. A local brand that makes your life brighter, better, nicer.

My favorite local brands are the sellers in Obor Square. I can’t wait to start my routine of buying fruits and vegetables from them. But I think it is appropriate to announce a registered brand: Natelier, which is a clothing design studio own by a woman who inspires a lot of strength, determination, and femininity. The studio manually personalizes beaded embroidery on used denim jackets. And what miracles come out! I have 4 jackets from this local brand, it can be said that I am maddeningly in love with it.

7. What did you like most about The Alternative School experience?

Amalia, my teammate, was my favorite part of this experience. We knew each other very little, but we bonded very closely after this semester.

Also, I am so into competition, so this competitive environment offered by The Alternative School helped me to take on even more responsibly everything I learned here and then put it into practice. As much as possible.

8. What was your favorite talk and why?

Ladies and gentlemen, Davor Bruketa. And I have a feeling that my teammate will say the same.

Davor was so sincere and clean in his speech, he very clearly suggested the idea that I also follow: work seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously. Of course, I was speechless at Vidya, Malik, and Cristi, but I think Davor’s spell was stronger.

However, the most important and soulful speaker was Teodora. Always present with her light and her colors, like a queen-mother who takes care of everything in the kingdom, in a delicate manner and known only to her.

9. How did you react when you found out your position in the final top?

I was at my fencing lesson. In the morning, I had the feeling that we will receive the results in the evening, when I will be at training. So I told Amalia to call me only if we took 1st place. When I got the messages from her, I rushed to the phone, I read them, and shouted to the coach: Let’s fight!

I was full of adrenaline and happiness. Our goal was to be in the Top 5, and we managed to get the bronze. I just wanted to move, I felt electrified. And I could not wait to give voice to my joy, to call those who supported me in the days of the contest, to put happiness in words.

10. What was the most challenging part?

To not give up Saturday, at 2 in the morning, when we were already at our 5th concept for the final brief.

And let me tell you, it was hard to get over old ideas. I mean, every time we were starting a new concept, I found it difficult to detach myself from the already proposed ideas. This was my first professional creative experience, I thought about myself that I have no ideas and that I have no place in my mind to get a concept from. I thought that Amalia would make some great visuals, but most likely with her ideas, because I didn’t see myself as very productive on the copy side. But she was gentle, we had moments of sincerity here and there, she helped me get over the stalemate and got that clever babe out of me

11. Why do you recommend this experience?

Magic and professionalism. I was so starving for this. It is impossible to participate in this school and not to have assimilated something that will help you all your life, not only on the creative side.

Here I remembered how work ennobles the soul and releases the unnecessary stresses. Especially when the work comes from the depths of the heart.

12. Your message for the Romanian creative community:

Your work is valued. But you are invaluable.

Featured image, courtesy of Dragos Toader. The photo was captured during his shooting with participants at The Alternative School for Creative Thinking trainings.

Gallery images from Lorena’s personal archive.