Contributors

Entrepreneurship and a get-up-and-go attitude lie at the heart of any freelancer’s life: you’re your own business, after all. We quizzed our contributors about how they found themselves in their respective industries – writing, photography and illustration – and asked them to ponder what business opportunities they would like to explore in future.

Moscow-born, Vienna-based writer Alexei Korolyov has done much of the reporting for our special guide to Austria. “The story that really stayed with me is the one for which I talked to the siblings who inherited a historic pharmacy in the heart of Vienna, as well as the building that it’s in,” he says. “They rented most of the flats above the pharmacy to their friends or acquaintances, as well as international artists.”

Korolyov has always been interested in writing and audio work, and was a journalist in Moscow before joining Monocle as our Vienna correspondent. A man of many talents, he is also a musician, so the transition to making radio programmes came quite naturally. He also writes short stories and poems. “I have been working on a novel for what feels like an eternity,” he says. As for a dream business, he tells us that he would open an English-language bookshop in the Austrian capital. “Believe it or not, there’s only one here. That’s just not enough for a city as multicultural as Vienna.”

We dispatched Italian photographer Carmen Colombo to photograph the Molteni family in their company’s museum. As soon as she realised that she wanted to make photography her career, she moved to Milan. “I was attracted to photography because I have an urge to express myself and images are the perfect tool,” she says. “For me, it’s like writing a story with pictures.” When it comes to an alternative career, she would like to work on any project that would help people to connect in real life. “Human connections are the most powerful thing.”

To complement the peppy energy of our Business Toolkit, we asked French illustrator Gwendal Le Bec to create some accompanying images. “Spot illustrations are a format that I enjoy,” he says. “You have to synthesise an idea to make it clear at a very small scale. It’s harder than it seems.” He drew constantly when he was a child, so his career trajectory became quite clear early on. “I have to say that it came as a surprise to no one.” We’re glad that he has found his perfect occupation, as he readily admits that he has no head for business.

Monocle correspondent Annick Weber lives between Paris and Luxembourg (where she grew up), having spent a decade in London and Mexico. For this issue, she travelled to Nice to report on its hospitality revival and got to know the key faces and places driving the southern French city’s transformation. “I loved the Italian feel of the place and discovered my new favourite cocktail while there: the garibaldi at Babel Babel,” she says. “It’s made with campari shaken with fresh-pressed orange juice. It’s fluffy, perfectly frothy and tastes just like Italy.” If she wasn’t writing and reporting, Weber would be happy running a sourdough bakery, bringing Nordic wholegrain rye breads to France. “Ever since I visited the École Internationale de la Boulangerie in the south of France for a Monocle story, I have been hooked on the idea of baking bread for a living.”

Meanwhile, Singapore native Joseph Koh says that he got into writing when he plucked up the courage to pitch a Singapore city guide to a popular magazine. “The editor took a chance on me and I have been writing about travel, design and culture ever since,” he tells us. This time, he traversed the streets of Kuala Lumpur’s Petaling Street precinct. What was once a seedy neighbourhood has found new life as a creative enclave. He met a crop of plucky entrepreneurs who are banding together to usher in the welcome change. Reporting and writing are laying the groundwork for Koh’s dream business. “I would love to run a content agency that helps small businesses to find their words and flow,” he says.

Whether you’re running your own venture or considering starting one, our reporters, snappers and illustrators have plenty of ideas to get your juices flowing. It’s time to turn the page. - L