The Bold Beginnings of [@Chrissiemilan] and [@ChrisJammer] in Collaboration with BULLDOG Gin

We all have our personal origin story behind why we are in the positions we are in today. In popular culture, we often celebrate the idea of humble beginnings but aren’t typically made aware of some of the bold beginnings, initiated by key decisions made by people, that changed the trajectory of their life. 

BULLDOG – the contemporary and premium London Dry Gin – is sharing its own story of how it broke from convention to take a bold beginning and forge a different space in the gin category, to inspire others to listen to their inner drive. BULLDOG was born from an entrepreneurial ambition to create a gin with a difference. Refined and modern, BULLDOG Gin has a daring botanical balance and bold presence with an iconic black bottle.

Continuing as a trailblazer for taking bold beginnings, BULLDOG has launched an inspirational new digital storytelling series to champion the entrepreneurial attitude towards life. The campaign kickstarts with compelling short films that follow the impactful bold beginnings of different protagonists including an entrepreneur, musician and photographer amongst others, as they embrace the chance to express themselves in a way that stays true to their authentic selves.

Directed by the young Cannes-winning Director Federico Mazzarisi who is known for his bold use of imagery to tell cultural narratives, the short digital films also feature the bold beginnings of established fashion designer Gala Gonzales and electro-house DJ duo Joyhauser. Gala Gonzales and Joyhauser are fronting the BULLDOG Begin Bold campaign to share their experiences of following their inner drive to break away from the routines they were in and begin a new and passionate venture that would go on to define them. 

BULLDOG defines a bold beginning as ‘starting something new, in a way that is unique and true to yourself’. They asked us to look into our community of creators, who represent this concept, for a quick discussion on their bold beginnings. For this, we paired up two of the UK’s finest young creators, Chrissie Milan and Chris Jammer to find out more about how their inspirational journey began and how those seeds blossomed into the flourishing careers they have today. 

Chrissie Milan is the Founder of Channel Monday and an established Fashion & Lifestyle Content Creator. At the age of only 25, she has partnered and worked with some of the biggest brands in the world as an influencer whilst providing a platform/podcast to inspire those who want to lead a life of intention. Setting up a business as well as deciding to be a content creator back when she was a teenager was an incredibly audacious decision. Chrissie describes her decision as one that was made out of necessity, as she felt like she needed to pursue that path to feel comfortable within her own mind.

Chris Jammer is one of the leaders of his generation, founding one of the UK’s best new festivals for music and youth culture. After getting accepted into Cambridge University to study Banking, he realized he didn’t fit in and wanted to create a more inclusive cultural experience for Cambridge. This prompted him to make the drastic decision to turn his back on his dream of being a banker to pursue a more fulfilling vision of his future. What started as a passion project whilst at university, has grown over several years becoming a mainstay in the cultural calendar and hosting tens of thousands of people each time.

Just like those who were featured in Federico Mazzarisi’s films; despite working within different industries and in very different ways; one thing all of these individuals have in common is their incredibly Bold Beginnings. When following an expectation that was set out for them, they instinctively chose to tread an alternative path that would not only better define what was true to themselves but also inspire a different creative spark in their peers and future generations to come after them. We also got a quote from DJ Duo Joyhauser to give us an insight into their bold beginning:

Joyhauser was born out of a strong friendship and a common passion for electronic music culture. When we just started going out we really looked up to our personal DJ heroes. Our ultimate dream was to someday play at those big clubs and stages ourselves. To move and touch the crowd with our own music, that was something we’ve always wanted. The lack of parties in our hometown forced us to take matters into our own hands, so we decided to organise our very own techno events. It was then and there we started playing DJ sets as a duo and from that moment on Joyhauser was born. This was only the start of our bold beginning though. The road to success in the music industry is often a long and very uncertain one. Dedication is key and staying true to yourselves and being confident in your strengths is an absolute must. So we kept on believing in our own story, and worked hard to develop and improve our very own sound and unique identity. In 2019, we finally decided to take a big leap of faith: we overcame our doubts and both quit our daytime job to turn our passion for music into our full time occupation. This instantly gave us such a liberating feeling; to be able to do what we love, day in and day out, without any boundaries. We felt confident we were on the right track. Only 2 years later, we’re playing at the biggest techno stages all over the world, sharing our music with thousands and thousands of fans, living the dream weekend after weekend. We can only hope to inspire other talents worldwide to follow their dreams with confidence, just as we did.

A bold beginning is one that can be initiated by anyone and at any time, it’s never too late. You may not know how to begin or where the journey may take you. However, it’s clear from the stories highlighted by BULLDOG that you don’t need to know how to begin you just need to be bold and just go.

You can watch the full series of Bold Beginnings captured by Federico Mazzarisi, and discover more about how BULLDOG Gin is championing Bold Beginnings on their website [here] or by following #BeginBold #BulldogGin.