Hi, vinas! Lora Levison here, Hey! VINA‘s Community Manager. As community manager, I get to connect with all the amazing vina ambassadors around the world who are spreading the VINA love by hosting and attending VINA plans.
Which brings me to one rockstar vina ambassador, Yvette Nankafu Zihhalirwa from Cape Town, South Africa. She recently hosted an amazing vina get-together and shared her advice on how to make a public plan a success.
According to Yvette, it’s important that your plan accommodates everyone. “You want everyone to have a good time and feel comfortable at the end of the day,” she says. “It was super easy for everyone to find each because the venue was very easy to find and so well known.”
Here’s our vina, Yvette!
At the end of the night, Yvette reflected on what a successful vina date it was. “My personal highlight was how easily we all connected after a few minutes in a room—it felt as if we have known each other our whole life!”
Vinas, use Yvette as your inspo. Get on Hey! VINA and create an open plan right now, or check out open plans in your area in the discover plans feature—your girl gang is waiting for you!
Hey, vinas! Hey! VINA’s Community Manager Lora Levison here to tell you fabulous vinas all about the amazing night I had. So sit back and pour some bubbly🥂—this is good.
On October 10, I hosted a public plan inviting all vinas in Los Angeles to attend Los Angeles Fashion Week at the Petersen Automotive Museum. (Alert: If you haven’t checked out the discover plans feature in your app, or started hosting your own plans, are you really living?!). We saw the latest collections from designers Irina Marchuk, Irishlatina by Rebecca Rivera, Veronican Vallenes and Bohemian Society. I’m so glad I created this plan because I got to share several fashionista moments with my forever vinas, Juliet Lemar and Maya!
So why did Juliet have fun? “It was a fantastic night of inspiration and art. The highlight for me was meeting so many talented, creative, and wonderful people,” she says. YAS!
And even though Maya admits that she was a little nervous showing up at the open plan because she didn’t know anyone, she’s so happy she came. “My highlights were the runway shows and intermission because I was able to meet new people and get a feel for the fashion world,” she explained. “At the end, I was more comfortable. I felt like I’ve made a connection with the girls!”
✨🛍Vina fashionistas Juliet, Lora and Maya✨🛍
For Juliet, it’s obvious why more vinas should be enjoying the plans feature. “Life is about getting out and living!” she says. “Creating future plans allows users to add events to their calendars and plan everything accordingly to insure a seamless, low stress, meet-up.”
As a supporter of VINA, she loves the mission behind the app: “One of my life goals is to make women feel less alone and VINA resonates with me because it brings women together to celebrate their power, uniqueness, passions, and above all community.”
Maya agrees. “The plans feature lets you connect with people you haven’t matched with yet and it’s easier to actually meet up with people instead of matching and not even talking to each other. Being on VINA has changed my life for the better because I was able to go to my first fashion show and was able to meet new people and make connections!”
Thanks for sharing, vinas! Need some tips on how to create a successful VINA plan? Read this! Now, get posting and RSVPing📅💃
Crazy-good singer, life-long dancer, and a star on the rise Jordyn Jones is an all-🌟 vina. Her love for dancing and performing brought her to LA where is she pushing her passion and soaking up the limelight.
In VINAZINE’s exclusive interview with Jordyn (see the full video below and on our YouTube page!), we talked about everything from the importance of childhood friends to her tour that’s in the works (we can’t wait!), plus how she manages work and play. So read some highlights below, vinas. We promise you’ll love her!
VINA: Thanks for talking to VINAZINE! So, tell us what your VINA profile would look like. What picture would you choose for your profile and how would you describe yourself in five emojis?
JJ: Well, I would definitely choose my Instagram profile picture to go on my VINA profile. It’s a close-up of my face and you can really see what I look like! And then five emojis to describe me would be, well, my favorite emoji is the yellow heart so I would definitely do that and I would probably do the blonde girl with the little princess emoji, the rollercoaster emoji, a red rose, and sparkles. Editor’s note: Here you go, Jordyn: 💛🌹✨🎢👸
VINA: OK, so let’s say you’re swiping through VINA looking for your future BFF and you come across your dream celeb! Who is it and why would you immediately swipe right?
JJ: I would swipe right on Hailey Baldwin or Halsey because they are both so perfect and pretty, and Halsey is an amazing singer and just everything.
VINA: What’s it like being in the limelight—is it hard to make friends? Have you noticed friendships changing?
JJ: There’s definitely less friendships when you are in the limelight because you are so busy. It’s not that you can’t make a lot of friends, it’s just that you are very busy. It’s easy for me to make friends because it’s how you connect with someone because you’ll have to know if their intentions are good or bad. It’s easy for me to point that out, though. I have good friends that stick around me, like I have my friend from Michigan that I’ve known for like 15 or 16 years of my life, so she’s always been my best friend.
VINA: Have you noticed anything changing with that friendship?
JJ: I mean I kind of talk to her less because I used to live in Michigan, but we FaceTime a lot and I’m going home soon to see her. It’s just that every time we talk, we get back where we left off, you know, so it’s just like nothing happened and it still feels like I live in Michigan whenever I talk to her and hangout with her! I also like hanging out with people who are not as much in the limelight as I am. It keeps me humble and I always know where I come from and I also don’t think of myself as a celebrity or a famous person. I just like to have fun with my dancer friends that I’ve known for a really long time because all of my dancer friends, we all started being dancers and then when Instagram came up, we all started posting dance videos and now they are all getting their own followers, so it’s really good to go back and hangout with them because they are not trying to get anything out of me. If anything, I want to be one of them!
VINA: Love that! So tell us about your best friends.
JJ: I have multiple best friends! We have inside jokes, we have songs! We clicked really hard and I have a lot of people who go back with me. I always want to come up with the people I started with. I just need people around me who are good vibes and good energy and just like to laugh and see the glass half-full, just positive people.
VINA: Those are the best kind of friends! So what advice would you give to someone who wanted to make more friends?
JJ: Well, if you want to make more friends, then just try. Speak up, introduce yourself and also be yourself. That’s a big thing because don’t try to be somebody else because you’re just amazing and you’ll definitely find people who have the same interests as you.
VINA: Definitely! OK, last question: If you were to host an open plan in LA on Hey! VINA, what would it be?
JJ: Probably Six Flags day or Disney day. Meet me at front at 10 am and let’s go party! Ride rides all day and after a full day at Six Flags, I would end it with a performance at night!
Thanks for talking to VINAZINE, Jordyn! Vinas, be sure to keep your eyes out for Jordyn’s upcoming tour next year–it will be amazing!
And need help finding those meaningful friends who will make your life more magical and beautiful? Start swiping TODAY on Hey! VINA! Chat, make plans, and build your tribe!
