Bondi Local | Jaki Arthur
Bondi Local | Jaki Arthur
Remo first met Jaki in 2012. On the very last trading day for the REMO Store on Bondi Road Jaki bounced in to do some buying. They got talking. “You should write a book about this,” she said. “I work in the industry. Maybe I can help you connect to the right people.” As it happens, it would be a few more years before Remo would connect with the right people and write his book … but Jaki was there along the way, encouraging and coaxing with great humour and style.
Jaki has a warm madcap quality that prompted Remo (as an aside, the first ever client for her new business JAM PR) to call her (to her face) “The Lucille Ball of Arts Publicity.” She wasn’t sure how to take that … but he assured her that it was meant as a compliment.
Melanie recently caught up with Jaki at Jo & Willy’s Depot Cafe in North Bondi.
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Jaki, tell us a little about your backstory.
OK, I’m a book publicist by trade. I’ve been working in books and publishing nearly all my working life. And I now have a small business called JAM PR which is dealing with writers and documentary makers and artists and helping them bring their story to the world. I was 13 years at Hachette Book Publishers and prior to that I was a freelance PR in the UK and prior to that I worked for Random House and Hodder headline as a sales rep.
And now you’re on your own doing your entrepreneurial thing?
Yes! The new chapter. We launched in January and we’ve got a really good list of clients. Some published writers, some self-published – people who are doing it on their own. And others who are working with big publishing companies. And then I’m running workshops for self published writers as well.
Why have you chosen Bondi?
Marianne [her daughter] and I are Tamarama people originally. And we were in a house in Dellview Street for 12 years, which we absolutely loved and adored, although it was a very cold and draughty old house. (It’s amazing what we’ll put up with … ) God it was cold, lovely and airy in the summer time, but in the winter … So in October last year we decided to have a look around to see what was on offer and we found a place on Brighton Boulevard in North Bondi and it’s a small two bedroom modern apartment and it’s just divine. We love it! It’s so cosy and it’s very different being in North Bondi than it was in Tamarama. It’s a kind of different scene. So the Depot (here) is our local and all these little shops up here are everything … feed, wax, colour!
What’s your beat? Are there other parts of Bondi that you venture out into?
We’re up and down Hall Street. I’m a fan of the Harris Farm Markets there. And we love all the shops up and down there. We go to Vinnies every now and again. And Messina (of course); but I think this [Ben Buckler shops] is really our stomping ground.
Fave places to eat and drink (besides The Depot)?
Love the Depot. I’m very regular here. Love the food. I also like that pizza place on Hall Street, up the top, Mad Pizza. The Corner House also makes really nice pizza. Hmm, where else? I guess Gertrude & Alice is a particular favourite it being so booky and everything, I feel very at home there. There’s certainly a lot to choose from here. And now we’ve got the new development opening [on the site of the old] Swiss Grand. We can’t wait to go in there. No idea what restaurants are going to be there but it looks like it could open soon. I think it’s super close all of a sudden.
What are you reading or watching?
I am reading The Rosie Project. I love it! It’s really funny. I often read a lot for work and although that’s great and I read a lot of great stuff it doesn’t quite have the magic that a treat book has that’s got no obligation in it. So I’m loving The Rosie Project.
We’ve recently got Netflix and so Marianne and I have become very into TV series.
Anything in particular?
Nashville! It’s wonderful, I love it. We’re hanging out for the new series. The other one I’m watching is Bloodline which is set in Florida and it’s got Ben Mendelsohn. He’s great. We’re getting very familiar with Netflix.
Is there anything you’re excited about?
I’m obsessed with pokies at the moment. Yeah! I’m handling the publicity for a documentary called Ka-ching! Pokie Nation about Australia’s addiction to the pokie machine. Absolutley fascinating! And what’s more it was produced by a gorgeous friend Neil Lawrence who you may know who passed away very recently. It is the most extraordinary incisive documentary about this problem that Australia has. Five times as many machines in this country than any other country in the world. Basically running unchecked. The pokie situation is particularly insidious because there is this duel notion about it. We’re told that it’s this harmless innocuous fun, but at the same time they’re known as the crack cocaine of gambling. They are the most addictive form of gambling. They’ve been designed and manufactured for addiction. So I’m working on that, and so I’m thinking about pokies a lot. I would like to see some changes in NSW and also Australia. Successive governments have made big grandstanding announcements about pokies, but nothing has been done.
I’m also obsessing about a workshop I have happening in December on Bondi Road for writers so I’m pulling that together at the moment. I like to try to help them as best as I can and I’ve realised that I can! I have a lot of stuff that I can tell them. And it’s not just publicity, it’s sales and positioning and branding and marketing and meta data. And the whole thing. I’ve never done anything like this before.
Do you have a motto?
Yes I do. I have several actually. I’ve always liked “Feel the fear and do it anyway.” – I like that. I know that fear can hold you back so walk through it. And then my other one is “The path of least resistance” … so if you can possibly make things not too difficult. They all interweave! And my last one is my best piece of advice to anyone doing anything at any time: “Pour a bucket of charm over things” … and that can fix most things.
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Full interview on SoundCloud below or HERE
