Betta lives the life a lot of people would dream of. She works as a stylist for different brands and for her own Production Company Floater. She jet-sets to locations around the world and lives part-time in Milan and Fuerteventura. 

Hey Betta, how are you? 

Hello guys! I am fortunately very good. First of all, thank you so much for this interview. I am so glad to be part of the Pulaumi family. I think that in life we’ve got the chance to have two families, one we belong to from birth, and one that we choose later in life. So, I consider Pulaumi like a family I choose. 

How did you strand in Fuerteventura? 

I came the first time for vacation in 2000! It was wild and I fell in love with this place. Then I used to come here every year for surfing and to visit good friends who live here. Then my ex-boyfriend and I decided to move to the island for a project that we had in mind. We did that, but I also wanted to do my own project.

So I founded Floater Production. A company that provides all the services and creativity for photo, video and movie shootings for a large audience; from the fashion industry to the surf and skate industry. Since then, many things have changed, yet I have decided to stay and to follow what I have created.

Fuerteventura is the harsh opposite of living in a City. You managed to live both lives. What do you enjoy of these two worlds?

I often travel to Milan and to all Europe because my job in the fashion industry brings me there. I miss the Ocean every day when I’m there, but I have an amazing job. I have the chance to meet great creative minds, to travel, to create, to be in contact all the time with photography and fashion. So I try to get all the positive sides of this. I guess it is the balance between these two worlds that feed my mind with creativity and inputs to improve my work but at the same time I’m keeping my freedom and my passion for the ocean alive and strong.

When you are here, I often see you looking for waves. What’s your approach in surfing? What makes you happy?

Surfing makes me happier than everything else. Mother Nature makes me happy. I could spend my whole day in nature just admiring it. I love all kinds of surfing – shortboard, longboard…everything! But I’m riding a lot of retro surfboards. I love longboards and midlenght singlefins, trying to be in perfect harmony of style and technique, but I sometimes also love to push myself into bigger waves. I love to feel the power of mother nature. Surfing is my meditation. It teaches me every day to let go the control and living the moment. I think to live the moment is one of the most important lessons when you are in the water.

What’s the connection between these two different lives that you live at the same time? 

Someone told me that I have two different souls. I think it is just one, maybe a complicated and a very demanding one sometimes … 😉 The connection between these two worlds is my search of freedom. I have been lucky enough to turn my passion into a profession, so I can freely express my creativity through it. And I’ve turned my other passion into a lifestyle, so I can chase waves almost every day. 

I guess the connection is: Being on the constant search of beauty and having the freedom of doing what I love on a daily basis.

There is the same elegance in a beautiful picture and in a perfect wave. 

If you had to choose one place, which would it be and why?

Between Fuerteventura and Italy ? Of course Fuerte. I already made that decision after the first lockdown. I left my flat in Milan, and now I just live here. I only travel when I have shootings in Europe.

How did you become a stylist?

That’s a nice story! I wanted to work in the creative world since I was in high school. Then, at the age of 17, I read an article in a fashion magazine about the work of a stylist, and it inspired me a lot! That was my job! I was 100% sure, that this was my way. 

So after high school, I moved to Milan. I studied at the university but at the same time I had a job as a stylist assistant for a fashion magazine…the magazine that published the article that inspired me! 

I worked as an assistant for many years and became a stylist step by step. That’s my advice for everyone who wants to work as a stylist. Start at the bottom, be an assistant, learn everything on the set and learn from experienced people. Because there is no school that can teach you what happens on set.

What do you like most about being a stylist? 

It still excites me that an idea, that at the beginning is just a moodboard then takes shape as a picture or a video or being printed as an editorial in a fashion magazine. When I can produce something I came up with, with the help of an amazing team of other creative people, and we all together create a whole story around an inspiration. Then clothes and fashion are not just something beautiful and expensive, but my way of telling a story or creating a character. I really like to work with professional models but also with amateurs. I enjoy working on the character through clothes, because each picture is like a little film. 

How did you start Floater Production? 

Already when I came to Fuerte the first time, I noticed the potential of this island. It is the perfect place for shooting and filming. The light is amazing and the places and landscapes are a photographers dream. Since a long time I wanted to live close to the ocean and have my own production company, so I could still pursue my profession as a stylist.

I met two amazing people, Emanuele and Mauro, who are my partners in this adventure. We created a real production that offers a service for every kind of shooting and video. I started bringing my clients here offering the service of stylist and production. In addition, we also organize location scouting, accommodation, catering, equipment and casting.

After a while word spread around all over Europe. We did it! Today I am very proud of Floater Productions. In 6 years, we went from nothing, to become one of the first productions in the Canary Islands. What I like even more is that we brought a lot of work here, and we are trying to share it with many of the people living here.