interview | Kia Goodliffe

Posted on October 23, 2009 by Ana Lutetia | No Comments

1 – How did you discover Second Life and what made you create an account?
I used to play TSO (The Sims Online) and people there used to talk about two other games: There and Second Life. I tried ‘There’ first and it was just ok. I tried Second Life and created Kia Goodliffe and hated it. It wasn’t until I met Drew Sneerwell in TSO that I decided to give it another shot.

2 – How did you come up with your Second Life name?
In TSO, I had a toon named Kia. It’s simple. I’m also a goody goody, so I thought the last name ‘Goodliffe’ fit.

3 – Lots of people only stay inSL for a week or a month after creating an account. What made you stay and what motivates you to log back in?
The first time, I did quit. Drew Sneerwell mentioned that he thought he would have fun with me in Second Life. He brought me back and spent thousands of Lindens getting me skins, hair, clothing, etc. After I realized I could look better than my ‘noob’ character, I was hooked.

4 – What have you been doing in SL? Tell us your story: what have you been up to or what have you created.
At first, all I wanted to do was hang around Drew and shop. Then, he began building furniture. I was actually pissed off, lol. He asked me to build things like coffee tables, dining room tables, chairs, etc. It was tough for me to build. He challenged me to make low prim decent looking furniture. I succeeded with the low prim part. I sold my first coffee table and then I thought “wow, I can make some lindens and not have to spend my rl money”. I then started doing weddings. I began “Elite Weddings”. Me and my partner, Annmarie Valentine, performed the ceremonies. She did the ceremony, wedding planning, and dj’ing. I made the invitations, cakes, photos, and colored our wedding sets. I’m completely done with godzilla brides, ty.
Drew encouraged me to make fashion items. I was afraid, but I was a huge fan of ETD hair. I started to research how others made their hair. Elikapeka Tiramisu did a tutorial on hair making. It was very well done. I followed her directions and my first hair was born. I named it Genesis. (ha!) I made about 16 styles before I opened Hair Solutions in June 2007. I’ve been making hair ever since.

5 – Have you found, developed or improved any skills because of SL?
I’ve taught myself Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop CS4, Sculpty Paint, and well building…does that count? I’ve also gotten involved with blogging and Plurk. I never would have done these things without Second Life.

6 – Could you share a funny or awkward story that happened to you inSL?
My awkward moments are always when a customer has a complaint and is completely rude about it. They blame me when a product is not delivered sometimes. I don’t like to disappoint people, so it’s tough for me. I guess the funny moments are when I’m standing in my store and people don’t realize that I’m the owner. I had one customer be very condescending towards me about the subscribomatic that SHE signed up for and then IMed me to complain when I sent a notice with a 300L gift card. About an hour later, she IMed back apologizing profusely when she realized I was a legitmate business owner.

7 – What would you change or improve in Second Life?
I would like to see some accountability for individuals that choose to steal. I realize that we can never stop theft, but come on. There should be a way for you to verify yourself. You should not be allowed to register anonymously when there is real money involved. That is unacceptable and Linden Labs should be putting more resources on this situation.

8 – Can you share your current and/or future projects for SL?
After I get my newly remodeled store filled with new styles with new textures, I plan to release poses and AO’s. There is never enough time in the day, however, but that is my plan.

9 – Have you ever had any issues whatsoever within Second Life? If so, how did you reported and was the feedback positive?
The only big problems I may have had are with my sims that I own. My response from Linden Labs has always been positive. The other issue I had was during Hair Fair 2009. I was the designer liaison and one of our sims crashed for almost an entire day. I got one of the Lindens on concierge chat, Charlene Linden, and she got the sim back up within 10 minutes.

10 – Is Second Life merely an online game or do you consider it more of a metaverse or a virtual world?
I believe this is truly a virtual world. I’ve met many individuals that if SL didn’t exist, they’d be dead. This is a way for people to express themselves that they can’t do in their real lives. It brings them joy and an escape. For people like myself, it’s a way to have an income and meet new and interesting people from all walks of life.

11 – Imagine a new resident asks for your help. What would do? What would you tell him/her?
I’m a second life mentor. I don’t have the time to actually get to the help islands anymore. When I used to mentor, I would explain basics like how to make money and get nice skins, clothing, hair, etc. I would have to say that the majority of the new people I’ve met wanted to know where to find the sex.

12 – How would you describe yourself in one word?
multi-faceted

Your urls
Blog: http://hair-solutions.blogspot.com/
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/hairsolutions/
SLurls: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Elite%20Island/140/133/21
Mentions: I was Hair Fair 2009 Designer Liaison? I was mentioned in the book “Second Life for Dummies” as one of the top 10 places to shop for hair. (that was luck, lol, shrugs) I’m not well known.

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