In the often clouded world of social media and all that surrounds it, Anna Reeve stands out. Her authenticity, vivacious personality and resilience has led her to have lived many lives, and work across a range of industries in roles that many dream only about. 

 

Now a mother of two and juggling everything life throws at her, it’s no question that Anna's success has come with a LOT of hard work, drive, and challenges along the way. 

 

As far as those on social media go, Anna is a pretty open book, and there is no question that that's why she’s amassed such a loyal and engaged following over her career. From health and motherhood to fashion and beauty - there’s something that we can all relate to, no matter what stage we are in our lives. 

Reeve talks all things fashion, her beauty must haves (yet another advocate for Charlotte Tilbury's Flawless Filter - a rey fav!), confidence from within and business as a co-founder of beverage company Pals (yes, another string to her bow!). 

 

Anna, thank you for being part of They Say, By Rey, we’re thrilled to get to know you better!

 

You have worked with a lot of clothing brands over the years. Do you currently have  any brands on rotation that we should have a little nosie at??

I have been living in Marle and Harris Tapper recently. I’m very lucky to have a lot of friends in fashion and I love to support them. I love a bit of menswear as womenswear, I have cardi from Earls on the way to me and I can’t wait for it to arrive.  

 

 

We know you are into treating yourself to beauty treatments here and there, and we love your openness around the treatments you get. What clinics do you frequent and/or what treatments do you swear by?

I go to Clinic 1 in Auckland's Freemans Bay for filler in my lips, it’s the only filler I get but I have to get it done reasonably often as my body processes it so fast due to my autoimmune disease, and I just started getting botox with them last year too. I also had their BBL laser treatment to help with pigmentation which I loved and i’m quite keen to give their Moxi laser a go!

 

 

For all of the makeup and skincare lovers out there… What would you say are the top 5 products that you can’t go without?

• La Roche Posay sunscreen - it’s your first defence against ageing. 
• Mac Boot Black Eyeliner
• Charlotte Tilbury’s Hollywood Flawless Filter and cream blush – give me all the shades!
• For my base - Laura Mercier Real Flawless Weightless Perfecting Foundation

 

A large part of your career aligns with fashion and beauty, especially the years spent in the modelling and television industry, is this an area you hope to keep working in/do you have any exciting things in the works?

That was a cherished chapter in my life and I always feel like I have lived so many lives already. I started modelling at 14, then dabbled in presenting and while I no longer work so closely in those fields, it’s the industry that I grew up in.

I will always love fashion and I'm lucky that it is still part of my professional life, just in a new shape and form through social media. 

2023 has some really exciting projects that are about to take off… watch this space!

 

 

You’ve been very open about your journey with alopecia, using your platform and reach to spread awareness and advocate for those who are also navigating it, it’s very admirable. Could you share with us a little about your journey and what you’d like to say to those within the community who may be in the beginning stages of their journey.

Gosh I could go on and on, there is so much to say. For anyone who hasn’t come across my story, when I was just shy of 7 all of my hair fell out, in two weeks. I was diagnosed with Alopecia Universalis, full body hair loss, and it never grew back. 

 

Hindsight is a beautiful thing and my advice now all centres around authenticity. 

In a pre internet world my parents would have been scared with limited resources to learn from and no support network to ask for advice. They were flying blind and wanted to do whatever they could to make me happy. So when I moved school soon after and acquired my first wig, I thought if I didn’t tell the kids at my new school then I could just fit in and be “normal”. I was so wrong. 

 

The bullying started, and got worse the longer I denied it. The unknown is scary to kids, I think that exacerbated it. I was outed at school camp as I went down the mud slide and my wig that I was growing out of popped off and flew in the air for all to see. I learnt that day I could control the narrative around it. I learned how the way I communicated about my hair loss would affect people's response. Different isn’t anything other than different. Me having Alopecia is just another fact about me, like that I was born in July. 

 

Everyone has different levels of comfort, you don’t have to be out there rocking the bald head for all to see. It’s not being in-authentic or not true to yourself by wearing a wig. 

 

But what I have learnt is you do yourself a disservice by not talking about hair loss when it really matters and can affect you. During the school years it's educating peers and using it as a learning opportunity and as a young adult it was telling new friends about it, and allowing them to become your biggest advocates and protectors when those you come across aren’t so supportive. When it comes to dating, don’t wait too long to discuss it, if it’s an issue for them, time won’t change that and it’s best to see that early on, i’ve been there. 

 

In more recent years we’ve seen you step into new roles, most importantly as a mother of your gorgeous Reeve nuggets but also within the beverage industry.

It’s fair to say Pals completely took off, your husband Jay and yourself are co-founders in the company, as someone who runs a business myself I understand how all encompassing it can be, it’s always go, go go!!  We would love to learn what aspect of the business you enjoy working on the most and three things you’ve learnt so far since launching Pals.

 

We turned three late last year and it’s been an absolute whirlwind. We co-founded Pals with our friends Nick and Mat, between the four of us only Mat had experience in the beverage industry, but we each had a skillset that we could champion and we leaned into that. 

 

Concepting and bringing Pals to market and watching the community and connection it seemed to create amongst people really sparked joy for me. So it’s still the concepting, to  new product launches and the storytelling of who we are and what we stand for as Pals grows and expands that gets me really excited. Standing, can in hand, in the Pals bar our amazing team created at RnV over new years was a pinch me moment. Many many more moments for connection!

Three things I have learnt from watching all of this happen is…

• Increase your surface area for success by having a genuine passion and interest in people and their stories. Networking is powerful, but even more so when you don’t only seek it out to serve a current need. 
• Everyone talks about the success not the failures, Jay and I have had ventures not work out. We have made bad decisions.  As cheesy as it sounds, you will miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Don’t be afraid to fail, you will learn a lot from it. 
• Celebrate the wins in your life and those around you. We don’t do it enough. 

 

 

Running a business, being a Mum and always working on a range of other projects, your life by all accounts is pretty hectic! What do you do to disconnect and re-charge?

 

I am a social person but also very happy in my own company. I love to read so devouring a book is one of my favourite ways to relax. 

 

You recently visited Mexico on a brand trip… what an epic gig! We loved watching what you got up to while abroad. For our readers who are planning on visiting, do you have any words of wisdom, top tips, must visit places that you could share?

I was so lucky to go with Club Med to Cancun and I LOVED it. I had never been to a Club Med before and I will be visiting one with boys in tow again. I loved visiting the Cenotes in Tulum, and Isla Mujeres is a must visit for a day trip.

 

We like to finish off with the same question for all of our They Say, By Rey guests… Name the items that we would find in your rey bag at any occasion.

My iPhone, Rare Beauty nearly neutral lip gloss (the best formula), quick eze (reflux never left after my pregnancy), car keys, and probably some random item of clothing of the boys, I'm constantly finding socks at the bottom of my Mum handbag!