Entrepreneurial Spirit Louisa Preskett

ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT

Louisa Preskett (NHEHS 1998) read English at Newcastle University after which she moved to New York to work in fashion communications and then for Goldman Sachs in the Executive Office communications team. After returning to London, Louisa set up Polar Black Events in 2009. Polar Black Events produces events and designs creative campaigns for brands such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermes, Dom Perignon, Fendi, Jimmy Choo, Cartier, Patek Philippe, Veuve Clicquot as well as for private clients including politicians, musicians and the Royal Family. In 2019 Louisa’s entrepreneurial spirit led to her launching Maison Margaux, an online brand selling homeware goods and luxury tableware, with an additional service renting to events and weddings.

I come from a family of self-starters. My father is a musician and he worked for himself out of a studio in our home. He would often tell my sister Nicola (who is also an NHEHS alumna) and me how lucky he felt to do what he loved and also be at home to be with his family. I really wanted the same setup if I was lucky enough to be able to make it work. Family has always been my priority. I have three children, and when I was working at Goldman Sachs many years ago I couldn’t see how I was going to have children and see them/watch them grow in the way I wanted to.

Around 2007 I saw a real gap in the market for a bespoke, creative and service-driven events agency. I had spent years organising events in-house for major companies and brands where I had to rely on external agencies for support. I always felt let down by the service level, attention to detail and quality of work I received and I just knew there had to be a better way.

I also think I’m probably a person that takes risks and that’s just part of my nature. Sometimes it works and I succeed, and sometimes I fall flat on my face. But it’s all a learning. If you want to do something for yourself, and you’re passionate about your idea and what you’re doing, you have to get used to rejection and failure and keep moving forward. If you work hard and don’t give up it always gets you to where you want to be.

I absolutely love what I do as I meet and work alongside so many different people including artists, musicians, politicians, Michelin starred chefs and designers. It is an amazing cross section of talented people doing amazing things.

There have been some very challenging moments along the way, for example, when Polar Black did a big charity event with Bill Clinton and there was a major

security breach in the venue. It was very scary as part of London was shut down and we had to decide whether we would keep going with the event or get him out of the building. And we/he decided to keep going. It was the most surreal moment, standing with him and his security guard in a tiny room and making that decision. And fortunately everyone was safe.

More recently, the global pandemic has been a huge challenge and it has not been easy, but we survived! Maison Margaux really took off during Covid because everyone wanted homeware and to re-decorate their homes. It was not just in the UK, but in the US and Europe also and because we are an online retailer we reach a big global market.Polar Black weathered the storm and things are looking really good again now we are returning to in-person events.

School Memories

My favourite memories are definitely of my friends, especially Laura Kesner and Emily Gilkes. We were incredibly close and still are. Most of our other friends lived in Ealing but we grew up in Chiswick and Kew and so not only were we best friends but also neighbours. I loved walking up Castlebar Hill together, holding our folders with our bags on one shoulder (not good for posture!). We had a wider friendship group with Becky Lowe, Karen Proudlock and Dani Pascoe too. I also loved being involved in so many things from orchestra with my friend Titch to school plays. A level Art with Mrs Hurd and Miss Plowden will always hold a special place in my heart! I loved those classes. And finally, our school trips to Ypres, Florence and Charney Manor - good times.

One of my favourite teachers was Miss Mercer. I was at Notting Hill Junior School and left for a few years to go to my local community school in Chiswick. I went back to Notting Hill at age fourteen but I felt like I was behind and didn’t have much confidence in my academic ability at that age. Miss Mercer always told me I could do it and I was clever enough. And it stayed with me because she was also quite tough on us all! She made me believe in myself and I went on to do really well in my GCSEs, which surprised me and a few of my teachers I think!

I remember there was such a brilliant drive at Notting Hill. The female teachers always made us feel that we would work one day and be successful if we wanted to. Looking back at 1998 there were a lot of other girls’ schools that weren’t giving that message. Music was a huge thing for me as my Dad is a musician and Notting Hill had an incredible music department. It was an all-round school, you didn’t need to fit a mould, there were girls from all backgrounds and families and it felt, certainly in our year, that everyone was supportive of each other. The message really was that we could achieve anything if we worked hard enough. That’s

Louisa as part of the cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream, after a rehearsal in 1998

genuinely what I heard, and it stuck.

School was a lovely environment but it was also very academic and you needed to work really hard. You also wanted to work hard, I don’t know how the teachers instilled that in us but they did. In our year it was ‘cool’ to do well and get the best results. It wasn’t like that in some other girls’ schools. The culture was also to get involved in lots of things, so I was always incredibly busy. Being busy has stuck with me, it makes me face challenges and situations/try new things that I’m not very good at and overcome them. And I truly believe when you do that, put yourself out there, try something new, get good at it, you build confidence in yourself.

Advice for entrepreneurs

Louisa is happy for any other NHEHS Alumnae thinking of a career in events or starting a business to get in touch either directly, or via the Alumnae Relations Officer.

If you want to set up your own business, be prepared to fail. Be prepared to get a lot of ‘no thanks’ initially but be humble, work really really hard and keep going. That’s really the only difference between a business that survives and one that doesn’t. If you work hard enough, you will succeed. You will stumble along the way but you have to leave your ego at the door. It is also key to treat your employees well and to harbour a kind and respectful environment in your office. I dislike it when people say ‘it’s not personal, it’s business’, because really I think everything is personal because we are all people. Treat people well because relationships and getting colleagues and clients to trust you, like you and want to support you are 70% of what makes people successful in startups in my opinion. So treat people well, help people when you can, never get above your station and the rest will fall into place.