AllBright Issue One Spring 2019 US EDITION by Neighbourhood Media

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THE GAME CHANGERS 50 women shaping the world right now, starting with Jameela Jamil

PLUS: Tory Burch on building her brand • Kate Mosse's favourite female fiction Facialist Georgia Louise's guide to the perfect glow • Find your balance • The new power dressing The best bags this season • How to raise investment • Sleep solutions from the experts • Sustainable retreats C E L E B R AT I N G A N D C H A M P I O N I N G W O M E N T O I N S P I R E C H A N G E ALLBRIGHT COVER GLG.indd 1

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T H E W E S T

H O L L Y W O O D

Coming Summer 2019 Located on iconic Melrose Place, spanning three floors, the club will offer members indoor and outdoor spaces dining, a full bar, hair and nail salon, facial studio, wellness, valet parking, and a roof deck boasting panoramic views of the Hollywood Hills.

Inquiries: Membership.LA@allbright.co

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@AllBright

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@WeAreAllBright

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ISSUE ONE SPRING 2019

WELCOME LETTER

The Spring Edit

elcome to the first ever issue of AllBright – a magazine which coincides with a lot of new beginnings for the AllBright club as we expand our community out here in Los Angeles. 2019 will see two more openings for AllBright both in the US and the UK, as well as the publication of our first book, Believe. Build. Become, by Penguin in May. Coinciding with the first anniversary of our first club location on Rathbone Place in central London, our first issue is dedicated to celebrating extraordinary women. Our Game Changers list highlights the 50 inspirational women we think are changing the world, starting with actor and activist Jameela Jamil. Born in the UK and now living in LA, Jameela is a passionate and vocal champion for body positivity, leading the way in reshaping expectations within the entertainment industry and across celebrity culture. We’re proud to have Jameela and fellow actor Olivia Wilde as founder members of The AllBright West Hollywood which opens this summer. Amongst the other amazing women in our growing community here in LA are celebrated facialist Georgia Louise and famed hair stylist Lona Vigi who will be joining us at our in-house salon and dedicated treatment rooms. Also in this issue, we’ve also spoken to the ‘AllBright Sisterhood’, the gang of brilliant women who have helped us build our burgeoning UK community, including interior designer Suzy Hoodless and art curator Beth Greenacre. They bring their expertise as leaders in their fields to AllBright's second opening on Maddox Street, London. This year, the theme for International Women's Day is #BalanceforBetter, which resonates strongly with our own view of success. While hard work and focus is key, we firmly believe in the importance of taking time to yourself to rest and reset. With that in mind, we've brought together expert tips on how to achieve balance in every aspect of your life – key reading for any working woman. So read on and immerse yourself in the AllBright world. We hope you enjoy the issue.

Pot Rouge For Lips & Cheeks, $32, BOBBI BROWN; Dress, $470, STINE GOYA at Harvey Nichols ; Skirt, $1,290, MARY KATRANZOU at net-a-porter.com; Shoes, $230 MALONE SOULIERS at theoutnet.com; Lost Cherry perfume $320, TOM FORD at Macy's; Small Harlow Satchel, $895, MULBERRY

See you in the club.

Anna Jones Co-founder

Debbie Wosskow, OBE Co-founder

debbieandanna@allbright.co @AllBright

@WeAreAllBright

AllBright

ALLBRIGHT MAGAZINE is published for ALLBRIGHT by Neighbourhood Media Limited EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Charlotte Adsett (charlotte@allbright.co) EDITOR Georgie Lane-Godfrey (georgie@allbright.co) CREATIVE DIRECTOR Ray Searle (ray@allbright.co) CONTRIBUTORS Hilary Armstrong, Augustynka Art, Harriet Cooper, Edwina Langley, Kate Mosse, Bethan Ryder, Catt Sadler, Jes Salter, Sela Shiloni, Hannah Swerling, Alison Tay DIRECTOR OF PARTNERSHIPS Nicki Singh (nicki@allbright.co) PROGRAMME AND PARTNERSHIPS EXECUTIVE Matilda Hartley (matilda@allbright.co) VICE PRESIDENT & GENERAL MANAGER, US Natacha Hildebrand (natacha@allbright.co) THE ALLBRIGHT, MELROSE PLACE, WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA © 2019 Neighbourhood Media Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, whether in whole or in part, without written permission. The publishers and editors are not responsible for unsolicited material and it will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication subject to AllBright magazine’s right to edit.

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CONT I S S U E

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ALLBRIGHT. 8 ON THE AGENDA

The hottest dates for your diary this spring

12 HAIL MARY!

How Mary Quant changed fashion's attitude forever

16 CHANGING PERSPECTIVES

Art curator Beth Greenacre discusses the new female gaze

20 THE DOWNLOAD

The best things to watch, listen and read right now

22 FEMALE FICTION

Author and Women's Prize For Fiction founder Kate Mosse on promoting female voices

24 MEET THE TASTEMAKER Maddox Street designer Suzy Hoodless on interior inspiration

28 JAMEELA EXPLAINS ALL

The actor and body positivity campaigner on why she refuses to keep quiet any longer

34 THE GAMECHANGERS 50 women shaping the world today

46 PITCH PERFECT

How to create the perfect venture funding pitch

48 THE PIVOT

Artist Lauren Baker reveals the book that changed her life

50 MY WORKING LIFE

Flowerbx founder Whitney Bromberg Hawkings discusses her working day

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53 TIME TO PAY

Catt Sadler on why women need to know their worth

54 INVEST IN YOURSELF

The importance of making your money work harder to close that gender investment gap

59 GOAL-GETTERS

How to set career-enhancing goals

60 FIND YOUR BALANCE

A holistic guide to getting a sense of balance back into every area of your life

64 THE FASHION UPDATE Style news for spring

66 TALKS WITH TORY

Tory Burch on building her billion-dollar business empire

70 POWER DRESSING

A guide to the season's best workwear

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ENTS. CEL EBR AT ING A N D CH A M PION I NG WOM E N T O INSPIR E CH A NGE

72 BAGS OF STYLE

Accessories to make an impact

74 BEAUTY NOTES The latest news and products,

including the beauty gurus coming to the AllBright

76 FACIAL RECOGNITION

Renowned facialist Georgia Louise gives her essential skincare guide

78 MY BALANCE

Go-to holistic guru Julie Montagu shares her secrets to health and happiness

80 NIGHT SCHOOL

How to finally get some sleep, featuring the latest tech innovations and tips from leading experts

86 EARTHLY PLEASURES

The luxury eco resorts around the world helping both people and planet

94 JOIN THE PARTY

AllBright's hottest events this season

96 THE SPACE PIONEER Shining a spotlight on a woman in history, starting with Kalpana Chawla

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THE GAME CHANGERS

Front cover

50 women shaping the world right now, starting with Jameela Jamil

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Jameela Jamil photographed by Sela Shiloni

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MEET THE CONTRIBUTORS I S S U E

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KATE MOSSE OBE Award-winning author and co-founder of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, Kate Mosse is known for putting female characters center stage in her writing. Her books have been translated into 37 languages and published in over 40 countries. ‘Women are changing the world by understanding that everyone's voice matters – quiet revolutionaries count just as much as the loudest leaders,’ she says. ‘It is sometimes the small steps, the just-getting-on-with-it, the leading by example, that bring about the most significant changes.’

JAMEELA JAMIL LA-based British actress and former radio DJ Jameela Jamil is no stranger to controversy, making headlines for her outspoken views on body positivity, media irresponsibility and gender equality. A true game-changer in terms of female empowerment, Jameela credits other women as her inspiration. ‘Growing up I was very inspired by Princess Diana,’ she recalls. ‘I was lucky enough to be alive when she was our princess. Watching her crossing minefields and practicing philanthropy was inspiring.’

SELA SHILONI Sela Shiloni is an LA-based photographer who has been featured in titles such as The Hollywood Reporter, Elle, Glamour and Variety. Specializing in stylized portraiture, he has shot cover star Jameela Jamil. ‘As soon as Jameela walked into my studio, she told me “no photoshopping me in any way,”’ recalls Sela. ‘I appreciated how upfront she was – not only does she talk the talk, she also walks the walk. She’s a wonderful subject and person.’

CATT SADLER Former E! presenter Catt Sadler is a three-time Emmywinning journalist. After quitting her job at E! over gender pay disparity, Catt has written about the importance of standing up for what you’re worth and women supporting each other in industry. ‘It was Jennifer Lawrence who first highlighted the pay disparity between her and her male co-stars publicly,’ she recalls. ‘She and the many other women of the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements gave me the courage to take my own stand.’

ALISON TAY Alison Tay has spent the last two decades on fashion’s front row as a celebrity stylist and journalist for both print and television. Currently Editor-in-Chief of Grazia Middle East, Alison interviewed fashion designer and businesswoman Tory Burch for AllBright’s inaugural issue. ‘Tory’s utter devotion to her parents reminds me that none of us can change the game in isolation,’ she says. ‘We all owe our success to those who have blazed the trail before us.’

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W IT H E V ERY S T EP, W E ALL MOV E FORWARD K E E P WA L K I N G A M E R I C A

JANE WALKER BY

G o to Wal kWit hJane.com t o l earn m o r e PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY. IMPORTED BY DIAGEO, NOR WALK, CT.

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Annie Leibovitz The Early Years, 1970-1983 H AUSER & W IRT H Unt i l A pr i l 1 4 Annie Leibovitz is one of the few female photographers who made it to household name status, so expect Hauser & Wirth's exhibition to be a blockbuster this spring. Featuring more than 5000 photos from Leibovitz's 1970s practice, this early career retrospective starts with her work for Rolling Stone. Look out for portraits of art-world heroes, such as Andy Warhol, Ansel Adams and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

hauserwirth.com

The Diary LOS ANGELES

A major retrospective of pioneering conceptual artist Allen Ruppersberg is set to be an unmissable date in the city’s art calendar. Featuring many works which have never before been publically displayed, the exhibition explores some of Ruppersberg’s key themes, including presence and absence, the book as an object and self-portraiture. Allen Ruppersberg: Intellectual Property 1968-2018 Until May 12, Hammer Museum hammer.ucla.edu DAVID HOCKNEY Something New in Painting (and Photography)[and even Printing]... continued

Photo by Jean-Pierre Gonçalves de Lima

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An exhibition of new works from the renowned British artist, created in his Los Angeles home studio. Don’t miss the two immersive, muralsize works described by Hockney as ‘photographic drawings’ which capture numerous viewpoints over a period of time – complex consideration required.

lalouver.com

Hockney United Photo Industries / Alan Winslow Hockney credit: © David Hockney

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Mirga Leads Tchaikovsky & Debussy

CONTACT HIGH: A VISUAL HISTORY OF HIP HOP Photo by Frans Jansen

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An alternative look at the world of hip-hop. Focusing on the photographers who have captured hip-hop’s visual culture from the inside and brought it to an international stage, this exhibition is an intimate look at the artists through their unedited contact sheets. Expect Biggie, Jay-Z, Kanye West and Salt-N-Pepa to make an appearance.

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annenbergspaceforphotography.org

Photo by Janette Beckman

LA Fashion Week

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Traditionally an all-boys affair, the world of conducting has very few female stars. But one of the brightest among the few is Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, whose rise to fame has been meteoric. Known for her dynamic performances, Mirga is leading the LA Philharmonic through Tchaikovsky’s beloved Violin Concerto and Debussy’s La Mer this month. laphil.com

See both international and homegrown talent grace the runway as Los Angeles Fashion Week hits the city. With a focus on raising the profile of fashion in the United States, LAFW offers both runway shows and exclusive previews, such as Escada's pre-season event at the Petersen Museum which kicks off proceedings.

lafw.net

BIKINI KILL

May 1-2, Hollywood Palladium The band’s first major live shows in over two decades see the fiery, feminist trio reunite to perform their hardcore hits. Part of the ‘riot grrrl’ underground feminist punk movement of the 90s, Bikini Kill were hailed as pioneers. With this show, it’s easy to see why. hollywoodpalladium.com

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Women of Vision: National Geographic Photographers on Assignment F OR E S T L AW N Un t i l Ap r i l 7

Bringing together the work of awardwinning female photojournalists, this exhibition captures powerful, pivotal moments from around the globe. Look out for Stephanie Sinclair’s shot Too Young To Wed, a photo of ten-yearold Nujood Ali jumping for joy as she receives her divorce papers – sad yet celebratory at the same time.

forestlawn.com

Clockwise from top left: MAGGIE STEBER, Nestled in their bed in Miami, Florida, four young sisters nap on a Sunday afternoon after attending church; STEPHANIE SINCLAIR, Nujood Ali stunned the world in 2008 by obtaining a divorce at age ten in Yemen, striking a blow against forced marriage; AMY TOENSING, Longtime Ocean Grove visitors take a dip in the roiling Atlantic surf; DIANE COOK AND LEN JENSHEL, A double rainbow arcs above the jagged cliffs and dense vegetation of Kalalau, the largest valley on Na Pali; KITRA CAHANA, After working himself into a trance, a man leaps through a flaming pyre.

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THEATRE

The Niceties

G E F F E N P L AY H OU S E

Ap r i l 17 - May 12

Written by Eleanor Burgess and directed by Kimberly Senior, The Niceties sees sparks fly as an ambitious young black student and her esteemed white professor meet to discuss a paper the college junior is writing about the American Revolution. Bristling and provocative, this play can’t help but demand debate.

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MOCA Open House ft. Elliott Hundley M U S E U M OF C ON T E M P OR A RY A RT Ap r i l 14 - S e p t e m b e r 16 Get ready for a first in MOCA history. To celebrate its 40th anniversary, the museum is dedicating its downtown locations to a series of exhibitions exclusively from local artists. Each of the works will draw on the museum’s permanent collections, exploring how they have influenced Southern California’s artists. The series kicks off with Elliott Hundley – a multimedia artist who looks at the architecture and origins of collage through his colorful, engaging designs.

moca.org

BALLET

Above left: Leonardo Drew, Untitled, 1994. Above right: Raymond Saunders, Palette, 1983. Below: Michael Majerus, MoM-Block II, 1996

Los Angeles Ballet Gala T H E B E V E R LY H I LT O N

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An annual event supporting the city’s classical dance company, the Los Angeles Ballet Gala is always a starstudded affair. Co-chaired by Leslie Kavanaugh and Kirsten Sarkisian, the night will feature live ballet performances by the company as well as a silent action – last year it raised over $1million for its educational and programing outreach.

losangelesballet.org

PHOTOVILLE LA

For the first time in its seven-year history, NYC’s largest photographic event is coming to Los Angeles. Presented by the Annenberg Space for Photography, Photoville encompasses two consecutive long-weekends of night time projections, talks, workshops, street food vendors and one hugely popular beer garden. photoville.la © United Photo Industries / Jessica Bal

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Mary, quite contrary As a V&A retrospective of Mary Quant opens this spring, we look at how the groundbreaking fashion designer swept away outdated conventions, changing the outlook of an entire generation WORDS HARRIET COOPER

t’s not for nothing that Jenni Murray, presenter on BBC Woman’s Hour, once referred to fashion designer Mary Quant as a 'game changer', saying, ‘For my generation, a teen in the 60s, she blew away the twinset and pearls and covering your knees and brought in the mini and shoes you could actually walk, or even run in.’ Quant was indeed a trailblazer, rightly credited with spearheading a fashion revolution in 1960s London. This was a city in thrall to a blossoming youth culture – young women, and men, looking to escape post-war austerity and distance themselves from the way their parents lived. A generation who wanted art, theatre, film, design, fashion, food, sex and, most of all, music and dance. Quant recognized the importance of this ‘youthquake’ – as an art school graduate she could relate to it – so she embraced it and capitalized on it. In 1955 she opened her cult emporium Bazaar on King’s Road, with her husband Alexander Plunket Greene and entrepreneur Archie McNair, and started producing clothes that were not just dynamic and fun, but affordable and accessible to this new youth movement. ‘The whole point of fashion is to make fashionable clothes available to everyone,’ she has said.

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The shop opening coincided with a Mod subculture that was emerging in the capital, influenced by European-style fashions (with emphasis on high-impact color and line – think slim-fit suits) and American soul and R&B music. Mods were cool, sharp and smart, they met in all-night cafés and in jazz clubs. All of which had a significant bearing on Quant’s designs. In her autobiography in 1966 she acknowledged that she started her career at the same time ‘that “something in the air” was coming to the boil.’ She wrote: ‘The clothes I made just happened to fit in exactly with the teenage trend, with pop records and espresso bars and jazz clubs.’ ‘We thought we were making clothes for our friends; art students, actresses and a few crazy people around Chelsea. I think, in a funny way, we must have anticipated what people wanted and I hated fashion the way it was, I wanted clothes to be far more casual and easy going. I didn’t realize that so many other people felt the same,’ she said later in a radio interview in 1971. Quant is world-famous for popularizing the higher-than-high hemline, as a response to her customers who were asking for skirts to be 'shorter, shorter'. The look soon caught on, particularly when adopted

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by the models du jour including Jean Shrimpton, Pattie Boyd and Twiggy, whose androgynous figure, gamine crop and spider-like lashes suited Quant’s designs to a tee. But while the mini – named after Quant’s favorite car the Mini Cooper – often takes center stage, this is also the woman who introduced the world to hot pants and skinny rib sweaters, go-go boots zipped over vibrant-hued hosiery (women wore Lisle stockings and suspenders until this point), paintbox makeup kits, waterproof mascara and PVC raincoats.

She also invented the Booby Trap seamless brassiere, the first real foray into fashion lingerie, and encouraged women to wear tailored trousers – a far cry from Dior’s New Look revolution of waspish waists and billowing skirts. She even brought out her own diffusion line, Ginger Group. In 1960 Quant was approached to design a collection by the largest retailer in the States, JC Penney, which had some 1700 stores, launching it two years later with a series of fashion shows. America had never seen anything like it. In marked contrast to previous, more formal shows with ‘middle-aged women in corsets and frozen beehive hairstyles’,

“I think the Sixties mini was the most selfindulgent, optimistic fashion ever devised: young, liberated and exuberant – and the beginning of women’s lib” 14

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Quant recalls that ‘three thousand people turned up for our wild fashion shows, with models dancing, a pop group playing and the police and fire brigade arriving in blind panic.’ Success stateside opened up a global market for Quant and by the end of the 1960s, it is said that over seven million women had at least one of her products in their wardrobes. In what was a masterstroke of selfmarketing, Quant herself always personified this edgy new look. She was known for her five-point geometric bob, created for her by Vidal Sassoon who, according to Quant, ‘saw that hair could be cut into bold, unfussy, unstructured shapes’ – a far cry from the perms and sets of old. ‘For me, he produced the perfect cap on my leggy mini-skirted designs and the frame for my color cosmetics,’ she has said of Sassoon. But Quant’s aesthetic was about more than appealing to the fashionable and arty. It also stood for rebellion. She had built her business into a global brand by showing women that they could dress for themselves and encouraging the traditional hierarchy to dissolve. ‘Middle-age businessmen would beat on the window and shout “It’s obscene, it’s disgusting.” Extraordinary, isn’t it!’ Quant said in an interview with British Vogue when discussing the impact of the mini. Her irreverent designs were a manifestation of women’s emerging freedom at the time, a symbol of liberation following the fight for female birth control: ‘I think the Sixties mini was the most self-indulgent, optimistic fashion ever devised: young, liberated and exuberant – and the beginning of women’s lib,’ the designer commented.

60's style

Top to bottom: Daisy earrings, $300, REBECCA DE RAVENEL at matchesfashion.com; Micro Hat Box, $1,000, ASPINAL; Sunglasses, $272, MIU MIU at libertylondon.com; Thandie mini dress, $1,295, SIES MARJAN at net-a-porter.com; Felicia coat, $1,435; MULBERRY; Mia boots, $109, TOPSHOP

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With the advent of the contraceptive pill, women could explore their sexuality without the fear of becoming pregnant – and Quant encouraged a generation of young girls to revel in this newfound liberty. In an interview, she deemed the Pill the best invention of her lifetime, ‘It's given women independence more than anything else,’ she said. It is no coincidence that the mini, for example, was quickly championed by the second-wave feminists, like Germaine Greer and Gloria Steinem. Indeed it became so politicized that when Dior sent longer hemlines down the runway in 1966, a group of women calling themselves the ‘British Society for the Protection of Mini Skirts’ protested outside the show. Something Quant herself might have been taken slightly aback by. This is, after all, the woman who changed the face of fashion, dragging it from the stiff, encumbering styles of the 1950s into a new era that was fresh, unconventional and enjoyable. ‘Clothes are not serious, they are here to enjoy,’ she once said. ‘We can all have such fun – there are no rules anymore.’ Mary Quant opens on April 6 at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London Vam.ac.uk

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Interview

Art in the right place Meet Beth Greenacre, the woman behind the AllBright’s inspirational art collection WORDS GEORGIE LANE-GODFREY

‘H

istorically, there has been a hierarchy in the world of art,’ art consultant Beth Greenacre tells me when we meet at the AllBright – a place where you’re likely to find her now on a regular basis. ‘Whether that is western art being valued over eastern, painting valued over photography or male artists being valued over female ones.’ It’s this hierarchy which Beth hopes to change through the art collection she has assembled to adorn the AllBright club walls. An art curator and consultant for over 20 years, Beth has spent a lot of her career being guided by a certain revolutionary spirit. Upon graduating from The Courtauld Institute of Art, she began working with Gavin Turk – a leading member of the dynamic ‘Young British Artists’ dominating the art scene in the 90s. Then, from sixteen years up until his death, she curated David Bowie’s personal art collection, overseeing a body of work which championed avantgarde artists of their time. Despite his focus predominantly falling on modern 20th century British artists, the iconic entertainer was eclectic in his tastes, collecting everything from postmodernist Memphis furniture to African art. ‘David was a very critical thinker,’ she recalls. ‘He made me look at art in different ways. He would always

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Tracey Emin, Mother 2 – So Close It Came, 2017

“I think it will be an interesting process for a women’s club – to examine the female form from a female perspective” encourage you to look in the dusty corners and behind the curtains to uncover new things. He wasn’t directed by fashion or popular taste, and he saw no hierarchies.’ It’s a sentiment similar to that of the Bloomsbury Group, the collective of 20th century avantgarde artists, writers and intellectuals who resided in the vicinity of AllBright’s first premises on Rathbone Place. In fact, each of the club’s floors is named after one of the group’s female members – (Virginia) Woolf, (Lydia) Lopokova, (Vanessa) Bell, (Ottoline) Morrell and (Vita Sackville) West. The Bloomsbury Group was known for supporting younger, up-and-coming artists – including women. ‘They were revolutionaries, so I was keen to look back at that moment and reflect on what the Bloomsbury Group was doing at the time via the art we display at Rathbone Place,’ explains Beth.

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Linder Charming Maid

In a nod to the group’s progressive ideals, Beth has chosen exclusively female artists with a connection to London. ‘Because of the revolutionary spirit that they held, they supported many younger artists including the undervalued and the undermined – a camp into which women obviously fell,’ she explains. ‘For example, John Maynard Keynes, leading economist and key Bloomsbury Group member, was a huge champion of female artists, but that is often not discussed.’ One artist represented at the club who perfectly embodies the strong literary traditions of the group is Abigail Reynolds. The Cornwall-based, London-educated artist recently won BMW’s Art Journey prize for Lost Libraries of the Silk Road – her series of work looking at 15 former library sites along the ancient trade route. Three of her collages can be seen on the first floor. Meanwhile, Laura Gannon’s linen work on the second floor focuses on femininity: ‘The physicality of the work and its relationship to the body and how materials may hang always strikes me.’ For the opening of AllBright’s second London location on Mayfair’s Maddox Street, Beth is hoping to continue this tradition of questioning the status quo.

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‘At Maddox Street, I’m going to look at the female form. Traditionally, it is something that has only been considered via the male gaze, so I think it will be an interesting process for a women’s club – to examine the female form from a female perspective.’ Cornerstone pieces of this new collection include two large-scale works by Tracey Emin, which are set to do just this. ‘She’s one of the most famous contemporary female artists living in the UK,’ explains Beth, ‘but what is remarkable about her is that, via her work, she speaks for every woman, and she’s not afraid to do so. There’s a real honesty in her art – she wears her heart on her sleeve – which is something to celebrate.’ For the rest of the collection, the AllBright’s curator is spoilt for choice as to the number of artists now looking at the female body through a contemporary lens. ‘The appetite for art made by women has thankfully increased,’ says Beth. ‘I think #MeToo has really highlighted the discrepancies between male and female artists and their visibility in public collections. It’s opened the debate up and made institutions see the need to readdress both their exhibition and collecting policies.’

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Of course, when it comes to female representation in the art world, there’s still a long way to go. It’s a subject about which Beth is passionate: ‘It always interests me that many of the art history and curation courses are female-biased in terms of numbers, but that rarely translates when it comes to how many women continue with a career in art. However, the UK is brilliant for having amazing female directors in their institutions. In fact, the Tate Modern, Britain and Liverpool all have women directors. But this representation isn’t necessarily reflected internationally – there’s still a way to go.’ But even if progress is slow in certain areas, the art world is changing – with the internet being key to this change. ‘Technology is having a huge impact on how people engage and consume,’ explains Beth. ‘We’re in a real moment of flux. The art world is becoming increasingly international, so people are more likely to buy online – you can see that in the rise in online auctions.’ The internet has had a huge impact on Beth’s career, too. While working for David Bowie, the two of them set up BowieArt, an online platform designed to create visibility for young artists and

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ON THE AGENDA The art world’s most exciting offerings in London this season, according to Beth Greenacre

The Artist

HITO STEYERL

‘Hito Steyerl’s exhibition at Turin’s Castello di Rivoli was one of my exhibition highlights of last year, whilst her book Duty Free Art remains on my bedside table year round. A filmmaker, writer and artist, Steyerl explores the role of tech, media and image circulation in the digital era. She’s currently showing an unmissable project at the Serpentine Gallery investigating artificial intelligence and human experience.’

Elizabeth McAlpine, The Map of Exactitude (#9) Untitled (Performa)

“#MeToo has really highlighted the discrepancies between male and female artists and their visibility in public collections” connect people in the industry. ‘David was enthralled by the internet early on; he saw the power of it and what it could achieve,’ says Beth. ‘Within six months, BowieArt was getting one million hits – it was a huge success. Artists still thank me today for what it achieved, and art professionals cite it as the place they went to discover new talent – it was the first time you could do that online.’ It’s no surprise then that upon his death, when Beth was charged with selling off part of his collection, Bowie’s art was still defying expectations. ‘It was ground-breaking,’ recalls Beth. ‘I wanted to show as many people as possible who David was as an art collector, so Sotheby’s and I built a small exhibition of work that toured to New York, San Francisco, Hong Kong and Los Angeles, as well as appearing

in London where it received 55,500 visitors – Sotheby’s had never seen anything quite like it. In the end, 59 record prices were set, with an overall sale total of £32.9 million.’ With experience like this on her CV, it’s worth getting excited about the next collection Beth is assembling for AllBright on Maddox Street. ‘Alongside older female artists, I want to bring in lots of artists at the beginning of their careers,’ says Beth. But if you don’t recognize any of the works, don’t worry. Beth plans on being more visible at AllBright, so if you want to know more about them, simply go up to her and ask: ‘The art world enjoys a sense of exclusivity, which is something that needs to be changed. I want to help demystify it and make it more inclusive for women.’ So, any questions?

allbrightcollective.com

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Hito Steyerl: Power Plants; until May 6; Serpentine Sackler Gallery, Kensington Gardens, W2 3XA; serpentinegalleries.org

The Exhibition

FRANZ WEST AT TATE MODERN

‘From the early 1970’s, Franz West bought high and low culture together in unconventional forms through his socially interactive, celebratory sculptures. This major retrospective at the Tate includes replicas of his playful pieces which audiences are able to move and handle. Look out for contributions from his friend and exhibition collaborator Sarah Lucas, too.’ Franz West; until June 2; Tate Modern, Bankside, SE1 9TG; tate.org.uk

The Gallery

CAMDEN ARTS CENTRE

‘This is one of my favorite public spaces in London. Not only does it have a great history of showing female artists, but also giving them their first institutional exhibitions in the UK. This season they are showing works by filmmaker Beatrice Gibson, which feature a programme of artists, poets, writers and musicians with whom the films have been made in a distinctly feminist lineage.’ Crone Music; until March 31; Camden Arts Centre, Arkwright Rd, NW3 6DG; camdenartscentre.org

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5 books to see you through spring OPEN UP: THE POWER OF TALKING ABOUT MONEY

SPRING

by Ali Smith

FEEL FREE

by Zadie Smith The second collection of essays from awardwinning author Zadie Smith sees her dissect pop culture, social change and political debate with her signature sharp wit and insight. Expect to see everything from social media to the environment to Jay-Z under the microscope.

The next installment of Ali Smith’s remarkable seasonal quartet on contemporary Britain. Part Three sees Smith tell an impossible story for an impossible time, with a playful nod to Shakespeare’s Pericles along the way.

Out April 30 Pantheon

by Alex Holder

DAISY JONES & THE SIX by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Set in LA and loosely based on Fleetwood Mac, this compulsive novel explores the mysterious split of a fictional 70s rock group. Read it before it hits screens – Reese Witherspoon is set to produce a series version for Amazon soon.

In an age of the gender pay gap and growing inequality, women need to open up about money more than ever. Set to destigmatize the way we talk, think and feel about our finances, this book’s practical advice couldn’t be more timely.

Out March 7 Serpent’s Tail

Out March 5 Ballantine Books

Out now Penguin

GINGERBREAD by Helen Oyeyemi

A twist on the classic Hansel and Gretel fairy tale. Prize-winning author Oyeyemi explores the influence of gingerbread in children’s stories, weaving it into the story of three generations of women who hand down a recipe that is both a curse and a legacy.

Out March 5 Riverhead Books

W H AT W E ' R E R E A D I N G , WATC H I N G , DOWNLOADING & FOLLOWING

The CULTURE Fix FILM

Cinema's best upcoming offerings J.T. LEROY The story of a literary hoax, Savannah (Kristen Stewart) is recruited to play JT Leroy, a figure created by Laura Albert (played by a brilliant Laura Dern). Together, they bring the character to life, but things go awry when Eva (Diane Kruger) sets her heart on J.T Leroy’s book film rights. A meta tale at its finest. Out April 26.. US One for the hardcore horror fans. Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke star in the latest offering from Jordan Peele, the director of award-winning horror Get Out. Expect evil doppelgangers and plenty of jump-inducing tension. Out March 22. THE AFTERMATH Keira Knightley is back doing what she does best in this historical drama set in the wake of WWII. With Alexander Skarsgard co-starring, The Aftermath is tipped to be the next Atonement. Out March 15.

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APPS

arts & culture

Te l e v i s i o n

3 shows to stream this season AB CONNECT

MOODY

BEAUTYSTACK

Whether you're an AllBright member or not, AB Connect allows for meaningful and effective networking, shared experiences and connections for women across the world.

Dedicated to helping women understand their hormones, Moody is a period tracking app that gives personalized insights and tips tailored to your cycle.

A community for beauty junkies, WAH nails founder Sharmadean Reid’s new app lets you source inspiration and book your next treatment all in one go.

PODCASTS P OW E R H O U R Need some morning motivation? Fitness guru Adrienne Herbert speaks to coaches, creatives, change makers and innovators for advice on how to pursue your passion and achieve your goals. B E YO N D T O DAY BBC Radio 4’s daily podcast asks one big question about one big story from the news that week. Perfect dinner party conversation fodder. T H E C U T New from The Atlantic, this podcast promotes women’s voices on everything from culture, politics and tips for success, including the likes of writer Elena Ferrante and politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. H E Y C O O L L I F E ! Each of these 15 minute episodes from writer Mary Choi focuses on a different technique to minimize anxiety and maximize success – great if meditation isn’t your thing.

Killing Eve Out April 7, BBC America Villanelle is back for a second season in Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s female-led drama Killing Eve. With Eve (Sandra Oh) not knowing whether Villanelle (Jodie Comer) is dead or alive after their last dramatic encounter and her disappearance, she’s catapulted into a race to find her nemesis – before someone else does.

All available from the Appstore

Music

Our Planet

It’s been two years since we last heard from the ethereal Lana Del Ray. Now releasing her sixth solo album, Norman Fucking Rockwell is as beautifully haunting as ever (Out March 29). Previously tipped by the BBC as a talent to watch, US teenage sensation Billie Eilish is releasing her debut album. When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? is filled with her signature smart, dark songs (Out March 29). Finishing what the band started before frontwoman Dolores O’Riordan passed away, In The End is set to be The Cranberries’ epic finale. Expect a lyrical tour-de-force (Out April 26).

Out April 5, Netflix From the team behind the BBC’s Blue Planet and Planet Earth comes Netflix’s new nature documentary, Our Planet. As ever, the inimitable David Attenborough narrates the eight-part show, taking an unprecedented look at some of the world’s most precious natural habitats. Perfect Sunday night comfort viewing.

The Widow

INSTAGRAM

No one said anything about interior inspiration having to be realistic. For the ultimate dream house scenarios, follow @somewhereiwouldliketolive – an account designed to elicit some serious home envy.

allbrightcollective.com

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Out March 1, Amazon What would you do if your supposedly deceased husband suddenly turned up on the news? This is the situation Georgia (Kate Beckinsale) finds herself in, leading her on a journey to the heart of the African Congo to discover the truth about her husband’s mysterious disappearance.

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arts & culture

The words of women Best-selling author and Women’s Prize for Fiction founder Kate Mosse explains exactly why we need women's voices in literature now more than ever

rilliant, dazzling, heart-stopping, mindblowing, life-changing novels transform our lives. Great stories join us together, help us to stand in one another's shoes and bridge the gap between our own experiences and those of others, past and present. Fiction slips between the gaps of what we know and what we can imagine. I write historical adventure stories, putting unheard, overlooked or misrepresented female voices center stage. My lead characters are the heroes of their own lives, active protagonists, not silent princesses waiting to be rescued. They are complicated, conflicted, powerful, inspiring, flawed. In other words, women like us. Any of us who spend time in the archives can't help but notice how easy it is for ordinary women's voices – by which I mean lives outside the courts and palaces – to be written out of the narrative. Twisting the shabby old cliché, it's not just that history is written by the victors, but also by those with a particular agenda to sell. In these days of so-called 'fake news', turning the spotlight on women's stories is a matter of common sense. Reflecting the world in all its glory and as it actually is. A reminder that when we listen to diverse female voices – from different continents and cultures, from different backgrounds – we are all the richer for it. The whole, complex nature of human experience represented, not just a partial fraction of it.

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Since 2006, we have become the largest annual celebration of women's creativity anywhere in the world. We’ve put thousands of outstanding novels by women into the hands of millions of readers all over the globe. Now we want to do more. Achieve more. Be more ambitious. So this month, we launched our first Patron scheme to offer individual supporters the chance to help shape the future of the WPFF. We’d love for you to get involved. Times have changed. It's a crazy old world out there. The campaigning and creative priorities of 1996 and those of 2019 are not the same. But the need – as women – to support other women for the benefit of all, to ensure women's voices of excellence and brilliance continue to be heard by men and women everywhere, that women's creative endeavor is rewarded and acknowledged, this has not changed. If anything, it matters more now than ever. Realizing that we needed to put women's voices center stage was just one of many reasons we set up the Women’s Prize For Fiction. Our aims were ambitious, but simple: first, to honor and celebrate exceptional, original and beautiful fiction written by women from all over the world without parameters of genre, age, ethnicity, sexuality, nationality or location; second, to ensure that women's creative endeavors were visible and properly acknowledged; third, to amplify women's creative voices, as well as opportunities for women and girls.

For more information about becoming a Patron or Prize Circle Patron visit womensprizeforfiction. co.uk/support-us. Kate will be running a 'How to get published' clinic for AllBright members and talking about her latest novel, The Burning Chambers, at Rathbone Place on 28 March. Visit alllbrightcollective. com/events for more details.

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ESSENTIAL FEMALE FICTION

Kate Mosse picks her top three books which every woman should read

FRANKENSTEIN MARY SHELLEY (1818) First published anonymously, Shelley began a whole new genre in fiction with her Gothic masterpiece and proved that women should be ambitious and ground-breaking in their work. Shelley had experienced great tragedy in her life, and this sense of grief, despair and loss infuses every beautiful page. Two hundred years after its first publication – and never out of print – it continues to speak to readers of all ages.

NEGOTIATING WITH THE DEAD

MARGARET ATWOOD (2002) There are plenty of books by writers about writing, but Margaret Atwood's 2002 non-fiction work Negotiating with the Dead – based on a series of lectures – remains the gold standard. Part biography, part literary history, part memoir, it's a superb reflection on what it means to write, how authors write and why. It's truthful, engaging, hopeful and suffused with Atwood's trademark wryness of tone and sly wit.

HALF OF A YELLOW SUN

CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE (2006) Obviously I'd recommend all twentyfour winners of the WPFF for fiction, but our 2007 Prize winner (then the Orange Prize), won the 'best of the best' of our second decade and helped launch the incredible career of this brilliant woman. Half of a Yellow Sun tells the story of Olanna, Ugwu and Richard in an exquisite and magnificent novel.

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Mee t t h e

Tastemaker Known for designing the most exciting interiors across London, Suzy Hoodless is now putting her stamp on AllBright's Maddox Street opening WORDS BETHAN RYDER

hisper the name ‘Suzy Hoodless’ amongst London’s affluent designsavvy set and you’re likely to be met with reverence. Previously heralded by Harper’s Bazaar as ‘Britain’s brightest tastemaker’, Londonbased Suzy is the interior designer of choice for projects in the capital thanks to her ability to understand ‘the culture and complexities of creating design for fast-paced lives’. So perhaps it's unsurprising that Suzy is the name behind the AllBright’s next opening in May. The club's second location on Mayfair’s Maddox Street will be a vast five-story townhouse with glamorous interiors designed by the tastemaker and her six-strong team. No wonder then that the club’s waitlist is growing. However, it’s a different project to Suzy’s usual residential work – a sphere many interior designers prefer to eschew, citing how exhausting and tiresome it is to satisfy private clients. Often from the top 0.1% of the population, they can be both exacting and demanding characters. But not too hard to handle, it seems, for the unflappable Suzy, who actually prefers residential projects. Describing the majority of her clients as ‘design literate’, she believes practicality is key: ‘Most clients ask for a comfortable family home. I want the fiercely practical side – it has to work.’

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design

The interiors by Suzy Hoodless at Television Centre, the former west London home of the BBC

Case in point: the BBC. At the end of last year, Suzy completed the interiors of a show apartment by architects AHMM at the high profile Television Centre – a mixed-use development in west London that was previously the iconic home of British broadcasting. ‘The BBC heritage is one of a kind, totally unique to the site and to be celebrated,’ explains Suzy. ‘My vision was to take the best of what is already there and to rework it for today.’ While it may be a high profile project, it was also one that was close to Suzy’s heart. ‘I was born in west London and have

allbrightcollective.com

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lived here all my life – I understand the area. My memories of the BBC as it was go back to early childhood, so I have great affection and nostalgia for it,’ she says. A look at the finished product confirms this; the stylish interiors are simple, modern and channel a 1950s Scandinavian aesthetic. They are also clearly rendered with loving care. It’s projects like this which prove Suzy’s success as a designer. However, many will be surprised to learn that Suzy was never formally trained – instead her art is self-taught. ‘I have brilliant systems, completely made up

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The first floor of the AllBright Maddox Street club is set to be a welcoming place to work and socialize

by me, and they’re watertight.’ While she’s is the first to admit that success is always partly down to good luck, Suzy was, however, clearly determined to ‘get on with life’ from the outset. It’s a no-nonsense attitude that lead her to drop out of a History of Design course at Manchester University after a mere six weeks. ‘I didn’t want to spend three years penniless, learning something I wasn’t sure I was interested in learning,’ she says. She left and took a typing and shorthand course instead – ‘a life skill everyone should learn’ – and consequently landed a gig assisting the creative team at Designers Guild. It gave her a taste of the interior design world, ‘I was showing the collections to the press, like World of Interiors, and I thought, “I’d really like to be on that side of things.”’ A stint at Condé Nast followed. Then a lucky break beckoned in the form of Tyler Brûle, whom a friend suggested she meet because he was setting up a new magazine. It was Wallpaper*. Suzy became part of the tiny original team (which included Paul de Zwart founder of Another Country furniture, which Suzy specifies as a favorite

brand), and embarked on a five-year adventure of touring industry trade fairs and styling houses for shoots across the globe. Equipped with this interior design apprenticeship of sorts, she eventually left because – yet again – she was missing the real world, or as she describes it: ‘the practical element’. Freelance styling and art direction followed. Her first house project was for someone she’d met at Wallpaper*. ‘It was all B&B Italia and very neutral, in beiges and taupes, which was the late 90s aesthetic,’ she recalls. ‘I couldn’t handle color then at all.’ That would soon change. While she may adore her mix of vintage and design classics, if there is one thing that characterizes the Suzy Hoodless stamp today it’s a joyful embracing of color and pattern. As evidenced in her own lively home with its Yves Klein blue kitchen cabinetry and a living room with pale blue custom-designed shelving, a vivid yellow architrave and vintage armchairs picked up on Notting Hill’s Golborne Road, upholstered in bright geometric Pierre Frey fabric and juxtaposed with a George Smith sofa in petrol blue velvet.

What anchors this organic, multifarious approach is often the architecture. She’s a firm believer in restoring original details wherever possible to lend depth and character. ‘We always want to put houses back with the hard finishes – restoring the fireplaces, skirting, cornicing – then you have good bones and structure.’ In this respect the AllBright is a dream project for her. The first request from co-founders Wosskow and Jones was that she restore the townhouse feel of the property, which was formerly inhabited by Bloomsbury Auctions. Beyond that, Suzy was asked to create interiors that were ‘contemporary and feminine but not ‘pretty’, comfortable and with lots of different and flexible areas able to accommodate events, co-working and socializing’. Members can expect a glamorous club, replete with reflective surfaces such as brass lighting, foxed mirrored wall-paneling and ceilings of dark gloss paint, combined with beautifully tailored fabrics that take their cue from nearby Savile Row. In the entrance lobby, the tastemaker has embellished what is a narrow awkward

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design

Alongside the state-of-the-art fitness studio, the second floor wellness zone will feature a hair salon and private treatment rooms

blue ceilings livens up the coworkingcum-events space. Huge communal oak tables from Another Country provide work surfaces, with seating provided by DSW Eames chairs and Danish brand Gubi. The fourth floor lounge bar is anchored by a huge yellow gold mirrored bar with a leather-clad front – a space that leads out onto a large terrace. Crowning the club is the conservatory-style fifth floor – a lofty room that benefits from a lantern skylight which floods the interior with The club's second opening will be a five-floor townhouse in the heart of Mayfair

space, by lining the walls and ceiling in tinted mirror, adding a snaking contemporary chandelier that will reflect into infinity. Guests can take the small lift, or climb the monochrome houndstooth-carpeted staircase up to the first floor restaurant and bar. An aquamarine palette of blues and greens dominate here, softened by walls plastered to appear like folds of fabric. Clean and contemporary,

As well as two bars for members to enjoy, there will also be an 80-seat restaurant

Thonet chairs will be paired with colored glass tables, with the odd Rosewood vintage sideboard thrown in to add character. Meanwhile, the powder room at the AllBright is destined to be quite the hang out. ‘They wanted it to be very Instagrammable,’ says Suzy, ‘which is slightly terrifying but what’s fun is it's not a home so we can be totally uncompromising.’ Cue future feeds brightened by selfie-flattering mosaic pink floors and gold walls. The sensuous brushstrokes of giant palm leaves by French artist Raoul Dufy, in the form of Mille Feuille wallpaper by Christopher Farr, provide a calming backdrop to the secondfloor beauty and wellness zone. Here a fitness studio leads through to a hair salon, spa and several private treatment rooms. On the third floor, a vibrant ikat pattern combined with bright geometric tiles and dark glossy

allbrightcollective.com

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The new club location will run across five floors and include two spacious roof terraces with views across the Mayfair skyline

natural light – and two small adjoining terraces. After this interview she’s off to discuss the fifth floor terrace furniture, which is currently a toss up between colorful bistro-style and low, sculptural wicker armchairs softened by sheepskin throws. What she does know for sure, however, is that for members, AllBright's Maddox Street opening is set to be another home from home.

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JOHNNIE WA L K E R PROUD LY S UPPORTS WOM EN ’S HISTORY MON TH

K E E P WA L K I N G A M E R I C A F I N D O U T M O R E AT WA L K W I T H J A N E . C O M

Please Drin k Respon sibly. Import ed b y Di a g eo , No r w a l k , CT.

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the game changers

The

Game Changers I

T ’S BEEN TWO YEARS SINCE WOMEN AROUND THE WORLD JOINED TOGETHER TO MARCH IN SOLIDARITY AGAINST GENDER INEQUALITY IN ALL ITS FORMS. Since then, a wave of feminine energy has been rising and the world is changing fast as women themselves lead the charge. To celebrate

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY,

we’ve compiled a list of GAME-CHANGING WOMEN who are transforming the world for the better. Whether that’s speaking out about sexual harassment or setting the record straight on the pay gap, building billion dollar businesses from scratch or making scientific discoveries set to benefit society, these women are at the top of their game. So meet the 50 WOMEN set to inspire you this year, starting with actor and body positivity advocate,

Jameela Jamil… allbrightcollective.com

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‘I’d heard of the sisterhood but I haven’t truly felt it until now’ Meet British actor and activist Jameela Jamil – fierce advocate of body positivity, game-changing member of the sisterhood and AllBright’s inaugural cover star INTERVIEW HANNAH SWERLING PHOTOGRAPHY SELA SHILONI

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the game changers

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ameela Jamil isn’t messing about. On her To Do list, she has the patriarchy to destroy, a celebrity culture built on shaming women to defy and a global sisterhood to fight for. Not forgetting her day job as an actor, presenter, writer and DJ who’s also keen to make some time to see her boyfriend, read her book and have a little fun. If you’re British, you’ll remember Jameela as the first woman to host Radio 1’s chart show and one of the stars of Sunday morning hangover television, hosting pop culture show T4 from 2009 until 2012. Even back then, she was cultivating her particular brand of charm and sass with a sting in the tale, taking no prisoners with her wry, sardonic interviewing style. For Jameela, being a South Asian woman and landing the T4 gig was a big deal. ‘Channel 4 was brilliant for casting me at that time because I was the only South Asian name, but no one ever talked about the fact that it was a first,’ she tells me over the phone from sunny LA. ‘My ethnicity was never spoken about. It was almost more palatable to see me as a white person. Owning my ethnicity has been a big part of the last three years. It’s cool to be allowed to celebrate that.’ Owning it has become a common theme for Jameela. Feeling jaded by London life and shaken by a breast cancer scare, she made the decision to move to LA. The plan was to get work as a screenwriter but her manager convinced her to audition for a role on The Good Place, the new show from Parks and Recreation creator Mike Schur. To her amazement, Jameela landed the part of namedropping socialite Tahani Al-Jamil alongside Ted Danson and Kristen Bell, a professional experience she describes as ‘heavenly’. As The Good Place – a funny, high concept meditation on the afterlife – became a Netflix-bingeworthy cult favorite, Jameela’s profile grew. And while keeping quiet had once been her default setting, the actor was finding her voice. Jameela has spoken openly in interviews about grueling events in her early life that silenced and nearly broke her. She suffered

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sexual abuse, racial abuse, an eating disorder and was involved in a car accident at the age of 17 that damaged her spine, leaving her bed-bound for a year. ‘I suffered a lot of abuse as a child and a teenager. I stayed quiet about it my whole life and it made me rot from the inside out, holding it all in,’ she tells me with the steely control of someone who has had to reckon with a lot of pain. ‘That will either kill you or turn you into someone who can’t stop shouting. I’m very lucky that I’ve had therapy but speaking out is my way of taking ownership back of my own autonomy. I was coercively controlled by all of these different people to be quiet and I think that after getting into my twenties, I didn’t want to be quiet ever again. I’d been rallying for change when I was 19 years old. The first thing I said to my agent was that I wanted to have a big enough platform to make a difference.’ People are certainly listening now. In March 2018, an image on Jameela’s Instagram feed popped up and inadvertently set in motion an impassioned new social mission. The picture of the Kardashians with labels of their corresponding weights incensed her. In response, she posted what would become the first #iWeigh picture, a selfie listing her own weight but measured in all the things she believes women should value themselves by – relationships, financial independence, speaking out for women’s rights. The internet did its thing and iWeigh went viral, with women rushing to share their own metrics of self-worth. A year on and almost 400k followers and counting, it has become a fullblown movement which Jameela is about to turn into a company, to be mostly self-funded and run by her and a carefully selected sisterhood of women. ‘My plan is for it to become a big system for activism so that I won’t be on my own trolling toxic companies putting dangerous messages into the world. It’s going to be an activism platform that’s not about looking thinner and younger but about being smarter and happier.’ Practicing what she preaches, Jameela refuses to be airbrushed in pictures, referring to the practice as a ‘crime against women’.

She argues that as a society, we are becoming acclimatized to unrealistic standards of female beauty and has said previously that she believes it ‘has been weaponized, predominantly against women, and is responsible for so many more problems than we realize because we are blinded by the media, our culture and our society.’ Whether it's in her acting or activism, drive and dedication runs through every move Jameela makes, but she admits she has no strategy: ‘I love to take risks. I was so controlled by fear in my early years that, now I’ve broken out of that, it’s made me fearless. These days, the more afraid of something I am, the more likely I am to do it. I’m taking a huge risk with iWeigh but nothing like this really exists. We have this extraordinary community of impassioned people who are tired of being underestimated.’ The momentum behind iWeigh makes a lot of sense in a post-Weinstein world. A year or so on from #MeToo and Time’s Up, the appetite for meaningful change is palpable. ‘It’s been amazing watching the temperature change in every room’, Jameela says of Hollywood and the industry she’s now a part of. ‘We have all woken up and realized we were going through the same things. I’d heard of the sisterhood but I haven’t truly felt it until now. We’re all very angry – we realize we’ve been duped.’ Inevitably, changing the world can be an all-consuming job. Despite all the success she’s had since her move to LA, she admits that what is missing is contentment. ‘I’m making the most money I’ve ever made and I’m the most successful I’ve ever been, but it’s not success to me because I’ve lost my balance,’ she says. ‘I’m up to my eyeballs in stress and I’m not able to enjoy it because I’m in complete chaos. I’m currently working out a way to take a step back and share my work – predominantly with other women, hiring them to help me run different parts of my business. I’ve been sleeping three or four hours a night and I don’t want to run out of steam. On the outside it looks very successful but to me, it’s not success.

‘We have this extraordinary community of impassioned people who are tired of being underestimated’ allbrightcollective.com

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‘It’s important to share your load and share your glory with other women – there is great beauty in that’ It’s important to share your load and share your glory with other women – there is great beauty in that.’ One particular wake-up call came from a screen-time tracking app that told Jameela she’d spent nine hours on her phone that day: ‘There’s no way that’s not hugely affecting my neuro-chemistry.’ So Project Balance begins, with an emphasis on the simpler things in life. ‘I’m big on physical affection. I got so busy and didn’t hold anyone’s hand for a long time but now I make time with my boyfriend for half an hour a day to have a cuddle and that slows my heart rate down. And I make sure I’m making time to read or listen to music.’ The boyfriend in question is musician and fellow Brit James Blake. The couple got together when they moved to LA at the same time three years ago. Last month, when he picked up a Grammy, she posted a picture of them on the red carpet proudly declaring that ‘he’s the best person. If I look like the cat that got the cream, it’s because I[…]am.’ It sounds like Jameela is a true LA convert. ‘The unashamed ownership of personal ambition, the utter enthusiasm and lack of doubt, the great food and amazing weather’ are obviously working for her

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(‘You can’t underestimate the effect the sunshine has on your mood’). She’s embracing the city’s healthy lifestyle too. The actress doesn’t drink, smoke or do drugs and she just gave up coffee, a decision which she says almost killed her: ‘It was like coming off heroin. I had a migraine, I was sweating, throwing up. If I can eliminate all of those things, it’s one less hurdle to climb...I’m a riot!’ In The Good Place, Jameela’s character Tahani looks back at her life from the afterlife, contemplating what she did right and wrong. In this real-life moment of reawakening and rejuvenation, it seems fitting that Jameela is driven by the bigger existential questions. What makes me happy? How can I make other people happy? ‘The meaning of life is to live it in a way that you will feel happy about when you look back on it from your deathbed,’ she says. ‘Taking risks, that’s been my ethos. To get there, you have to kill the bully in your head, the inner monologue that tells you no. And then you stop worrying about what other people think of you. I have a very busy year ahead and my biggest challenge is balance rather than Instagram followers.’ Jameela Jamil is the founder of @I_Weigh, her life-positive movement. She is currently starring in NBC’s The Good Place and soon to be seen hosting Misery Index for TNT.

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Game Changers Science

Dr Priyanka Joshi 30-year-old biochemist Priyanka Joshi is set to be science’s latest star thanks to her groundbreaking research into Alzheimer’s How could your work benefit women in particular?

I work on understanding the molecular underpinnings of Alzheimer’s disease – the leading form of dementia. Approximately 50 million people are living with dementia today, with an estimated worldwide cost of about $1trillion. These numbers are set to double in the next 20 years. While some studies suggest that women have a higher chance of developing Alzheimer’s, age is also a major risk factor, with research showing that, on average, women live longer than men. My research, focuses on acquiring the knowledge to design methods for early diagnosis and eventual prevention – something that will therefore benefit women (but also men too).

Do you think women need to support each other more in science?

The world of science primarily just sees good science. But a research environment that

ROSIE JONES COMEDIAN Despite being diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of three, Rosie Jones has never let her disability hold her back. ‘I’ve always used humor to break down barriers,’ says the comedian, whose Edinburgh Fringe show last year was a complete sell-out. ‘My biggest disability in comedy is actually my gender. I’ve had far more trouble in the industry from being a woman than being disabled. Equality is definitely something I fight for in comedy every day.’

encourages this provides equal opportunities and does not discriminate based on gender. It’s a very competitive world where women risk falling behind if they stay out of the game for too long from factors like pregnancy and childcare. In this scenario, we need better policies to support women into reaching higher positions. And we need to make women’s notable achievements more visible.

What’s the secret to being a successful woman? For a very long time, society has told women who to be and what to do. Although this is slowly changing, we must encourage younger girls (and women) to be ambitious. Remarkable women have an unshakeable confidence in their choices and the willpower to adapt well to change. There will be countless obstacles, but embracing failure and letting go of the fear of being judged helps us achieve our true potential.

AMAL CLOONEY Human rights lawyer

As a barrister, Amal Clooney is used to holding people accountable for their actions. Much of the Lebanese-British lawyer's human rights work centers on the mistreatment of women, as does her humanitarian efforts – an endeavor which earned her the UNCA Global Citizen of the Year Award in 2018. But Amal is remarkable in her personal life too, avoiding the shadow of Hollywood celebrity to remain firmly in her own limelight as a successful woman working at the very top of her field.

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Music

Lizzo As a plus size woman of color in a predominantly sexist industry, Lizzo (a.k.a Melissa Jefferson) is breaking the mould. Having worked with Missy Elliott and been championed by Prince while he was alive, the singer is now spreading her message of positivity on a global stage. Her most recent single Juice has been a whirlwind success – probably thanks to it being what Lizzo describes as ‘an international banger’. Now she’s selling out arenas around the world and has been confirmed to play Glastonbury later this year. What’s more, she’s also a classically trained flautist, proving there is no end to her talents.

MELINDA GATES Philanthropist Often cited as the most powerful woman in philanthropy, Melinda Gates co-chairs the world’s largest charitable foundation – the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. As well as tackling issues such as poverty and education, she devotes much of her work to championing women's and girls’ rights. Now she’s on a mission to close the funding gap for female-led venture firms through her investment and incubation company, Pivotal Ventures.

PAT R I S S E C U L L O R S

ANGELINA JOLIE

Author and activist

While lots of activists can say they started a campaign, very few can claim to have started a movement. 35-year-old Patrisse Cullors, however, is one of them. The cofounder of Black Lives Matter describes herself as a ‘freedom fighter’, battling for justice in the latest incarnation of the US civil rights movement. She’s also a noted advocate of prison reform in Los Angeles, and is an LGBTQ+ campaigner, too.

ACT OR AND ACTIVIST Alongside being an Academy award-winning actor, Angelina Jolie spends her time on humanitarian work across the globe, acting as a UN Goodwill Ambassador. But she’s made a difference to women at home too by speaking out about her fight against breast cancer and her decision to undertake a double mastectomy. ‘I hope that other women can benefit from my experience,’ she wrote in an open letter after the surgery. ‘I do not feel any less of a woman. I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity.’

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Political Campaigner

Gina Martin

After becoming the victim of upskirting herself at a music festival – but being told by police there was nothing they could do – Gina campaigned to get the law changed to make it illegal in the UK. In January, the bill was passed You managed to change the law without any campaign experience yourself. How did you do it? I have no law or political experience, so I got the best lawyer by my side [Ryan Whelan], got in the right spaces and played the game. Most importantly, I learned not to stop when the formal procedures say it's over. We have proven time and time again that those blockages can be pushed down if we persist. So, I persisted. What impact do you think this ban will have? It will mean one less thing women feel completely unsupported about. It will mean that any womxn – ie women of all genders – that this happens to will have anonymity and will be completely within their rights to stand up for themselves and will have agency over their bodies not to be photographed. It is the least we should expect, but it's still a huge win. You were in the House of Lords when you found out the law had finally been changed. How did it feel? It was a very surreal moment. This campaign has completely consumed my life for almost two years so it sort of felt as if it was happening to someone else! When you work on something for so long, it becomes normal. But now it's starting to sink in, and I feel completely exhausted, but also unbelievably relieved and joyful.

Sport

A sporting chance

According to UK initiative Women in Sport, 40% of women experience gender discrimination in the sport industry. Meanwhile, 92% of women have never even considered a career in sport. These are the women challenging those gender stereotypes…

Dina Asher-Smith Sprinter What makes Dina Asher-Smith remarkable? How about the fact that she’s currently the fastest woman in the world? The speedy sprinter already holds the British records for the 100m, 200m and 4x100m sprint – as well as an Olympic Bronze from 2016 too. This year, she’s set her sights on the World Championships in Doha. Expect to see flames in her wake…

Stacey Copeland

What’s the next step now in protecting women from sexual harassment? As a result of the upskirting campaign, the government has committed to looking into the distribution of images online, as well as misogyny as a hate crime. It forced them to look deeper at many issues womxn have. I think the next step now is educating all children on consent, respect, gender fluidity and healthy use of social media. There’s a huge opportunity to change society generation by generation here.

JESSICA ALBA

A CT OR & EN TREP RENEUR What makes Jessica Alba an entrepreneur with a difference? Transparency. After starting a family and finding herself frustrated by the lack of non-toxic products on offer, Jessica responded by launching The Honest Company in 2012. With the aim of being an ethical lifestyle brand, The Honest Company’s products focus on renewable resources, using safe, plantderived ingredients and recycled material for packaging. What's more, Jessica is committed to being honest with her customers – even when it comes to the company’s shortcomings. A refreshing way to change the world.

Boxer 36-year-old Stacey Copeland recently became the first female boxer to be crowned Commonwealth champion after winning in Zimbabwe last year. ‘I started boxing as a six-year-old when it wasn't legal for girls to box, and now I'm the first British woman to win a Commonwealth title,’ she said after the fight. ‘It shows what you can achieve if you work hard.’

Alex Scott, MBE Presenter Former England footballer Alex Scott made TV history last year when she became the first woman to present Super Sunday – Sky’s flagship football program broadcasting the Premier League. The ex-Arsenal defender has proved herself an intelligent and insightful pundit, but the role hasn’t come without its challenges. Scott has received horrific sexist trolling online, but never let it deter her: ‘I’ve been in football since I was eight. Of course I know what I’m talking about.’

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Skin Positivity

Winnie Harlow Supermodel

“For so long, the fashion industry has designed almost exclusively for a particular woman with particular measurements, and they've never really been challenged on it. We're all consumers, yet we're rarely given a voice within this industry that dictates what we wear”

LADY GAGA E nter tainer

Sinéad Burke Wr i t e r a n d a c t i v i s t

It’s been ten years since Lady Gaga, aka Stefani Germanotta, released her debut number one single Just Dance. Since then, she’s won countless awards including six Grammys and an Oscar for her song Shallow in A Star Is Born. But her real game-changing moment? Speaking out about being sexually assaulted at the age of 19 by someone in the entertainment industry – an experience which left her with PTSD and a desire to make mental health a global priority. With a residency in Las Vegas currently in session, Lady Gaga is also an icon within the LGBTQ+ community and a fierce advocate for its rights.

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Rachell Smith @Rachell_Photo

One person truly changing the face of fashion? Chantelle Brown-Young a.k.a Winnie Harlow. The 24-year-old Canadian model was diagnosed as a child with vitiligo – a condition where the skin loses its normal pigmentation, which affects around 1% of the population. Despite severe bullying forcing her to be home schooled, Winnie overcame the odds, pursuing a career in modeling after a breakthrough stint on America’s Next Top Model. Now, Winnie has walked for Victoria’s Secret and acted as a global brand ambassador for Tommy Hilfiger, breaking boundaries within the world of fashion by making industry insiders question their beauty standards. ‘All our differences are a part of who we are,’ she says. ‘But they don’t define us.’

Irish academic Sinéad was born with achondroplasia – a type of dwarfism – which made her truly understand the lack of inclusivity in fashion. Having campaigned to make the industry more aware of disability, she has graced countless fashion front rows, spoken at the White House and given a TED talk which has accumulated over 1.2million views. Alongside challenging the intersection of design, Sinéad is also currently undertaking a PhD at Trinity College, Dublin. 39

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“Chasing perfection did not make me happy; no matter how much weight I lost, I never reached the happiness I wished for. Losing weight does not equal happiness, and I'm proud to no longer contribute to an industry that makes girls feel that way” C H A R L I H O WA R D Model

After speaking out about the fashion industry’s unachievable beauty standards which required her to be dangerously thin, Charli became a 'curve model' and leading figure in the body positivity movement. Last year, Charli wrote Misfit, a book about her experience in the hope of spreading awareness. Now she's cofounded the All Woman Project, a portfolio of images created by an all-female production team and a cast of models embodying a cross-section of ages, ethnicities and sizes. Photography by Desiree Mattsson

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AMANDA GORMAN

Often described as the most influential makeup artist in the world, Pat has spent over two decades creating iconic beauty looks for the runways, working on around 80 major fashion shows per year. Since launching Pat McGrath Labs in 2015, her products have become legendary, often selling out within minutes. Passionate about making her products inclusive when it comes to skin tone, the British-born make-up artist is a champion for diversity in the industry. A self-made beauty businesswoman, her company was recently valued at $1billion.

STELLA MCCARTNEY, OBE

POET

FA S H I O N D E S I G N E R

Described as ‘the next great figure of poetry in the US’, 19-year-old Amanda Gorman is the first Los Angeles Youth Poet Laureate. Focusing on issues such as feminism, race and oppression in her work, Amanda also founded One Pen One Page, a nonprofit which aims to elevate the voices of youth through writing and creativity.

A name synonymous with sustainable luxury fashion, Stella McCartney is on a quest to make your wardrobe ethical. Through her uncompromising commitment to eschew animal-based textiles and only use fabrics from sustainable sources, Stella has changed the fashion industry for the better. In fact, 160 other brands have now followed her lead to work with eco-conscious viscose – a momentous achievement.

AILBHE SMYTH

PAT MCGRATH, MBE MAKE-UP ARTIST

When Carrie Gracie – a senior journalist at the BBC – discovered that her male counterparts were on a far higher salary, she decided to take action. Quitting her job as China Editor, Carrie launched a battle to end the gender pay gap in the corporation. Last year, she finally received an apology from the BBC, as well as a payout for her work there which spanned over 30 years. Carrie decided to donate this sum to the Fawcett Society, a charity that campaigns for gender equality.

PRO-CHOICE C A M PA I G N E R

One of the leading voices in the fight to liberalize Ireland’s abortion laws, Ailbhe was a driving force in bringing about a referendum on the issue. The successful result – in which 66.4% voted yes to reform – was a hard won victory from over 40 years of campaigning. ‘I have fought on this issue for all my adult life,’ said the 73-year-old Irish academic. ‘And I will go on fighting just as long as I have a voice.’

CARRIE GRACIE JOURNALIST

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NIMKO ALI

FGM ACTIVIST British Somali Nimko Ali is co-founder of Daughters of Eve, a survivor-led organization which works to end female genital mutilation (FGM). According to the World Health Organization, it’s a procedure over 200 million women alive today have undergone. But for former refugee Nimko, the issue is personal. Taken from the UK to Djibouti to be cut at the age of seven, Nimko has spoken out openly about her experience, creating a conversation in the hope of helping today's vulnerable young girls.

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The Duchess of Sussex

Meghan Markle While Meghan Markle’s transition from actress to duchess might be remarkable, it’s her activism which really makes her a game-changer. Having previously served as an Ambassador for Women for the UN, Markle is a vocal feminist and has spoken out multiple times on gender inequality. Now she’s planning to use her position to continue that work by becoming royal patron of Smart Works – a charity that helps UK women into employment. Speaking at a recent forum organized by the Royal Foundation, she said: ‘Women don’t need to find their voice. They need to feel empowered to use it and people need to be encouraged to listen […] With so many campaigns like #MeToo and Time’s Up, there is no better time to really continue to shine a light on women feeling empowered and the people really helping to support them, men included in that. ’

Politics

Forces for good

Meet the women changing the world from the top Scottish conservative party leader Ruth Davidson is used to confounding expectations. The first ever UK party leader to give birth while in office, Ruth and her partner, Jen, had their first child together last October. Showing her party that being a lesbian, a conservative and a mother doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive, Ruth single-handedly made her political party reassess its approach to gay rights by challenging its previous internal prejudices. No wonder then that she’s the bookie’s favorite to be Scotland’s next first minister.

Amika George Perio d p overty campaigner After reading about period poverty and starting an online petition in 2017, 17-year-old Amika George became the head of Free Periods, a campaign to ensure no girl has to miss school because of her period again. ‘I never thought we would get as much support as I did,’ she says, ‘but it just continued to grow.’ Within six weeks, three political parties had pledged in their manifestos to end period poverty and a peaceful protest Amika organized at Downing Street had over 2000 people attend, including Suki Waterhouse, Adwoa Aboah and Daisy Lowe. Now 19 and studying history at the University of Cambridge, she’s started a legal campaign to prove that the government is legally obliged to ensure children are in schools – and therefore provide the free menstrual products to help get them there. ‘It doesn’t matter what your age is,' she says, 'You can make an impact.’

Meanwhile, other women are marking their mark by being the first of their kind. Take British judge Brenda Hale (a.k.a Baroness Hale of Richmond). Brenda is currently President of the UK’s Supreme Court – the first woman to ever serve in the role. But Brenda wants to make sure other women hold this position moving forward, and has called for more balanced representation in the British judicial system not only with regards to gender, but in terms of ethnicity and social background too. ‘We are all products of our background and our experiences,’ she told The Guardian, ‘so the greater the diversity, the better.’

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Media

Liv Little

Liv co-founded Gal-dem, a platform of content written by women of color for all Meanwhile, Fiona Bruce made history when she began hosting Question Time – the BBC’s topical debate show where political figures answer questions from the public. A role previously held by a man for 25 years, Fiona’s debut was hailed as a resounding success thanks to her cool, calm, assertive manner. But then Fiona has experience when it comes to making history – she was also the first ever female newsreader on the BBC News at Ten. The first black FLOTUS, Michelle Obama might not have ever held office, but she’s had plenty of political impact all on her own. Campaigning for female education both at home and abroad, Michelle is unafraid to speak out about what matters most to her, be that rape culture or protecting female freedoms. After all, ‘there is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.‘ Proving this point is Cynthia Nixon. Despite campaigning on issues such as education, LGBT rights, and women’s rights, the Sex and the City actor was a political neophyte before she set her sights on being New York’s next governor. Although she lost, the state agenda her competitor later set was remarkably similar to the progressive one Nixon had proposed – proof that women can accomplish something even when they fail.

Where did the inspiration for Gal-dem come from? I never intended to start a business, I wanted to forge a community. I was studying in Bristol and wanted to connect with other women of color – I was often the only person like me in a lecture, which became quite isolating. So I co-founded Gal-dem, a platform for women and non-binary people of color to articulate their thoughts, feelings, opinions and perspectives, which anyone could read. Is the wider media landscape changing for women of colour? I think there’s more visibility, but it’s a system that is ultimately not stacked in our favor. But as the internet lets you create things without a massive infrastructure behind you, people are feeling increasingly empowered to start their own platform and produce content for themselves. There are now so many role models that I can look up to in the media landscape, and

The world of ballet has long been regarded as the most elitist of dance disciplines, which is what makes Misty Copeland all the more special. Hailed as a prodigy, Misty was dancing en pointe within three months of taking her first dance class at 13. Her debut professional performance came just a year later. Today, she is the first AfricanAmerican female principal dancer for the prestigious American Ballet Theatre. ‘It's important to show people that ballet can be inclusive,' says Misty. 'It's a touchy subject, but I'm not scared to talk about it. Racism has always been there, and I think it's something we should openly be able to talk about, not just in terms of who is dancing but in the classic storylines too.'

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that’s increasing with each generation. It’s an interesting dichotomy to think that this is happening at a time which is increasingly politically turbulent. How can everyone else help? It’s about making space for people’s voices. One of the most important things to look at is who you’re hiring into senior positions, not just at entry level. This is key in order to have the best business and the broadest diversity of thought. Remember, everyone of that background is also a potential reader or consumer. So when you recognize that there aren’t many people from different backgrounds in a space, steer the conversation to bring their opinions in. Use your position to challenge the status quo.

Misty Copeland B A LLE R INA

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Business

Science

Evelyn Telfer

Professor Evelyn Telfer is the first scientist to ever grow a human egg to maturity in a lab How did it feel when you realized you’d finally got the result you wanted? I’ve worked in this area for a long time across multiple species, but human development was like the Holy Grail – it’s so much harder. So when my research assistant Marie McLaughlin and I did it, we didn’t feel triumphant, we felt invigorated – it gave us the motivation to pursue this line and keep going. After all, there’s an anxiety which comes with this kind of work – you don’t want to give people false hope. What memory stuck with you the most during this process? During a visiting professorship in Sweden, I worked with a Finnish clinical scientist called Outi Hovatta. She had an ethically-approved program whereby she could ask women at the time of caesarian section if they would donate a small piece of their ovarian tissue for research. I was surprised by how many did – it’s probably the last thing on your mind as you’re about to give birth. So it has been a humbling process because we couldn’t do any of this work without women donating – even though it’s for

Leading the way

The women showing the world that it only takes one person to change an industry's landscape Karen Blackett, OBE

fertility research that won’t affect them personally. It’s a very supportive, selfless decision. How do we take fertility research to the next stage? Funding for reproduction is way down the government's list of priorities – the focus is always on issues which deal with a broader population. Since funding is what holds most research back, supporting charities like Fertility Network UK can help. But spreading awareness is key too. Many women don’t even realize there are options for fertility preservation, so start that conversation.

LIZA KOSHY PRESENTER

Having started her career by making funny vines, Liza Koshy went on to set up a YouTube channel, which now has more subscribers than there are people in Belgium. Describing what she does as ‘making content that makes people feel content’, Liza is a dedicated believer in people using their platforms to make their voices heard.

Chair of MediaCom UK Appointed race equality business champion by the Prime Minister last October, Karen is currently country manager for MediaCom’s parent group WPP – a position which makes her the most important agency leader in the British advertising industry. As well as receiving an OBE for services to media and advertising, she has also been featured on the UK Power List’s 100 most influential black women five times.

Julia Collins President of Zume Pizza Proving that you can turn your passion into a $2.25 billion business, Julia Collins combined her love of food with technology to co-found Zume – a company which uses robotics in pizza production. As well as focusing her energies on using tech to create better food for the future, Julia is also committed to promoting diversity within Silicon Valley and creating more roles for black women in the industry.

Emma Grede CEO of Good American British-born LA resident Emma Grede co-founded Good American with Khloe Kardashian – an inclusive denim brand aiming to revolutionize the fashion industry. Immediately launching in sizes 00-24, the brand also used a diverse modeling campaign (the most recent one includes fellow gamechanger, Lizzo). Perhaps unsurprisingly then, Good American holds the record for being the most successful denim launch of all time, bringing in $1million in one day alone.

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Skin Positivity

EM FORD B ea u t y V lo g g e r

Geisha Williams Businesswoman The daughter of Cuban political refugees, Geisha didn’t speak a word of English when she immigrated to the US. But by becoming the first (and only) Latina CEO of a Fortune 500 company, Geisha well and truly broke the glass ceiling.

Gwynne Shotwell President of Space X While Space X founder Elon Musk might be the face of the operation, it’s Gwynne Shotwell who really turns innovative new technologies into reality. Currently leading Space X towards making commercial spaceflight a tangible possibility, Gywnne’s work is shaping the future. No wonder that Forbes describes her as ‘one of the most powerful women in the world’.

One of the leaders of the skin positivity movement, Em Ford runs YouTube channel My Pale Skin. In 2015 her video, You Look Disgusting, went viral, receiving over 10 million views in its first week alone. Showing her both with and without make-up, it illustrated the horrendous abuse Em received after posting her make-up tutorials online. As well as raising awareness about adult acne, Em’s video helped empower women everywhere to embrace their skin no matter what.

“You don’t have to be ‘perfect’ to be

happy. You don’t need to have ‘flawless skin’ to be successful, and you certainly don’t have to change who you are to be ‘liked’. You are powerful, beautiful, brilliant and brave. Nobody can take those things away from you”

Bozoma Saint John CMO at Endeavour Known as Boz to her friends, Bozoma’s last four roles have been created just for her – a fact which speaks volumes about her ability. Having left Uber for talent agency Endeavor, Bozoma is proactive when it comes to urging women to make the same salary demands as men. ‘I think that women have a unique talent of being able to see the forest and the trees at the same time,’ she said last IWD. ‘We're able to sort of see the bigger picture and see the vision, but also see the unique things that are happening and be able to fix it.’

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MARIA BALSHAW, CBE T AT E D I R E C T O R

B ody Positivity

Harnaam Kaur

Anti-bullying activist Harnaam Kaur has Polycystic Ovary Syndrome – a condition which can cause irregular hair growth. Styling herself ‘The Bearded Dame’, Harnaam has become a motivational speaker on body positivity How did you become an anti-bullying activist? As a child, I remember looking in the mirror and seeing a lot more hair on my face than any other girl. I was being bullied for this horrendously – so much so that it caused me to self harm and feel suicidal. In fact, I still have nightmares about it at the age of 28. I know first-hand that bullying can have devastating consequences, so I wanted to try and help other people overcome their trauma. No one should have to take that bullsh*t from anyone. How can you change your mindset from self-loathing to self-love? By realizing that our so-called ‘flaws’ aren’t flaws at all. It’s bad enough people label our bodies negatively – we don’t need to encourage that by believing it’s the truth. Of course, loving yourself after years of self-loathing isn’t going to come easily, but you need to start by being kind to your body. It’s time to change the narrative, so instead of trying to convince yourself you love your body, say to yourself ‘I am learning to love you, and I will get there'. Creating a relationship with yourself is key to becoming happy with the person that you are. Is the reaction you experience gendered? Men are fearful of their masculinity when they see me, but women are also very fearful of their femininity in front of me, too. It makes them question what it is to be a woman. But gender is what you make it – there isn’t a right or wrong answer. I don’t look like the ‘regular woman’ but I am so grateful for that. We are bombarded with this idea that women of colour need to fit a Euro-centric beauty ideal, but we forget that we are all born different. It’s that difference that makes us shine. How has the concept of femininity evolved? Thanks to the current body positivity movement, I believe that more and more people are realising that their body is their own to do with as they please. That means standing up for their right to define femininity how they want, regardless of how they look or what their sexuality is. We still have a long way to go, but we have also come so far.

The first woman to ever hold the role, Tate Director Maria is already carving out her own path free from the shadow of her predecessors. Aiming to make the institution as adventurous and inclusive as possible, Maria is on a mission for gender parity, fighting to ensure female artists get the recognition they deserve.

Beauty

Anok Yai Supermodel

Egyptian-born Sudanese model Anok was studying biochemistry in the hope of becoming a doctor when a street-style photographer first discovered her. Within six months, she became only the second black model to ever open a Prada show – following in the footsteps of her own personal hero, Naomi Campbell. Now, she’s become the first black model to front an Estée Lauder campaign – a landmark first for the beauty industry.

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While some headlines might have described it as a ‘surprise win’, Olivia Colman’s recent Best Actress Oscar victory for The Favourite shouldn’t come as a shock. The British actor is known for being incredibly versatile – and incredibly hard-working. ‘I used to work as a cleaner and I spent quite a lot of my time imagining this,’ she said in her acceptance speech, inspiring women everywhere to turn their dreams into reality.

TIFFANY HADDISH

DONNA LANGLEY

COMEDIAN

CHAIRMAN OF UNIVERSAL PICTURES

The first black female comedian to ever host Saturday Night Live, Tiffany Haddish isn’t afraid to speak out on hard subjects. In her memoir, The Last Black Unicorn, the LA-born star addressed the sexual harassment she often faces as a comedian. She's also opened up about being raped as a teenager, giving a voice to countless other victims across the world.

British LA resident Donna is used to breaking records. Under her tenure, Universal became the first studio to release three films that topped $1 billion globally, with Furious 7, Jurassic World and Minions in 2015. Last year Universal had the best quarter in studio industry history – an achievement which saw her receive the Milestone award from the Producers Guild of America back in January this year.

OLIVIA COLMAN ACTOR

THE LE ADING L ADIES WOM E N L I G H T I N G T H E WAY I N T H E E N T E RTA I N M E N T I N DU ST RY Phoebe Waller-Bridge is putting women firmly center stage. After writing and acting in the awardwinning Fleabag – a dark comedy about a young millennial Londoner – Phoebe wrote thriller Killing Eve. This is a classic cat-and-mouse story with a difference – both the lead characters are women. Expect to see her upending more genres soon.

CINDY HOLLAND

MAHA DAKHIL

VP FOR NETFLIX

TALENT AGENT FOR C AA

With arguably one of the biggest influences over popular culture, content acquisition VP Cindy Holland is the person you need to get on board if you want the green light for a new Netflix show. A television tastemaker and champion for female-led content, under her tenure the streaming service received a total of 112 Emmy nominations last year, beating HBO – the network which has dominated the awards for 17 years.

In response to the Harvey Weinstein scandal, Hollywood agent Maha Dakhil helped establish Time’s Up, a legal defense fund for any woman facing sexual harassment in the workplace. ‘We are at a critical moment which requires true loyalty to sisterhood in the most significant sense,’ says Maha. ‘It’s our duty to reach across cultures, colors, abilities, orientations and generations to unify and put each other first. Your voice counts no matter your experience or position. Remember that change comes from the most unexpected of places. Anyone can lead the way.’

PHOEBE WALLER-BRIDGE

ACTOR AND WRITER

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27/02/2019 13:05

Ve n t u r e F u n d i n g

Pitch Perfect

Looking to get your business some investment? This four step guide will have you pitching like a pro

s it stands, 93% of venture funding in the UK is going to male-led businesses. Here at AllBright, we think it’s time that changed. Whether you’ve got a killer idea you want to kick into action with angel investment, a product whose growth curve needs accelerating, or a start-up business that wants professionalizing, pitching is a key skill that you’ll require no matter how far along you are in your venture. The time has come to get it honed. Not sure where to start? AllBright has teamed up with equity fundraising expert Julia Elliott Brown – whose coaching company Enter The Arena works exclusively with female founders to help them raise investment – to show you how to put together the perfect ten-minute pitch. This is her four-step guide to locking down the investment your business needs. INTRODUCE YOURSELF How do you start a conversation in the real world? By introducing yourself. Turns out the business world is no different. So open your presentation by clearly stating who you are, what your business is and the solution it is providing. ‘Our personal background is critical, especially at the early stages of a business,’ says Julia. ‘Investors are most interested in you as an entrepreneur and seeing if you have what it takes to drive ROI for them.’ Succinctly cover your own experience and skills in the sector in no more than a minute – this is an

investment pitch not a job interview. Don’t forget your team either. Unless you’re a one-woman band, make sure you mention your team and your advisory board – all the minds helping you in achieving your goal. Remember, be brief yet impactful when mentioning the experience that has helped you grow your venture. Then, get straight to your business’s mission statement. ‘This needs to explain the industry you’re operating in, the solution your business is providing and who you are selling to,’ notes Julia. ‘It needs to be really clear, but also create an intrigue so that people want to find out more.’ Essentially, what investors really want to know here is your USP, so

clearly state how you differ from market competitors. Think about things you offer that others don’t – are you cheaper, faster or more efficient than anyone else on the market? ‘It’s about understanding the motivation for people to buy your product or service,’ Julia says. ‘That motivation is often about solving a problem. So even if you have a jewelry brand, that problem could be finding an ethical supplier. The more serious the problem is that you’re solving – the more painful and immediate – the easier it is to sell that product.’ If you’re struggling to articulate this, try telling a story. Set the scene with an overview of the market, then explain the problem and the solution

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your business poses. ‘One good way to do this is to relate it back to your own personal story as the founder, as usually this has a nice narrative on how you discovered a problem and thought there was a business opportunity in a better way of doing it,’ Julia explains. ‘It tells the story of your skills, your connection to the business and that part of the market.’ Finally, explain the potential market you could reach – this is key in helping investors see the value in your proposition. GET DOWN TO BUSINESS Now it’s time to get to the point and ask for the money. State exactly how much you’re looking for and what you’re prepared to give in return, such as equity and control – think board seats and voting rights. ‘It’s always good to be clear in advance about what it is you’re looking for and what you would be prepared to concede,’ says Julia. ‘But these negotiations are not like Dragon’s Den – you won’t have to make that decision on the spot. You will have time to consider it, take advice and negotiate.’ When it comes to the financials, it’s best to make it brief at this point. Time is limited so keep figures top-line, but be ready to provide more information. An appendix slide is a good idea to have ready in case an investor or panellist asks for additional depth. Make sure you cover exactly what you are looking to spend the money on. For example, is it international growth or product development? Is it building your team or improving marketing? Be clear on what it is and the added value it will offer. Make sure you also have more detail on hand in case you’re asked for it. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE The best pitches are the ones where there’s chemistry, so remember to ask yourself who exactly it is you’re pitching to. ‘People often forget that it is a twoway relationship,’ says Julia. ‘They pitch without taking the time to create a

rapport with the investor. It’s not just about research and personalisation; it’s about having a conversation.’ Don’t forget to think as well about what exactly investors want to get out of this pitch – is it a certain ROI or is it the industry kudos of finding the next big idea? If you aren’t sure, ask. ‘Test to see if they would be a good fit for you,’ Julia advises. ‘If you don’t think they are, then don’t even bother pitching.’ Be prepared as well for audience engagement. ‘Intricate questions are a good thing,’ says Julia. ‘It shows your audience are interested so don’t be afraid of them. After all, you should know your business and industry better than the investors.’ When a query is sent your way, pause and consider your response, then answer. Don’t launch into a reply without thinking – you’ll be unlikely to answer the actual question. But most importantly, if you don’t know the answer, don’t lie. Instead, promise to look into it later and follow up after the pitch. This not only gives you time to do your research, but to also provide the most considered response. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF So you’ve got your presentation down. The next thing to work on is your delivery. Because even if you have the most perfect pitch in the world, a lack of confidence can be a deal-breaker, says Julia: ‘Nerves will make an investor question whether you are the kind of entrepreneur who can get those difficult deals done. You have to be quite tough and resilient to build and scale your business, so if you’re falling apart in an investor meeting, where else are you going to fall apart?’ The key to this confidence, according to Julia, is preparation. Think about other ways in which you can make an impact. For example, can you do a brief demo of your product? Are there samples you can bring along for investors to try or hand-outs for them to take away after? Remember, if you are passionate about your business, that energy will

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shine through. You founded this venture and you care about it, so make sure investors can see that connection. Convey your passion when you talk and make sure you maintain it – even if this is your third pitch of the day! Most importantly though, remember that this is a moment on which to capitalise. ‘It’s a good time to pitch as a woman,’ explains Julia. ‘The industry is becoming a lot more aware of the gender funding gap, so many investors are looking for more female founders. After all, the data does show that women-led ventures make a better investment – they generate higher returns, they have a lower failure rate. Women have been overlooked for so long that there is now a huge untapped opportunity and the smartest investors are capitalising on this.’

COME PITCH WITH US Looking to raise? Why not explore AllBright's monthly Pitch Day series in partnership with HSBC Private Banking. Hosted by AllBright co-founder Debbie Wosskow, Pitch Days are designed to give female-founded businesses the opportunity to pitch to a room of experienced angel investors, high-net-worth individuals and business leaders. To be eligible to pitch, your company needs to have at least one female founder, be at MVP stage or beyond and have secured £150,000 in investment or revenue to date. You’ll then have three minutes to pitch to the 50-strong audience and panel. Applications are now open for our Pitch Days in March, April and May. Visit allbrightcollective.com/ pitch-series for more details.

27/02/2019 05:55

SISTERHOOD WORKS

How I Changed My Life

The Pivot

Lauren Baker quit her corporate job in order to begin a new career as an artist. Now she’s created installations for both The Tate and the V&A. Here she explains how she did it epiphany that I was meant to be an artist. So I left Peru and set off for Venice to study – that was the start of my art adventure. My first collection – a series of adorned human and animal skulls called The Enchanted Afterlife – got picked up by the Tate Modern and I was then invited to do an installation at Tate Britain. An invitation from the V&A followed a couple of years later. I always thought it would be one thing, one moment that changes everything and that suddenly leads to success, yet I find it’s more of a continuous flow of little wins that build up over time and create long-term success. Over the seven-andhalf-years since I was in the jungle, I’ve grown into a multi-disciplinary artist who specializes in light art and exhibits all around the world.

THE JOB After taking a combined degree in business, psychology and sociology, I ended up working in marketing and event management for seven years. But my corporate job felt souless and I yearned for meaning. My only outlet for escape was adventure travel. I value my freedom above all else, so I’d take as much unpaid leave as possible. I was essentially working to be able to escape work. THE WAKE UP CALL I read the book The Power Of Now by Eckhart Tolle and it made me realize the importance of living in the moment. Worrying about the past and the future only causes regret and anxiety; living in anything other than the present is useless. So when I finished the last page, I quit my job immediately in order to start living in the now. I decided to go to South America

for three months of adventure travel. My goal was to break my routine and daily patterns by being in a new environment. I was longing for nature, to feel connected to earth and to a higher consciousness. So I back-packed, and I finally understood that life was one big adventure that I was about to start living to the full.

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THE PIVOT Two weeks into my South American trip, I stumbled upon a mosaic street art project off the coast of Rio, on a beautiful island called Florianopolis. It inspired me to start creating, so I joined the project and as soon as I did, I felt captivated by the present. It was the happiest I'd felt in years. Then later, deep in the Peruvian Amazon jungle, during a shaman ceremony, I had an

LIFE LESSON Art is medicine. A life filled with creativity and love is a meaningful one. Recently I’m getting the most rewarding high frequency feeling from giving talks for emerging artists, as I love inspiring people towards their creative path. You shouldn’t put off doing something – life is short. The time is now. Lauren’s neon art will be appearing in the new AllBright Mayfair on Maddox Street. laurenbakerart.com

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Tic ke ts

on sa le no w

V&A South Kensington Opens 2 February 2019 #DiorDesignerofDreams vam.ac.uk Supported by

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S P R I N G

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T h i s Wo r k i n g L i f e

Flower Power

Flowerbx co-founder Whitney Bromberg Hawkings on florals, fashion and how she runs her day WORDS EDWINA LANGLEY

ant to make flowers for spring actually groundbreaking? Call Whitney Bromberg Hawkings. Born in Dallas, Texas, Whitney was just a graduate when she ventured to Paris in search of work and landed the job as PA to Tom Ford at Gucci. Twenty years on, she was Tom Ford’s Senior Vice President of Communications, married and pregnant with her third child. But she’d also been struck with an idea. Instead of buying generic bouquets from florists, Whitney wanted to be able to buy the most beautiful single variety bunches of flowers. So she started e-commerce platform Flowerbx, a refreshing answer to the usual old-fashioned arrangements that would completely change the traditional floristry market. Today, Flowerbx is the go-to brand for the most prestigious fashion events of the season – think the Vogue x Tiffany & Co.’s BAFTA after party this year, or Louis Vuitton’s suspended jungle canopy installation at the Palace of Versailles. With Net-a-Porter’s Natalie Massenet and Carmen Busquets as investors, Caroline Issa and Sabine Getty as muses (known as Flowerbmbs) and an upcoming launch in New York, Bromberg Hawkings is well on her way to turning her London-born business into a global brand. Here, we get an insight into her life as an entrepreneur…

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SISTERHOOD WORKS I HAD THIS FANTASY: MOVE TO PARIS TO WORK AT FRENCH VOGUE. Sadly French Vogue didn’t

I INVOLVE MY KIDS IN MY WORK AS IT HELPS THEM NOT TO FEEL RESENTFUL. Whenever I feel guilty,

hire me! After four months’ jobhunting, I was about to fly home to the States when I heard Tom Ford was looking for a PA. This was right after Gucci’s white dress collection and I had posters of Tom’s campaigns on my walls. Because I spoke fluent French and was qualified to be a PA – plus I’m Texan (like Tom) – he hired me. That began an amazing working relationship which lasted almost two decades and saw me climb the ladder to become a senior vice president.

which every mum does, I remember they’re seeing their mum build something pretty incredible. I wouldn’t say I’ve found a good work-life balance, but weekends are totally sacred. We go to our place in the Cotswolds – a picturesque part of the English countryside near Oxford. Here we are a real unit: we cook, eat and go for long walks together.

MY IDEA CAME WHEN I REALISED I WAS BUYING EVERYTHING ONLINE, EXCEPT FLOWERS. I wanted single stems for a dinner (and didn’t want to spend £500 on a florist’s arrangement) so I would have to go to Covent Garden Flower Market before work. Looking into it, I found you could buy straight from Holland. The flowers would be cheaper and a lot fresher; they normally sit for days in the market or at the florists. That’s when I got the idea for Flowerbx.

FLOWERS ARE AN EARLY MORNING BUSINESS. There are always little fires to put out. For example, the blooms for the baby shower are too hot pink or the anemones for the baptism are not as open as they should be (we place them in hot water). None of the issues are huge, but they feel huge at the time. I spend mornings in our west London warehouse before racing into town for afternoon meetings. We work with lots of big brands – Caprice Holdings, Louis Vuitton, Dior – so they’re high level appointments. I’m home by 6pm but continue working till 11pm most nights, often going out again to work events.

TOM FORD USED TO TELL ME, 'YOU’RE VERY SIXTIES, YOU SHOULD ALWAYS DRESS SIXTIES'. If I were to have a style icon, it would be American socialite Lee Radziwill; she was the chicest woman. I need my outfits to look good and be practical. Usually I wear jeans, a cashmere jumper, a blazer and stacked Gucci loafers. Little Tom Ford jackets are a great way to dress up a look, and I think it’s fine to wear jeans to a meeting. With a cute stacked heel, you can go anywhere.

The Flowerbx founder reveals her favourite go-to classics

IT’S A FINE BALANCE BETWEEN BITING OFF MORE THAN YOU CAN CHEW AND NOT BEING AMBITIOUS ENOUGH. My career low was Valentine’s Day last year – I was so hungry for growth that we didn’t cut off orders when we should have. We failed to deliver on some, so people left bad reviews and I thought, “That’s the end of the business!” We learnt a lesson. I meet women who say: 'I’m scared to go to the next step'. Don’t be paralyzed by fear – the worst that can happen is you can fail.

YOUR NUMBER TWO NEEDS TO BE GREAT AT THINGS YOU’RE NOT GOOD AT. My COO Lorenzo Calcagni is very good at organization. I can have a great vision, but he supports that vision by putting structure in place. When you work for yourself, you feel you have to go to everything because you might meet a new client or investor. You could be working all the time, so you need to have boundaries.

APPROACH WOMEN INVESTORS. We’re a small club and we like to support each other. To achieve really fast growth, you do need outside investment. Stay away from institutional money for as long as you can; although they write bigger checks, they come with strings attached. Get advice from investors themselves. They can help you pinpoint who else might have the capital for investment.

CHRISTIAN DIOR SAID: 'AFTER WOMEN, FLOWERS ARE THE MOST DIVINE CREATIONS'. Flowers have always had a huge influence in fashion, but no one has ever explored that synergy in a real way. It was obvious to me because, coming from fashion, flowers are its currency: they’re how people speak to each other. The number of flowers Tom would get the morning of his show or the number he’d send thanking editors for coming – it’s such a language in fashion.

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WHITNEY'S EDIT

From top: Flowers from a selection at flowerbx.com; Brow sculptor, $43.50, TOM FORD at selfridges. com; Fracas Eau de Parfum, 100ml, $168, ROBERT PIGUET at selfridges.com; High rise jeans, $250, RE/DONE at net-a-porter.com; Love bracelet, $6,300, CARTIER; Lip color, $43.50, TOM FORD at selfridges.com; Mini belt bag, $2,500, CELINE; Panama notebook, $75, SMYTHSON at smythson.com; Pumps, $790, GUCCI

27/02/2019 08:26

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SISTERHOOD WORKS Pay Inequality

Mind the gap Entertainment presenter Catt Sadler found herself victim of the gender pay gap at the end of 2017. Here, she explains the importance of getting paid what you’re worth

t was the single most defining moment of my career. After being at the E! network nearly twelve years, it was brought to my attention that my male counterpart was making more than double my salary. We had worked there the same amount of time, we had similar experience, a similar public profile, similar everything. We were doing the same job and for all intents and purposes we were positioned as equals. In a closed-door meeting on a random afternoon, a female executive alerted me that I was being severely underpaid. I was surprised, humiliated, and angry. Moving forward, I would ask for what I knew I deserved. After negotiations collapsed and the company refused to meet me even in the ballpark of his salary, it became clear I would plan my departure. Since I wasn’t invited to stay on my own terms, I would say farewell to viewers around the world while also painfully saying my goodbyes to my work family of more than a decade. But what I didn’t know was the work that would lie before me. After an overwhelmingly supportive response to my stand from both Hollywood and the public alike, I knew it was my duty to be part of the change for women everywhere. My story wasn’t singular. Women the world over, across all industries, are being underpaid, undervalued, and more often than not, on the job suffering in silence. You see, now I have a much better understanding of the pervasive, systematic realities of wage inequality and I don’t want what happened to me to happen to you. There is a collective understanding that Time is in fact Up,

Catt’s guide to getting the pay you deserve Speak up If you want to be paid more, if you want a promotion, if you want to be compensated fairly – speak up. You need to be vocal with your boss about your enthusiasm and intentions to climb the ladder. Knock on their door. Check in with them about your performance and progress. Ask them for feedback. Contribute ideas.

Record your wins You have to be your own advocate. Not only do you have to bet on yourself, but you need to keep a log of your accomplishments. Be able to provide legitimate examples of how you’re a valuable employee. This will be crucial for your negotiations.

but what are we going to do to make lasting change? Beyond legislation, marches and the movement as a whole, there are choices we can all make to ensure we shrink the pay gap between men and women and create a more level playing field at work. After all, paying women more money doesn’t just help us, it helps our families and our economies. Everyone benefits. I’m forever indebted to all of the brave women who came before me and used their voices. They gave me the courage to use my own. And without this sisterhood of women, without this unity between us all, we would be far less impactful in our pursuits for equality. So get busy, ladies, being your absolute best. We are all counting on you!

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Negotiate Some 70% of women don’t even bother to negotiate their salary. To get more comfortable in a negotiation, prepare relentlessly. Role play with people you trust. Try and take the emotion out of it (practice will help with that). And remember, back up your asks with all that proof you have kept on record.

Build a nest egg Take it from me, no matter what job you have or how happy you are at your current place of employment, things can always change. And they can turn on a dime. I built up enough of a nest egg that I was able to walk away from my job when I was mistreated.

27/02/2019 05:01

Money Matters

Self Investment Women are less likely to invest their money, meaning that there’s not only a gender pay gap, but an investment gap too. We need to start making our money work – here’s how WORDS EDWINA LANGLEY

ho makes the better investor? The ambitious, risktaking graduate with a feel for the markets? The experienced broker, with a glowing CV and an MBA? The silverhaired CEO with the Rolex watch and the chauffeur-driven Rolls? Or a woman? Turns out it’s the latter. Research conducted by Warwick Business School last year revealed that women make better investors than men. Analysis of 2,800 users of Barclays Smart Investor service revealed that over three years, the women amongst them not only performed better than the FTSE 100 – making annual returns of 1.94% above it – but they surpassed men as well, by 1.8%. ‘Men are just a little more likely to be drawn to more speculative stocks whereas women are more likely to focus on shares that already have a good track record,’ observed Professor Neil Stewart, who led the research. Women were also more likely to sell shares which performed badly – men were prone to cling onto them – and women also traded less often too, on average nine

times a year (versus 13 for men). ‘Women also take a more long-term perspective, trading less frequently. This possibly means women are investing more to support their financial goals, whereas men are attracted to what they see as the thrill of investing.’ In spite of this clear aptitude, research has shown that women are actually less likely to invest their money. We’ve all heard of the gender pay gap; are we aware there is a gender investment gap too? As research carried out by consumer website Boring Money last year revealed, only 23% of women have investments compared to 35% of men. This doesn’t look like it’s a figure set to change. According to the UK's HMRC, only 892,000 stocks & shares ISAs were opened by women between 2015 and 2016 – in comparison to 1.1 million opened by men in that same timeframe. Why? Confidence was cited as a key issue, with just 32% of women scoring their confidence six or more out of 10 when it came to selecting an investment account. Clearly this confidence needs to be addressed. Because while investing in

the markets carries risk, the financial rewards could be a lot higher than keeping money in savings. So what can we do to make investment more appetizing to women? ‘Having more female investors in leadership positions – women who other women can relate to and be inspired by – is one way to bring about change,’ says Marika Tedroff, associate at equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs. ‘We tend to relate to people who are similar to us. And I think women seldom identify as investors as all we ever see in the media, in the office, in the newspapers, are men speaking about investments.’ More Carolyn Fairbairns (directorgeneral of the Confederation of British Industry) and Christine Lagardes (chairwoman of the International Monetary Fund) would undoubtedly help. But after that, it’s just about getting started. Learning as much about the markets as possible is a good first step: familiarizing yourself with key terms, reading financial newspapers and blogs, listening to personal finance podcasts, attending investment-specific events, and talking to contacts in the financial

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SISTERHOOD WORKS

industry. ‘Investing is like learning a language,’ says Tedroff. ‘You are never fully taught.’ If the idea of then creating your own investment portfolio sounds too complicated and time-consuming, investing in a fund is advisable. Your money is grouped together with that of other investors, and managed on your behalf. Deciding which fund to go for is obviously key, and it would be worthwhile seeking the help of an independent financial adviser (IFA) to assist. Alternatively, some investors are turning to robo-advisers such as Ellevest, which is specifically designed for female investors. These digital services are fairly new to the market – and they have their critics – however, they are easy-to-use and might appeal to beginners finding their feet. In essence, they use algorithms to create an investment plan and then make (and manage) all further investment decisions. All users need do is invest a sum of money upfront and/or invest through monthly installments – from as little as £1 in some cases. The service then puts together a forecast showing how much you are likely to earn over your set timeframe. Creating your own investment portfolio, however, allows you to maintain control by making your own investment decisions. The term may sound intimidating, but it merely describes ‘all your investments’. An investment portfolio is a collection of assets or entities you invest in. These are grouped together into asset classes – such as equities (stocks), fixed-interest stocks (bonds), cash or cash equivalents (i.e. company assets that can be converted into cash quickly) and alternatives, like commodities (art, wine) and property. A sensible portfolio will spread investments across a number of different asset classes and a wise rule to follow is “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”. How much capital gets allocated to each

should be carefully worked out, so as to facilitate the best returns for the amount of risk you are willing to take, within the desired timeframe. A portfolio might be made up of, for instance, 60% stocks (to include overseas and commodities exposure, via funds), 30% bonds and 10% cash and cash equivalents. How much you invest is clearly paramount. You should look to your discretionary capital – i.e. the money you have that wouldn’t impact your standard of living if you were to lose it. Then, once you have worked out how you want your money allocated, it’s simply a matter of choosing which companies or industries to invest in, and investing in them through an investment platform or with the help of an IFA. ‘A good rule of thumb is to invest in what you are already familiar with, as step one,’ says Tedroff. ‘For instance, buying stocks in your favourite clothing brand or identifying interesting companies in the sector you are working in (and hence have knowledge about).’ ‘Investing is an on-going project,’ she continues. ‘And staying up-to-date with the market is necessary. Do you believe electric cars will be status quo in 10 years? Then making an investment in a battery production centre or electric cars manufacturer makes sense. Diversify your portfolio and reduce risk by investing in different industries too.’ Once your investments are in place, it’s imperative to keep an eye on the markets. If you can spot trends as they happen (or ideally before) and trade accordingly, you could make good money. Prepare yourself for market fluctuation – sometimes it’s best to ride out the uncertainty – and last but not least, try to have fun. ‘Don’t have fear of failure,’ says Tedroff. ‘Even the best, most skilled investors fail repeatedly.’ So if an investment doesn’t work out, don’t beat yourself up about it – it’s all part of the learning process. But if you do play the markets right? Your returns could be considerable. Good luck.

HOW TO START INVESTING Have a goal Whether it’s to buy a house, save for your children’s education, or plan for retirement, it’s important to establish why you’re saving. Then work out how much time you have to reach that goal: five years, 10 years, 40 years? This will help you work out how much risk to take and what sort of investments to make.

Research Familiarize yourself with key terms – ‘stocks’, ‘shares’, ‘bonds’, ‘funds’ – and make sure you have an understanding of how the markets work. Companies such as Vestpod (a FinTech start-up) are a useful resource, offering financial educational experiences for women through workshops and talks.

Find an investment platform These online services enable you to buy, sell, hold and manage your investments. It’s a saturated market and all have different fees and charges attached, so do your research before committing. Things to consider are your portfolio size, the frequency you plan to trade and how long you expect to invest for.

Decide on asset allocation If you want to create a portfolio yourself, the next step is asset allocation i.e. choosing what to invest in (stocks, bonds, alternatives etc). Revisit your goals and consider your risk tolerance when making your decision.

Seek help There’s no shame in getting help. Ask friends and family for recommendations or check unbiased.co.uk for qualified IFAs in your area. Always speak to candidates before hiring them, and make sure you’re clear about all charges and fees. Otherwise funds or robo-advisers are a good alternative.

This information is intended to be educational. It should not be construed as personal investment or financial advice. All investments are committed at your own risk.

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Finance & Investment

Invest in you Hard-working women should have hard-working money. This is how you can make yours work better for you

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Our clients receive an outstanding service: a 24/7 support team and the ability to check your portfolio performance through our website or Investec Online app, wherever you are in the world. We know investment platforms are a competitive market and management fees can be a deciding factor. We'd like to give you the opportunity to invest with us and pay no management fees for your first 12 months, on investments up to £50,000.

rebalancing to take advantage of tactical opportunities. 3. SELECT ONLY THE BEST At Click & Invest, we build globally diverse portfolios by assessing and selecting only the best investments from tens of thousands available. Our research team meet face-toface with hundreds of fund managers every year to help gain a deeper understanding of each fund and its process. To find its way into your portfolio, the fund must be exceptional. 4. CHOOSE VALUE FOR MONEY Get started with an account that lets you take advantage of tax-efficient investing. Invest up to £20,000 this tax year in a Click & Invest stocks and shares ISA, with a minimum investment of £2,500.

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27/02/2019 07:38

SMASH THE GLASS CEILING

A free 10-week digital programme for women, every age and stage, who want to smash the glass ceiling or do it for themselves. Members of The AllBright are guaranteed a place on the Academy. allbrightcollective.com/apply-academy

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SISTERHOOD WORKS

AllBright Academy

Going for goal Feel like your career could do with more direction? Setting yourself a goal could be the answer. Helping with clarity, commitment and confidence, goals can be key for success – this is how

hen you think about what you want from your career, you should ask yourself three important questions. What gets you excited? What’s important to you? Who are you doing it for? ‘When setting your goals, it’s important to work out what your motivations actually are,’ says Pam Bateson, founder of Thrive Partners, an on-demand coaching service. ‘You need to establish your core principles and then make sure they are incorporated into the job you’re doing.’ If the questions seem daunting, why not ask other people to answer them for you? ‘Get them to tell you what they think you’re passionate about, then write it down in a mind plan,’ adds Pam. A word of caution – when you get friends to help, make sure that you don’t fall into the trap of comparison. You want the goals you create to be right for you. ‘Personally, I don’t tend to look to other people and what they are doing for motivation as I’m my own harshest critic,’ says AllBright co-founder Debbie Wosskow. ‘Instead, I find motivation is about carving success out for yourself and determining your own future.’ AllBright personal development coach Nick Porter agrees that clear goals are a powerful motivator. ‘Setting goals makes you accountable,’ he says. ‘They give you something to work towards so that when you’re feeling tired and stressed, there is something to help you push through the difficult times.’ While it’s perfectly possible to get by at work without setting goals, having them as a point of reference can be a valuable tool. ‘We tend to try to carry on

and keep people happy, focusing on the day-to-day rather than what is really important to us,’ says Anna Jones, cofounder of AllBright. Anna therefore recommends taking the time to assess what that focus really is. ‘When I’m not distracted, I have a notebook to scribble things in about what is important to me,’ she says. ‘It helps me map out what really matters.’ Nick Porter agrees: ‘By setting a goal, you allow yourself to really focus your energies on what you want to do and strip away all the areas which don’t promote that.’ Finally, once you’ve worked out those motivations, it’s time to connect to your bigger vision. Start with thinking about your values – companies with integrity often have the most engaged employees, so this will translate to your endeavors too. ‘Having values gives a sense of purpose to your work, so it’s important

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to connect your passion with that purpose,’ says Nick. The last thing to do? Start dreaming. ‘Disconnect and go outside,’ says Nick. ‘Do whatever enables you to disentangle from daily tasks and give yourself permission to think big. Be bold, be creative, be ambitious and don’t put up parameters. Ask yourself, “if fear or money weren’t factors, what would I love to do?” The vision that pops up in your head? That’s your goal.’ Happy dreaming.

COME JOIN US Want some guidance on how to set the perfect goals? Head to allbrightcollective.com to enroll at the AllBright Academy and make 2019 the year of ‘Project You’

27/02/2019 04:52

SISTERHOOD WORKS

d y o n ur i F c e n a l ba Multi-tasking may have its merits, but when you’re feeling more stretched in life than in your Pilates class, it’s time to take action. This is how to balance the scales WORDS JES SALTER ILLUSTR ATION AUGUSTYNKA ART

n a world curated by glossy images on social media, it can be hard to remember that the perfect job, friends, family, partner, kids, social life, reading list, exercise regime, matching crockery set doesn’t actually exist – even if Instagram would have you think otherwise. We know we can’t have it all – but that doesn’t stop us trying. The problem is, the harder we try to do, have and be everything, the more it can feel like we’re walking a tightrope. Something is bound to slip. The danger, of course, is that it’s you. In a frenetically-paced world, we all crave more balance in our lives. It’s essential for success, be it at home or at work, and for our wellbeing, both mentally and physically. But while there are nearly 15 million posts on Instagram captioned #Balance, it turns out that it’s more complicated than a selfie with a smoothie. It’s telling, then, that the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is #BalanceforBetter. It’s an acknowledgement that, all over the world, women are struggling to find their own version of equilibrium, be it in their emotional lives, world of work, financial prospects, or relationships. Here are our expert tips on how to restore your balance, without interrupting your flow.

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“Emotions are like tunnels – we move through them to get to the light at the end. But sometimes we get stuck” AVOIDING BURNOUT

As we strive towards career nirvana, either founding our own business or climbing the corporate ladder, it can be tempting to focus all our energies into our work. But sacrificing everything at the office altar is a surefire way to burn out, as countless successful women from Arianna Huffington to Bumble’s founder Whitney Wolf Herd have found to their cost. ‘The main ingredient in burnout is emotional exhaustion,’ say Emily and Amelia Nagowski, authors of the upcoming book, Burnout. ‘Emotions are like tunnels – we move through them to get to the light at the end. But sometimes we get stuck in stress or anger or grief or fear, and our emotional engines keep running hotter and hotter until... burnout.’ The effects are very real: a recent study by the Mental Health Foundation found that more than 40% of employees in the UK felt that they were prioritizing work over other areas of their lives, leading directly to mental health problems, while Israeli researchers found that those most burnt out had a 79% increased risk of coronary disease. Unfortunately, women are more susceptible to burn out, because, Emily and Amelia say, of ‘the cultural belief that women have a moral obligation to be, for example, pretty, happy, calm, generous, and attentive to the needs of others all the time.’ But it’s something we can push back on. Researchers from Montreal University studying burn out found that men took more breaks throughout the day, from personal hobbies to even eating lunch away from their desk, thus easing their mental burden. Clearly, it’s time we did the same.

’Our lives are so busy. We have multiple stressors in multiple areas of life, so it’s important to have time to take care of ourselves and de-stress by way of hobbies or fun,’ explains Dr Amy MB Sullivan, Director of Behavioral Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. One easy way? Research by ArtFund (artfund.org) found that taking time out to visit a museum or gallery for just 30 minutes a week increased reported feelings of wellbeing. If the thought of a gallery trip is too stressful, try a lunchtime power class at your gym – some of which take just ten minutes – or simply standing up when your Apple Watch tells youto,andtakingabreakfromyourscreen.

EMOTIONAL CONCORD

When we’re constantly on the go, it can be easy to forget to check in with ourselves. ‘When we’re busy and rushing to get things done – especially if we’re running a business – we can be very disconnected from our sense of emotional wellbeing,’ says business coach and Self Care for the Soul author Jodi Shield. If the thought of lying on a mat saying your mantras leaves you rolling your eyes, Jodi has a suggestion for a meditation you can do while walking to your morning meeting instead: ‘Ask yourself honestly, “how am I feeling right now?”. Recognize if you are angry or frustrated at something and need to take some deep breaths or slow down. Then bunch your hand into a fist and tap onto your collar bone about 20 times whilst deep breathing at the same time to really get the emotions and energies flowing through your body. Do this for 10 minutes every morning.’ This exercise is a version of “Emotional Freedom Technique” (a.k.a tapping which combines modern psychology with ancient Chinese acupressure.

By sending a calming signal to the brain (specifically the amygdala which controls fight or flight response), research has shown tapping can help reduce cortisol levels and manage stress. Better keep to the rhythm then…

STEADYING YOUR HORMONES

We’re bombarded with messages about how a regular exercise regime can improve our wellness, and while it’s true, it’s also a bit simplistic. In fact, over exercising can lead to more stress. The reason? Our adrenal glands manage the body’s response to any kind of stress. If the adrenals feel the body is under attack, regardless of whether that's caused by credit card bills or a vigorous spin session, they release more of the stress hormone cortisol. The problem is that if we end up continually stressing out our system all day long, it can lead to a host of symptoms from blood sugar imbalances, sleep disruption, impaired cognition and increased abdominal fat. ‘We are often taught to push through pain or take a pill to make it go away, ‘ says Mia Togo, a life coach and yoga teacher originally from California and now working in London. ‘But our bodies are wise – we should listen to them. Yoga heightens mental focus; the more skillful we become in our practice, the better equipped we are at self-managing how we react to daily challenges.’ So, if you’re stressed out and your cortisol is through the roof, try a slow and steady flow yoga session to help redress that balance. Don’t have time for a yoga class? Researchers at the University of British Columbia found even walking for an hour twice a week was enough to reap brain health rewards.

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27/02/2019 04:55

SISTERHOOD WORKS A BALANCED DIET

Likewise, the message about eating five pieces of fruit and vegetables a day can be reductive. If you want to eat to help balance your moods, GP Dr Rangan Chattergee, author of The Stress Solution: The 4 Steps To Reset Your Body, Mind, Relationships and Purpose, recommends trying to ‘eat the alphabet’ instead. By consuming at least one fruit or vegetable from each letter of the alphabet over the course of a month, you'll not only have a more varied diet, but you won’t have to think too hard about it either. So, for ‘A’ you could have apples, artichokes, asparagus, apricots. For ‘B’ think bananas, borlotti beans, Brazil nuts, berries... You get the idea. The theory is that this helps us eat a more diverse diet, thus improving our gut health, which in turn impacts mood. Studies have recently shown that 90% of our serotonin – our happy hormone – is produced in the gut. ‘Eating the alphabet will encourage the growth of different and happy gut bugs, sending signals to our brain that everything is good,’ explains Rangan. The added benefit of eating this way, Rangan says, is that we’ll almost automatically eat more fiber – something most people in the UK don’t eat enough of (we should be aiming for 25g per day, according to a recent report in the Lancet Medical Journal). A two-for-one time saving trick.

FINANCIAL EQUILIBRIUM

Whether you’re a founder, department head or CEO, you’ll most likely know your way around a business balance sheet. But have you got a grip on your personal finances, too? ‘To me, financial balance is about giving yourself enough space to take a step back from that manic cycle of working and then mindlessly splurging on things like cocktails and Ubers to take the edge off a long day,’

says financial journalist and author of Money, A User’s Guide, Laura Whateley. ‘This space lets you figure out why you’re earning money, and what you're earning for.’ There isn’t a right or wrong answer to how you decide to spend or save, she says, but it helps to be mindful about what you are actually spending or wasting. The reason? So you can spend guilt-free on the purchases you actually want and not regret a daily, mindless $15 outlay at Starbucks. She recommends using a banking app that categorizes what you spend each month into essentials, fun and business expenses. ‘If you are self-employed, opening a second account with an online provider such as Coconut or Tide makes managing expenses and invoicing clearer. It also helps you split business and pleasure spending.’ She also councils that women in particular need to invest in their pensions to guarantee that they can ensure a standard of living they’re happy with in retirement. Stats show that women save less than men, with 21% of women saving nothing at all towards retirement, according to research carried out by insurer Prudential. Even if we are saving, women typically have less in their pension pot than men thanks to a combination of time off to have children and the gender pay gap. After all, women still, on average, earn less than men. But your pension is something you need to prioritize. According to research by insurer Royal London in May 2018, you would need to put aside more than $300,000 to have what they term a “comfortable retirement”.

ROMANTIC HARMONY

We know what a romantic relationship brings when it’s balanced – you feel supported, confident and like you could take on anything the world has

to throw at you. ‘Where it gets tricky is when one person needs more attention or emotional care than the other partner can give,’ says Simone Bose, a counselor who sees many clients with high-powered jobs. Research shows that the higher up the ladder you are, the more likely you are to have relationship problems. ‘When you’re busy focusing on work and feel completely stretched, you need to make time for each other, even if that means other things fall off your priority list,’ Bose says. That means recognizing you’ve got limited time and saying no sometimes to team drinks or your favorite gym class if that means missing a date with your partner. She adds there is a danger when one or both of you come home from work and can’t detach from the pressures of the job. ‘If you take out your stress on your partner because you’re frustrated at work, or vice versa, you need to address that. Take time to talk to each other about your vulnerabilities. You don't always have to be strong.’ Not sure how to start that conversation? Bose recommends trying something like this: “I've got so much going on at work. It would be so good to be able to talk and share with you as it will help me to feel less alone with my feelings. I think it's also impacting other areas of my life and you too, so it could really help my perspective.” Which is the point of balance: just because you’re one version of yourself at work, you don’t have to be it at home. It comes down to deciding what the priorities are in your life, and tweaking those. Because whatever balance you seek is always going to be a uniquely personal cocktail that involves dropping some balls and admitting that everything can’t always be perfect. But there’s no need to beat yourself up over it. After all, when it comes to mental balance, acceptance is key. You’re doing your best.

“Financial balance is about giving yourself enough space to take a step back from that manic cycle of working then mindlessly splurging” allbrightcollective.com

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Fashion with a passion Fashion house Roksanda has teamed up with TheOutnet to produce a capsule collaboration in aid of Malaika, the non-profit set-up by model Noëlla Coursaris Musunka to support education and health initiatives for Congolese girls. The exclusive collection was designed as a celebration of femininity, featuring Roksanda’s usual signature of bold prints and bright colors. A percentage of proceeds will go directly to Malaika

theoutnet.com

The FASHION Fix Style notes for the sartorial season ahead COMPILED BY CHARLOTTE ADSETT

Mother earth Amy Powney, creative director of sustainable luxury brand Mother of Pearl, is on a mission to encourage designers and consumers to take a more ethical approach to fashion. Having recently collaborated with BBC Earth at London Fashion Week, the label was the latest to adopt the ‘see-now, buy-now’ approach, showing an in-season collection designed to close the gap between when clothes appear on the runway and when they arrive in stores. Ivy heels (pictured above), $525 motherofpearl.co.uk

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SIXTIES REDU X This season, Mulberry's creative director Johnny Coca has captured the spirit of the swinging 60s London with a modern edge. The collection includes psychedelic print shift dresses with mismatched vintage buttons, Mary-Jane T-bar shoes and bold swing coats surely created with Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton on Carnaby Street in mind.

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ALL WHITE NOW

PALLAS PARIS

Fresh, optimistic and modern, white reflects fashion's new mood Coat, $229.99, MANGO; Romy Pumps, $595, JIMMY CHOO; Anna Bag, $516, WANDLER at matchesfashion.com; Jacket, $562, GOEN.J at farfetch.com; Triple Kick Pumps, $59.95, KEDS at Zalando.co.uk; Sunglasses, $309, MIU MIU at matchesfashion.com; Teddy Bag $1,550 SAINT LAURENT at harveynichols.com

AFFAIR OF THE ART

For the third edition of Dior Lady Art, the House’s creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri invited 11 female artists from around the world to revisit the iconic Dior bag, giving them carte blanche to customise everything from the materials and colors to the lucky charms. The result is a limited-edition collection that is a true work of art. dior.com

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The quiet revolutionary Designer, businesswoman and philanthropist Tory Burch discusses the mentor who taught her to embrace ambition and how she’s paying it forward WORDS ALISON TAY

ory Burch admires any woman who marches to the beat of her own drum. It takes one to know one. With a £2.5billion fashion brand under her homespun raffia belt and a place on the Forbes’ list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women, Tory credits her success to offering something that was missing in the market. Spotting an opportunity to create affordable, design-led wardrobe staples, Tory opened a boutique on New York’s Elizabeth Street in 2004 that was unlike anything else in the city. ‘At the time, stores were very minimalist and stark, and we went the opposite way,’ Tory says of her first store’s homely feel, which has now become an intrinsic part of her brand aesthetic worldwide. Her instinct to go against the grain paid off and, to date, the executive chairman and chief creative officer of her eponymous label has more than 250 boutiques across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, Asia and Australia to her name. All the while, she has kept the idea of home at the heart of her brand – unsurprising since Tory was on a career break to raise her children when the business was born. With Harper’s Bazaar, Vera Wang, Polo Ralph Lauren and Loewe on her fashion CV, she was uniquely placed to start her brand in 2004, which she did with an ecommerce platform first – astonishingly ahead of its time. ‘During my years working in the fashion industry, I noticed a void in the market for beautiful clothing with a designer aesthetic at a more accessible price point – classic pieces with a modern point of view,’ she explains.

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fashion

‘I’ve realized how important it is for women to have a voice and to embrace their ambition’ ‘So when I left Loewe to be at home with my family – I had three boys under the age of four – I began conceptualizing the company and designing my first collection.’ However, it was Oprah Winfrey who gave Tory her big break after hailing her as the Next Best Thing – a TV appearance that would lead to eight million hits on ToryBurch.com. ‘Being on her show changed our business overnight,’ she acknowledges. ‘It aired in 2005 – less than a year after we launched – and women across

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America suddenly seemed to know who we were. It was certainly a turning point for our company.’ Today the likes of Michelle Obama, the Duchess of Cambridge and Jessica Alba are among those drawn to the preppy bohemian traveller aesthetic Burch has made her own. The appeal? According to Tory, it’s pieces with ‘a global point of view with a classic undertone and the intellectual curiosity that goes with it.’ Tory Burch calling cards include Arabian tile prints and tunic kaftans for weekends in The Hamptons, as well as the ubiquitous Reva ballet flat for pounding Park Avenue. Named after her mother, this shoe proved an instant hit, with 30,000 pairs sold within a year of launch. Today, the Reva ballet flat is still arguably the most recognizable staple in the Tory Burch collection – a fact down in part to its being embellished with the brand’s distinctive double T logo. ‘I am incredibly honored that our brand resonates with women globally,’ says Tory. ‘We create effortless pieces that women can wear in their own way and feel great. I think there is an

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authenticity to that connection, as the collections draw on what my team and I are missing from our own closets.’ Although Oprah was the career game-changer for Tory, it was Jane Rosenthal, co-founder, CEO and executive chair of the Tribeca Film Festival who helped her understand the importance of using her voice as a woman in business. ‘When I first started the company, The New York Times wrote an article about me and I got a call from Jane, someone I truly respect in business, who said, “I like your article but you shied away from the word ambition,” and I realized that she was right. I was buying into this harmful stereotype and it irritated me that the journalist said, “You’re ambitious.” Over the years, I’ve realized how important it is for women to have a voice and to embrace their ambition whether it’s staying at home or someone starting a company. Women’s rights should be a given – women have a point of view and should also be part of this conversation.’

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It was this realization that informed the way she would build her business from the very beginning – mindful of creating opportunities for women to flourish. This was reflected in the launch of her #EmbraceAmbitio n initiative to empower women to own their power, drive and dreams in 2017. ‘I am incredibly fortunate to be

surrounded by strong women – 70% of our employees are female, with many in leadership roles. Women in business face tremendous obstacles and there is no equivalent to the old boy’s network… Not yet, at least. That said, it is exciting to see the way women – and men – are coming together. If we lift each other up, celebrate one another’s successes and share information, we can create the kind of networks that make an important difference on the path to parity.’ In addition to equality, philanthropy is another key pillar on which Tory built her brand – again with startling foresight. ‘I have always believed in giving back,’ she declares. ‘It is how I was raised. I started our company because I wanted to start a foundation for women.’ True to her word, she launched the Tory Burch Foundation, dedicated to female empowerment and entrepreneurship in the United States in 2009 to provide female entrepreneurs with access to capital, education and digital resources. ‘It was part of our business plan from the very beginning. I am happy to see that more companies are beginning to recognize the importance of social responsibility. Businesses today are not innovative without a larger purpose.’ While her New York Fashion Week catwalk cohorts continue to be trendled, Tory has never strayed too far from her first love for inspiration – her parents Buddy and Reva Robinson, and her memories of growing up on a farm in Pennsylvania. These elements are lovingly weaved through her collections. ‘Family is everything to me,’ she confirms. ‘My boys are my number one priority no matter what. I've found that having clear boundaries is key. I couldn't be a good leader if I weren't a good mom first.’ Thankfully for Tory, the two go hand in hand. ‘My family are also my greatest motivators – especially my parents, whose travels and love story inspired our SS19 collection. They raised my three brothers and me to believe that with hard work we could accomplish anything, regardless of gender.’ Clearly, Buddy and Reva were right.

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BUSINESS LESSONS FROM TORY BURCH

Bag £430

Dress £655

Earrings £185

Offer a solution ‘The best business ideas are ones which fulfill a need. We hit a spot in the market that was a white space, but that’s hard to find. A good place to start is to think about things that would make your life easier, and work from there.’ Sandals £235

Engage with your consumer ‘We were actually early adopters of social media. In the beginning, we didn’t have an advertising budget so we relied on social media. Use it to build brand awareness and engage in an authentic and direct conversation with your customer.’

Embrace your ambition ‘Ambition is something every woman can embrace – whether your ambition is to start a company or to raise happy, confident children. It’s about dreaming big and owning your aspirations.’

Card Holder £120

Trousers £470

Sail into summer

Create a strong culture ‘Culture is very important in a work place and everyone has to believe in it. You can’t just have one person preaching at the top; you need to hire people who help create a great environment. If you have a team that believes in the culture, that’s when you get the best work.’

Follow your intuition ‘When I opened my first boutique people told me to start at wholesale with one category and build from there. I was also told that no one would buy online. If I could give entrepreneurs any advice, it’s to really go with your gut. You have to believe in yourself, because if you’re not going to believe in yourself, others won’t either.’

Shirt £310

‘My parents, Buddy and Reva Robinson, were adventurers,’ reveals Tory. ‘Every summer, they boarded a steamer ship and spent six weeks sailing from Italy and Greece to Morocco and Spain. Their wanderlust has been a constant inspiration for me.᾿ SS19 collection available from toryburch.co.uk Skirt £940

Blazer £420

Tote Bag £240

Espadrilles £165

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The New POWER DRESSING Update your work wardrobe with a pop of color C O M P I L E D B Y CHAR LOTTE A DSETT

Sunset Haze CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: CHLOÉ Poppy sunglasses, $300; harveynichols.com. KHAITE Alexis blazer, $1,300; harveynichols.com. ROKSANDA skirt, $995; net-a-porter.com. TORY BURCH Eleanor mule, $328; toryburch.co.uk. STAUD Bisset bucket bag; $325; staud.clothing. Model wears dress from a selection: TOPSHOP SS19

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A.W.A.K.E. SS19 TIBI. SS19

LK BENNETT SS19

Sorbet Shades CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: DIOR Mini saddle calfskin bag, $2,700; dior.com. JIMMY CHOO Love 100 Thistle Suede Pumps, $625; farfetch.com. VICTORIA BECKHAM Cotton blouse, $310; harveynichols.com. A.W.A.K.E. Stretch-crepe shirt, $315, net-a-porter.com. EMILIA WICKSTEAD Clive trousers, $370; theoutnet.com. TIBI Tuxedo smoking blazer, $795; themodist.com

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Bagsof Style Presenting the most covetable handbags to invest in this spring COMPILED BY CHARLOTTE ADSETT

THIS PAGE:

The original 'It' bag from the late nineties is back with a reboot this season. FENDI, Baguette bag, $3.190; fendi.com

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Shoulder strap COACH, Parker bag, $450; uk.coach.com. PRADA, Sidonie bag, $3,100; prada.com. MICHAEL KORS, Sloan Editor bag, $298; michaelkors.co.uk. CHLOE, The C bag, $1,190; matchesfashion.com

Top Handle BOYY, Bobby 16 bag, $743; mytheresa.com. MANSUR GAVRIEL, Mini Circle bag, $795; barneys.com. STAUD, Sadie bag, $325; staud.clothing. CELINE, Medium 16 bag, $4,550; celine.com. TRADEMARK, Harriet bag, $330; net-a-porter.com

Totes

SALVATORE FERRAGAMO, Jet Set bag,$2,200; mytheresa.com. MARNI, Trunk bag, $2,350; mytheresa.com. MULBERRY, Small Seaton bag, $1,750; mulberry.com. ACNE STUDIOS, Musubi Milli bag, $650; harveynichols.com. GUCCI, Arli bag, $3,200; gucci.com

Shoppers VALENTINO, Chevron Rockstud Shopping bag, $1,795; valentino.com. MANSUR GAVRIEL, North South bag, $585; modaoperandi.com. GUCCI, Rajah bag, $2,500; gucci.com. ANYA HINDMARCH, Python print bag, $995; anyahindmarch.com. DIOR, Oblique bag, $3,500; dior.com

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Disco daze Cleopatra, David Bowie, Marilyn Monroe, Naomi Campbell – legendary figures each with iconic signature looks. Taking inspiration from these beauty icons both past and present, Charlotte Tilbury’s new range is all about the self-empowering aspect of make-up. The Icons Collection features a limited-edition 12-shade eyeshadow palette, ($74) as well as six Latex Lips ($32 each) – high shine glosses enriched with Crambe Seed Oil and Mimosa Oil to also moisturize and nourish the lips. charlottetilbury.com

The BEAUTY Fix The latest launches, trends and treatments COMPILED BY CHARLOTTE ADSETT

BEAUTY HOTSPOTS TO BOOKMARK

Did you know that it’s not only UV rays that can be an issue for your skin? HEV (high energy visible) light emitted by digital devices can also be damaging. Dr Sebagh’s new Sun & City SPF 50+ is designed to protect against HEV, as well as sunlight, pollution and oxidative stress so that your city skin is covered. $80, drsebagh.com

Level58 at Maddox Street, London The Level58 rooms at AllBright Maddox Street will bring together London’s leading therapists and wellness specialists offering targeted treatments for holistic female health. Look out for the Empowerment Massage – designed to reset the female body’s rhythm to help with hormone imbalances and fertility challenges – as well as The Bleu Print Method, which uses gentle cranial osteopathy to release stress throughout the body.

Lona Vigi at Melrose Place, West Hollywood Hollywood hair stylist Lona Vigi is best known for her celebrity client list (she styled Shailene Woodley’s, Leslie Mann’s and Toni Collette’s hair for the Oscars this year). Now she’s partnering with renowned facialist Georgia Louise at the new AllBright in LA. Alongside their usual treatments, Lona and Georgia will be offering combined blow outs and express facials at the club’s salon.

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beauty & wellness

In Bloom Ne w spr ing fragran ce s

Spring is in the air, so adjust your olfactory wardrobe accordingly with these new lighter, brighter seasonal scents. Perfectly capturing the new mood, these fragrances evoke sunshine and scented gardens with notes of iris, lavender and jasmine. CLOCKWISE FROM MAIN IMAGE: Dior Holy Peony, 125ml, $270, dior.com; Hermes Un Jardin Sur La Lagune Eau de Toilette Spray, 100ml, $120, hermes.com; Tiffany Sheer Eau de Toilette, 30ml, $120; tiffany.com; Gucci The Alchemist's Garden A Song for the Rose Eau de Parfum, 100ml, $320, gucci.com; Miller Harris Violet Ida, 100ml, $140, millerharris.com; Tom Ford Jasmine Musk Eau De Parfum, 50ml, $215, selfridges.com; Maison Francis Kurkdjian Gentle Fluidity Gold Edition Eau de Parfum, 70ml, $200, selfridges.com

BACK TO NATURE

The non-intoxicating marijuana extract CBD, or ‘cannabidiol’, is widely credited with helping a variety of health issues, including anxiety, depression, chronic pain, nausea and insomnia. What's more, thanks to its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and analgesic properties, CBD oil can have a soothing effect on skin, helping with inflammatory conditions such as eczema, psoriasis and acne. KIKI HEALTH $95

allbrightcollective.com

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CANNABIGOLD $40

THE ORGANIC PHARMACY $80

27/02/2019 17:33

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Get the glow Want skin like an A-Lister? Celebrity facialist Georgia Louise explains how AllBright members can get her signature luminous look WORDS GEORGIE LANE-GODFREY

hat do Jennifer Lawrence, Anna Wintour, Cate Blanchett, Emily Blunt and Katy Perry all have in common? Aside from being incredibly successful, they’ve also got amazing skin – and one woman to thank for it. Her name is Georgia Louise. Hailed as fashion’s favorite facialist, Georgia is the person A-listers call to get their skin red carpet-ready. Awards season has her doing back-to-back facials – seeing up to six clients a day for her ninety minute treatments. Well known on the New York scene as a skincare sorceress, the British beauty expert started her career in London before moving stateside in 2010. It was a move that would prove fortuitous. ‘People are more into taking care of themselves here, particularly in states like NY and LA, which are lifestyle hubs for wellness and selfcare,’ she explains. ‘Straight off the bat, people had no problem buying facials and coming as frequently as they would go to their hair dresser for a blow out.’ It didn’t take long for her name to become associated with the best treatments in town, and a cult following developed through referrals alone soon followed. Her first celebrity client, Linda Evangelista, is now the name at the top of a very long, very high profile list. ‘People say they recognise my clients because they have that “glow”,’ says Georgia. ‘But aside from the skincare, I’m known for being discreet. That trust is important.’ So what is it about Georgia’s facials that attracts the A-listers?

Aside from that all-important glow, it’s Georgia’s unique concept of ‘layering’ – where she uses a different product to tackle each one of her client’s individual skincare issues. Each product becomes a different ‘layer’ on the skin, explaining why her facials can often end up involving 16 steps. ‘It’s really hard to find a product which has one pure active ingredient that’s not combined with other chemicals,’ she explains. ‘But you do need one where the ingredient you’re looking for isn’t diluted.’ If, however, 16 steps seems a bit daunting for you to replicate at home, Georgia recommends five must-have products to include in your skincare routine: a cleanser, a Vitamin C serum, a moisturizing cream, SPF and a

finishing serum. But, she says, the more time you can spend on your skin, the better – especially if you can add in some technology to supercharge your routine, too. Take her Pulse+Glo Ion Enhancer, for example, which looks like headphones for your cheeks. Designed to be used alongside one of her ionized sheet masks, it turbo-charges the ingredients with a galvanic current in order to help them penetrate your skin more deeply. ‘Usually your products sit on the epidermis,’ explains Georgia, ‘but the ions push the products deeper for more lasting results. This is what gives you really glowing skin.’ Meanwhile, her full-face LED mask has been making headlines thanks to its ability to stimulate collagen and improve fine lines and wrinkles. While it might seem a serious piece of kit, Georgia believes you’ll soon be a convert: ‘Skincare technology incorporating LED lighting is set to be a big beauty trend for 2019, so expect to be using it very soon.’ In the meantime, this is what you can do to improve your current routine right now…

GEORGIA LOUISE AT ALLBRIGHT Want to give your skin that Georgia Louise glow? AllBright’s third opening on Melrose Place, West Hollywood will offer both her express treatments and full-length facials in the three on-site treatment rooms. Opening this summer, the club will be Georgia Louise's first permanent location in Los Angeles.

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beauty & wellness

The Beauty

Rule Book The eight most essential pieces of skincare advice according to Georgia Louise

USE ANTI-AGEING PRODUCTS

LAYER UP YOUR PRODUCTS

‘We absolutely do need them to slow down our ageing process,’ says Georgia. ‘Anti-ageing products generally have peptides, which help to relax fine lines, and vitamins, which keep our skin working smoothly.’

‘Pick different products to address each one of your skincare needs and layer them up. Multi-tasking products are less effective, so by layering you know you are effectually dealing with each one.’

CUT DOWN ON SUGAR AND DAIRY

‘You have a skin cell turnover of 45 days, so this is the length of time it will take for your skin to acclimatise to something new. Whether you have sensitive skin or not, take your time to introduce them. Start by using them twice a week and build up from there.’

TAKE YOUR TIME WITH NEW PRODUCTS

‘Beauty comes from the gut, so what you feed your body is important. Make sure you get plenty of antioxidants into your diet and stay away from refined sugars and processed foods – these can create puffiness and increase toxins.’

‘This is really important. You can never get off all the grime with just one pass, so unless you double cleanse, you’ll end up with residual bacteria that can lead to breakouts.’

DON’T FORGET FACIAL MASSAGE ‘A good massage for five minutes using my Lift & Sculpt Butterfly Stone ($75) will help reenergize the skin, making it the perfect remedy if your skin is looking a little dull.’

‘Getting enough sleep really does make a difference to your skin. But if you do have a bad night’s sleep, start your day by drinking half a liter of water. Then, crush some ice, put it in some kitchen roll and massage your face with it. This will help depuff your eyes and wake up the skin. It’s like a DIY cryofacial.’

MAKE TIME FOR REGULAR FACIALS ‘It comes down to your personal preference and your schedule, but aim to have a facial once a month.’

PH PERFECTING TONIC $90

VITAMIN A SERUM $130

THE BALM $84

'This is my desert island must-have as it's a brilliant multi-tasker. You can use it as a softening cleanser as well as a healing balm.'

'Skin at night is renewing so we need to use vitamin A which comes in the form of a retinol. This is still the only scientifically proven active ingredient which slicks away dead skin cells, brightens any pigmentation and helps to stimulate collagen.'

allbrightcollective.com

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GEORGIA'S PULSE+GLO ION ENHANCER $165

'Thanks to the galvanic current it creates, the Pulse+GLO helps active ingredients penetrate 1000x deeper into the skin. It’s like a facial at home.'

O O PR DUCT ER

'From your mid-twenties onwards, you should exfoliate at night to remove dead skin cells. For this, you need a toner enriched with AHAs like this tonic.'

MAKE SURE YOU DOUBLE CLEANSE

PRIORITISE YOUR BEAUTY SLEEP

27/02/2019 17:19

wellness

Wo r d s o f We l l n e s s

Super Natural Renowned yogi, nutritional writer and wellness entrepreneur Julie Montagu is London’s go-to holistic guru for those in the know. Here she shares her thoughts on health and happiness WORDS CHARLOTTE ADSETT

merican wellness entrepreneur Julie Montagu knows how to handle a hectic schedule. In addition to writing three bestselling superfood cookbooks and a recent mindfulness publication, Recharge: A Year of Self-Care to Focus on You, Julie also runs Whole Self Yoga. A practice that combines energising yoga with holistic nutrition and mindfulness, Julie holds retreats at the family’s Mapperton estate in the rolling hills of west Dorset. No wonder then that she was recently named one of Top 10 Holistic Health Icons in the world. These are the wellness rules she lives by…

SET DAILY RITUALS I have green tea on rising, then I meditate which helps me with focus for the day ahead. I practice yoga daily – it makes me a happier person and more productive. I always prioritise an Epsom salt bath in the evening. After my bath, I sleep like a log. Even if it’s for just six hours, it’s deep sleep.

NOURISH YOUR BODY Eat more plants, less meat and less processed foods. Experiment with nutritional superheroes, such as cacao, baobab, spirulina, bee pollen and sea vegetables which help to reduce inflammation, alkalise the body, and boost energy levels and the immune system. These superfoods all nourish us deep within.

important as time spent with friends and family. Even people with the most hectic schedule can allow themselves 20 minutes a day to read or take a bath.

REMAIN POSITIVE When life hits you hard, remember that experience is there to teach you something and to help you grow. The silver lining from that situation is there, but it won’t reveal itself until it’s ready.

STAY INSPIRED

ALLOW YOURSELF EMOTIONAL RELEASE Don’t hold it in. Cry, scream, get it all out. Talk to someone and force yourself to get outside and walk, even for only ten minutes. Getting fresh air helps to create space between negative thoughts.

FOCUS ON YOUR OWN HAPPINESS Happiness is something that we’re in control of and we have to create ourselves. Try to do something that makes you happy everyday and spend time in nature whenever you can. Before you go to bed at night, make a list of three things that you’re grateful for.

SCHEDULE SOME ME TIME EVERY DAY The longest relationship you have in your life is with yourself. Be your own best friend and prioritise treating yourself well. Planning some self-care time with yourself every day is as

I wear a bangle that I had engraved with my favourite motto: ‘She needed a hero, so that’s what she became.’

REMEMBER TO BREATHE Inhale for four seconds, exhale for six seconds. This has made a huge difference to my energy. I do it when I’m cycling, on the underground or before going into a meeting. Breathing gives me mental clarity and emotional stability.

MAINTAIN PERSPECTIVE Take a step back and try to be less reactive. If you’re reacting to something, your balance is going to shift and you’re going to feel stressed out. I’m all about compassion – if we all had a little more, the world would be a better place. Find out more about Julie’s yoga retreats at wholeself.yoga

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Make it personal.

The Moisturiser

The Hydrator

Your skin’s needs are unique and always changing. The world-renowned beauty trailblazer, Dr Jean-Louis Sebagh pioneered the concept of mixing different, powerful serums to create a personalised daily ritual that perfectly meets your skin’s needs. Potent and award-winning, Dr Sebagh’s iconic serums—including the trio of super-serums featured here—can all be used alone or combined, for agelessly radiant results. Moisturising is essential to restore the skin barrier, protect against environmental agressors, seal in hydration and keep skin plump. Deeply moisturise and soothe your skin using Rose de Vie Serum, with antioxidant and nourishing rosehip oil, blended with the hydrating, hyaluronic acid-rich Serum Repair, which instantly leaves skin looking and feeling plumped, firmer and tighter.

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The Anti-Ager

The Brightener

Add a trouble-shooting, ‘Ageing-Maintenance’ hero to the mix with a few drops of Supreme Maintenance Youth Serum. It boasts 95% active ingredients, more than any other skin care product, including the ‘youth molecule’ Resveratrol, three anti-aging peptides, a mineral radiance booster and an anti-pollution film. Power-up your serum blend even more with a little Pure Vitamin C Powder Cream. This patented, highly concentrated and stabilised powder-to-cream formula can be mixed with any serum to brighten the skin, prevent pigmentation and bring back its glow. Available in-store and at drsebagh.com

21/02/2019 14:41

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l o o h c S t h Nig Can't get no sleep? It’s time to knuckle down and learn the behaviours which guarantee a good night’s rest WORDS HARRIET COOPER & GEORGIE LANE-GODFREY

our work calendar runs like clock-work. You never fail to book your favorite bike for spin. You always manage to secure a table at the hottest new restaurant opening. But the one thing you can’t seem to keep under control? Your sleep patterns. It’s an all-too-familiar tale amongst successful women (and one not helped by the countless stories about high flyers who survive on just a few hours every night). But the struggle to get to sleep is all too real. According to a report by the Mental Health Foundation, a staggering one third of us may suffer from insomnia, sleeping significantly less than the standard seven to nine hours per night that conventional wisdom recommends. So what’s the cause for this severe sleeplessness? In a nutshell, it’s down to the incessant nature of modern life. Our brains today are constantly flooded with information that they simply weren’t designed to digest. Technological onslaught demands we never switch off – even an Instagram ‘Like’ releases a small surge of dopamine that adds to our state of constant alertness. Meanwhile, demanding work schedules are also to blame. ‘Insomnia can be a real problem for high achieving women,' says independent sleep expert Dr Neil Stanley. ‘The feeling that you need to work all hours to succeed leaves little time for sleep, while stress disrupts the quality.’ Then on top of our techobsessed, crazy schedules, add travel across time zones, having a young family, late-night eating and drinking, or even strong artificial light after dark, and our sleep patterns get out of whack. While it might be tempting to battle on, bleary-eyed, you shouldn’t. High levels of sleeplessness not only increase the risk of a myriad of physical medical conditions, but can also expose people to chronic depression and anxiety. In fact, insomnia is the second most prevalent and burdensome mental disorder, according to the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience. Now we have our sleep debt, we need to repay it. While a cup of camomile tea might work when you’re only dealing with a few missed hours, chronic non-sleepers know that insomnia is far harder to solve. Instead, we’re talking about a complete lifestyle overhaul in order catch those zzz’s. This is how...

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beauty & wellness

LET ROUTINE RULE

It might sound obvious, but ask yourself this: are you giving your body sufficient heads up that it’s time to sleep? You need to be starting that bedtime wind down two hours before you hit the hay – like watching the latest episode of your favorite series, listening to a podcast, reading a book. In fact, a study by the University of Sussex found that dipping into a book before heading off to bed reduces stress by 68%, helps clear the mind and prepares the body for sleep. Meanwhile, listening to music lowered stress levels by 61%, sipping on a cup of herbal tea took them down by 54% and going for a walk saw a 42% reduction. Then one hour before sleep, it’s time to ramp up the relaxation. Turbo charge your normal relaxing bath by adding Epsom salts into them – a compound of minerals including allimportant magnesium. A 2016 study from the University of Edinburgh found that magnesium plays a key role in keeping body clocks running on time. Adding the mineral to your bath can let it absorb through your skin – an easy way to keep that internal clock ticking over. Meanwhile, switch off all devices to avoid the bright blue light emitted by late-night tech. This light suppresses melatonin, the hormone controlling your circadian rhythm (i.e the 24-hour biological cycle that tells our bodies when to rest, rise, eat, be active and be calm). So turn them off and turn down the lights to signpost to the body that it’s time for sleep. Need to work late? It doesn’t have to completely destroy your sleep patterns. Try downloading f.lux ux.com), an app which makes (justgetflux.com) your computer screen adapt to reflect the current time of day. So when the sun sets, f.lux makes your screen reflect your dimmed indoor lights, brightening again in the morning to keep those circadian rhythms intact.

Tension and Trauma Release Exercises) is designed to help people with anything ranging from mild stress to severe trauma by activating a natural reflex mechanism of shaking. ‘The series of exercises assists the body in releasing deep muscular patterns of stress, tension and trauma,’ explains Steve Haines, who teaches TRE at London yoga center, Triyoga. ‘The primitive act of shaking is the body’s ways of ridding itself of excess adrenal charge which has arisen, and ultimately allowing the autonomic nervous system to find a state of equilibrium.’ A self-help tool which, once learned, can be deployed whenever the need arises, TRE® disciples report a sense of peaceful, deep relaxation after sessions. The ensuing result? Better sleep.

as a sleep enhancer, but actually its very short lived and can increase the symptoms of sleep apnea, snoring and disrupted sleep patterns,’ explains Lambert. ‘You’ll most likely be woken up when your sugar spikes and be unable to then reach a deep sleep again. This is because we normally enter REM cycles of sleep 6-7 times in a night, but with alcohol you may only have REM cycles once or twice.’ And stopping you from nodding off isn’t bad enough, Lambert also says drinking alcohol will make it easier for you to be woken up during sleep too.

CREATE A RESTFUL RETREAT

The four pillars of the perfect bedroom: quiet, cool, dark and uncluttered. Our bodies are wired to fall asleep as the sun falls, so dim the lights as you’re getting ready for bed, advises human sleep and fatigue expert Dr Katharina Lederle. But temperature is also key. ‘In the evening before bedtime, our body temperature drops by around 1°C which helps us fall asleep,’ says Lederle. ‘To do so, your body needs to release heat meaning that the environment around us needs to be lower to do so. It’s its too hot, that can’t happen, so to allow heat to flow from the body, keep the bedroom temp to 16-18°C.’ What bedding you use affects temperature too. ‘Fresh linen hasn’t had body temperature around it so it gives the impression of being cooler,’ sport sleep coach Nick Littlehales. ‘In fact, the athletes I work with change their linens every day. It’s not just about reducing allergens, it’s about mindset: it promotes the idea of a good night’s sleep.’ As to what bedding to choose, Littlehales recommends high-quality, white cotton sheets with a minimum thread count of 300: ‘Anything below that deteriorates quickly and creates an aggressive surface on the skin that hinders sleep.’ While earplugs will help you block out snoring and screaming sirens, they won’t help you block out a messy, cluttered bedroom. A study from St Lawrence University in New York

“Insomnia can be a real problem for high achieving women. The feeling that you need to work all hours to succeed leaves little time for sleep, while stress disrupts the quality”

SHAKE IT OFF

Creating routine is all about reducing bodily stress, but this isn’t the only way to do it. TRE® (which stands for

EAT SMART FOR SLUMBER

Reassess what you’re consuming. Swigging on decaff drinks might be a no-brainer, but how early in the day you need to make the swap isn’t. ‘One small cup of coffee can have a large impact on our circadian rhythms,’ says Harley Street nutritionist and author Rhiannon Lambert. ‘Caffeine can stay elevated in the blood for 6–8 hours so drinking any caffeinated drink – tea, coffee, coca cola, energy drinks – after 3pm is not recommended.’ Meanwhile, move that dinner schedule forward. ‘Late-night eating may negatively impact both sleep quality and the natural release of growth hormones and melatonin,’ says Lambert. As for what you drink? While it might be tempting to end the day with some booze in the belief it’ll help you sleep, it’s actually better to stay off the bottle. ‘Alcohol initially acts

allbrightcollective.com

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The Sleep Kit

LIFORME Yoga Mat, $150, sweatybetty.com

BODAS Cotton Pyjamas, $119, theoutnet.com

SUSANNE KAUFMANN Bath Oil, $76, spacenk.com MOON JUICE Dream Dust, $65, cultbeauty.co.uk

MAULI Himalayan Healing Salts, $60, spacenk.com

found that people with cluttered rooms took longer to fall asleep, were more likely to have a disturbed night and woke up more tired in the morning than their minimalist friends. The message? Strip things back, take out the tech and focus on making your room a restful retreat you look forward to being in.

WORK IT OUT

If you’re trying to tucker yourself out with exercise, timing might be the key to helping you sleep soundly. ‘It depends on your chronotype (a.k.a your internal body clock, which differs between people) as to when you find it easiest to exercise,’ says Dr Katharina Lederle. ‘But from a sleep perspective, you need to leave ideally three hours between exercising and going to bed.’ It’s also best to save those hardcore exercise classes for the morning when you want to feel invigorated. ‘Slow and calming exercises like yoga are good if you like evening exercise because they can also help the mind to relax and slow down,’ says Lederle. In fact, the ancient practice can be widely beneficial as a sleep tool thanks to its ability to relieve the tension you accumulate from daily activity. Picking the right style, however, is key.

KIKI HEALTH Magnesium Oil, $17, lookfantastic.com

KNEIPP Dream Away Miracle Bath Salt, $20, kneipp.com

‘There are two styles in particular that will set you up for a full and restful night’s sleep – Restorative yoga and Yin yoga,’ says Genny Wilkinson Priest, yoga manager at TriYoga. ‘Both these styles activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which governs the parts of the body that allow you to rest and relax. Your heart rate slows, your blood vessels dilate, and your tummy starts to rumble as your digestive system kicks into high gear.’ Yoga can also help you reduce that sleep deficit too. For this, you need to tap into yoga nidra a.k.a ‘yogic sleep’ – a powerful relaxation technique that can be practiced before bedtime as a means of encouraging slumber. Based on guided meditation, it’s done in shavasana – that pose where you get to lie on the floor doing nothing but still be technically ‘practicing’. Amazingly, it’s believed that just 30 minutes of yoga nidra is the equivalent of up to four hours of deep sleep – perfect for getting back in the black at the bank of Nod.

LISTEN UP

Listening to music may help you drop off, but recent research shows that certain sound frequencies can aid sleep and relaxation. Binaural beats is a technique which involves

combining two slightly different sound frequencies which is then perceived as one new frequency tone by the brain. You listen via headphones, with each ear receiving a different frequency – say 200-hertz tone in the left and 210-hertz in your right. The brain then processes the 10-hertz difference – a low frequency soundwave you don’t actually hear. Research shows that exposure to sounds with a low frequency tone (i.e. binaural beats) slows brain activity, which helps you relax, fall asleep more easily and then slumber more soundly. What’s more, a recent study also found that binaural beats increase DHEA and melatonin – two hormones which are key in promoting sleep – while simultaneously decreasing the stress hormone cortisol. ‘There is a lot to like about this technology as a potential treatment for sleep problems,’ says sleep doctor Michael J. Breus. ‘It’s noninvasive, it doesn’t rely on medication, it’s inexpensive and relatively easy to adopt and maintain.’ To get started, try downloading one of the many free apps such as Brainwaves or Binaural Beats Therapy, make sure you use stereo headphones (so you can get a different frequency in each ear) and leave plenty of time to listen.

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beauty & wellness

SLIP Silk Eye Mask, $50, net-a-porter.com

THE DREAM TEAM

SUNDAY RILEY Luna Sleeping Night Oil, $105, spacenk.com

DR GUY MEADOWS

NEOM Oil Diffuser, $120 neomorganics.com

Dr Guy and his team at the London-based Sleep School offer private clinics and consultations, workshops, online courses and advice to help patients sleep better, from corporate clients to new parents.

thesleepschool.org

STEVE HAINES

ILA APOTHECARY Dream Space Diffuser Oil, $35, ilapothecary.com

EASE YOUR MIND

When it comes to sleep, stress is the enemy. But when you’re working hard, it’s all too easy for the cortisol levels to creep up. One method to relieve it? Mindful meditation. Research from LA’s University of Southern California found that mindful meditation practices resulted in improved sleep quality as compared to traditional techniques. Try Calm, an app which features free ‘sleep stories’ – a soothing mix of tales, music and effects to help you ‘drift off into dreamland’. Not sure meditation is your thing? Previous studies have found that writing about your worries for just five minutes before bed can help you fall asleep. But the less-than-creative out there needn’t worry. A recent study found that writing a detailed to-do list for the next day can also encourage sleep by offloading thoughts and reducing worry. Mental games can help too. A process known as ‘cognitive shuffling’ has been found to keep your mind off issues that stop you from sleeping. Devised by Dr. Luc P. Beaudoin to induce ‘supersomnolent’ mentation, the idea is to pick a word with several different letters – bedtime would work – then think of as many different things

VOTARY Pillow Spray, $48, spacenk.com

stevehaines.net

starting with B as possible. As you think of each one, visualize it in your head. Once you’ve exhausted the B list, move onto E, continuing until you reach slumber. It shouldn’t be long – several studies have shown guided imagery to be a powerful relaxation technique. But the most important thing to do? Stop obsessing. While there may be myriad tried and tested ways to catch some zzzs, Dr Guy Meadows – sleep expert, trained physiologist and Clinical Director of the Sleep School in west London – believes by obsessively worrying about how to cure our sleeplessness, we’re actually putting insomnia on a pedestal and strengthening it. “Trying to problem-solve and to control it is not helping the situation,” he explains. The upshot? Sometimes you have to accept that the best thing to do is to do nothing at all…

REVERSE PSYCHOLOGY

The easiest way to fall asleep? Try staying awake. Known as ‘paradoxical intent’, this psychotherapy trick involves relieving someone of the ‘performance anxiety’ of consciously making the effort to fall asleep. As anxiety levels go down, your chances of sleep go up. No more counting sheep…

allbrightcollective.com

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With a focus on relieving pain and trauma in his practise, Steve teaches TRE® all over the world, including Triyoga in London.

RHIANNON LAMBERT

Rhiannon is a leading Harley Street nutritionist and author. Her book, Re-Nourish: A Simple Way to Eat Well is available now.

rhitrition.com

DR KATHARINA LEDERLE

AllBright member Katharina had a PhD in Human Circadian Physiology and Behaviour. She is currently Head of Sleep Services at Somnia, a sleep clinic in London.

somnia.org.uk

DR NEIL STANLEY

Dr Neil is an independent sleep expert and author of How To Sleep Well. With over 36 years experience, he now travels across the world lecturing on sleep.

thesleepconsultancy.com

NICK LITTLEHALES

Nick Littlehales is a worldrenowned elite sport sleep coach. Having worked with sports teams across the world, his book SLEEP was translated into 13 languages..

sportsleepcoach.com

DR MICHAEL J. BREUS

Dr Michael is a clinical psychologist with a speciality in sleep disorders based in Los Angeles. Author of three books, he is one of America’s leading authorities on sleeprelated issues.

thesleepdoctor.com

27/02/2019 11:37

CLEAN 40 CLEANWAVES WAVESDPS.indd DPS AD.indd 2

05/08/2018 10:43 10:10 22/02/2019

CCRREEAT ATI INNGG CCHHAANNGGEE. . I ISSLLAANNDD BBYY I ISSLLAANNDD. . AVEESS. .CCOOMM SSUUNNGGLLAASSSSEESS MMAADDEE FFRROOMM OOCCEEAANN PPLLAASSTTI ICC®® CCLLEEAANNWWAV

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Earthly Pleasures We may seek yoga by the pool, holistic therapies and an organic menu on holiday, but travel is about more than caring for ourselves – it’s about looking after the planet too. From protected biosphere reserves to remote islands, here’s our pick of the mindful retreats that won’t cost the earth WORDS HARRIET COOPER

Cuixmala, Mexico

Perched on a cliff, with a bird’s eye view of the pristine Costa Alegre and the sparkling Pacific Ocean beyond, Casa Cuixmala certainly has location on its side. Owned by Alix Goldsmith Marcaccini, daughter of the late Sir James Goldsmith, this dreamy Mexican hideaway – originally built as Goldsmith’s own private retreat – sits in a 30,000-acre biosphere reserve, an intoxicating mix of jungle, coconut plantations, sweeping savannah and grasslands. The main Casa is Mexican meets European meets Moorish in design and comfortably luxe (the emphasis is on feeling like you are on a big ranch rather than in a hotel). Guests can also stay in adjoining bungalows, one of the three private villas or the Casitas, a group of suites which share a resort pool and clubhouse. An eco-warrior knighted for his services to ecology, Goldsmith's love and respect of nature lives on throughout Cuixmala. Zebras and eland antelope roam the sprawling estate, while the elusive jaguar, freshwater crocodiles and 270-plus species of bird can also be spotted, whether by foot, bicycle, horseback (caballerango/cowboys will take you out along wild trails) or boat – there’s even a sea turtle sanctuary here. Three beaches offer tranquil bays for swimming, snorkelling or paddleboarding and rugged cliffs for perching on to watch for whales off the wild coast. There are also soccer pitches, basketball and tennis courts. Hungry from their healthy exertions, guests can feast on authentic farm-to-fork dishes in the knowledge that

most of the ingredients have either been grown in the sprawling organic and biodynamic gardens, or reared at the hotel’s sister property Hacienda de San Antonio, a former coffee plantation-turned-ranch in the foothills of the Volcano of Colima. This is a magical place, offering that unique combination of being completely connected to nature, while also being in the lap of luxury. Albeit, a very ecoconscious luxury. cuixmala.com

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travel

allbrightcollective.com

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S P R I N G

Nihi Sumba, Indonesia

Calling Nihi Sumba laidback is an understatement. This has to be one of the most gloriously relaxed resorts on the map – quite an achievement for somewhere that’s also regularly voted ‘best hotel in the world’. Located on the remote island of Sumba in southeastern Indonesia, an hour’s flight from Bali, this lowimpact resort is set on 567 acres of land, but only 65 acres has been (or ever will be) developed, with just 27 grass-roofed private villas – each with a sweeping Indian Ocean view, huge terrace and private pool – set amongst the banyan, banana and frangipani trees. It’s all very outdoorsy, with an emphasis on wellness. Swathes of lush, natural jungle are ripe for exploring by foot, bike or horseback, and the resort’s 2.5km beach offers up snorkelling, SUP, kayaking, fishing and, of course, surfing – this is an area known for its world-famous breaks, including the legendary ‘Occy’s Left’. If this all sounds rather highoctane, there’s daily yoga, a health studio and myriad treatments to be had in the open-air spa pavilions. And beneath the palm trees that fringe the golden sand, there’s always a hammock with your name on it. In keeping with the beach-chic feel, the restaurants are relaxed affairs,

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from Ombak, where the Indonesian cuisine is superlative, to Kaboku, a sushi bar serving freshly-caught seafood. All tap into seasonal, local produce, much of it grown in the organic garden. But it’s philanthropy which is at the core of this resort. It is the biggest employer on the island (93% of the workforce is Sumbanese) and the Sumba Foundation works ceaselessly to ameliorate issues affecting nearby villages including no water, malaria, minimal education and health facilities. Indeed, since its inception, the Foundation has built 60 water wells and four medical clinics for local use, while malaria rates in the area have plummeted. Guests can donate to the cause, but they’re also encouraged to visit these traditional villages to see for themselves the Foundation’s continuing purpose and work. This isn’t just a place where “rugged luxury meets unregulated freedom”, it’s a paradise with a heart, too. nihi.com

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travel

Singita Safari Lodges and Reserves, Africa

More than a quarter of a century ago, a boutique safari lodge opened in South Africa’s Sabi Sand Game Reserve. But Singita Ebony Lodge wasn’t any old luxury bush retreat. It was a trailblazer, the first of Singita’s environmentally-sensitive properties across South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and, opening in August, Rwanda, all of which continue to be dedicated to sustainability, conservation and local community. Stay at any Singita – from Lebombo with its front row seat to the Kruger National Park to Sasakwa overlooking Tanzania’s majestic Serengeti Plains – and wild beauty and divine comfort come as standard. Dining under a canopy of shooting stars is a memory-maker (healthy, lowimpact and organic is the order of the day), while spa treatments are second-

to-none – each Singita spa emphasises the natural healing properties of nature. And, of course, the main reason why people safari – the wildlife is majestic, whether you’re bumping your way across the savannah to see a pride of lions eating their breakfast or sipping sundowners by a pool of snorting hippos. But this is an ecosystem under threat, and at Singita they are only too aware of the importance of preserving and protecting this African wilderness. Huge efforts are made in conservation, rhinos and leopards, in particular; while the Rwandan lodge is the result of a partnership with the government to bolster gorilla conservation efforts in the Volcanoes National Park. Each of the camps and lodges is dedicated to becoming carbon

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neutral and reducing waste – plastic is a no-no. Water is a precious commodity and treated as such, sustainable materials are used in building work, and Singita’s community programme works tirelessly to help those living in and around the reserves. Singita may have Out of Africa vibes, but it’s not for nothing that it is credited as being one of the leading conservation brands in the country. singita.com

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S P R I N G

La Granja, Ibiza

Head into Ibiza’s heartland, away from the basslines and beach clubs, and you’ll find La Granja – a traditional farmhouse-turned rustic retreat, set amongst sweet-smelling pine forests. A Design Hotels property, this ninebedroom members' club agriturismo (you can apply to become a member online) is every bit as stylish as you’d expect. In purposeful contrast to the traditional all-white fincas on the island, here dark wooden beams

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hang above walls painted grey, while carefully-curated pieces of furniture sit on floors of stone and slate. The minimalist, all-natural decor in no way means pared-back comfort – think more understated luxury. Deliciously lazy days start with breakfast al fresco, before being spent by the pool, surrounded by citrus and almond trees; organic meals are eaten at long communal tables and cocktails are served from a wooden bar built around the base of a carob tree. The emphasis here is on outdoor living. Guests are welcome to explore the 10 hectares of farmland and gardens, and to meet the master farmer Andy Szymanowicz, who is passionate about biodynamic agriculture, resulting in a wealth of homegrown fruits, vegetables and herbs, many of which end up on your plate. La Granja is part of a collaboration with Friends of a Farmer – an organisation supporting sustainability on Ibiza – and the group often holds gatherings here. Other meaningful experiences at La Granja include slowfood workshops, meditation, yoga and communal farming. If you’re looking for an Ibizan experience that harkens back to a more bohemian idyll, this is the place for you. lagranjaibiza.com

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S P R I N G

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We met at the

AllBright Graphic designer Maya Spinazzi and interior designer Katie Hyde met at members’ drinks at the AllBright last spring

‘I

could tell she was a creative soul,’ says Katie about her first meeting with fellow member, Maya, in April last year. ‘When we started talking, I found out she had previously worked in interior design, so we immediately felt a unity and clicked.’ ‘I had joined AllBright after my personal development coach recommended it as a way to build a network,’ recalls Maya. ‘At those first drinks, Katie was so friendly and immediately made me feel comfortable.’ Discovering they were both in the early stages of setting up their own design studios, Katie and Maya found they could help each other too. ‘Katie is a bit ahead of me in her journey, so there are things I can ask her advice on, such as the technical side of the business. It’s nice to have that support – she’s a real cheerleader for other people.’ With so much overlap in their careers, it is only natural for the two of them to work together in the future. ‘Maya is going to look at my rebrand moving forward,’ says Katie. ‘I admire her eye for design and her tenacity. She’s stylish, has amazing perseverance and understands the importance of women helping each other out.'

‘AllBright has been fabulous for us in terms of networking and learning about selfemployment,’ says Katie. ‘But I also love that it’s allencompassing in terms of what it offers. There’s the option to network and grow your business, as well as the opportunity to learn at the Academy. But now I know there’s also the chance of friendship too.’ 94

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networking

#MulberryReflections at LFW To celebrate the launch of Mulberry’s new sunglasses range and their AW19 collection, Creative Director Johnny Coca (pictured right) and Stephanie Phair, Chair of the British Fashion Council, joined AllBright members for an exclusive private viewing of the brand’s immersive LFW installation, #MulberryReflections.

AllBright events of the season

Highlights from behind-the-scenes at our exclusive members' events

Breakfast at The AllBright West Hollywood Some of Los Angeles’ most inspirational women gathered at AllBright’s first US location for a committee breakfast on our sweeping roof terrace. The first event at the new space on Melrose Place saw our LA ambassadors come together to meet, network and tour the club.

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spotlight

A Wo m a n i n H i s t o r y

The space pioneer Meet Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian woman to visit space WORDS GEORGIE LANE-GODFREY

alpana Chawla always had lofty designs. As a child growing up in Karnal, India, classmates remember how she would point to the sky and tell them, ‘I’m going to fly’. Airplanes soon became an obsession – Kalpana would draw them incessantly and beg her father to take her to the local flying clubs to ride in one of their planes. But time would prove that the sky was not her limit. Known as Montu at home, Kalpana was always bright. Despite her official birthday being 17 March 1962, her birth records were changed to say 1 July 1961 so that she would be eligible for her matriculation exam – an indication of how she would forever be ahead of her time. After gaining an aeronautical degree in engineering from the University of the Punjab, Kalpana immigrated to the States to continue her education in aerospace engineering. A master’s degree from the University of Texas and a doctorate from the University of Colorado later, Kalpana began her career at NASA. But it was only after becoming a naturalized US citizen in 1991 that Kalpana was accepted into NASA’s astronaut program. A feat for anyone at the time (let alone a woman of color), it was a momentous achievement. ‘You are just your intelligence,’ she is said to have told her team – a point she proved time after time.

It would also make her into a national hero in India. In fact, one Indian news agency tracked Columbia’s flight progress to the minute, so that her fellow countrymen could wave to her at the exact moment when the space shuttle would be passing overhead, orbiting the world 252 times. Kalpana’s second space mission was once again aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003. It was to be an ill-fated voyage. Upon re-entering the earth’s atmosphere, the cabin became depressurized, causing it to break apart in flames over Texas. This occurred just sixteen minutes before its scheduled landing following a 16-day mission. All seven astronauts on board were killed. In the resulting investigation, it was reported that the crew had run over 80 tests prior to take off to ensure flight safety. The conclusion? A tragic accident. Since her death, Kalapana – who would have turned 57 this month – has been given the NASA Space Flight Medal, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal and the Congressional Space Medal of Honour – the highest Kalpana Chawla, 1962- 2003 award bestowed by NASA. Then, in 1997, Kapana – known as But other commemorations would ‘KC’ to her team – took her first ever trip also pour in. Scholarships, street names into space. Travelling on Space Shuttle and even one of the hills on Mars has Columbia, this voyage would make her been named after her. But the name, it the first Indian woman (and only the turns out, is an apt one. After all, Kalpana second Indian person) to go to space. does mean “imagination”.

“The path from dreams to success does exist. May you have the vision to find it, the courage to get on to it, and the perseverance to follow it”

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AllBright Issue One Spring 2019 US EDITION

Articles inside

The quiet revolutionary

Find Your Balance

Jameela Jamil