180 House, 180 Health Club, Henri Restaurant, Terronis Clerkenwell and Curzon Mayfair Cinema

I always think no one will turn up to a Stack event, but it almost always happens that the opposite is true. Every month, in partnership with Soho House, we host a meet-up for both SW and SH Members on the rooftop of 180 House. I usually interview a Founder on their journey and go through through the highs and lows of business, but this time, I wanted to test a different format.

Career Mapping

I’ve been thinking about career mapping a lot lately. If the journey of life is not linear, and career progression is not a continual upwards trajectory, then how do we create a Career Map that serves us? I tried out these ideas to a packed room and will do a separate post on it. If you want to join next session, RSVP on the Stack World or Soho House apps!

Mark Wadhwa’s brutalist building on the Strand is my second favourite building in London (after the Barbican) so after our event on the rooftop, I went downstairs to head to 180 Health to meet with Hiranya Silva of Bird Travel PR. She had just finished my book and posted about it on Instagram so I said I’d love to meet for coffee.

Vantage Points

On my way to see her I bumped into Adam, the general, and we had a little catch up on the stairwell on 180 Studios. If you have an “owner” mindset, there are certain locations in a building in which you hang out. In a restaurant, it’s the corner table at the furthest point from the entrance. In a nightclub, it’s the mezzanine, raised platform or DJ booth. And at 180 Strand, it’s the stairwell. Because from these vantage points you can survey *everything* and keep an eye on your assets while also holding court. 

VCPTSD

I asked him what was going on and it turned out there was a tech event on ESG investing. He was keen to show me the new floor in the event space so as we wandered into the room together I started getting mild PTSD, where I exclaimed to him “Isn’t it funny how there’s no black people here? These are the rooms I had to endure for seven years.” 

There were well over a hundred people in the room and I said “Go on, find me one.” And he couldn’t. “That’s why I got depressed!” I almost whispered to him, “It wears you down”. 

Not Opting Out

Continuing to stand in the stairwell a few people entered the venue who I knew, Camila Russell of SoftBank who was always so supportive of us at Beautystack. Check Warner of Ada Ventures and my fave Anu Adebajo who was previously at British Business Bank (the government LP that invests in Venture Capitalists) and Atomico VC. She is also an investor in us. She had a lot of tea to tell me but we said we would save it for another day and the event was beginning.

I thought about Anu and her entering that room that I just left. It was like I had escaped the lions den and just was walking right into it. I thought about how she’s always had to enter those rooms at a much higher financial level that I had to and as a dark skinned and deliciously bodied Black woman at that. I thought about what she may have experienced. I silently thanked her for not opting out.

180 Health Club

I headed up to 180 Health Club where my darlings Sarah and India were running tings as usual. I just love seeing their faces and their beautiful energy every time I come here.

180 Health Club is the vision of Alex Eagle and as well as being the chicest wellness centre, it has the most life changing practitioners you could ask for. When I fell and damaged my elbow, Renata healed me. When I was depressed and drained, Joanna Ellner healed me. They also have Cryotherapy, Pilates and a whole host of other sessions at a really affordable price.

The Golf Course is Dead

Hiranya and I decided to take our meeting on the beds and have the Therabody on our legs. It reminded me of when people used to come to our nail salon and bring their clients to have meetings over nail art.

We always complain about men doing deals on the golf course, so why not create our own spaces to have women’s economic exchanges as well as supporting women’s businesses. Do your next meeting at the spa…

A Hotel Room of Ones Own?

Bird PR represent Founder led boutique hotels and I was staying at one of their properties in Formentera so it was great to hear from Hiranya what was the latest in travel and hospitality. 

I’ve always been obsessed with hotels and very lucky to have stayed in some of the most incredible sites. Do you want more hotel content?

Henri Restaurant - a French Love Affair

After my legs felt energised, I walked 8 minutes over to Covent Garden for my lunch meeting at Henri. One of the things that’s making my London trips a LOT easier is concentrating all my meetings in a single vicinity. Yesterday was W1, today, WC2. 

The Experimental Hotel Group is a small luxury outfit out of Paris that has a unique design style that runs across its portfolio, but also a creative flair that makes each property have its own distinct identity. I see the global/local style being more and more popular as guests don’t want a cookie-cutter experience when they are visiting multiple residences within a brand. But they do want *some* aspect of continuity that makes them feel part of a community. 

EHG have delivered this exact feeling by recruiting my friend Jackson Boxer to oversee the restaurant offerings in the UK. It’s a clever partnership because it brings Jackson’s following to the hotel which allows them to tap into London's creative cultural scene as well as having a name you recognise from one property, also delivering in another. 

Baking Gossip into Your Spiel

Customers always want to be in the know. When you give them intel by introducing them to one of today’s hottest chefs, you make them feel even better by showing them the name again somewhere else so they can feel a sense of familiarity and cultural superiority. They know this name and they’ve experienced it before. We always used to say in our customer persona meetings that at least one of our customers needed to act as The Plug. I guess you would call them the influencer but they’re not necessarily a content creator. They’re the friend who obsessively wants to know what’s cool and hot and loves sharing it with their friends. They’re probably a Gemini. You need to give this customer tidbits of information about what makes your brand special - eg we use the same X that Y used on Z. X being a USP or partnership, Y being someone they already know and Z being the latest hot thing. And then expand that partnership or USP at multiple touch points. They’ll take this info and share it by WOM. 

Trees and Seas

But back to lunch. I had experienced Jackson’s tasting menu at Cowley Manor, a EHG Hotel that I LOVE especially as it’s just an hour from me, and so was excited to try Henri and the new offering from the group, Henrietta Hotel, right in the heart of Covent Garden.

I ate a single oyster which felt quite decadent for lunch. The oyster was served with a brat green granita that gave me two wonderfully distinct flavours - that of an apple tree and the fresh sea - in my mouth. 

And then the scallops because if it’s on the menu, I always order it. I love scallops but I’m not a mega big fan of foam on my plate as it makes think of actual sea foam which I defo do not want to eat. Once I’d quelled my whale sperm fears it was of course delicious and buttery.

For my main I had a salad as I had eaten a huge breakfast at 180 House but I still had space for dessert and I had the rice pudding.

Got Riz?

Now, if you were a British child in the 80s, you’ll probably have nightmares of rice pudding - a gloopy, gruel like affair that tasted of nothing cardboard. But we are grown ups now and so we can reprogram our food fears with new interpretations of old classics and the Riz Au Lait did not let me down. Creamy, yummy, delicately flavoured, served with poached apricots and dulce de leche. It's a DIY dish where you can choose your toppings.

Henri is a great choice for date night if you get a table for two near the kitchen and dinner with the girls if you get a booth seat for four. 

Note to Restauranteurs

As I left, I also appreciated the window bar at the entrance. As I often dine solo, I love a window bar seat where I can sit comfortably alone and stare at the people going by...

Community Connection

My lunch companion was Vickie Cox who won a competition when my book was launched to have lunch with me and it turns out she’d been a Stack member for a while 😍

Vickie is a perfect example of what The Stack World represents.

She comes from out of London so will always have a slight outsider status. She studied social work and did a very unique job in creating communications in the care world. And she also worked for a VC Program, wanting to level the playing field for who has access to finance. I learned a lot from our conversation. 1:1 with your community is some of the most valuable time you can spend.

Hire her now for strategic partnerships, marketing and community building 😄

EC1 4 EVA

I broke my single postcode rule by heading my old neighbourhood (which I kinda miss actually) of Clerkenwell to get my nails did. I get my nails done at Honu Nails every month. I have a Builder Gel manicure by Min and this time I took my right arm Alice as a birthday treat. She had found this book for me as a reminder of why we must write and we caught up on Stack World work.

Aperol & Pizza

The evening sun was quite beautiful so we went to Terronis of Clerkenwell, a local institution to get an Aperol and pizza. I always used to come here to read or write solo and if you get a window seat at around 5pm there’s some great people watching (Rod Stewart drove past us in his white Rolls Royce). We mapped out some plans for future content and events and then cycled to our respective screenings. 

Sugarcane at Curzon Mayfair

I cycled my Lime back to Mayfair to attend a screening of Sugarcane with my friend Alice Aedy, cofounder of Earthrise Studio.

The film is a documentary about a Catholic boarding school in Canada that systematically abused and murdered Indigenous children, sparking secrets, lies and intergenerational trauma. It’s told through the story of Julian Brave Noisecat and his father, Ed Archie Noisecat as they come to terms with the after effects within their community.

Curzon Mayfair is a beautiful cinema and was a perfect venue for the exceptional cinematography of the documentary. The film felt like a visual poem. Sweeping landscapes and moving portraits told the story is great detail without sensationalising it as we saw with the press when the story broke globally in 2021. This is the second documentary I’ve watched where a white female has co-directed with a person of colour from the community they’re covering, further proof of women as more collaborative and inclusive when they have the opportunity to lead.

The Break of Day

I left thinking about one of the final scenes. As Julian and his father attempt to talk to his grandmother to ask her to fill in the blanks in his childhood, only the audio of the conversation plays over a sublime sky of dark clouds. As the camera moves over the clouds you see an opening of blue sky, an opening of clarity, which coincides with the baby steps this elderly woman, who has experienced so much hurt and pain and abuse, tries to make to reconcile with her child. 

Secrets & Lies

Our parents carry the burden of so many secrets. I’ve often been desperate for answers from mine and as I get older I start to take the view that private pain is private shame and sometimes we may need to accept that our parents will take those secrets to the grave.

I then popped across the road to University Women’s Club, grabbed my luggage and got the train home.

A Citizenne of London

A final note because I wasn’t sure where to put these pictures but one of things that makes me happy, makes me feel human and makes me feel like a Citizenne of London is being part of the fabric of shopkeepers and builders and makers that make a city a city. 

Italian

When I was stood outside of Henri on a phone call before my lunch, I bumped into the Italian who was taking from dry cleaning from Brewer St to Covent Garden.

When I had my WAH Nails Soho, Brewer St Market was a hive of activity and we made friends with all the locals, the Buffalo security team at Supreme and the shopkeepers. He would always be doing bits and bobs around the market and he told me he was doing a favour for the dry cleaners because he was understaffed. We chatted for a bit and big hugs and he was on his way.

Vietnamese

When I got my nails done, I often see the owner and we have a chat and catch up. He remembers my WAH days and he is such a grafter, building salons and restaurants with his wife over Europe. He’s about to open a new restaurant called What The Pho, next to the salon and after months of securing the lease he was now doing the building work, with his own hands! I massively respect him and it was great to see progress. More importantly I can’t wait to have a beef pho after my pedicure. 

Lagos

And finally, as I headed back to the train station, I scanned my barcode and it didn’t work, instead the Seek Assistance code flashed on the barrier. I heard someone say “Seeking Assistance yeah?” And looked up to see the ticket officer who tried to ask me out last time I was at Euston. I laughed and he said “Don’t worry I got you!” And let me through. “You’ve got thin,” I said, “What’s happened” and he told me about his back injury and lack of gym and we had a short exchange before I jumped on the train. We laughed and I walked off and I’m even smiling as I write this because these tiny interactions with semi strangers but not strangers are what keep a community strong. Living in a big city can be incredibly lonely, but sometimes we keep ourselves lonely by only talking to the people that somehow convey high status.

It could be my Midlands upbringing but I was raised to always talk to the cashier and always thank the bus driver. 

I got home and cuddled the cat before bed.