Explore every episode of the podcast The Stanza
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 023: Building iconic hospitality brands: Soho House, The Birley Clubs, Caprice Holdings | 25 Jul 2024 | 01:21:10 | |
**This interview was made publicly available thanks to the support of Peoplevine, the CRM software trusted by the best hospitality brands. Book your free demo here. Today's guest is Jamie Caring, founder of Sevengage Consultancy, through which he advises hospitality entrepreneurs and real estate owners on brand creation and community building. Prior to his consulting career, Jamie was the CMO of Soho House, the Commercial Director at Caprice Holdings, the holding company behind restaurant brands such as The Ivy, Le Caprice, and Sexy Fish, and the Commercial Director at The Birley Clubs, which owns club brands such as Annabel's and Mark's. Prior to hospitality, Jamie had a 15-year career in music and entertainment at MTV and VH1. Jamie started at Soho House in 2008 when there wasn't a marketing team, and during his tenure, helped shape it into the global category-defining lifestyle brand that it is today. This was my longest interview to date, and I definitely could have continued the interview. We went in-depth on Jamie's knowledge and insights coming from both of his lives in entertainment and hospitality, and especially focused on strategy for launching and scaling hospitality businesses, as well as the psychology of members clubs. He truly understands how to build an enduring hospitality brand that is a reference for other emerging brands, and I know anyone listening to this episode will learn a lot from Jamie's experience. Connect with Jamie here.
If you enjoyed this episode, please share with a friend or colleague :) | |||
| 013 Inside the mind of a creative director: luxury real estate, hospitality, & DTC fashion | 09 Nov 2023 | 00:39:37 | |
Subscribe to The Stanza, a weekly journal for investors & entrepreneurs in the creative industries https://www.thestanzamedia.com *Check out which of your favorite hospitality brands use Peoplevine, the best CRM tool for the best private members clubs, luxury hotels, and restaurants. You can also book a free demo for your hospitality business: https://www.peoplevine.com Today's guest is Lexy Copithorne, who is a creative director and brand strategist with experience across luxury real estate, hospitality, and fashion. I've never met anyone like Lexy - she has a unique intellectual approach to her creative work and in this episode we talk all about her process when creating physical and digital environments for brands. Some of her experience includes: branding for luxury real estate developer JDS in New York, the Beverly Estate, also known as the Godfather House, Casalena, the LA Mediterranean restaurant, and is also a co-founder of Pruzan, a technical athletic wear company based between LA and London. Also for some history here - before the lockdown Lexy and I were planning to launch a tequila brand but unfortunately the pandemic happened and our plans didn’t work out. But I got to witness how her creative mind works, and when I started this podcast, I just knew I had to have her on as a guest. If you're obsessed with brand as it pertains to the digital and physical world, you're going to love this episode. Episode Highlights
Connect with Lexy: Copithorne & Company - Copithorne & Company (lexycopithorne.com) Check out Pruzan: Pruzan Official Website (pruzanrunning.com) The Copper Building (Developed by JDS): Home - The Copper The Beverly Estate: The Beverly Estate *This episode is sponsored by Peoplevine | |||
| 012 Scaling a skincare brand through TikTok | 02 Nov 2023 | 00:45:52 | |
Subscribe to The Stanza, a newsletter for investors & entrepreneurs in the creative industries: https://www.thestanzamedia.com Today's guests are Jade Beguelin and Sabrina Sade, the co-founders of 4AM skin, a NYC based skincare brand. Sabrina left med school and Jade quit her wall street career to pursue building 4AM skin and they've been absolutely crushing it as a young brand. Something I really admire about Jade and Sabrina is their willingness to roll up their sleeves, be resourceful, and get things done. We chatted about being public founders on social media, having products go viral and selling out on Tiktok, and thoughts about building a brand and community that cares about what you're selling. If you're building in the DTC space, you're going to learn a lot from this episode. Enjoy!
The Stanza listeners get 15% off 4AM Skin with code STANZA15 on https://4amskin.com
Episode Highlights:
Connect with Jade: @jadebeguelin on TikTok/IG Connect with Sabrina: @sabsade on TikTok/IG @4AMskin on TikTok/IG
Follow The Stanza on TikTok/IG: @thestanzamedia | |||
| 006 Creating a candle brand through storytelling & partnerships | 30 Oct 2023 | 00:36:05 | |
Subscribe to The Stanza, a newsletter for investors & entrepreneurs in the creative industries. Sent every Friday: https://thestanza.beehiiv.com/subscribe Use Gamma AI to create your next presentation, document, or website. https://try.gamma.app/thestanzapodcast Hayley Mack founded Cent LDN while being furloughed during the pandemic, and since then has done partnerships with Elton John and Selfridges, StockX, Nando's, Adidas, Lush Beauty, and so forth. She's been featured in Hypebae, High Snobiety, Forbes, etc - all within three short years. Hayley shares insights into positioning her candle brand for success as well as advice for those building unique brands. Episode Highlights:
Cent LDN: https://centldn.com or @cent.ldn Connect with Hayley: @hayleymackkk Cent LDN in Vogue: https://www.voguebusiness.com/companies/are-candles-the-new-luxury-collectibles Cent LDN in Hypebae: https://hypebae.com/2023/3/cent-ldn-hayley-mack-candles-international-womens-day-interview Follow The Stanza on IG / TikTok: @thestanzamedia | |||
| 011 Building a career as a world class magician & performer with Anna DeGuzman | 26 Oct 2023 | 00:39:49 | |
Subscribe to The Stanza, a weekly journal for investors & entrepreneurs in the creative industries https://www.thestanzamedia.com *Check out which of your favorite hospitality brands use Peoplevine, the best CRM tool for the best private members clubs, luxury hotels, and restaurants. You can also book a free demo for your hospitality business: https://www.peoplevine.com Today's guest is Anna DeGuzman, who is truly one of a kind. She's a magician who's performed on America's Got Talent recently, in front of celebrity judges Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, and Sofia Vergara, but also in front of millions of people watching around the world. Even though she's an accomplished magician at such a young age, she's genuinely a warm person and I loved learning about how she's built a non traditional career on her own terms and how she manages to perform in front of such a large audience. If you're a performer of any kind, or aspiring to be, you're going to love this episode. Episode Highlights:
Connect with Anna on IG (@annadeguzman) or TikTok (@annadeguz) Follow The Stanza on IG or TikTok (@thestanzamedia) *This episode is sponsored by Peoplevine | |||
| 010 Building a successful leather goods brand from scratch | 19 Oct 2023 | 00:27:44 | |
Subscribe to The Stanza, a newsletter for investors & entrepreneurs in the creative industries: https://www.thestanzamedia.com Today's guest is Nika Diamond Krendel, who founded Paradise Row, a London-based leather goods brand. Paradise Row has been featured in in Vogue, the Financial Times, Harper's Bazaar, and more, and she's also done a collaboration with Soho Home's flagship store on King's Road. In addition to her consumer facing business, Nika also has a B2B business where she produces bespoke products for some of the UK's most prestigious projects, such as Knightsbridge Gardens and Estelle Manor. I chatted with Nika to learn how she built her brand from scratch - quite literally as she talks about how she didn't have any connections in the interior design world prior to starting her brand. She shares a lot of really great insights in the episode for any brand founder listening, and I hope you'll enjoy this episode. Episode Highlights:
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| 009 Lessons learned thus far from building a brand through social media | 12 Oct 2023 | 00:22:55 | |
Subscribe to The Stanza, a newsletter for investors & entrepreneurs in the creative industries https://www.thestanzamedia.com Today's guest is yours truly. It's time to check in with a solo episode answering some of your questions submitted via instagram. Episode highlights:
Follow The Stanza on TikTok & IG: @thestanzamedia | |||
| 008 Investing in & curating beautiful residences | 05 Oct 2023 | 00:45:07 | |
Subscribe to The Stanza, a newsletter for investors & entrepreneurs in the creative industries. Sent every Friday: https://thestanza.beehiiv.com For those creating pitch decks or presentations, use Gamma for your next one and track who's viewing your deck and which slides they're spending the most time on ;) https://try.gamma.app/thestanzapodcast Episode Highlights
Check out Guesthouse here: https://www.guest-house.co Connect with Gabriela on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriela-chapa/ Follow The Stanza on TikTok & IG: @thestanzamedia | |||
| 005 Developing hospitality real estate | 14 Sep 2023 | 00:30:58 | |
Today's guest is real estate developer & hospitality entrepreneur Max Rodman. Max cut his teeth at Round Hill Capital, an institutional real estate private equity fund based in London, where he also invested in prop tech venture deals. Max is currently a founder of Breezy Capital based out of Lisbon and is developing Fabrica, an aparthotel project in the up and coming Setubal region. Thank you to Gamma AI for sponsoring this episode. Gamma is simply the best tool for creating decks with ease. Try it for free: https://try.gamma.app/thestanzapodcast Episode Highlights:
Subscribe to The Stanza, a weekly newsletter for investors & entrepreneurs in the creative industries: https://www.thestanzamedia.com More on Breezy Capital: https://breezy-capital.com Connect with Max: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxrodman/ Follow The Stanza on TikTok and IG (@thestanzamedia) | |||
| 004 Building a home-sharing community | 07 Sep 2023 | 00:49:19 | |
Today's guest is Zach Bell, the founder of Myplace, a home sharing platform that connects people within 2 degrees of each other. Zach founded Myplace based on the principles of sharing-based exchange and has built an impressive global community over the past 4 years.
Thank you to Gamma AI for sponsoring this episode. Gamma is simply the best tool for creating decks. Try it here: https://try.gamma.app/thestanzapodcast
Episode highlights:
Join Myplace and see which friends are sharing their homes: MyPlace -- Host & Stay With Friends Subscribe to The Stanza, a weekly newsletter for investors & entrepreneurs in the creative industries: www.thestanzamedia.com Connect with me on TikTok or IG (@thestanzamedia) | |||
| 003 Opening a Restaurant in LA | 24 Aug 2023 | 00:31:08 | |
Subscribe to The Stanza's weekly digest, sent every Friday (it's free). Today's guest is Chloe Makhani, founder of LA's chicest new Mediterranean hotspot, Casalena. If you live in LA, you may have been to Stanley Social or Members in Hollywood, also founded by Chloe. This episode is a look into opening a restaurant, curating a hospitality brand, and investing in LA restaurant real estate. If you've ever been curious about what it takes to run a restaurant, you'll love this episode. Episode Highlights
Book a table at Casalena here The Stanza on Instagram and TikTok | |||
| 021 Exclusivity sells: structuring an effective membership program | 25 Jan 2024 | 01:00:51 | |
Subscribe to The Stanza, a newsletter at the intersection of investing, hospitality, & fashion. Today's guest is Annabel Schwartz, founder of hospitality consultancy House of Talana. Annabel was the former west coast memberships manager at Soho House and most recently the director of member relations & culture at San Vicente Bungalows. We did a deep dive on all the fun topics within hospitality - curating and designing a members club, the consumer psychology of exclusivity, the meaning of great hospitality, and trend predictions on the future of the industry. Annabel has so much unique experience and insight into the business from a behind the scenes angle and I know you're all going to love this episode. On another note - this interview is the final guest episode of the season. The podcast will come back later this year, but for now definitely be sure to subscribe to the newsletter and follow along on Instagram and TikTok (@thestanzamedia). Thanks for tuning in and enjoy the show.
Episode Highlights
Thank you to Peoplevine for sponsoring this episode. Peoplevine is the CRM loved by the best members clubs in the industry. Check out which clubs use Peoplevine and book your free demo here. | |||
| 002 Building a Mezcal Brand | 17 Aug 2023 | 00:36:17 | |
Subscribe to The Stanza's weekly digest, sent every Friday: www.thestanzamedia.com Find Mezcal Xaman: www.mezcalxaman.com Connect with Mezcal Xaman on IG: @mezcal.xaman Episode highlights:
Connect with me on IG/TikTok @thestanzamedia | |||
| 001 Embrace the cringe. | 10 Aug 2023 | 00:17:55 | |
Hello everyone, and welcome to The Stanza. I thought I'd start the show with a solo episode introducing myself and The Stanza. I chat about how my recent career failure led me to start The Stanza and some valuable lessons I learned in the 18 month transition from finance to entrepreneurship. Thank you for tuning in and supporting the show :) Enjoy, N Subscribe to the weekly journal: www.thestanzamedia.com Connect with me on IG/TikTok: @thestanzamedia | |||
| 020 A good members club has a great CRM | 18 Jan 2024 | 00:29:43 | |
Subscribe to The Stanza, a newsletter at the intersection of investing, hospitality, & fashion. Today's guest is Jordan Gilman, founder of Peoplevine. This episode is for all the hospitality operators who subscribe to The Stanza. Peoplevine is the hospitality CRM used by San Vicente Bungalows, Zero Bond, ZZ's, Casa Cipriani, Faena, and many more brands you already know and love. I've partnered with Peoplevine over the last 3 months and I wanted to have Jordan on the podcast to chat about his experience pitching to luxury hospitality brands, why their CRM is loved by the best operators, and how a great CRM is needed to deliver a consistently great guest experience. Thank you to the team at Peoplevine for being early supporters of The Stanza newsletter and podcast. Episode highlights:
Read about how your favorite clubs use Peoplevine: https://www.peoplevine.com/clients Follow The Stanza on IG / TikTok: @thestanzamedia | |||
| 019 From finance to fashion tech entrepreneurship | 11 Jan 2024 | 00:31:51 | |
Subscribe to The Stanza, a newsletter at the intersection of investing, hospitality, & fashion. Today's guest is Bianca Rangecroft, founder of Whering. Whering is a digital wardrobe and styling app that allows you to catalogue your clothes, create outfits, and get styling suggestions. As of today, the app has 1.5M users. Think of it as the modern app version of Cher's wardrobe from Clueless. Prior to Whering, Bianca worked at Goldman Sachs in asset management.
We chatted about fundraising as a first time founder, how she financially supported her transition from Goldman to entrepreneurship, and her view on the future of sustainable fashion. I appreciated Bianca's honesty throughout the conversation and I know any early stage entrepreneur will benefit from this interview. Episode highlights:
*Apologies in advance for the slight background noise! Download Whering: https://whering.co.uk/ Connect with Bianca on IG: @biancarangecroft or LinkedIn Follow The Stanza on IG / TikTok: @thestanzamedia | |||
| 018 Building cash flow solutions for CPG brands | 04 Jan 2024 | 00:20:58 | |
Subscribe to The Stanza, a newsletter at the intersection of investing, hospitality, & fashion. Today's guest is Alek Koenig, founder and CEO of Settle. Settle is a cash flow management platform for CPG start ups. Brands you love, like Ghia, Soft Services, Ceremonia, Lalo, Italic, and Starface, are users of Settle, and it's easy to see why. From streamlining your AP, managing bills and vendor payments, to getting working capital loans with transparent terms, Settle provides solutions to problems specific to CPG brands, all within a modern and simple interface.
Settle is also backed by institutional venture investors such as Kleiner Perkins and Ribbit Capital. And even if this episode isn't a typical consumer brand founder story, I asked Alek to come on as a guest to share insights from transitioning from the corporate world to entrepreneurship, fundraising advice, and managing a company in uncertain times.
I've also partnered with Settle to give you guys $250 in transaction fee credits if you use the code (THESTANZA) to sign up for free - that means transaction-fee payments for you. Click here Settle's Working Capital calculator so you can see how much financing power your business is eligible for. Episode highlights
*Thank you Settle for partnering with The Stanza* | |||
| 017 Building contrarian brands | 14 Dec 2023 | 00:29:41 | |
Subscribe to The Stanza, a newsletter at the intersection of investing, hospitality & fashion. This episode is sponsored by Peoplevine - the best hospitality CRM software. Check out why Peoplevine is used and loved by the best private members clubs and book your free demo here. "Everything he touches turns to gold" - this is what a brutally honest friend said to me about today's guest, Raphael Farasat. Raphael is the founder of award-winning Truffl Agency and co-founder of Last Crumb Cookies, the viral luxury cookie brand. He's worked with the likes of Tesla, LinkedIn, and Heineken, and as the creative director behind really cool upcoming consumer brands such as Better Bagel, Barcode Drinks, Boba Ice Cream, Jean Dousset, and more. We chatted about the power of metaphor when it comes to building a world for a brand, his creative process, and taking a contrarian approach when it comes to marketing and storytelling. Every founder building a consumer facing business - whether that's a cpg brand, hospitality group, or marketplace - can benefit from this interview. Episode highlights
Connect with Raphael on IG: @raph_ More on Truffl Agency: https://truffl.com/ Try Last Crumb cookies: https://lastcrumb.com/ | |||
| 015 Building a mens' fashion brand | 30 Nov 2023 | 00:36:39 | |
Subscribe to The Stanza, a newsletter for investors & entrepreneurs in the creative industries: Welcome to The Stanza (thestanzamedia.com) Thank you to Peoplevine for sponsoring this episode. Peoplevine is the best CRM for hospitality businesses. All the best private members clubs use Peoplevine - click to see why and book your free demo: The Guest & Member Experience CRM for Hospitality Brands (peoplevine.com) Today's guest is Brandon Snower, founder of Le Alfre, a menswear brand based in NYC. You may recognize his brand story from his viral TikTok, in which he shares how he went from investment banking to starting a brand during the pandemic. We chatted about the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, how he managed having $3,000 in his bank account at one point, how he's positioning Le Alfre in a sea of new fashion brands, and getting great press for Le Alfre. He's made incredible progress in the 2 and a half years he's been working on Le Alfre, not only from a sales perspective, but he's also secured investment from the former head of Richemont Group N. America. Well done!
This interview really highlights an attitude I think is essential for all entrepreneurs, and that is resourcefulness. Some people may even call it "scrappiness". My view is that it's the willingness to find solutions instead of feeling defeated when you come across obstacles. We touch on that in the episode, but I wanted to mention that it's a trait I've noticed in all successful people.
Episode highlights
Connect with Brandon on IG: @Brandon.Snower Le Alfre on IG: @le.alfre Follow The Stanza on IG/TikTok: @thestanzamedia | |||
| 014 Investing in luxury beauty brands | 17 Nov 2023 | 00:35:36 | |
Subscribe to The Stanza, a weekly journal for investors & entrepreneurs in the creative industries: https://www.thestanzamedia.com Today's guest is Julia Baldet, an investor at BC Partners, a large cap European private equity fund. Prior to BC Partners, Julia was an investor at Manzanita Capital, where she was the sole associate working on the $1B sale of Byredo to Puig in 2022. While at Manzanita Capital, Julia also managed some of their other investments, such as Diptyque, Space NK, and Susanne Kaufmann. In addition to investing at the institutional level, Julia is an angel investor in Konvi, The Edit LDN, and Kimai. We chatted about how she created the career she desired, her insights from investing in consumer brands, and her advice for those wanting to break into consumer PE. *Huge thanks to BC Partners' compliance team for giving us the green light to do this interview! Episode Highlights:
Connect with Julia on LinkedIn Check out her essay for the blog Data Driven Investor Follow The Stanza on IG/TikTok: @thestanzamedia | |||