Earlier in the week, we held our very first GRACE Talks event in London at the exclusive private club George in Mayfair...
The wonderful Alexandra Carello interviewed FLOWERBX’s Whitney Bromberg Hawkings, VCH Style’s Ginnie Chadwyck Healey and Votary London co-founder Arabella Preston. During the course of the panel conversation, she explored what happens when we take risks and go in a different career direction after we have children.
It’s something our founder Georgie Abay can relate to – she was the former Australian VOGUE deputy editor and fashion features director and after her second child was born, she took a leap of faith and a year after launching The Grace Tales, left her dream job at VOGUE. It’s also something our host Alexandra recently did when she left her role of global communications manager at Net-A-Porter and set up her own consultancy Carello Consulting.
A quick snapshot at of amazing panel…
Whitney Bromberg Hawkings
As someone with an undeniable sense of style that was honed through working for Tom Ford for 19 years, Whitney saw a gap in the market for a high-end (but accessible) shopping experience online, not dissimilar to Net-A-Porter, but solely for flowers. By sourcing blooms direct from the growers themselves (in Holland, no less), Whitney and her team have cut out the middle man and are able to produce fresh, long-lasting bunches that are all about quality and simplicity. This is a new flower movement that speaks to customers and businesses that have a discerning eye and crave the ease and reliability of online delivery, all wrapped up in a signature brown grosgrain ribbon.
Ginnie Chadwyck Healey
The fabulous Ginnie spent 12 years working at British Vogue, firstly managing the British Fashion advertising portfolio and latterly, as the Executive Retail Editor. After the arrival of her second child, Ginnie realised she was being pulled in a few too many directions, which led her to launch her own business – VCH Style, a platform for her new foray into brand consultancy, presenting and personal styling.
Arabella Preston
After a decade working in marketing, PR and as a beauty editor, Arabella trained to become a makeup artist and went on to work with the Duchess of Cambridge, before a chance meeting with her old boss and mentor, Charlotte Semler, led to her greatest career change – launching her own business. The duo joined forces to create luxury skincare brand Votary, a cult range of delicately-balanced oils. This was in October 2014, and the brand was stocked exclusively in Liberty less than a year later.
Thank you to George for having us in your spectacular club and to all the wonderful women who came, connected and supported our community (and to Romeo & Jules Bespoke’s super clever Jennifer Grant for the heavenly menus and of course, FLOWERBX for the divine blooms).
Stay tuned for our new of next London event.
Photography: Ana Ruivo | Go to www.georgeclub.com
L-R: Ginnie Chadwyck Healey, Whitney Bromberg Hawkings, Alexandra Carello and Arabella Preston