By Association

Introducing my new co-host Emma Hooper, we discuss the ongoing drama around Elon and his acquisition going on hold. We touch upon the struggles of Netflix and their moves to increase revenue with Ad-supported plans, password fees, and their live-streaming. We talk about our shared admiration for Lewis Hamilton and our thoughts on the MET, past & present. We then end on Emma's obsession for Princess Diana and why she is the Queen of her heart.

*We are sorry for the poor audio quality.

A true creative turned Entrepreneur, Reda Jouahri created something special in a category most of us wouldn't even think twice about. In their own words, Kinfill Home Care is a collection of eco-friendly, effective cleaning products designed with a sleek, contemporary aesthetic. Reda's goal was to create something beautiful, while also making sure it did its part in todays world. Kinfill's concept is simple; concentrated products which are mixed with water in their re-fillable glass bottles. This both minimizes plastic waste and introduces contemporary, unique scents in the cleaning product industry. A true Blue Ocean brand!  

Join us as we talk about how Reda's journey from a creative director took him to create Kinfill, and what his challenges were along the way. 

Steven Lammertink was always destined to be an entrepreneur, having set up his first company while in university. This company, Republish, would be the catalyst for Steven being accepted to the Kauffman Foundation, which would mould him to create his current company, The Cirqle.

In this first episode of season 2, Steven explains to us why he brought a bottle of 1972 red wine from Stellenbosch, South Africa and how it is connected to one of the most meaningful years in his life. So meaningful we decide not to open it.

We talk about the path he took from South Africa to the Kauffman Foundation, which led to his traineeship with Adobe Systems and the many connections he created in this shaping period in his life. Steven also shares with us that it is not always about successes and how his next company, Fray, failed, practically eating up all the profits he had gained from Republish.

Finally we discuss how The Cirqle is a game changer in the Influencer industry, and how it is important for him to be able to measure commercial success with a campaign, while ensuring creative output. We learn that it was a footballer's wife that helped create the idea behind The Cirqle, and that he aims to build a billion dollar company in the next 5 years.

Sit back and listen to a very interesting journey of a driven individual.

Ian McGibbon is a brand leader who has travelled the world to grow his knowledge of building and activating brands with consumers globally. He has travelled from Australia to Dubai, then spending a few years in The Netherlands, and finally settling in the Alsace region in France. It is here where we record a special edition of By Association, sitting by the pool to take an hour out to talk about his career and how brand partnerships are important to growth.

In this episode we open up a bottle of Wolfberger Crémant d'Alsace Rosé, a house we visited just days before we recorded the podcast and understand what it means to be Head of Brand Partnership at BOSE. He shares the importance of the current partnership between BOSE and the Mercedes F1 team and how he measures success. We also talk about other examples of what brand partnerships are, from supporting an audio project with citizenM, to being present at the MTV awards. What is apparent in the talk is the change the world of brand marketing is going through, especially with the rise of online and social media.

Join us as we understand what it takes to activate a brand outside of its sales locations, and the journey Ian took from Australia working at Westfield, to traveling the world growing one of the biggest brands in audio technology!

Charlene Austin has been on a path to find out what she really loves to do. Today she is the Marketing and Communications Manager at Soho House Amsterdam, and feels that this role embodies what she loves to do, writing and creating projects about the creative community and feeding her constant curiosity.

In this episode, we talk about how Charlene got to know our host Maurice, and how she was instrumental to the success of their lifestyle blog, Ajanaku.com. We find out that her curiosity led her to explore the advertising industry with jobs at TBWA, IRIS and …,staat, but that the pull to the arts and creative community was just too strong. Charlene did however pick up something interesting while at …,staat, her passion for whisky. She surprised us with a bottle of Nikka Whisky from The Barrel, and broke the rule of sticking to the brief, which we loved.

This metaphor of breaking through we also touch upon by discussing what Charlene describes as the ‘Cultural Ceiling,’ and how it was being one of maybe two coloured women in the advertising agency who was not a receptionist or cleaner. She describes how this cultural ceiling didn’t help in moving up within the agencies, but did feel the cultural diversity at Soho House more present. We touch upon the Black Lives Matter and what this movement means to Charlene and the importance of it.

Join us and have Charlene take you on a journey on what creativity means to her and the path she has taken to doing what she loves.

Robin Chadha is a true brand enthusiast, who has always been surrounded by design and amazing concepts while growing up. Having watched his father set up a very successful fashion brand, Robin was always clear that he wanted to make his own choices and never be stamped “the son of the owner.”

In this episode, we reminisce about his past wedding, drinking a glass or two of Ruinart blanc de blancs and listening to him sharing the path he took from growing up in a multicultural home to becoming a true brand evangelist. He tells stories of working at the New York Stock exchange right out of university, and how he started his career in branding landing a job at Tommy Hilfiger. It was just a matter of time before Robin would make the move back to The Netherlands and join his father at Mexx, but one thing was clear, he had to come in to learn and not as the “son of..”

Join us as we get to know what branding really means to Robin and how his job at Mexx was just the start of a fun and exciting journey into the Amsterdam restaurant and club scene, finally culminating in his current role as CMO and brand father of the hotel brand citizenM. This is a conversation between friends and colleagues that truly love building brands!

Mathias Kahn is an entrepreneur who never lets the establishment tell him "NO". The champagne industry revolves around tradition and rarely allows outsiders in. This however wasn't seen as a problem for Mathias, but as a challenge to own a champagne house together with his friends. The champagne house he co-founded is HATT et SÖNER.

In this episode, Mathias shares the latest release from HATT et SÖNER, the Le Grand-Père Omnes 2012, a vintage that holds a lot of meaning as that is the year they started the house. While drinking this special champagne, we talk about the journey and the challenges he faced while setting up the brand and the house. He tells us about how he wants to bring a revolution to the somewhat slow industry and about their passion to make champagne accessible to all those who love it by offering a personal vintage. 

Join us as we get to know what drives this champagne lover and how his passion has taken him from starting a champagne house to founding Co.Bo., a new venture that brings people together to enjoy the finer foods and wines in an unpretentious way. 

Lisa Hogg is what you could describe as a born networker. But this capability to be a person who has never shied away from expressing her thoughts and growing her connections didn’t come from nothing. Now setting up her own agency, Brave, Lisa has brought her career full circle focusing on Social Sustainability and believes that brave people making brave decisions will change the world!

Moving from South Africa to Amsterdam in the early 90’s, Lisa quickly found her footing in the advertising agency, working for TBWA/H and strawberryfrog. After almost 6 years, Lisa was missing something while working in account roles, quickly realizing her potential and creativity would flourish in the form of strategy. This led her on a path working for the likes of Nike, Converse, Asics Onitsuka Tiger, Vans,  and TOMS with each move adding to her qualities.

In this episode, we talk about what she enjoyed and also saw as a challenge through her various roles, while staying true to her beliefs. We try a bottle of non-alcoholic red wine for the first time, and discuss why she isn't drinking alcohol in 2020.

Finally we touch upon the Black Lives Matter movement and how it is for her to be seeing this movement, while having seen apartheid first hand in South Africa while growing up. Please join us and enjoy a very fun, creative and enlightening conversation.