Ctrl Alt Delete

Today's episode is with the brilliant Alex Loizou, co-founder of Trouva. Trouva is one of my absolute favourite online sites that helps you to shop independently and access a huge range of brilliant shops all over the UK. Trouva helps independent fashion retailers find online customers and drive them to physical stores. 

Thank you to iZettle for sponsoring this episode!

With Black Friday having just happened and Christmas just around the corner, I thought it was a good time to celebrate independent shopping and chat to Trouva about the future of retail.

According to an interview in the Evening Standard Trouva is an "antidote to chain-dominated, identikit high streets and busy, hard to navigate websites". The team curates unique gifts, fashion and homewares only found in independent shops. 

In this episode we discuss future of shops and tech, how the high street isn't dead, the importance of sustainability and the power we ALL have as consumers.

This episode is brought to you by iZettle, their mission is to help and fight for small independent businesses in a world where the giant businesses are taking over. iZettle cuts down the barriers of entry to take part in the economy by offering innovative, easy-to-use and affordable tools to meet small business needs. You should definitely check them out.

So, here is the episode!

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I am very excited to bring to you a mini series of four episodes in partnership with Dropbox around the topics of creativity and collaboration. As you know on this podcast I interview interesting creatives about the internet, their work, and how to get more done in less time. Dropbox is a collaborative platform for teams, enabling creativity through their product suite of tools which helps team's all over the world stay in flow and move work forward.

In these four special episodes, I interview the co-authors of Creative Superpowers, a book published by Penguin about re-learning key traits often forgotten from childhood, such as adaptability, curiosity, empathy and fearlessness by the authors Laura Jordan Bambach, Scott Morrison, Mark Earls and Daniele Fiandaca. Each author shared some fascinating stories and anecdotes with me, and have some seriously wise advice about how to live a more creative and fulfilled life. I felt super inspired after chatting to each of them and I hope you do too.

In this episode I speak to Daniele Fiandaca - we discuss gender diversity, being the 'token man', building inclusion in the workplace, how to make sure you are connecting with people outside your social bubble, how to connect with others and the tools used to build a new initiative.

*This episode is sponsored by Dropbox*

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I am very excited to bring to you a mini series of four episodes in partnership with Dropbox around the topics of creativity and collaboration. As you know on this podcast I interview interesting creatives about the internet, their work, and how to get more done in less time. Dropbox is a collaborative platform for teams, enabling creativity through their product suite of tools which helps team's all over the world stay in flow and move work forward.

In these four special episodes, I interview the co-authors of Creative Superpowers, a book published by Penguin about re-learning key traits often forgotten from childhood, such as adaptability, curiosity, empathy and fearlessness by the authors Laura Jordan Bambach, Scott Morrison, Mark Earls and Daniele Fiandaca. Each author shared some fascinating stories and anecdotes with me, and have some seriously wise advice about how to live a more creative and fulfilled life. I felt super inspired after chatting to each of them and I hope you do too.

In this episode I speak to Mark Earls how creativity can solve difficult problems. We discussed tips and tricks on rewiring your brain to get you look at things differently, plus tools and practical tips from Mark’s long and successful career as a creative.

*This episode is sponsored by Dropbox*

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I am very excited to bring to you a mini series of four episodes in partnership with Dropbox around the topics of creativity and collaboration. As you know on this podcast I interview interesting creatives about the internet, their work, and how to get more done in less time. Dropbox is a collaborative platform for teams, enabling creativity through their product suite of tools which helps team's all over the world stay in flow and move work forward.

In these four special episodes, I interview the co-authors of Creative Superpowers, a book published by Penguin about re-learning key traits often forgotten from childhood, such as adaptability, curiosity, empathy and fearlessness by the authors Laura Jordan Bambach, Scott Morrison, Mark Earls and Daniele Fiandaca. Each author shared some fascinating stories and anecdotes with me, and have some seriously wise advice about how to live a more creative and fulfilled life. I felt super inspired after chatting to each of them and I hope you do too.

In this episode I speak to Scott Morrison. We discuss how to collaborate with others in an authentic way, how to lift up others in your team, why removing ego is crucial when being creative and the tools Scott uses when on the move.

I liked this quote from Scott: "Always hire people smarter than you."

*This episode is sponsored by Dropbox*

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(Dropbox Series Part 1) I am very excited to bring to you a mini series of four episodes in partnership with Dropbox around the topics of creativity and collaboration. As you know on this podcast I interview interesting creatives about the internet, their work, and how to get more done in less time. Dropbox is a collaborative platform for teams, enabling creativity through their product suite of tools which helps team's all over the world stay in flow and move work forward.

In these four special episodes, I interview the co-authors of Creative Superpowers, a book published by Penguin about re-learning key traits often forgotten from childhood, such as adaptability, curiosity, empathy and fearlessness by the authors Laura Jordan Bambach, Scott Morrison, Mark Earls and Daniele Fiandaca. Each author shared some fascinating stories and anecdotes with me, and have some seriously wise advice about how to live a more creative and fulfilled life. I felt super inspired after chatting to each of them and I hope you do too.

In this episode I speak to Laura Jordan Bambach about how creativity isn't something that happens to you at your desk. How to get good ideas, why you should keep a dream diary, how diversity is still an urgent matter, how to gather all sources of your creativity, and how to not take things too personally as a creative.

I liked this quote from Laura: "You didn't get here by accident. That doesn't mean you should be pig-headed, but your ideas have value."

*This episode is sponsored by Dropbox*

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Welcome to Ctrl Alt Delete! My guest today is one of my favourite authors, the incredibly inspiring force of nature that is Naomi Alderman! She is the multi-award-winning novelist of Disobedience and The Power. Disobedience has been adapted into a film directed by Sebastián Lelio, based on the novel of the same name by Naomi and stars both Rachael McAdams and Rachel Weiz. It is out in cinemas now. And The Power is one of Obama's favourite books! No big deal.

Speaking of cinemas: I'm excited that this episode is in partnership with Curzon Cinemas. http://bit.ly/2P1WwKZ

For nearly a century, Curzon has been pioneering ways to bring audiences exclusive access to a brilliant selection of award winning, classic and contemporary independent films from around the world. I'm excited to tell you about Curzon Home Cinema. By registering you get access to a selection of the latest cinema releases available now to watch from the comfort of your own home. I love going to the cinema but I also love staying in (especially during this dark winter months). So wherever you are in the UK and Ireland, you can watch new films at home! So the choice is yours: watch your films at the cinema, or instantly at home, Curzon offers you both choices. Why not try out watching Disobedience at home?

So, a bit more about the iconic Naomi Alderman. Her literary début came in 2006 called Disobedience, a well-received yet slightly controversial novel about a North London rabbi's lesbian daughter living in New York, which won her the 2006 Orange Award for New Writers, the 2007 Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, and a feature as one of the Waterstones 25 Writers for the Future.

Her other novel, The Power, won the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction in 2017. The Power was THE book of the year last year, an incredible sci-fi/dystopian novel about gendered violence and the fetishisation of power. The premise of the book is that women are more powerful than men. God becomes a “she”; and men are frightened to walk alone at night.

We discuss life as a polymath, what it's like having Rachel Weisz ring you up and want to turn your book into a film and how to know whether something is a good or bad idea when it comes to creating stuff. Thank you, Naomi. Such an inspiring episode.

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My guest today is the wonderful Hari Nef: model, actress, activist and first trans woman signed to IMG Worldwide​​, one of the biggest model management firm​s in the world. ​She has grace​d​ the cover​s ​​​of​ publications such as Elle UK, Love Magazine and Interview, and has appeared in editorials in Vogue and Wonderland Magazine, among others. She may be currently best known for her ​role ​in the  Emmy award-winning series TRANSPARENT. ​​ ​Hari currently lives in LA and ​is currently starring​ in the Gucci Bloom fragrance campaign alongside Dakota Johnson and Petra Collins. 

Most recently Hari has starred in black comedy thriller Assassination Nation ​(also starring Suki Waterhouse) which ​i​​​​s out now in UK cinemas​. It is about ​​a group of best friends live in a world of selfies, emojis, snaps and sexts. But when their town of Salem is besieged by a massive data hack, resulting in half the citizens’ private info spewed into the public view, the community descends into anarchy. ​The Times have called it "The Crucible for the Instagram era​" and critics at The Guardian have said it "feels like the product of a one-night stand between Spring Breakers and The Purge."

In this episode we chat about the film, dealing with internet storms, how to follow your gut when choosing which projects to work on and why she loves working on thrillers that centre around social media. 

Hope you enjoy!

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Pandora Sykes is a journalist and co-host of The High Low podcast. Pandora is a former colleague of mine; we were part of the launch team of the now defunct website The Debrief back in 2014. She was the fashion editor, I was the social media editor. She then went on to hold the iconic position of Fashion Features Editor and Wardrobe Mistress columnist of The Sunday Times Style magazine.

Now, Pandora is now doing many different things; she is a journalist, brand consultant, podcast co-host and speaker. 

She is a Contributing Editor at Man Repeller and ELLE, she has written for titles including The Guardian, Marie Claire, Vogue, Red magazine, i-D, The Cut, Vogue Australia, The Spectator and The Sunday Times.

Pandora is the co-host of an iTunes No.1 weekly culture podcast, The High Low (one of my faves) which she created with author and journalist, Dolly Alderton which has a major cult following.

We discuss sharing, multi-hyphenate careers, career evolution, writing, authenticity and sticking to what feels right for you. 

This is Pandora's Manrepeller piece about online sharing that we discuss: https://www.manrepeller.com/2018/09/maintaining-selective-privacy-online.html

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E. Lockhart is a New York Times bestselling author of ten novels, including We Were Liars, which was a New York Times bestseller and Zoella Book Club pick, and the novel Genuine Fraud, soon to be a film produced by Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner of HBO series Girls.

In this episode we talk about writing, writing writing! The art of writing novels, how to keep your momentum when writing, how to study the books you love and how to manage your ego and ignore reviews, good and bad.

Favourite quote from the episode:

"The me who can write a novel is not the same me who goes to the grocery stores and swimming pool and does things with my family. That person doesn't know how to write a novel."

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This episode is with Scott Harrison, founder of Charity:Water and Joshua Coombes, founder of Do Something For Nothing. 

I had the best time getting to know two amazing entrepreneurs last week when I hosted a master class called "Passion to Purpose" at the WeWork Creator Awards in London. Scott has the most interesting story and has helped millions get access to clean water. Joshua is probably best known for the haircuts he offers to homeless people all over the world and whose stories he shares shares their stories to encourage people to connect with others. These two guys essentially created their own opportunities in social entrepreneurialism using cultural norms like water and grooming to serve marginalised communities. I learned a lot and I hope you find this episode as inspiring as I did. Thank you to WeWork for having me host this. 

 If you're an entrepreneur, you're going to want to know more about the Creator Awards pitch competition -  check out the WeWork London Creator recap  to learn more.  In the episode I mention the WeWork London Economic Impact Report which has a ton of interesting stats surrounding entrepreneurs.  Stay up to date with WeWork on IG and Twitter.    

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