Thom Barnett runs Mamnick, a clothing brand passionate about cycling. The tagline is "one thing at a time, as beautiful as possible". I cajoled Thom out of bed at early o'clock and we cycled out of Sheffield together, nipping down the back alleys and cycle paths he knows so well. 
Over breakfast I asked the fine arts graduate about life as a fashion designer, loving what you do, and Thom's love for exploring the hills and lanes of the Peak District.

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SHOW NOTES

• If you enjoy listening to this episode over a cup of coffee and think it might be worth the price, you can buy me a coffee here: www. ko-fi.com/al_humphreys
• Keep up to date with future episodes (and my other adventures, projects and books) with my free monthly newsletter: alastairhumphreys.com/more/subscribe
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• "One thing at a time, as beautiful as possible". Fine products manufactured in the UK and Japan: Mamnick
• Mamnick on Instagram
• I'm a fashion designer, but I also make the cups of tea and post my own clothes.
• Do one thing at a time, as beautiful as possible.
• If it was all about money I'd have a proper job.
• I wanted to make a living doing something that I enjoy.
• When cycling you do more chatting than in other sports, and some of the conversations you have can be fantastic.
• I managed to make a living from my brand after about six months.
• A lot of the challenge of turning dream into reality is about confidence
• Story-telling is really important, but the narrative around this brand just wrote itself and was natural.
• You don't want anything to feel phony. You don't want to have to blag it.
• Yomping - your own marching pace - less about training and more about riding your bike, being in the moment, and living at your own pace
• I've made life hard for myself at times by being so outspoken
• Real things, real places, real people resonate more with real people.
• My brand has basically become an extension of my own life
• I can ride so much in the Peaks without going on the same road twice, so I don't feel much desire to load up my bike and cycle round the world. A friend of mine cycled round the world and told me that the Peak District has the best roads.

TRANSCRIPT

Below is the transcription of our conversation. It’s done by AI so is perhaps a wee bit ropey here and there. If these transcripts prove sufficiently useful then I will make the effort to clean then up and make them better. Do let me know if you think it’s worth my time to do that. (Or, better still, do it for me…!). If you’d like to listen as you read along you can do that here:

https://otter.ai/s/8KjD2nB9Q3y8K5xZUsuWrA