The Mandala Effect Podcast

Fjona Hill is the Creative Director of Hampton Manor who is not only building her own legacy but is stewardess of the legacy being built by Hampton Manor. She is one half of the husband and wife duo who run the historical estate. Her story is not one you’d possibly expect, given that she trained as a doctor.

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Hampton Manor is a boutique hotel and Michelin star restaurant set on a historical estate.  Remarkably, Hampton Manor was able to pivot quickly during Covid19 and within weeks of the lockdown were able to launch Peel on wheels, and make their first delivery.  Peels on wheels is fine dining delivered to your door.  Fjona shares that people have a need to celebrate and the delivery of the meals offers an ‘invite to the table’ that creates a different feeling to the one we’re used to every day.

Fjona started her training as a doctor but had a creative calling and when the opportunity came to take a gap year, she spent it working as a wedding photographer.  Going back to her training, the call was still there so she took another gap year and never went back.  She did a Masters in photojournalism and simultaneously her husband James had just started with the family business of Hampton Manor and she was invited to do the interior design of the manor. She then went into photojournalism and had to travel a lot for work, often to dangerous locations, so when she got pregnant she decided to make a change.  During that time she got approached to work with an interior design studio which she did for a year before returning to Hampton Manor as Creative Director.

Having a country estate is a legacy.  In days gone by most people's lives and livelihoods were attached to the main house, so there is a sense of responsibility not to keep it to yourself but rather how to use it to impart it to the community.  They are stewards of the estate.  Legacy for the family is a place, and their job is to sow it with depth.  Legacy can be hard to describe or pin but when you have a physical place, you can see the full expression.

This is a family with an appreciation of stories and legacy, the gold band of Fjona’s engagement ring was second hand and her husband had it reworked to add stones and she loves that it had a strand of history and that they’ve woven their own strand in.

Her parting advice on creating a meaningful life is not to forget to do the soul work.  Sometimes it takes some digging beneath the immediate needs to discover what the soul needs.

LINKS MENTIONED IN TODAY’S EPISODE

Hampton Manor 

Roseanna Croft Jewellery Website 

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The second series kicks off with Rachael Taylor, a jewellery journalist who built one of the most read jewellery magazines from scratch before choosing freedom with freelance journalism.  She’s a mum of two and now writes for the likes of the Financial Times, Condé Nast magazines, and Rapaport.  She also runs Jewellery Cut,  a platform that showcases independent fine jewellery designers through engaging editorial, sparkling social posts and live events, including a bi-annual jewellery showcase during London Fashion Week.  Learn how she and The Jewellery Cut team are changing lives.

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Rachael Taylor clearly has a passion for jewellery, but more than that she has a passion for highlighting and showcasing independent and small jewellery designers and she does this through her work as a jewellery journalist but also through the Jewellery Cut where aside from the sale of jewellery, an important aspect of the platform is the introductions and connections they are able to provide and enable.

Her legacy aside from her printed work is making jewellery a conversation in the online space, where before it was rarely covered, and now there are 3 or 4 dedicated jewellery magazines.   Her vision has always been to make jewellery accessible, showcasing the independent small designers as well as the big names. Her legacy is also the connections and introductions she’s able to make for people through the Jewellery Cut.

With her line of work, Rachael has seen many wonderful pieces but one stuck her which was a gold necklace with a tiny carving of a hand clutching a heart-shaped ruby that she had seen and obsessed about but hadn’t yet bought.  The story gets sweeter as she then shares how her husband gave her this same necklace at the Jewellery Cut’s first independent show to commemorate the event.  It is a reminder of her achievements but also her husbands’ sweetness.  She also talks about a bracelet her late grandmother passed on to her.

When asked what advice she would give, Rachael says passion.  It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you’re giving it your all.  And her advice to emerging designers is to put yourself out there as much as possible.  Talk about your work, wear your work and network.  You don’t know what opportunities will come.

LINKS MENTIONED IN TODAY’S EPISODE

The Jewellery Cut on Instagram

Rachael Taylor on Instagram

Roseanna Croft Jewellery Website 

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Welcome to Series 2 of Design Your Legacy, the podcast where we have inspiring conversations about life, legacy and jewellery. This has been an amazing series to record and I hope that with these conversations you will feel inspired to think about the legacy you’re leaving and know that you can design your life (and your jewellery!)

I believe that we carry much of our legacy in our jewellery and you will hear why in the coming episodes but just think of the most important jewellery in your life, what stories does it tell?

In this series we have;

Rachael Taylor, jewellery journalist;

Fjona Hill, CD at Hampton Manor;

Monique Hodgson founder of Mumble Forum;

Willa Newton, professional eventing rider;

Jo MacFarlane a luxury candle maker;

The wonderful sisters Victoria and Grace Sheppard founders of Queens of Mayfair;

Fay Cannings, founder of Seekd and;

Anna Hemmings MBE OLY, olympian, world champion and inspirational speaker.

I am not going to give too much away because I want you to experience it for yourself but the stories these women have to share are phenomenal. Stories about stars aligning, resilience and soul work - I hope you really connect with my guests and their journeys.

My two main passions in life are jewellery, the stories we can tell and the emotions/people/memories jewellery connects us too. And life - designing your own life and your own legacy. I believe that to truly live a fulfilled life you have to have an idea of where you’re going and even though things may not always go to plan, if we’re living a life on purpose then we’ve done a great job and most importantly can help impact others in a positive way. Enjoy!

This week’s podcast is with Lorraine Pringle, founder of LOCA, a private community for brands and influencers. Following her career in fashion with some big brands, Lorraine aligned her values and passion and created a platform where she’s able to help and connect people to collaborate and develop ideas and partnerships.

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Lorraine saw a gap in the market having worked in the fashion industry for years, she knew what the needs were and created a platform to connect people and help brands collaborate with influencers without the blocks and barriers.

Lorraine was obsessed with fashion from a young age, creating fashion shows with magazines cutouts she took from her mum and aunties.  She would turn her parent’s bed into a runway and request her family to be audience members.

Lorraine was the first in her family to go to University and moved to London, despite being told it wouldn’t work out for her!

Her first job was with New Look as they opened up their first store in London, she set up their first PR office, and so began a long and successful career. When Lorraine felt the need for change and discussed her idea for LOCA with Caroline Rush, CEO of the British Fashion Council who in a pleasant turn of events became her co-founder.

The meaning of legacy to Lorraine, is about what you leave behind, having fun and the fact that you’ve made a difference in the world.

Her immediate legacy is this online space that she’s created with LOCA where people who have similar goals and ambitions in fashion and luxury come together to support, nurture and collaborate.

With jewellery being a part of how we’re remembered, Lorraine thinks your jewellery shows your personality - more is more in her case! She has a wonderful story about the rings her and her husband wore when they were engaged and now they can’t separate them. Jewellery makes you feel warm and fuzzy and her stories prove that.

Her three, lasting pieces of advice are to find out what your true values are and live by them; don’t forget about yourself and - go with your gut! Valuable words to listen to and the perfect end to our first series of ‘Design Your Legacy’.

LINKS MENTIONED IN TODAY’S EPISODE

LOCA Website

Find LOCA on Instagram

Find Lorraine on Instagram

Roseanna Croft Jewellery Website 

Find Roseanna Croft Jewellery on Instagram

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This week’s podcast is with Dr Catherine Baudino, who after a career in academia is now a coach and mentor to executives, supporting them up the ladder and into retirement, helping them to gain clarity and the confidence they need to overcome the boundaries in their workplace and personal lives.

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Dr Catherine Baudino is clearly passionate.  The corporate life as an executive is lonely and her mission is to bring life back into the executives what she works with because it can be a lonely place and the alternative is not good for you or anyone around you.

She also focuses her work on preparing for retirement.  Coming from that level of work, you can’t just stop and have no reason to get out of bed.  She suggests remaining engaged as you enter retirement. She says ‘No transition happens over night’.

Show she got there?  SHEER DETERMINATION.  This is a lady who saw a glass ceiling and broke it and is now supporting others.

Her legacy is her humour and being able to defuse a complex situation. Her most memorable piece is her engagement ring despite the fact that she was no longer with her husband at the time of his death.

Jewellery for Catherine enables conversations as there is usually a story behind every piece.  Listen to the podcast to hear her stories.

Top tip - If you want to take advantage of life, pay attention to what's going on around you, listen and learn and consider the perspective of someone else.

LINKS MENTIONED IN TODAY’S EPISODE

Dr Catherine Baudino Website

Roseanna Croft Jewellery Website 

Find Roseanna Croft Jewellery on Instagram

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This week’s podcast is with Scarlett Roittman, a London mother who took her family's love for art and culture and turned it into a fabulous blog called Diary of a Londoness, which as she says herself is a mish mash of arts, culture and London life in general with a little bit of restaurants and a little bit of high tea.  She grew up in Paris, was sent to university at 15 to Virginia, USA doing a degree in English and Creative Writing where her love of writing began however she had first child and because of that, had a priority shift and her career took a couple of turns before she would return to writing in 2016.

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Scarlett’s love of writing and culture lead to a stunning collection of books and art passed down given to her by her mother and passed down by her father.  These are in part her legacy as she talks of passing on her books to her daughters and the art collection to various museums.  It is and they are, an important part of who she is and what matters most to her.   But when she talks about jewellery she is equally vibrant.  Scarlett loves big and bold styles and some of her favorite pieces hold memories and stories and are made of paste (which is known as costume jewellery!) showing that jewellery can be precious without having large financial value.  Scarlett's collection also holds precious gems, namely her engagement ring which was in part reset so that each of their three daughters could have a part of their parents love to treasure and to pass on to their children, a custom already familiar to the family since Scarlett already has both her fathers and grandfather wedding rings.

About leaving a legacy, Scarlett shares something from her son-in-law sent her when they were discussing the concept of leaving a legacy “write your own obituary, if you don’t like how it reads, rethink what you’re doing”.

LINKS MENTIONED IN TODAY’S EPISODE

Diary of a Londoness

Scarlett Roitman Instagram

Roseanna Croft Jewellery Website 

Find Roseanna Croft Jewellery on Instagram

Find Me on Instagram

This week’s podcast is with Alex Depledge MBE, founder and CEO of Resi, the UK’s leading architectural practice. Alex was awarded an MBE in 2016 for her services to the sharing economy but that’s not all she has achieved. After selling her first company Hassle (Europe’s leading domestic cleaning marketplace) she felt she needed to prove to herself that she wasn’t just a fluke. In the episode she gives some really strong advice about following your dreams - it’s up to you whether you follow it.

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LINKS MENTIONED IN TODAY’S EPISODE

Alex Depledge Instagram

Resi

Roseanna Croft Jewellery Website 

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This week’s episode is with Poppy Delbridge, described by Glamour Magazine as one of televisions most powerful women throughout her career in TV. She's now a creative businesswoman, success coach and EFT practitioner, changing women's lives all around the world with her energy work and coaching skills. I had the pleasure of spending the day on one of Poppy’s retreats at Soho Farmhouse this summer and the things she has taught me are most certainly changing my life for the better. I hope that you take a lot of value from her wise words.

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LINKS MENTIONED IN TODAY’S EPISODE

Poppy Delbridge

Poppy Delbridge Instagram

House of Possibility Instagram

Roseanna Croft Jewellery Website

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This week’s podcast is with Professor Amanda Croft, my mum and a woman who is a massive inspiration to me and her encouragement is one of the main reasons I am where I am today. She's a woman who was told that she wasn't good enough, but thankfully she knew better and worked her way from nursing auxiliary, to Chief Executive of NHS Grampian. I hope that her story will inspire you as much as she's inspired me.

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• Amanda’s story on how she worked her way from nursing auxiliary to Chief Executive

• The positive benefits of ‘role model bosses’

• Being the first female Chief Executive of NHS Grampian and the UK statistics

• Special possessions that have an impact on your career and how they can propel us

• The meanings behind jewellery and how Amanda’s jewellery carries the legacy of her daughter’s career and memories of her mum

• Retiring, leaving a physical legacy and Operation Rainbow

• How people will remember your impact

• Empowering, enabling and encouraging people

• My grandmother’s jewels

• The advice you need to build your own legacy

LINKS MENTIONED IN TODAY’S EPISODE

Operation Rainbow 

Roseanna Croft Jewellery Website

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