In this episode of Out of the Clouds, Anne Muhlethaler interviews Scott Wimsett @ScottWimsett, a presenter, a fashion director and sustainability expert based in the UK.
Scott started his agency, Bespoke Banter, in 2006 with a vision of supporting global talent and brands to create social assets in film to support their storytelling. Scott built a reputation for being a supportive and trusted partner for many world-renowned talents who work with his company closely to craft the broadcasted film and images they distribute globally.
More recently, Scott launched The Feel Good Fellowship with friend, model, and climate activist Arizona Muse. Among all his endeavours, Scott is committed to encouraging brands to prioritise transparency, accuracy, and research in all their digital content to empower audiences to make more sustainable, environmentally positive choices in the brands they support.
Much like Anne, Scott loves to entertain good conversations in addition to his content creation work. Scott has hosted a podcast with Royal Ascot on sustainability, and returned with a new show called ‘Personal Threads’, with diverse guests from David Gandy to Paul O’Grady and June Sarpong.
In this interview, Scott shares with Anne his story, from how he started on stage acting and dancing before going into modelling and PR — but always with a desire pulling him to TV and presenting. An astute expert in his field, Scott talks about his early wins and what helped establish his reputation, and later about the importance of listening carefully to what is coming next, including how that’s guided his moves from his start with Bespoke Banter to the projects he is doing now.
Scott shares the thought process that drove him to build his own company and why he felt, and still feels, that film (or video) is essential for brands and talent to tell a detailed story. Scott believes that brands can turn to film to create a documentary of sorts — one that transmits their values and history, and that will communicate their DNA to their audience — but that transparency and vulnerability are key.
Scott then tells Anne about his experience with Vipassana, which he discovered when a friend signed him up to attend a silent meditation retreat that transformed his life. He goes on to talk about how the combination of being active in addition to meditation and journaling continues to support him daily and explains that his meditation and other personal health rituals are not a hack or a quick add on, but, as he says, a necessity: ‘It's not like it's painted on. It's not like you are making yourself do it. It becomes just part of who we are. It's just how you live your life.’
Happy listening!
***
You can find Scott on Instagram @https://www.instagram.com/scottwimsett/
Discover his company Bespoke Banter - https://www.bespokebanter.com/
And the Feel Good Fellowship - https://www.feelgoodfellowship.com/
Scott is also an advisor with the Sustainable Beauty Coalition - https://www.instagram.com/sustainablebeautycoalition/
The British Beauty Council - https://britishbeautycouncil.com/
The first Royal Ascot podcast hosted by Scott called 'A New Era in Style' -https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/royal-ascot-a-new-era-in-style/id1569576018
Bay Garnett, stylist and senior fashion ambassador for Oxfam - https://www.baygarnett.com/press
The Royal Ascot - https://www.ascot.com/royal-ascot-2023
The Royal Ascot 'Personal Threads' podcast hosted by Scott Wimsett & Susan Bender - https://shows.acast.com/personal-threads
The song Faith by George Michael - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cs3Pvmmv0E
Anne Glenconner's book 'Lady in Waiting' - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49945845-lady-in-waiting
***
f you enjoyed this episode, click subscribe for more, and consider writing a review of the show on Apple Podcasts, we really appreciate your support and feedback. And thank you so much for listening!
For all notes and transcripts, please visit Out Of The Clouds on Simplecast - https://out-of-the-clouds.simplecast.com/
Sign up for Anne's email newsletter for more from Out of the Clouds at https://annevmuhlethaler.com.
Follow Anne:
Twitter: @annvi
IG: @_outoftheclouds
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:00:06):
Hi. Hello, bonjour and namaste. This is Out of The Clouds, a podcast at the crossroads between business and mindfulness. And I'm your host Anne Muhlethaler.
(00:00:22):
Hi. Hello. I'm glad to be back. I've had a little bit of a hiatus, an unplanned hiatus, and you may hear it in my voice. Unfortunately, I was hit with a, with a very lengthy chest infection, doubling with a sinus infection. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's had the pleasure
(00:01:01):
So, Scott started his agency Bespoke Banter in 2006 and he had a very clear and very unique vision that he wanted to invest in film to support brands create content and assets for the emerging social networks or social media. Now Scott built a very solid reputation early on for being a trusted partner for both brands and many worldwide talents, which you're gonna hear all about.
(00:01:34):
More recently, Scott also launched the Feel Good Fellowship with his friend, the Model and Climate activist Arizona Muse. So in our conversation, Scott tells me how he started from stage acting and dancing and performing before going into modeling and PR and of course creating his agency. He shares his thoughts with me about how a brand's media channels can be a documentary channel when the story is told with authenticity and transparency. And of course we talk sustainability, though we know that's a big word before discussing mindfulness rituals and much, much more. So without further ado, I give you my conversation with Scott Wim. Enjoy. All right, so are you ready?
Scott Wimsett (00:02:27):
Yep. Let's do it.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:02:28):
Wonderful. Scott, I'm so happy to see you. Welcome to Outta the Clouds.
Scott Wimsett (00:02:34):
Uh, thank you and so lovely to be here. Thank you for asking me.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:02:37):
It's my pleasure. So first, uh, let me ask you, where am I finding you today?
Scott Wimsett (00:02:44):
I am in Mayfair. I'm in the flat and I've just been in town for a couple of things, couple of events last night and after this lovely chat with you, then I'm running back to Somerset where I spend a loss of my time, time, um, to collect my son from school.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:03:02):
That sounds like a really lovely plan for a Friday afternoon
Scott Wimsett (00:03:07):
It's been a busy week, so you know, that way I kind of tend to like to finish slightly earlier on a Friday just to have that kind of embrace the weekend and just really make the most of that time so that then you'll kind of recharge for the Monday of following.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:03:20):
So as you know, I love to start my interviews by asking my guests to tell their story very freely and and pick up wherever they fancy because I like to get to know people before starting to talk about mm-hmm
Scott Wimsett (00:03:37):
(00:04:47):
Yeah, there was just an appetite for celebration and fun. I mean I kind of just, just all I seem to remember is there was always this sort of jazz band shooting up in the garden or everybody was dressing up for some sort of long, long dinner party that would sort of sit at say three o'clock in the afternoon and they would still be at the table at sort of 10 o'clock at night, you know, and then dance to the Stones in my father's study. And so yeah, they were just big party people. So that kind of also had an impact on my kind of appetite for marrying work with life and celebration and stuff. Oh yeah. And so I've always kind of married those two together, but I, yeah, my parents still find it slightly odd that I've still, you know, that I've got a business because that I was such a creative.
(00:05:30):
So I was at dance school and I was performing and I was at drama school and I wasn't really expected that I would end up having my own business and being that kind of family member that would be kind of building a team and and doing some sort of stepping into like more corporate territory as well. So, but yeah, I kind of did the whole school thing. I did the university thing, I went to school at the tail end in Cambridge and then I went to university in London and studied drama. Then I went to live in Hong Kong and modeled for a couple of years and quite a lot of my family were in Hong Kong and that was a big pull and a big sort of launching into like independence I guess. And then when the modeling stuff was sort of, you know, coming to an end in Hong Kong, I did come back to London and then started working in PR and I had a few girlfriends who were working in PR and they kind of like, oh this is quite fun, let's bring you in.
(00:06:24):
It was all, what I enjoyed was the creativity of working within fashion and beauty and different brands. I worked for over a space of like five years, but I was useless looking after other people's sort of budgets of money and all of that kind of stuff. So it was much more about the kind of tia, like the theater of like PR that I enjoyed all the events and the sort of press and the kind TV and the kind interviews and I just, I, I definitely gravitated towards that. And then I'm trying to be succinct a bit with this cause I'm just trying to sort of whistle stop a bit, but
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:06:54):
It's okay, we've got time, we've got time
Scott Wimsett (00:06:57):
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:07:19):
Definitely, I mean if people had a website they were like, wow.
Scott Wimsett (00:07:22):
Yeah, yeah, exactly. And then this sort of maybe use of photography on your site and that kind of stuff, but moving image and then social media, I mean it was just the formation of it, but I was presenting it at the time doing a really hilarious uh, late night gambling channel cause I really needed the cash and I was working between PR and then also was really desperate to do this sort of presenting stuff. And I remember getting this gig and it was quite well paid, but it was, you know, late night TV. And a lot of my sort of party friends would come home from clubs and this is like 20 years ago and they'd be like, why are you on TV at like three in the morning in a bow tide talking about Monte Carlo roulette
(00:08:08):
And the guy who was running the whole kind of show format one night when we were, we were recording it, he was like, do you really wanna be doing this? And I was like, I've got this idea. Like I've got quite a lot of inroad in fashion and beauty. I used to work in PR in that, like I just think I, I need the infrastructure and all the filming and stuff, but I, I wanna go to these different brands and see if they would be interested in the idea around creating assets for them. And he, and he was like, sure, well I support you. So he supported me for a whole year and I just thrashed around every single PR company, every contact I had, like Vogue or you know, any kind of title that we're exploring online territory, any kind of shop opening, any kind of celebrity endorsement stuff and was just like this.
(00:08:49):
And they didn't really know. They were like, well what would we do with this content? What, where would we put it? And I was like, well why don't I, I try and sort of syndicate it for you. So if we get an exclusive interview then I would go to Reuters or I'd go to bladi bladi blah. So that's kind of how it all started. That actually very quickly in London there was this sort of appetite for a kind of not one size fits all that we got a reputation from a PR perspective that we were going to brands and sort of saying, well if you're Rimmel then you are sort of, digital narrative is going to be very different from Yves Saint Laurent or you know, a different type of brand. So we were looking at working with really good filmmakers, which again was very different to early sort of start of, of the content territory. It was much more kind of running gun stuff. And Fashion Week, I suppose was our first real mark in the, in the sand to say that we were here. We started to work a lot with the British Fashion Council and a lot of their sponsors. So Mercedes-Benz and Maybelline and L'Oreal. And they really enabled us to build a team really. Um, so yeah that was, that was the sort of start of my company and that's 20 years ago.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:10:03):
That's amazing. Picking up a lot of what you said. And I am grateful that you shared where you grew up and the environment near you cuz I was trying to understand what brought you to that desire to present. And now I understand that you are doing drama school and that's what you were studying. You were keen to let's say get on stage or get in front of the camera. How early did you have that desire?
Scott Wimsett (00:10:30):
Very early. I mean, to be honest, I still, it's still a massive part of what I put into the business. I think business anyway is a massive part of performing in lots of ways. And not that it needs to be kind of fake or not true to you, it's just about how connect, I don't know. I mean I kind of, I like an audience, I love a boardroom sort of, I'm thrilled if I've got a whole load of people around like, you know, it's an ego thing. I think, you know, you've just got an audience and you are presenting creative. So yeah. But as a really small, you know, doing like performances in my parents' drawing room at Christmas, any given day of the week if they were partying with friends and I would sort of come out in a tutu and do some kind of little number or I went to dance school from the age of eight I was at doing local performances.
(00:11:18):
I hilariously grew up in a seaside town called Broadstairs where Charles Dickens lived. And so every year they would do these sort of big Charles Dickens festivals and they would run these plays and I was always in every single sort of theater performance of Dickens plays when I was younger. So yeah, it started at a really young age and then obviously drama school and all the rest of it. So yeah, they, I think when I was training as an actor and when I was running around town doing castings, you know, it is a terrifying territory to try and sort of make a living out of it. And it is very much based on luck as we know. And I'd get a gig and then you'd get nothing for three months. And so living in London it wasn't very sustainable And so that's why I went into the presenting because I was like, I can, I felt like with an agent I can get a bit more work. And then when Bespoke Banter started it was about marrying all of those worlds together somehow. So yeah.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:12:08):
That's fascinating. So you had this sort of performance background. Mm-hmm
Scott Wimsett (00:12:45):
Mm-hmm
(00:13:40):
I mean I, you know, I'd worked in PR for a long time. It all started to feel very dry and predictable and you know, kind of editorial content, you know, kind of, uh, publication sort of led and it just felt that like the appetite to click through to something more to get more of a reward on your interaction with that brand or that talent or whatever you, you needed more to reward yourself. So obviously we now know that the kind of retention and engagement from a, you know, a click play audience is like 90% more than from a still image. So it's, it's so powerful and we were the first agency in London to actually create bespoke content for fashion and beauty brands. And now there are many, many, many. But we were very lucky right at the beginning that the lovely Kate Moss was a still, you know, historically at the, one of the world's most famous models and a stills models.
(00:14:37):
So, and Kate was very used to doing that and obviously was globally renowned and acclaimed for doing just stills. And then as brands started to ask that perhaps we could put some moving image into the campaigns and maybe even potentially dare I say do an interview and all of this stuff. So we were introduced, right the early days of Bespoke to do a Longchamp campaign. And anyway, she turned up and the car had gone around Bond Street about five times cuz there were so many kind of paparazzi outside. And literally she was sort of brought in under this ferment security and uh, and I was sort of thrown at her as the kind of, we'll try and get the interview now. And I was like, hi. And we just, I don't know, like we had this like really lovely 10 minute conversation and we really got on and made each other laugh and she came across as really fabulous and natural and just amazing as she is.
(00:15:36):
And that content did really well for Longchamp because it was Kate really at ease and not having this sort of press release kind of answer. She just was just Kate speaking about how much she loved the brand and that then made her see the reaction to it. And then she brought us in on every single campaign she did afterwards, which was a big kickstart for us because then all the other talent and be it kind of Karl Lagerfeld and David Beckham and Cara Delavigne and Claudia Schiffer and they all started to use us, Charlotte Tilburry. So that kind of territory then really, really took off and it was working a lot with ambassadors and the brands they were sort of collaborating with.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:16:16):
Ah, that's fascinating. The place of ambassadors within the brand messaging is something that I believe some of our listeners may not be very familiar with. Mm-hmm
Scott Wimsett (00:16:36):
I mean look, that territory's changed a lot hasn't it, in the last sort of five years and what would've been a kind of successful formula of actually aligning a talent who has that kind of global interest with the aspirational professional beauty brand was fairly straightforward territories, whether they would be a model and then again of course like actors started to sort of really wrestle in and muscle in on that territory of endorsement of products cuz they started to realize just how much money you can make. So that did its thing. But I, I think now, gosh, it's much more rather than just sort of prestig and profile, it's much more about principles and values and it's more complex and it needs to be, I think we as citizens have changed in regards to what we are prepared to buy into and feel is authentic. And I'm not saying that talent that I mentioned there we're not authentic and they were very much supportive of the brands that they collaborated with. I just think that whole celebrity word is, is very much a kind of sailing ship slightly away into the distance.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:17:49):
Yeah. That's not a bad thing I think.
Scott Wimsett (00:17:52):
No, I agree.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:17:53):
I heard you a little bit earlier talk about how you were saying to your husband that you felt like brands needed something more mm-hmm
(00:18:23):
But what clicked for me when I heard it is that this is what I understand content to be. Mm-hmm
Scott Wimsett (00:18:59):
Mm-hmm
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:19:01):
So how do you as an established agency, do you help the brands that approach you navigate this, the difference between that sort of old advertising model on these new channels and the voice that I think as you said, US citizens want to hear, right? Mm-hmm.
Scott Wimsett (00:19:22):
(00:20:08):
It was about ultimately at the end of the day you watch that asset and then you feel like you are driven to then click by drop it in your basket and you know, et cetera. So that's why we started to produce content within our new umbrella of bespoke, which is our kind of charity arm, which is feel Good fellowship, which is a community interest. And that's because I felt that the, again, this citizen just needed a little bit more access. They need to have this documentary type of content. So as opposed to what we were renowned for, which was I believe was still very kind of powerful in the way of like championing real people and real, real interviews. It still was often with a whole load of like glam team and studios with lots of lighting and big sort of shoot location houses and everyone styled within an inch of their life.
(00:20:57):
Whereas the Feel Good Fellowship stuff would be much more about kind of having the access to the inner workings of the business where you would actually remove that fourth wall and be able to sit at the leadership table and go through all levels of the business and sort of celebrate the unsung heroes and sort of work out what their purpose is, their targets, their DNA and their philosophy and why you care. We're using our money as our votes now. So that's the strongest marketing tool, which is the way that I speak to a lot of clients is to try to convince them that vulnerability now in our modern world with all of the things we have to do is actually your most powerful marketing. So that's why I talk to them about the need for feeling a little bit more vulnerable and undressed and rather than everything being so carefully created, so many meetings we'd have where we'd never say that, we'd never share that and I'd be like, well the clock's ticking here and there's a new age consumer who's coming in and they've got zero tolerance If you can't tell the full story, it's just TikTok time for me.
(00:21:59):
So that's why we really promote this documentary content alongside the other stuff, which obviously is selling a product, but I think they can both exist together.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:22:08):
Mm, that's so interesting you should say that. I was fascinated when I first read about that feelgood foundation. So talk me through how did this happen? How did you make the decision to build a separate arm of your company?
Scott Wimsett (00:22:23):
Well, I mean like, like everything, there's sort of motivation based on this good business sense
(00:23:18):
And then you start to realize when we were at our sort of height, and it's not quite the same now, which I'll go into later because there's now many, many agencies doing what we are doing. But at the time when we were growing we were that only one for a long time in London. On that scale you start to realize that actually you are a little bit part of the problem, that you are actually, the assets you're creating are ultimately making people buy more stuff and images that are often not obtainable. And then you, you think from a mental health perspective just is that actually really something you want to be a part of? So yeah, it's just again, listening carefully to what is coming next and that's why Feel Good Fellowship was the right move at that time to start to go to brands and encourage 'em to tell the truth. But that wasn't, it wasn't easy cause a lot of them weren't ready to tell the truth.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:24:08):
Yeah, I do not doubt that. Indulge me for a second, I wanted to hear from you what is the tie with mental health? Because I saw that being quite prominent on the homepage of the Feel Good Fellowship. Mm-hmm.
Scott Wimsett (00:24:22):
(00:25:21):
You know, I think it will come in good time around just how much screen time people have and what platforms they are going into and just how careful they have to be. So it's all connected. I really believe that it's been tough out there for many people and myself included, it's really, really important to ensure that you are living this balanced life. Be it kind of a reward in the sense of purpose with what you do in your job or being able to have the life work balance or doing the mindfulness, doing the meditation, all of those cliche things, but they do really, really work all the sport, all of that stuff. So, and at the end of the day, just being happy that you can wake up of a day and feel like I've got this and I believe in myself and I've got a, a sort of a connection to my purpose and what my offering is and, and why I'm here and, and hopefully working towards leaving a bit of a legacy because life is short and you wanna make it a good one.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:26:21):
Yeah. That sounds
Scott Wimsett (00:27:09):
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:27:10):
I did yoga for a long time, so I think that I, I was primed with, with yoga and that one day I went, I came to meditation, but having practiced yoga for 15 years I think is the reason I then went in and became a daily meditator, which then had a, a very strong ripple effect and it was impossible not to notice the changes in myself. And from there my friends started to ask me, oh, what are you doing? And I was sharing resources and one thing led to another and that's how I ended up becoming a meditation teacher. When did you first become aware that this was something that you needed to work on?
Scott Wimsett (00:27:52):
I think I've always known that I, yeah, I needed to really make sure that I was, you know, incorporating at the very least exercise. Just had that quick kind of fix. Like we all like the kind of quick kind of sos kind of, how do I just make myself feel better? It's, I I swim or I run because I'm always so busy that I can't really commit things that involve other people. And unfortunately like tennis or things like that, I just would love to do that. But I just, I don't have that kind of diary unfortunately. So yeah, for the last sort of 25 years, most of my friends know me as like this most, before I'd go to any event I would've been for a run before I do any filming, I would've been for a swim. It's just, I have to do it.
(00:28:40):
It's like a, a drug. So, so I've known that for a long time, but I think more recently it goes obviously into the meditation and mindfulness, manifestation, all of the deeper connections to self. And I was sent away by a girlfriend of mine, uh, to a silent retreat. They had them all over the world in like Bali and the south of France and then Wales in the Brecken Beacons, which is the one I went to
(00:29:41):
And I got the high from that in such a, a, a deeply sophisticated, elegant way that I couldn't ever walk away and leave that, you know, it was, it was just the most unbelievable euphoric connection that I just had to carry that on. And so that was many years ago and I do use it daily and that has definitely helped in, in every part of work. And, and again, it becomes just part of you, doesn't it? It's not like a quick add on. It's not like it's painted on. It's not like you are making yourself do it, it's just how you live your life.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:30:19):
A hundred percent. And I think that it's a tool, it's a tool that we can all use whenever we need it. Mm-hmm.
Scott Wimsett (00:30:47):
Mm-hmm
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:30:50):
Exactly. It's funny, it s witches my point of view around a situation almost instantaneously. Mm-hmm.
Scott Wimsett (00:30:57):
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:30:58):
So I'm very interested in, in hearing from you, what does sustainability have to do with that aspect of telling the full story in your eyes, either at Bespoke Banter or with The Feel Good Foundation?
Scott Wimsett (00:31:11):
The whole area of sustainability. I even struggle with the word a bit just as we all do now cuz it's just doesn't really mean anything and it's so overused and there's no regulation around it. And it all, honesty, I was having career fatigue about five years ago. I was very overwhelmed with contributing, as I said to that volume of content, making people buy more product, but at the same time deeply concerned like a lot of us about what was actually happening to the planet and fashion being after gas and oil, the second biggest polluter to our planet. And this sort of understanding, when you look at the statistics that we are starting to speed up, we're buying more, but we are wearing it less and we wear things on average like it's five or six times and then it goes to landfill. And is all of this sort of like what an earth is happening is, is is all about money
(00:32:08):
And it's all about just for now rather than investing in the future. And so it just always felt like this sort of dirty transaction and that's why the kind of trying to wrestle with sustainability in the way of like all these panel talk, you know, we were still running a business, we had salaries to pay, so we were still doing content. I mean we were like churning out a smokey eye tutorial from L'Oreal, like nobody's business. I mean there were just, it's just like tons and tons of content every week. But then at the same time I did a series with Annabel's, like a talk series, you know, 'how ethical is your brand?' and how like Bay Garnett for Oxfam and Vogue and um, Dolly Jones and Sam Roddick and had like amazing people on the panel just to sort of navigate that whole conversation I guess.
(00:32:57):
And we invited in all of our sort of most senior bigwig decision makers that we knew within fashion and beauty and obviously Annabel's hosted us and you know, we would do these regularly. We did a talk series and I did maybe six in a year just to try to work out what we could all collectively focus on and talk about and, and like everything that's new or anything in life that you don't understand or no, you have to get closer to it and sort of chew the fat and navigate and share thoughts and get across and find solutions is a journey, isn't it? So that was a really good help for me to sort of hone in on why it felt I could still run a business, a business that created content that made people think more provocative rather than selling product, we were selling principles.
(00:33:46):
So it's still interesting though because as you like, I'm sure you know, like once you get closer to the sustainability space, you do start to very quickly find your tribe. Like there are people that are just for whatever happened. It's a very interesting time. Like any big movement as it starts to do its thing and you put your head above the power pit and sort of say, I've got an opinion about this, people do start to find you. And that's been reflective in the kind of clients that we've been getting and definitely the brands that are born clean have been coming to us. And so they really want to have that very detailed storytelling to communicate that DNA to their, their following. And then weirdly re interestingly most recently is a lot of the charity sector within fashion, which I'm a massive fan of. So yeah, it's testament and re and reassuring to know that if you do kind of have the passion and you put it out there, then you do find like-minded souls and you can still run a business.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:34:45):
Yeah, of course. Yeah. Do you know what that's making me think of? If you communicate your why, if you share what you're passionate about, then you're gonna find the people who believe what you believe. Mm-hmm.
Scott Wimsett (00:36:16):
Mm-hmm
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:37:33):
Hmm. Yay
Scott Wimsett (00:37:37):
It's a deep injustice actually. The, the young are having to tackle so many gigantic topics at a young age that we had the luxury not to do. Mm-hmm.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:38:38):
I a hundred percent agree with you. I've heard some really interesting scientific studies that explain why it's so hard for us to connect to the future. So why, let's say so many adults are making the wrong decision because we don't think long term and it seems to be from the, the academic research that I read, that human beings have as much of a sense of connection to their future self as they do to a stranger that they pass on the street. So with that sort of disconnection with who we are going to be, you can understand that we only ever seem to be making decisions that are going to affect our very near future, right? What's going to affect this year or next year and never really study or consider the consequences of our actions today. And I think that's why it's really interesting to do work around meditation, mental health therapy, and go into coaching and old modalities that could interest someone to try and work with that future self to try and get that sense of connection. Because otherwise I don't think we'll be able to make the changes that need to be made in order to reach, let's say a better say for 2050 or beyond. Mm-hmm.
Scott Wimsett (00:40:01):
(00:40:52):
She's often in despair, like it wakes up sometimes in a bit of a cold sweat cuz she was like, I, I just know so much information that it is terrifying. And then at the same time she says, you do see immense progress. Like she's actually sort of able to take brands to task and starting to see results. It's a collective mindset, isn't it? And to me, you all just have to do the very best that we all can, you know, because otherwise an overwhelming sense of panic is literally will floor us all. We never get off the starting block. So I, again, with my work like tiny little Scott in my offering in the, in the entity that I I am would be kind of thinking about, okay, well if I'm reporting on this, can we talk more about sustainable fashion rather than just the kind of people who are the advertisers or the sponsors or definitely from a kind of upcygling, repurpose sort of vintage, pre-loved territory, it's definitely got its place in high end fashion and in regards to its providence and sense of creativity and storytelling and that expression in a very sort of whimsical, playful way.
(00:42:00):
And it's exciting. I just feel there is such a new line in the sand and fashion has always been this incredible barometer of what actually is happening in the world. And no more than now it's a way of actually abandoning trends. And I mean I haven't been to a fashion show for two seasons and that is very extraordinary cuz I would be at so many in all different capitals and be just mopping it up and filming there. I don't go to any anymore. So yeah, it feels like there's a real change in my mind.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:42:33):
Mm. Actually that's a great segue because I was gonna tell you, I listened to your interview with Benet on your podcast, which I really, really loved. So I knew Bay since her early Vogue days and she is such a force to be reckoned with. But I was delighted to discover you as a podcaster,
Scott Wimsett (00:43:12):
Mm, I love it. I, I mean I'm really enjoying talking to you. I mean, I kind of feel like I'm on the phone to a friend, you know, and we are having a matter. And I think that's what I love about podcasts. I just, because the way in which people listen to them, it's less about kind of being on camera and being this sort of need to like cover all bases in the way of like how it looks, how it sounds, what everyone's wearing, what you know, all of how it's edited together. Whereas this just permission for this sort of dropping into a real conversation that's happening in real time and it just feels really accessible. Our podcast was supported by dear friends at Royal Ascot who were very much about like exploring how to articulate their new age in fashion and wanting to really look at sustainability.
(00:43:58):
And so we had some really super guests and like you say, bay is such an ambassador for, for pre loved fashion and, and has always used those disciplines in any of her editorial kind of styling work. So that was a super super chat. But there's, you know, we've just been doing the new podcasts, which is called Personal Threads and just we had David Gandy the other day and Steven Jones and it's a real honor and privilege to sit down with people that have had such a detailed story in their career journey and dismantle it but just not make it feel so considered like we are doing now. You just vibe off each other. So yeah, it's a very new medium for me, but I've really, really enjoyed it because I think what happens is that everybody is just a bit more kind of themselves really more authentic.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:44:56):
Interesting. You should think. So for me, I love long form cuz I love the idea that we can really get on and just have deeper conversations than we would do if we were having a 10 minute one. Of course we can edit down to 10 minutes, but it, I don't know, I love the long form format. Yeah. I consume it. I guess that I fell into the trap after listening to thousands and thousands of hours of podcasts.
Scott Wimsett (00:45:20):
I was just gonna say, my husband, he's, he's a serial podcast, uh, listener. I mean I, whenever I go near him, he's got some podcast playing in his back pocket. I mean he just walks around with them on and over his phone and he find it extraordinary. So he is like, that's on all the time, right? And he's like, yeah, but he's an artist so he's always painting. So he likes to have some other sort of person with him in a story that he's sort of dropping into. So yeah, I they keep him company.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:45:46):
That's awesome.
Scott Wimsett (00:45:48):
Yeah.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:45:49):
I can see why you would be such a great fit for podcasting because let's say the arc of your career, as I heard you recount it for me, is that you love having conversations mm-hmm
Scott Wimsett (00:46:12):
After, after a good few glasses of sherry? I seem to remember, I think
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:46:16):
Good choice
Scott Wimsett (00:46:19):
I mean that the word bespoke is very different now to what it was 20 years ago. And I, I'd been working quite a lot with Saville Row and I think that that that worded kind of associated about something being premium and unique and individual and craftsmanship and all of that stuff. So that as a word that 20 years ago I really, I felt was really aligned to what I wanted to offer. I never set out to be like a production arm. It was always about being an agency and I wanted to put together this sort of love of PR and click play and beautiful film and interview and all of that. So that's why Bespoke was you, you know, the right word in the way of it being totally different for every type of client. It was bespoke to them. And then banter just enabled me to put something less formal alongside bespoke because obviously we were sort of creating a lot of that content and banter has something sort of chatty and informal and accessible and familiar about it so that it doesn't seem too academic.
(00:47:25):
We are real people and this is fashion and beauty, which at the end of the day they're really good fun to have a bit of a chat about. But it doesn't have to be kind of too serious can sort of realize that there are different appetites and different audiences. But at the same time a lot of fashion and beauty comes from inspiration or just sort of storytelling. And so it is about conversation and a bit of banter. So hence bespoke that and I love alliteration. I think it's memorable and when I, when you're trying to do a new business, I, you know, hence feel good fellowship, bespoke banter, I just like words that kind of illiterate and sort of bounce off each other.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:47:59):
Mm. Thank you for sharing that with us. I think you have also a point about that sense of joy, but it's great to have a sense of joy. Mm-hmm
Scott Wimsett (00:48:14):
I know, cringe!
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:48:16):
Scott Wimsett (00:48:36):
Ultimately? I am quite career driven and I'm kind of realized over years I'm at peace when I'm actually got a lot of work on, if that makes sense. Because I know I have a purpose. I know that there's a, a need for what I can share or offer. I know that there's a sort of safety within all of that. So it's a funny old beast, isn't it? Because you just sometimes might think that, you know, you are probably at your most sort of saying when you are away from work and unplugged and relying on a delicious beach somewhere. But it's a combination of things. I, I mean I have a little boy and it's a daily bringing me back to what really matters in the way of my role and my duty to him as a little boy. And so that's another massive part of what sort of centers me and as a daily yeah.
(00:49:38):
Connection to the bigger picture or the bigger sort of sense of destiny and and life. We adopted our little boy from very complex background and every day I don't sort of underestimate the responsibility and the the how grateful I am to be his parent. So yeah, that's a big, big, big part. A big and purely just, we live a lot of the time in Somerset and his school is so far away. I feel like I'm often in the car ferrying him around. We have 1,000,001 gym kits and yeah, so it forces up the fact that it's a big part of my, my sort of daily routine. But of course it's the journaling and the reading and the writing and the meditation and the manifestation and the walks and the sport and the, you know, it's all of that stuff that is absolutely a daily thing. It has to be. And I notice as I said earlier at like, if I'm not doing all of those, then being the parent or being the person in the business or being the husband, they are fractured and I can't quite perform at the level I'd like to.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:50:50):
Oh, I love that word. Sorry. It's, it's, it's quite a powerful word and I completely resonate with you. Fractured. There's a sense of, I feel more fully present. Mm-hmm
Scott Wimsett (00:51:20):
Totally. And the way that you work, I mean you are going in and helping people, like if you have you, you can't serve from an empty cup type thing, you know, you have to be kind of brimming with a centered self to be able to offer that vision to people. It's so important. And then that stuff becomes contagious. You can feel it, it's palpable, isn't it? They could, they could feed off you and I think we all know ourselves pretty well after this amount of time in the, in the workplace, like how we know to really deliver or when it's starting to become a little bit too kind of fractious or overwhelming or we know our triggers. It's a fool game to ignore that. You know, you've got to think about also the sustainability and the length and duration of your career. Like I don't think I have any interest or many levels to sort of work to a point and then go, oh you know, I might retire. I mean I'm sort of 48 and I have so many people in their eighties around me who are still working and that's really inspiring to me. I definitely can't see that I would want to stop at any point. So you do have to look at the long game and um, keep yourself together.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:52:37):
Interesting. Yeah. With the long game, I think that you made me think of energy, like you have to be very conscious of managing your own energy levels. Mm-hmm
Scott Wimsett (00:52:53):
Normally go to bed at the same time as my son nowadays, so
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:52:56):
I'm there you go see, but you, you've understood how to manage your energy. Exactly, yes. My father only retired from his medical practice at 75 and the only reason he retired then is because he tore his achilles heel. He had to fix that before continuing to work and he then went back to university because otherwise he'd be bored. And his ex-wife had joined a, a UN, NGO to support women around the world, world in, in her eighties. So we can always continue to contribute.
Scott Wimsett (00:53:32):
That's so cool. Yeah. Mm. Yeah.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:53:34):
Scott, thank you so much for your time. It's already been
Scott Wimsett (00:53:49):
I guess? You know, I mean, I just wanna be mindful of the fact that they, you know, the fashion and beauty industries are really brilliant spaces as well. I don't wanna feel like I'm so down on them because I'm not, they've offered me a career and I definitely have worked very closely with the fashion council and the beauty council in the way of like what we're, what we're aiming to do as an industry. And I, I feel so positive about the change that's happening. We've just finished a series of films with the beauty council about encouraging the young to enter the industry and they're all sorts of areas around sort of cosmetic science or sustainability or just all of the different route into the industry. Technology being a big one. We worked with meta on that and you know, it's wildly exciting. It's about finding your contribution in a really creative way and like you say, marrying kind of a sense of purpose to creativity because those industries are a hotbed for that and they are looking at the young.
(00:54:52):
So I'm really, yeah, that was the only thing I'd want to add in the way of like, there are two industries that I feel are in such a significant transition that if I was young and thinking about what to go into in regards to this sort of zero tolerance, but when I see things differently then I feel there are two industries that are all ears on lots of levels. So you find your right routine and you make yourself heard. And I think on your watch you could see a real difference and realize, you know, something as flippant as fashion and beauty could actually be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:55:24):
I completely agree and I'm really glad that you pointed that out. It's true that with the expertise that you have and the experiences that we've both shared in the industry, we can see both what's broken about the old model and the possibilities of the future. There's some people who are doing some incredible stuff and I think that there's room for innovation in all industries to help make the changes that we need to see happen. That's it.
Scott Wimsett (00:55:48):
Mm-hmm.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:56:10):
It's like amazing. So let's go to my closing questions. Are you ready,
Scott Wimsett (00:56:16):
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:56:17):
Great. So what is a favorite word that you could tattoo on yourself?
Scott Wimsett (00:56:24):
I mean, I have a tattoo of a word, which is my son's name and that, I mean, that sounds so sort of cliche again, but it's the only word that we changed his name in the adoption and it's his new name and it sort of represents everything about our life as a family. There's a rainbow family as a forever family and yeah, I definitely had to tattoo that on my arm because it was, it was a daily reminder of just how brilliant life is and how lucky
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:56:53):
What does connection mean to you?
Scott Wimsett (00:56:57):
Connection means being seen, feeling heard, being given permission to be your authentic self. Feeling that you are, yeah, you are with like-minded souls that are aware of how precious life is and that we all have shared values. That's real connection to me.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:57:24):
Now, this is really hard. One
Scott Wimsett (00:57:31):
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:57:59):
So many other, oh my god, do you, I'm so glad you named that because I've put together a playlist of every song that's been selected by my guests as an answer to this.
Scott Wimsett (00:58:09):
So there's a lot more high brow than faith, but No,
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:58:11):
No, no, no. Cause see it's about what song best represents you. It's not about judging and it's very eclectic, but we definitely needed some George Michael in that. Yeah, love George. So, what is the sweetest thing that's ever happened to you?
Scott Wimsett (00:58:26):
Oh my gosh. I mean probably I'm allowed to say that it's probably my husband and I getting married in Meditation Mountain in Ojai just outside of Los Angeles, which was all of our family sat at on blankets at the top of Meditation Mountain and we were married by a wonderful spiritual healer. And yeah, it was just driving up through the orange grow and that probably in my life has been the sweetest, most beautiful love thing I can dial up.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:59:03):
That's gorgeous. What is a secret superpower that you have?
Scott Wimsett (00:59:09):
My dance card is quite often fall in regards to invitations to dinner. So a lot of my friends say, well invite you cuz you put people at ease and you make them laugh. So I think, I think possibly that's maybe a sort of secret power or superpower, whatever you call it, I think definitely is to, you know, have fun and laugh, like really properly laugh and definitely hopefully making within the interview context of men in my work is making people feel at ease.
Anne V Muhlethaler (00:59:34):
Mm. What's a favorite book that you can share with us
Scott Wimsett (00:59:38):
Book? So I, I'm really bad at doing a massive reading and I dunno about anyone else listening, but I do find it increasingly harder to find the time that's really lazy. So you do kind of go into audio books and there's so many, I mean Michelle Obama's book was pretty mind blowing. There's a one that I really would love to share and her name's Anne Glenconner and she's a lady in waiting and it is so brilliant because the audiobook, she sort of narrates it and stuff, but she was Lady in waiting to Princess Margaret and it's just of another time and she's so powerful about her storytelling and the sort of sense of family, but also she married the, the guy who bought Mustique and they did all of those insane parties and so it was this sort of marrying together of the kind of exotic of the sort of Stones and then the royal circles and then the just the excess. And she's also had such a journey and she's had quite a few children and there were the journeys and so somebody in there sort of approaching 90 to talk about their life story are definitely recommend doing the audio book on Lady and Waiting by Anne Glenconner.
Anne V Muhlethaler (01:00:42):
Oh, it sounds amazing. I'm convinced you just sent me on a journey already, so, oh wow.
Scott Wimsett (01:00:49):
Yeah.
Anne V Muhlethaler (01:00:50):
Imagining that you can step into a future version of yourself, what do you think is the most important advice that your future self could give you? Current self? You
Scott Wimsett (01:01:02):
Keep going. I mean, I know again, probably a lot of people say that there are, with all honesty in life, you know, there are lots of times where from a mental health perspective, you know, we are fragile, we are fragile people and there's a total permission to allow that in that we don't have to be the sort of super duper kind of machines. Like actually we are all incredibly fragile and there are times that you do need to feel that somebody's got the small of your back and are telling you keep going, you're doing really well. Just believe in self, have faith and carry on. And that little voice, whether it's yourself or whether it's your guardian angel or whether it's you know, your kind of spiritual community around you, I think that voice and that encouragement would be what I'd like to hear from myself.
Anne V Muhlethaler (01:01:54):
Thank you. And my final question, what brings you happiness?
Scott Wimsett (01:02:00):
My son, again real, I mean it really is that it's, I know and again, lots of people talk about their children, but it's his laughter when he does that total kind of abandon of the head throwing back and that real, real laughter. There's really nothing else that I could feel more, more happy about. It's just a joyful thing. And thankfully there's a lot of it in the house because he is a very last half full optimistic joker. So they're very warmhearted, fun dinner table conversations with lots and lots of big doses of laughter. So that's my high.
Anne V Muhlethaler (01:02:40):
Sounds like a wonderful high. Thank you so much. I had such pleasure chatting to you and it does feel like I know you after our previous chat and with today, I know we've got friends in common, so perhaps there's a reason why I feel that sense of connection. So if people are interested to get in touch and find out more about you or the things that you do with bespoke banter or the Feelgood foundation, where can they find you?
Scott Wimsett (01:03:07):
Mm, yeah, so definitely Bespoke Banter is a good destination to go to in regards to all of our contact details. So just bespokebanter.com and then The Feel Good Fellowship.com as well with all of the contact details there. And then always love to hear from people on Instagram. So it's just @ScottWimsett and just all the teas, Scott tt, Wimsett tt, like lots of tees. But yeah, I mean definitely really appreciate any kind of shout out like that. So thank you very much.
Anne V Muhlethaler (01:03:34):
Awesome. Thank you so much for everything. I hope that we'll get a chance to connect perhaps in person in a few weeks when I next. Yes, please visit London and I am going to send you off to have a wonderful weekend as I know that you are going to be running back to your son and to Somerset.
Scott Wimsett (01:03:52):
Ah yes. Well it's Apple Day this weekend in Somerset, so there's a whole kind of harvesting of all the apples and there's a big, big party happening on my friend's farm. So we are gonna be drinking cider and dancing with the children under the apple trees. So just be glorious. Hoping for good weather. Fantastic.
Anne V Muhlethaler (01:04:08):
Scott Wimsett (01:04:09):
Anne V Muhlethaler (01:04:14):
So friends and listeners, thanks again for joining me today. If you'd like to hear more, you can subscribe to the show on the platform of your choice. If you'd like to connect, you can get in touch with me at @annvi on Twitter, Anne Muhlethaler on LinkedIn or on Instagram at @_Outof_the_Clouds, where I also share daily musings about mindfulness. You can also find all of the episodes of the podcast and much more on my website and v milita.com. If you don't know how to spell it, it's also gonna be in the show notes. If you would like to get regular news directly delivered to your inbox, I invite you to sign up to my monthly newsletter. So that's it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening to Out of the Clouds. I hope that you will join me again next time and until then be well Be safe and take take care.