Seat of the Muse

Founder & CEO of Whering Bianca Rangecroft shares 5 crucial things to know when fundraising for the first time.

This week's Muse is Bianca Rangecroft, founder and CEO of Whering, the Clueless-inspired wardrobe app now used by over 10 million people across the world to digitise, see and style what they already own. Bianca spent years in finance working on consumer IPOs including Stitch Fix and Farfetch, where she saw firsthand how much the world buys and how little it actually wears. In this episode, Bia...

Founder Julia Baldet shares how, just under a year after opening her first location, Elevate landed a spot in the iconic Selfridges and the slightly unexpected chain of events that made it happen.

This week's Muse is Julia Baldet, founder and CEO of Elevate, London's first functional smoothie bar. She opened her first store not in Notting Hill but in the Royal Exchange, picked with a clicker and a hunch. A year in, she's been called London's answer to Erewhon, opened a second location inside Selfridges, and is quietly running one of the most impressive consumer brands the City has seen in y...

This week’s Muse is Hadi Halabi, an entrepreneur building a new way to invest in sports. After starting his career in investment banking, Hadi went into entrepreneurship to co found Stryde, a platform with a mission to democratize private markets by opening the door to opportunities that were once reserved for institutions and large investors. In this conversation, we explore his transition from b...

This week’s Muse is Cyril Abou Jaoude, who co-founded Tioopo Capital in 2020 alongside his partners Grégoire Louisy and Shahan Sarkissian, at a time when most professionals in finance are still building experience. Together, they set out to acquire and grow established small and mid-sized businesses across Europe, focusing on companies with strong fundamentals and long-term potential. Five years l...

This week’s Muse is Kalim Bechara, Lebanese art curator, collector, and founder of Kalim Bechara Art Gallery in Beirut. In this episode, Kalim takes us inside the reality of owning and running an art gallery, from the early days and challenges to the relationships that sustain trust between artists, collectors, and institutions. We explore what it truly means to build a gallery, how he developed h...

This week’s Muse is Philip Khoury, pastry chef, author, and founder of Khoury’s. Formerly Head Pastry Chef at Harrods, Phil has built a reputation for pushing the boundaries of modern plant-based pastry, combining classical technique with bold experimentation. In this episode, we talk about his path through the world of fine pastry, the decision to step out on his own, the story behind his books A...

This week’s Muse is Tia Maria, triple-certified integrative nutritionist and founder of TMDWELLNESS, specialising in gut and hormone health. Her mission is to empower people to create sustainable change through a holistic, habit-based approach to wellbeing. In this episode, we explore what integrative nutrition really means and why food doesn’t work in isolation, from gut health and daily routines...

This week’s Muse is Yaroslava Malkova, a foodie working in food, and the Global brand director of 971 Hospitality. She is the creative mind behind some of London’s most in-demand restaurants, including Nina, Zephyr, Bottarga and Lagana. In this episode, Yara answers the question everyone's dying to know: how do you actually land a role like hers, and end up shaping the restaurants everyone’s tryin...

This week’s Muse is Mounia Akl, Lebanese director, writer, and (sometimes) actress whose work blurs the line between structure and emotion. Trained as an architect before turning to film, Mounia built her voice through stories rooted in Beirut before stepping onto Global sets, including directing episodes of Steven Knight’s House of Guinness on Netflix. We talk about her first time on set, how arc...

Snippet from the full episode with sisters and co-founders Lydia and Amelia Miller on building a personal brand. Full episode link here: https://youtu.be/sDABortrHWY?si=k2NmBiFm1uH3UmCP

Peter Jones called it the best pitch he’d ever heard in the Den, but this story starts at home. This week’s Muse is a double one with sisters Lydia and Amelia Miller, co-founders of Ivee , the platform rethinking return to work after career breaks. Within a year, they went from idea to investment, from Techstarts and Balderton Capital to BBC's Dragon's Den, where Peter Jones called their pitch the...

This week’s Muse is Alessandro Palazzi acclaimed head bartender and enduring face of Dukes Bar, one of London’s most iconic institutions and the birthplace of James Bond’s legendary Vesper Martini. For nearly five decades, Alessandro has embodied old-world hospitality - from the George V in Paris to The Savoy in London and since 2007, at the helm of Dukes. A place that feels like a private club wi...

This week’s Muse is Laurel Tchitembo, General Manager of The House of KOKO in London. Laurel and I first met years ago at Folie, where he worked in the restaurant before moving into the world of private members’ clubs. Today, he runs the food and beverage operations at one of the most exclusive venues in the city. In this episode, we trace his journey in hospitality and unpack the difference betwe...

This week’s Muse is Carolina Gawronski, conversationalist, human behaviour expert, and founder of No Small Talk - a platform that turns the simple act of gathering into something far richer. A few months ago now, I walked into a dinner expecting small talk and social niceties - instead, my phone was taken away, and I was handed a single card with a question. No titles, no bios, no filters - just s...

Snippet from Episode 2 with Olive Oil Sommelier Mazen Assaf.

This week’s Muse is Francesca Inglima, who spent eight years at top tier U.S. investment banks before stepping into the Art world. After studying at Sotheby’s she founded Bianca Arte, a cultural salon for the next generation of art collectors. In this episode, we explore the leap from finance to art, the skills that translate across both worlds, how she found the courage to leave, and how her defi...

This week's Muse is Hady Chehlaoui, the owner of 16mm, a bar in the heart of Beirut's liveliest district Gemmayzeh. In this raw conversation, Hady takes us through his incredible journey of resilience, navigating some of Lebanon's most difficult challenges. From the upheaval of revolution and the global COVID pandemic to surviving the devastating 2020 Beirut blast, Hady shares how these events sha...

This week's Muse is Farah Dagher, co-founder of Origin Circle, Beirut's first social wellness club. What started as a conversation between two best friends on holiday quickly became a sanctuary for movement, recovery, and human connection. In this episode, Farah shares the full behind-the-scenes of launching Origin Circle with her co-founder Michelle - from diving in headfirst with no team, to nav...

This week’s Muse is Yasmin Khalil, the founder of KŌDŌ - a clean fragrance brand where scent becomes ritual, and perfume smells like your favorite indulgence. Trained in interior design, Yasmin shifted from shaping physical spaces to curating invisible ones - through smell. Her journey began in Florence, where she signed up for an Airbnb perfume workshop just for fun - and left knowing she wanted...

This week’s Muse is Mazen Assaf, the mind behind The Olive Oil Guy, a brand on a mission to elevate olive oil from everyday ingredient to craft product. What began as a personal passion soon became a lifelong pursuit of excellence: Mazen has since judged at international olive oil competitions, taught at the world-renowned Le Cordon Bleu culinary institute, and worked with some of the top Michelin...

This week's Muse is Katia Nounou Boueiz, Deputy Chairman of Sotheby's Middle East. After joining Sotheby’s London in 2008 to grow its Middle Eastern client base, Katia moved to the UAE in 2015 to establish the auction house’s first office in the region. Since then, she’s helped cement Dubai’s position on the global art map - leading strategy, exhibitions, and regional engagement for one of the wor...

This is my first solo episode as I close out what has been an incredible Season 1. Thank you to all the guests who came on to share their stories and agreed to be part of my journey in hosting this podcast. Thank you to all the listeners who were here every other Tuesday waiting for the drops. Thank you for your feedbacks, follows, ratings and for just being here. SO thankful for you all and for m...

This week's Muse is Andrea Kazan, founder of clean baking mix brand Good Mess. In this episode, Andrea opens up about her health journey, and how almost 5 years ago, her life turned upside down when she fell seriously ill and had to rethink everything she ate, which led her to create a baking mix free from refined sugars and processed ingredients. We dive into her story - how she turned a challeng...