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Natural Fulfilment

Sick? Anxious? Depressed? Perhaps you should try flowers.

Diana Mossop is synonymous with Phytobiophysics, a practise that harnesses the vibrational power of plants to restore balance and harmony on all levels of consciousness. Her main mission is ‘to bring affordable health care to the people of the world’. She was born the daughter of a pioneering farmer in Nyasaland, Africa, living 100 miles from the nearest neighbours. In her ‘idyllic early childhood’ she was nursed and looked after by African tribesmen and taught from an early age the extraordinary healing powers of herbs and plants.

She discovered eastern medicine when living in Hong Kong, before tragically falling ill with a mysterious tropical disorder. After returning home to seek help, she became frustrated by inadequate treatment, and realised her ‘deep spiritual calling’ to return to her childhood roots of natural medicine. I was intrigued by her story. After all, for every stinging nettle there’s a dock leaf. What I wanted to get to the bottom of was this: if Phytobiophysics is the remedy, what exactly was it curing? What is the root cause of the illnesses we suffer?

I went to Diana’s website for answers. There it states, ’it is our belief that all disease stems from a sickness of the soul’. I was slightly perplexed – what does it mean to have a soul that is sick? Luckily, I had Diana ready to explain it to me. She said that the underlying tragedies in our lives conspire to make us sad, lonely and vulnerable. This then opens the door for viral opportunistic illness. We may not even remember this trauma if it was inflicted on us when we were babies. Or even more so if it is our ancestor’s trauma, which Diana notes can be carried through genetics between generations.

Diana believes that flowers – specifically, the colours of flowers – can help rebalance the body after trauma. This is because her science focuses on the light spectrum, where different colours vibrate at different wavelengths. White flowers are the most import healers for spiritual issues, as white light contains a mixture of all the colours in the spectrum.

This is all a part of what she calls ‘The Mossop Philosophy’. She writes that ‘flower essences vibrate on the frequency of colour. They are vibrational and contain no toxic substance. They never do harm and support us on the highest spiritual level, enlightening our hearts and souls’. I delved deeper to figure out how exactly Diana created her medications. After scouring her website for clues, I found that the Phytobiophysics Formulas use ‘the living light vibrations of plants – captured as a memory in water, then amplified’. The secret, it told, was ‘the capturing of the living light essence of the plant’.

Now I was really curious. How does one capture light? And even after this, how do you ensure the light is living? I was aware that Diana might not want to share her processes, and thus reveal the secrets of her trade. Luckily, she was more than happy to tell me.

There are two methods: the traditional sun method, or a more direct method. The former method captures the vibrations of flowers through leaving them floating in water, under the sunlight. This activates the essence. Diana explained the extraordinary sight, saying “the activation process is seen by the formation of thousands of tiny little bubbles that form on the petals. The water becomes crystal clear and seems to fizz like champagne”.

The latter method is to harvest the essence directly from dew or raindrops on the flower when they have been dampened by the rain. Diana told me this is a well-know method explained in detail by Dr Bach, but also that this method of making medicine from plants is prominent in ancient Eastern medicine. It is known as Bunghi Bangsa in Malaysia, which she informed me translates to ‘Flower Medicine’.

At this stage, there is still more hard work for Diana. The liquid essences that have been collected are not stable enough to retain the high level of amplification needed to provide healing on a deep level. Thus, when creating her Phytobiophysics formulas, she uses a “solid sucrose mandala” which is sucked by the patient. This allows an “electrical charge” to penetrate deep into the body’s cellular system. Each of these formulas vibrate on a particular frequency, corresponding with the necessary energy system or organ of the body. 

She has a whole arsenal of formulas up her sleeve, and 100 of these are grouped together in what she dubs ‘the bullet box of jewels’. I went to her YouTube channel to find out more about these formulas. Diana explained that “the 100 Hedgerow Elements really are fascinating indeed because they are the 100 elements of the Periodic Chart. They vibrate on the frequency matched to the frequency of each of the elements of the periodic chart”. She reminds us to remember that “we are made up of the periodic chart”.

It was a scientific feat that baffled me, and so I got back in touch with Diana to ask her how she figured this all out. She told me that it was whilst “working with a very eminent scientist who researched the vibration of the elements of the periodic chart called vibrational elementals. By matching the vibration of the elements to the flower essences using the Voll methodology I was able to relate and correlate the elemental energy to specific flower essences”.

Diana’s science is complimented by an element of spirituality. After coming across an article she wrote, titled ‘Sacred Victoria Lichens’, I found that she once had a sacred dream that led her to astonishing research. The dream involved three white ovals and a black ball, all coming together into one composition. It brought her to Victoria Island off Vancouver, where she found rare lichens that ‘transformed some of the most important Phytobiophysics formulas’. I reached out to her about her dreams, as I was curious to know whether she had others that had fuelled her craft. She confirmed that there have been “many”.

Diana has spent a lifetime searching, at home and across the horizon. If anyone would know why natural medicine is the way forward, it’s her. I asked for her opinion on why we should look to nature for our healing methods. She insightfully responded: 

“Nature fulfils all the answers”.

The shape of seaweed

I first heard about Charlie Cadin’s sustainable surfboards back in school. Witnessing him haul bucketloads of wine corks through the school gates had made for a confusing morning. When I found out he was creating a surfboard for a DT project, I marvelled at the idea of repurposing the remnants of a good night out. To my late teenage mind, there was nothing so poetic as this.

Charlie got into surfing as a kid, at one of the little surf schools along St Ouens Bay. He dabbled with the sport all his life, but became properly invested during secondary school. On the side, he made small wooden bodyboards created using left-over wood. This evolved during covid, when he kept himself occupied with mountains of insulation foam from B&Q. Charlie’s lockdown distraction of choice was much better than mine. Whilst he was becoming a surfboard shaper, I was trying to find willing mouths to shove my banana bread in.

Pandemic-Charlie could never have known where his time-killing hobby would take him. Last time we spoke with him, he had just created his first surfboard from one of Jersey’s invasive seaweed species. It was an engineering feat that earned him a Vissla Innovators Award in 2020. Since then he has revolutionised his crafting process, turning seaweed into a foam which can be shaped just like a regular board. The end goal with this is to create materials that another surfboard shaper can just pick up and use, without needing different equipment or having to change their techniques. Charlie noted that “there’s still a fair way to go, but the process of getting there is fun for me”.

Despite this statement, Charlie has already gone… far. One of his seaweed boards were used by The World Surf League for a WSL event in Portugal. The board won the entire competition. His creations have been put to the test in some of the biggest winter waves the UK has ever seen. Reflecting on this moment, Charlie admits “it was incredible to see a board I shaped being used in very hectic conditions”, despite it being “pretty stressful”.

But whilst the highs have been high, the lows have been low. Charlie spent a gruelling ten months recovering from a spinal injury inflicted during surfing. Overcoming this and getting fit again was the hardest thing he’s ever done. In addition to these personal struggles, he faced obstacles in his craft too. The materials made from seaweed were really unpredictable. You could spend a week preparing and making the mixture, and then overnight a slight temperature or humidity change could completely warp the board. I’ve made enough sunken banana breads in my time to really understand Charlie’s struggle. Like my baking endeavours, consistency can be a real issue with bio-based materials. It means that the time taken to make them is so huge, it is difficult to put a fair price on.

For this reason, Charlie does not currently sell his sustainable surfboards. He sees this endeavour as mostly testing and developing new materials. So far, he’s created boards made from plastic bottles, disposable face masks and old skateboard decks.

When he’s not at university studying marine engineering, Charlie divides his time between his sustainable experiments and creating standard, normal boards. These he sells through word of mouth, and he is “incredibly grateful” to the people who are supporting these creations. 

But why does Charlie also make regular boards? After dedicating so much time to seaweed, does he not feel inner-turmoil putting it to the side and doing something else? He told me that there are many factors to consider in terms of sustainability. For example, if a 50% bio-based board only lasts two years before needing replacing, arguably a traditional board that lasts for decades is better. Charlie noted that it is “a tricky balance between durability, repairability, and environmental impact”. It’s a reminder to keep an open-mind when thinking of ways to battle the climate crisis. What Charlie’s doing is amazing, and he’s learnt a lot. But he isn’t afraid to go back to the drawing board and change things up when he needs to.

He admitted that it is hard to feel like you’re making a contribution when you compare yourself to large polluting companies. However, he believes that our individuals efforts add up. He encourages others to just take a chance and follow their heart when it comes to these things. He says “even if you have the smallest idea in your mind – give it a go”. After all, Charlie’s sustainable surfboard projects began when he was poked in the foot by a tough bit of seaweed. If he hadn’t decided to follow that first spark, he wouldn’t be where he is now.

Next time I host a party I’m donating all the rubbish to Charlie’s projects. Maybe minus the pizza crusts and cigarette butts (I’m not sure how well they’ll hold up in the waves).

Instagram: @charlie.cadin

Featured Image: Luke Hosty

Zara Le Cornu – Bean Abroad

Ever felt the urge to leave the rock and never come back? This is Zara’s story of how she managed to do it. After having her heart stolen by the beautiful landscapes of mainland Europe, her mission to stay in this part of the continent took her on the wildest of journeys. She’s a 22 year old artist currently roaming the streets of Milan, studying, painting and learning about life. It has been the adventure of a lifetime, and she wouldn’t change it for the world.

“After leaving school in 2020, I changed my subject from portraiture to Jersey seascapes, taking inspiration from the beauty of my immediate environment. This didn’t last long however, as I had the opportunity to spread my wings by moving to the Swiss Alps just before the second wave of COVID. 

After moving I fell completely in love with the landscape and ended up staying another two years. During my second ski season I became a qualified BASI Level 2 instructor and so my knowledge and appreciation of the mountains grew. During my 3rd season I completed an internship in events management which gave me a lot of free time. I decided to set myself the challenge of completing enough works to hold a solo exhibition. I dedicated my time to painting oil and acrylic mountainscapes and managed to gather a series of 15 works together to show at the beginning of April 2023. This was an achievement I was very proud of. It took lots of self discipline and organisation, with the hard work paying off.

Having fallen in love with Switzerland, the idea of returning to either Jersey or the UK was difficult, although it seemed I had no choice due to the restrictions of Brexit. I even had employers wanting to give me jobs but without an EU passport or highly qualified skills it was proving an uphill battle. I was beginning to give up on my dream to live abroad, working as an artist (definitely not considered a highly qualified occupation). After hours of research trying to find loop holes and wriggle room in the Brexit rules my hopes were fading. The one option that remained was to study abroad, so began my search for an Arts Degree anywhere in Europe. I took a chance on myself and was lucky enough to receive a talent based scholarship to Nuova Academia di Bella Arti in Milan. Next hurdle, to obtain a student visa – a hideously long and complicated process which had me in tears at times and required huge determination. This challenge has shown me if you want something badly enough, have the courage to go for it. You only ever regret the chances you didn’t take. 

When I first moved to Milan, it didn’t take much time before I started to regret my decision. I was naive about the struggles I would face, not speaking the language, not knowing the city and not having a single person I could call a friend nearby. After a slow start to the course, we shared portfolios and I was told my photorealist style of art was “a waste of paint”, making me question everything. As a result I started suffering from creative block – though I had creative ideas I was scared of failure. But what is failure in Art? In what felt like an act of rebellion, I abandoned every technical aspect I had been taught, painting freely with no intended outcome. What evolved was a large colourful mess of my emotions, based on exerpts from my journal during my first 6 months in Milan. It ended up being the most honest I’ve ever been through my art, which terrified me. I hated the piece. Whilst I loved the process of making it, I didn’t like the outcome and took it down off my wall as soon as the paint was dry. Presenting this piece was one of the scariest things I have done but to my surprise it was a real hit with my peers and tutors. I’d had so much fun and freedom creating this, I decided to forget about what I thought others expected of me and paint for myself. My time since moving to Milan has greatly helped me give up caring what people think about my work. Luckily, I’ve never really cared too much about what others opinions of me as a person are, but this work, being so personal – that was scary, it was my soul reflected on canvas. 

As I’ve gotten older and more experienced, I’m realising the value of being honest in your work. You don’t always need to set out a goal for your artwork – put on some good music, have fun and make a mess, just start! One of my biggest inspirations is Amy Winehouse. Her honesty through her song lyrics as well as her ability to write a banging melody helped me to become more honest with myself through my own form of expression. Great to sing and dance around my studio to as well. I now accept that some people may love my work, others may hate it but as long as I enjoy creating it, that’s what’s important. 

I’m only at the beginning of forging a career as an artist and I realise that the road ahead is not an easy one, full of self doubt and financial worry but I am following the subject closest to my heart. Everyone thinks after you leave school you need to have it all figured out. I got one year into my five year plan and threw the rest out of the window. My advice would be to give yourself time. Perhaps a gap year should be mandatory – an opportunity to challenge yourself outside of your comfort zone in order to get to know yourself better. It is ok to not know who you are yet or what you want to do, we need to be reminded of this. For anyone moving abroad or living away from home for the first time and feeling homesick, comfort yourself with a home cooked meal, maybe one from your childhood. Good food can help with a good mood. 

I have no idea what the future holds for me, but I’m in no rush to get to where I want to be (although my parents might be!). I’m proud of my progress and enjoying the journey. I have learnt that if you are true to yourself and go after what you really want, it’s not necessarily going to be easy and often the battle will be an internal one. I hope that I can make a living as an artist, creating art that touches people in some way that relates to them personally. My dream is to return to the mountains and start a creative workspace to collaborate with other young artists, musicians and craftsmen alike, serving good coffee which turns into cocktails in the evenings! Luckily, with a recent turn of events, this no longer feels like just a far away dream but a reachable one, with stepping stone goals in place to make this possible. I hope to return to Verbier after my studies for the 2026/2027 Season and I’m excited at the prospect of starting a business with my partner, who has a joint creative vision. I couldn’t imagine myself happier today. Meanwhile, in the inimitable words of Dory… “Just keep swimming”!”

Instagram: @zlc_art

Stonehage Flemming Quiz Night

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Stonehage Fleming, one of the world’s leading independently owned family offices,
had the pleasure of sponsoring and hosting their annual charity quiz night at The Club Hotel & Spa,
St. Helier.


Ten teams from Barclays, Investec, Carey Olsen, Bedell Cristin, Mourant, Walkers, Grant Thornton,
Appleby and Hatstone put their thinking caps on to compete for a donation of GBP2000 for a charity
of their choice.


Stonehage Fleming were delighted to be joined by charities representatives from Macmillan Cancer
Support Jersey, Motor Neurone Disease Association Jersey Branch, Jersey Hospice Care, Beresford
Street Kitchen, Caring Cooks of Jersey, Headway Jersey, Healing Waves, NSPCC Jersey, Salvation
Army Jersey Corps and Family Nursing & Home Care.


Ana Ventura, Stonehage Fleming Family Office Partner in Jersey, hosted the evening with several
other Partners and Directors, including Grant Rogerson, Ian Crosby, Richard Stride, Bev Stewart,
Laura Perkins, Tatiana de Sousa, Sarah Bartram-Lora Reina and David Ibbotson, in attendance.


The Walkers team, hosted by Grant Rogerson, Partner in the Stonehage Fleming Family Office team,
emerged victorious and were delighted to present Headway Jersey, represented by Sarah Le Page
and Karen De Gouveia with the donation.


Ana Ventura thanked everyone who took part: “The evening was a great success, bringing the
industry together through an event which combined a sense of fun and healthy competition to raise
money for a very important cause.”

Misc: Tackling Important Questions

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What is the circumference of a sombrero?

The sombrero is a broad-rimmed, high-crowned hat made of felt or straw, worn especially in Mexico and the southwestern United States. The term ‘sombrero’ is derived from the Spanish word sombra, meaning ‘shade’. Gentlemen wore felt sombreros, whilst peasants wore straw. 

But what is the circumference of a sombrero? According to Britannica, the brim of a sombrero in Mexico can be as much as 2 feet wide, giving it a circumference of 173”. Mariachi Connection, a high-end provider of felt sombreros, averaged out at just over 69” in circumference. Party Corner and Lifeguard Hat offer circumferences within the range of 64” – 74”, slightly larger, but noticeably composed of straw. Made in China offer exquisite sombreros designed specifically for dogs, and whilst the exact measurements were not stated, these appeared to be significantly smaller. 

To really turn the tables, if you speak Spanish, the word sombrero just means ‘hat’ and thus the circumference is largely ambiguous. Technically, if you’re wearing a beanie in Spain, the size of your sombrero is just going to be the circumference of your head. This factor varies between individuals, proving a sombrero is not a one-size-fits-all item, and appears to have no industry-wide standards in terms of its measurements. 

What makes real ale ‘real’?

Everyone knows that ‘real ale’ is an actual drink and all other ales are an intangible entity possessing a pint glass. But what is it that makes real ale so ‘real’? I went to the Farmers in St Ouen to talk to the experts. 

I was informed that real ale is real because it is flat, not dead, like the artificially carbonated stuff. It is the true “daily bread” of the middle-age male drinker. Real ale does not need gas to be pumped out of a draft because it contains a living bacteria that does the work for it. This bacteria is incredibly good for the gut and is a vital part of a healthy balanced diet. That is, unless you get the pint at the bottom of the barrel, which is too lively for your gut and will likely cause you to shit yourself. This will end your pub trip early, and so must be avoided at all costs. 

Can you outrun a snail?

Would you accept £10 million if it meant being chased by a killer snail for the rest of your life? I got asked this in the pub, and whipped out my phone to do some research. I didn’t want to make any life-altering rash decisions. How fast is the average snail? And how long would it take to travel around Jersey? 

Garden snails tend to travel at a rate of 0.048km/h at top speed. I’m assuming if this snail has the power to kill me, it would be one of the highest calibre. As such, I rounded up to 0.05km/h (to be safe). Our coastline is 70km, meaning it would take the snail 1400 hours (or 58.3 recurring days) to do a full circle. This seemed like just enough time to get comfortable and forget the whole ordeal. Sneaky snail. 

If you were to buy two houses on opposite sides of the island (L’Etacq and Gorey), you’d still have to move between them twice a month. If the snail took the northern route, he’d be knocking at your door in just under 16 days. What’s worse is that you’ll need to leave these derelict areas for provisions at some point. You let your guard down once and suddenly the snail has turned you into dead meat in an aisle of Waitrose. Or, what if the snail catches on to your tactic of aversion, and stays put for 16 days to greet you when you return? 

It seems as if the only viable option is to pick up sticks and leave the rock. Snails can’t swim, and you’d be paranoia-free in France. Getting on a boat and disappearing into the sunset seems like the way forward. I explained my theory to my friend, who sat back, laughed and said, “what’s to stop the snail from getting on the boat?”

Most stolen pint glass revealed

Are you a law-abiding citizen? Recent research suggests you may not be. According to Nisbets, on average 37 million Brits have stolen glasses or tableware from their local pub in their home. Based on two glasses costing £5, this works out to a £186 million loss in the industry. The survey further discovered that over 3 million Brits admitted that every item of crockery, glassware, cutlery and soft tableware in their home was, in fact, stolen. 

They found that the biggest culprits in the mix were the 18-24 year olds, with a shocking 34% confessing to their crimes. Next in line were 25-34 year olds, at 31%. 18% of those over 54 admitted that they are also guilty of hiding favourable items under their jackets when leaving their local establishment. 

The culmination of this petty-theft led BrewDog to call amnesty on stolen Hazy Jane glasses. Thieves were offered a free refill if they returned their glass to the bar, considered an effective business strategy in light of the heavy rate of disappearances. James Watt, the co-founder and chief executive of BrewDog, was happy that his packaging became the “most stolen glass ever”, and understands the urges of a customer dabbling with thievery. He commented, “if you are going to have a beer glass in your kitchen, we would actually rather it was a glass that you plundered from a BrewDog bar versus a Carling, Stella or Foster’s.

News in Numbers

10 year old snooker champion Archie Greier from Samares school has won another trophy in Swindon’s Cuestars league tournament. He smashes those way above his age bracket in the U21s, standing on his tiptoes and using a cue-extension to reach the middle of the table.

Pocket money is in decline, with weekly earnings averaging at £3.78 (down 10p from last year). Things are not as bad as they seem, due to kids finding new income streams to subsidise the loss. One-off chores and entrepreneurship show high profitability, with an average of £9.23 earned a week.

80 year old trees set to benefit from the upcoming Sunset Concert. Proceeds will be going towards the protection of the island’s coastline, in partnership with Jersey Opera House. ‘Intense damage’ to the site after Storm Ciaran has been tended to, with tree surgeons working to save these elderly trees.

£100,000 has been spent on St John’s Road, in the form of U-turns, diversions and reversals. Criticism has spurred a six-month one-way trial, in an attempt to quell the road’s reckless spending.

14 year-old Buttons has made history as the first dog to be allowed in Jersey’s Royal Court, as owner Julie Daly-Wallman was sworn in as a Jersey Roads Inspector.

66 metre vessel, owned by Liverpool FC’s owner, is the largest private vessel the island has ever birthed. The luxury super yacht, housing an outdoor swimming pool and helicopter pad, was a cool £63 million.

3-18 year old students will be able to attend Romanian classes at Plat Douet School in an attempt to keep the language alive on the island.

10 tracks were recorded by La Moye Prisoners alongside UK charity ‘Finding Rhythms’. They report it was “the best week of their life”, allowing them to express their feelings and “dare to dream”.

songmother.

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I love live music. All it takes is a splash of tequila and I’m letting my hair down on the dance floor. Nothing hypes me up like a good performance of Amy Winehouse. It really gets the girls going. Suddenly we’ve all got ginger hair and we’re refusing to go to rehab. ‘Back to black’ starts playing and we morph into a group of abandoned lovers mourning our man’s infidelity. Long-term committed partners are left watching on the side lines, uncertain whether they should be impressed or concerned.

Jessica Lloyd has been praised as a ‘first class performer’, and ‘one of the finest female entertainers on the planet’. She commands the stage with her outstanding vocals, bringing them to life with her charismatic personality. She has appeared in television commercials for p&o Cruises, Downton Abbey and BBC 1’s ‘Song’s of Praise’. After filling dance floors on cruise ships across the globe, Jessica chose to settle down and reside on our beautiful island Jersey. Here she continues to sing for corporate events, concerts, hotels and weddings.

So why did Jessica decide to trade maritime adventure for grounded stability? The answer lies in every girl’s greatest weakness – the charms of a French man. Pierre was the bridge officer, Jessica embarked the ship, and the rest is history. After five months they decided to get married and have children, but knew there would be no stability if he was at sea. Just a stone’s throw away from Pierre’s homeland, Jersey seemed the perfect place to start a new family. As such, they settled down, and waited for the chaos to begin.

I’m only 22, and am more in my Taylor Swift era than my motherhood one. I almost get morning sickness just thinking about it. For Jessica, it was always something that she deeply wanted, so she dove headfirst into the hardest thing she has ever done. For the first six months she didn’t think she’d ever be able to sing or perform again. Her eldest son toured with her before he started school, and for international shows her whole family accompanied her. She noted that her work is now mostly on-island to put her family’s stability, happiness and education first. Plus, she adds, “the best gigs are in Jersey…”

Jessica has added so much to the island by being here. She juggles multiple philanthropic projects alongside being a performer and a mother. When the Jersey Pain Charity approached her asking if she’d lead a choir, she was more than happy to accept. She knew all about the positive effects of music on physical and mental wellbeing. Bouncing off from this experience, she’s working on a project with the prisoners in Jersey. It is her dream to form a choir at La Moye consisting of inmates, their families and the officers. This has been on her heart for a long time, stemming from her past work with Edinburgh prison between touring. She comments that “from what we know, this has never been done globally, so it’s exciting for all involved”. It sounds like a great way to keep inmates connected with the outside world, and working to reduce the rate of reoffending. 

Jessica’s pioneering spirit has leaked into her career, keeping her at the forefront of the industry. She worked with local legend Brian White to put together The Jessica Lloyd Band back in 2018. They are an energetic, exciting and entertaining group, which aims to provide variety and quality to the band scene in Jersey. When I asked her the story behind the group’s formation, Jessica replied that “Jersey needed better bands”. This led the duo to “put together like-minded musicians who wanted to have fun, no dramas, and create some amazing music”. They perform to the highest standard, and the musicians are the best she’s ever worked with. Not only can they play whatever she sets her heart on, but there has never been a crossed word between them. “No egos, just proper talent!”, she exclaims.

If you need live music to walk down the aisle too (or a break-up tune to scream in your best friend’s face) Jessica Lloyd is the woman for you. Head to her website or socials below to get a greater idea of what she can provide. They do reception drinks, party bands, DJs and more. If you’ve not got an event in the works, you can go and see the band down at the Sunset Concert this year, where they are headlining for the third time coming. She reminds us “it’s a wonderful fundraising evening – don’t miss out”. I’ll see you on Saturday, 15th of June.

NinaRosa

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I first met Nina when we worked as waitresses at Le Braye. She couldn’t reach the glasses, and I consistently smashed them, so we were a really poor team. What we lacked in talent we made up for with charisma. Yes, your flat white was served the temperature of tepid bathwater. And no, you didn’t get what you ordered. But you did find it funny when I thought your career in hedge funds made you a gardener. And your fish tacos did arrive, albeit twenty minutes late.

Nina is now 24 years old, and would loosely define herself as a Neo-Soul Artist with a “deep thick sound”. Her guilty pleasure is belting a powerhouse track – a break in the discipline of balancing “light and shade”. Despite her time at the Royal Northern College of Music, Nina refuses to give in to ‘musical snobbery’. She relies on P!nk for encouragement in tough times, particularly the banger ‘Never Gonna Not Dance Again’. She says “the chorus slaps so hard”, and if she’s ever sad “it gets blasted out”. Naturally, her housemates are obliged to stop whatever they’re doing and dance around with her. She says “it’s become a habit of ours” and that she’d “recommend it to everyone”.

Nina is no stranger to hard times. Two years ago she felt there was something slightly off with her voice. The doctors told her she had vocal nodules, which she passionately reflects on as “lies”. A year later she discovered that she had been misdiagnosed, but no one could identify the real issue. Because of this, she had to make the decision to stop singing completely. She told me she was “heart broken”, and this all went on for another year.

Eventually she discovered there was a problem with her Odema. Her very rare condition affects less than 1% of the population. The culprit: Silent Acid Reflux. This is a “really sexy” issue that I can also relate to. A dreadful round of doxycycline once drove me to drink Gaviscon like water. The worst part about it was that when I explained this to people, they always wanted to know what I had taken. This lead to many an awkward altercation where people assumed I’d had chlamydia. It was an absolute nightmare – my own personal brand of hell.

Nina’s version of hell was not knowing whether her vocal chords would be chopped to bits. Going into surgery, she recalls that she “had no clue what to expect or the damage that would be done”. But she “was tired of waiting around” and gave the necessary permissions to have the procedure. Simply put, she adopted the mantra “if it’s not meant to be then it’s not meant to be”. Luckily nothing went under the knife, and Nina bounced back quickly in hot pursuit of her singing career. 

She was on a mission to play catch up on the years she had lost, wanting to “hit the ground running”. The hard-work paid off, and she had her debut headline in Manchester by February 2024. Off the back of this gig, she was asked to headline Club Academy in Manchester in May. Talking about this experience, Nina said:

“Seeing my name up on Manchester Academy’s Gig List, alongside crazy artists that I look up to was surreal. There I was about to perform on the same stage they were? It was a gig that was unforgettable for me.”

She’s going on to play at Green Island Festival in Manchester, and she reminds us that this is “not to be mistaken with Green Island in Jersey”. You laugh, but it had one of Nina’s friends fooled. Reflecting on the misunderstanding, Nina recalled “it really tickled me”. Instead of a beach in St Clements, the festival is going to be held at a community garden centre. She is looking forward to beautiful scenery, immaculate vibes and a beer in the sun. If you’re heading up North and want to see Nina perform, you’d better be quick because it’s almost sold out. And as of yet, she’s only been serenading people live.

Everyone’s always asking Nina where they can go to listen to her music. I was severely disappointed when I couldn’t find her on Spotify. Nina is meaning to get recording and releasing, but when she came back to the playing field all she wanted to do was perform. She is also a self-professed perfectionist, and said she doesn’t want to look back on what she released like “ahh, wish I didn’t do that”.

Deciding how to brand yourself as an emerging artist is difficult. Even Post Malone did it awfully. Lana del Ray used to go by the name Sparkle Jump Rope Queen, and Billie Eilish went from emo-spider to Marilyn Monroe overnight. The industry demands definition. But what if you just don’t know yet?

Nina knows it’s important to be confident in her trade. Even when you don’t feel ready to back yourself yet. She believes that “everything happens for a reason, and if you doubt yourself, then you open the door for others to doubt you too”. Her boldness is admirable, and rewarded by the fact that she is singing all over the place this year (apparently everywhere but Green Island). Somewhere between all these performances she’s going to enter her recording and releasing season. The people have been left in suspense for too long. But when the food is on the table, who even remembers how long the wait took? I’m sure we won’t remember the days when NinaRosa didn’t have banging tunes on Spotify. 

Photography: Cameron Aird

The lawn is always greener

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This week I heard someone say they had Covid. Just when you thought it was all over, someone uses the word and memories come flooding back.  The cough, being taught how to wash, perspex screens, facemasks, delivery from your favourite restaurants and being off work all summer; the sweeter memories take more domniance as 2019 slips further into the past. 

I’ve laboured through the Covid chat in this intro enough in recent years, but this month it’s particularly pertinent as I‘m back in an office after 4 years in the WFH wilderness. I know the corporate world has been trying to coax employees back into the workplace and away from their four-day weekends (sorry, ‘work from home’ Mondays and Fridays) for a while, but when you’re self-employed, the motivation to leave your house is different. No one wants me to be back in the office, besides me.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed being at home for a while. My makeshift corner-of-the-dining-room office is lovely in the summer; I have my favourite lunch right at hand in the kitchen, and I can look out across the lawn, listen to Radio 6, and cruise through my task list from morning to night. It’s relaxing but, like anything, it gets a bit monotonous.  So when our old office became vacant again, I moved back in, now flanked by some others who want to be in an office again too.

Covid turned Gallery into a pretty much locationless operation, with all the banners, flags, awards, badge makers, stationary, art, and back issues resigned to taking up space in a warehouse. It was an amazing trip down memory lane, unpacking almost 20 years of random items that are now strewn around our historic office space. Despite no longer having a view of the lawn, it’s a different mind-set when you’re focused in a workplace with other motivated people doing their own thing around you.

Our cover stars this month are employees of GenII (formerly Crestbridge) who are investing in the future with technology and AI to enhance their own workspaces and practices (meet these team members on page 82). We also meet a selection of high-flyers in the legal space in our Agenda Law feature (page 69). I’m guessing all these people have flexible work practices now thanks to the legacy of Covid, but there’s nothing like being in the office if you want to really get something done. 


BD

Drifting to the Weighbridge

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We went to the Weighbridge for the opening party of Drifters. It was a spectacular evening made even more spectacular by an open bar. Guests flocked to the doors, drawn in by the atmosphere and the restaurant’s incredible new interior design. The exposed walls are particularly striking, and give the place a rustic yet homely feel. Perhaps even too homely – many uninvited guests were drawn in by the buzzing atmosphere, wanting to make it their bar of the night. It was a great time for catching up and congratulating the owner and interior designers.