The Stance Issue #1

American artist Mickalene Thomas has just returned from Paris. She's been busy with her latest exhibition at the city's Grand Palais. After eleven days away from home she's relieved to be back in New York – it's a contradiction we're all familiar with. Travelling is so liberating; it's great to get away, but always good to be reunited with your own bed, your own pillows, and your own space.

There are some families where creativity runs through the genes. For the Elgorts, this inheritance is something they practise and finesse with commitment, forever sharpening their skills. Image-making, movement, and performance might sound like a bunch of separate disciplines, but for Sophie, her father Arthur and mother Grethe, they are overlapping ways of engaging with the world.

There are some families where creativity runs through the genes. For the Elgorts, this inheritance is something they practise and finesse with commitment, forever sharpening their skills. Image-making, movement, and performance might sound like a bunch of separate disciplines, but for Sophie, her father Arthur and mother Grethe, they are overlapping ways of engaging with the world.

For a man who manages the wealth of some of the world's most influential individuals, Mike Anders doesn't speak like a traditional finance expert. Laidback, warm and super charismatic, he seems remarkably uninterested in money as an end goal. His enthusiasm centres around people instead – on the notion of trust, listening, and the idea that good conversations and true connections are where life's real value lies.

There’s a warmth to Sandy Tabatznik’s voice, which makes it easy to get a real sense of her lived experience when she talks. We start the conversation by considering the notion of women supporting women, which Sandy doesn’t frame as a trend or a strategy – it’s simply a fact of life. “In our Lalela Female Empowerment programmes, we encourage our girls to look to each other for community instead of competition,” she says. “I think this is a lesson that also stands in the world of business. There is room for everyone at the table.” It’s a quiet, but radical statement that feels practical and rooted in decades of experience (and a deep belief) in shared success. “At Lalela, we’re constantly seeking to empower not only the young women in our programmes, but also our female teachers, community leaders and staff. Our leadership team at Lalela has a female majority and together, these women have created an environment of care, creativity and respect that we are deeply proud of.”

“They’re like children. I don’t have a favourite!”. A diplomatic response from Public House Group co-founder, Phil Winser. As someone who originally wanted to be a farmer, his career pivot towards hospitality was “a calling”. After twenty years shaking up the food scene in New York with The Fat Radish, Phil turned his attention back to his homeland in 2020. A conversation over a pint with friend James Gummer gave the duo an idea to put some serious love back into the classic British pub. A combination of beautifully restored historic buildings, brilliant atmosphere, domestically brewed beers on tap and spectacular menus that celebrate local produce have meant their establishments consistently sit in London’s ‘best of’ lists. Olivier van Themschse joined the business in 2023 to officially launch Public House Group as a business following the success of The Pelican.

Some people have an air of always being mid-journey, even when they’re sitting still. David Prior fits that bill. He is wanderlust, personified. Born in Australia, he left early, propelled by what Australians often refer to as ‘the tyranny of distance’, moving to Italy in 2006 to study Gastronomic Science in Piedmont, then to California in 2009 and finally, to New York in 2014. Clearly, geography matters to the founder of esteemed travel company Prior, although taste and cultural literacy matter more.

Reinvention has never been the aim for Georgie Greville. With a successful career threaded through the realms of music, film, beauty, culture and entrepreneurship, what sounds at first like a dream résumé has morphed into more of a life philosophy. At the core, she personifies deeply embodied creativity, but when she speaks, there’s a force of clarity that flows – announcing with candour that these skills are now being used for the good. The lure of corporate pizza has lost its appeal and Georgie’s expertise is no longer for sale. Her defiance is inspirational.

The shared world of New York-based Legacy Russell and Andreas Laszlo Konrath is shaped by language, images and history. Curator, writer and author Legacy grew up in the East Village, with Andreas arriving from London after a long, meandering education through skate culture, art school, and the early-2000s visual economy of magazines and music. Together, they model a way of living with work, rather than inside it. Their respective practices are distinct, but in constant conversation.

Richard Haines has spent a lifetime looking at stuff. At clothes, people and posture. He clocks those small daily decisions we all make that reveal something bigger about ourselves. This observational prowess gives his drawings a very specific kind of documentary authority. When he talks about sitting down with a blank sheet of paper and an ink pen, there’s no mythology attached. “I have a pretty deep, primal relationship with drawing. When I’m doing it, I’m not thinking – it’s more of a meditation. If I end up with something I love I’m a bit surprised.”