Walpole: When did you join Walpole?
Harriet Gilbert Savage: I joined Walpole on a three-month internship in September 2023 and during that time I was treated to some amazing opportunities – particular highlights were interviewing Matthew Slotover, Co-Founder of Frieze for culture week and dancing with David Harewood at the British Luxury Awards! I was offered a full-time role as Content and Membership Assistant in January, and the fun has not stopped.
How did you come to work here? What’s your career history?
I contributed to and edited several newspapers at university, so I was excited to develop my editorial skills through writing Walpole’s newsletters! This is my first ‘career job’ – before working at Walpole I was a waiter in a coffee shop in Sydney. There aren’t too many transferrable skills between the roles, save for the ability to remember the whole team’s coffee order!
What do you do at Walpole?
I work across our membership and content teams, making sure that all of our membership news is shared onsite, on socials, and in our newsletters. I work closely with Rebecca Mars, Senior Membership Manager, at kick-off meetings, catch-ups and events, where we learn our members’ priorities and how we might communicate these through our article franchises or unique content pieces. It’s such a creative, collaborative process – which I love! It is also so rewarding to publish these articles and see the enthusiastic responses from our community.
What’s your favourite aspect of the job?
It’s so lovely to attend such an array of member events, and to see how luxury manifests so differently throughout our sector. But my favourite hour of the week is my meeting with Head of Content, Nick Carvell. We hop to a coffee shop on the King’s Road and discuss our content plan for the week ahead and our long-term strategy. He is incredibly patient with my questions and so encouraging about my ideas. I have learned and continue to learn a great deal from him; he is such a fantastic manager.
What’s the best thing about working in the British luxury sector?
In visiting members’ factories, ateliers and workshops, I get to see all the effort, detail and craft that go into luxury pieces. It’s incredibly inspiring to see the exceptional skills these makers preserve, especially in an increasingly cost-driven, fast-consumerism world. We honoured some of these craftspeople in our Luxury in the Making report, and I’d urge anyone to read the ‘Meet the Makers’ section. The words by Mark Hooper, complimented Sam Walton’s photography are just wonderful.
