Kate Halfpenny shares her Out of Office essentials

In a world where we’re always available, how do you separate your personal time from your work time?

This is an ever work-in-progress topic. I’m not completely there yet, but I must say I’ve learnt some very important lessons over the past two years – the most important being that the world will keep on turning even if I’m not available. I have navigated a pandemic, working from home, and the death of my mother, which have all heavily influenced the subject of a harmonious work life balance. 

When my mother passed away I took two months off. My MD briefed the team and our precious clients that I was to not be contacted. This was the biggest gift they could have given me during this time of grief. The most positive thing to have come from this was that it allowed my already incredible team to flourish In my absence, to step up into their roles with autonomy and confidence, and to continue striving for the goals and objectives as a company we had set. So on my return it was so welcome to see the magic that everyone had been creating and a new way of working has been forged.

I now only work two days a week from London and two short days from my studio at home, allowing me to do the important school runs three days a week and really be there for my seven-year-old son. My incredible and talented husband, James, works mostly from home, and he is the most motivated and diligent home worker I’ve ever met with a defined and clear understanding of when work stops and rest begins. So I really need to try and be more tools down and phones off when my day is done, like James.

What’s one thing you do after the work day to help you unwind?

Play Yo-Yo Ma and sit at the kitchen table with a pile of magazines (mainly interior design ones), immersing myself in the pages. We’re renovating a 5,300 square foot vicarage in Kent, so my interior dreams are my new hobby. When looking at magazines these days, though, I’ve stopped myself from having the phone next to me. Instead I have a pen and paper to note down the things I want to look up, or I pop post-it notes in the pages I want to revisit. 

I also love to paint. I always have a canvas on the go, so I’ll sit and paint, often with my son, Sylvester, in my studio too. You can’t be on your phone when you’re painting, so it's another enforced opportunity to be in my own head with my thoughts and some great records on in the background.  We’re a home and a family full of music. 

What activity do you do in your time away from the office that helps you relax and recentre after a stressful week?

Walking or Reformer Pilates are my real focus for this year and I’m off to a great start. On my days at home in Faversham, I drop my son off at school for 8am, so I can be in beautiful woods or by the sea for a walk by 8.15am with our Australian Labradoodle, Rambo. 

I’m obsessed with Reformer Pilates, it’s like a workout with a massage too. I love how it makes me feel, and I'm really building up my strength. I have an incredible teacher Ceila (instagram.com/favershampilates) who is just wonderful and so encouraging. 

What’s something you’ve read, listened to or seen in your spare time that’s helped you at work?

I love the Diary of a CEO podcast. Steven's guests are so inspiring and there are always amazing takeaways from every interview on a practise or a process that really can benefit your personal growth or focus. The Business of Fashion, as it helps me align with other businesses and the world of fashion, and Jazz Shapers with Mishcon de Reya. The host Eliott Moss is a great interviewer. I was recently on the show and his questions really made me think about so many things and made me delve into my past. I felt proud listening back at my story for the first time really thinking that this little girl from Derbyshire has come a long way, taking a dream to a self-funded and great, British-manufactured bridal business. 

After home and the office, where’s your favourite third space?

Anywhere I can be with my husband and son. It’s not one space per say, more of a place where we’re all enjoying each other's company and there's no rush to be anywhere or do anything.

On Sunday night, how do you prepare yourself for the week ahead?

I love Sunday evenings when we’ve tucked up our son in bed and James and I relax by a log fire with a great movie and no stress. I work from home on Mondays, so there isn’t that same anxiety one would get if it was a super early start or straight into a hectic morning of meetings the next day. I feel very lucky to have such a choice. I never imagined the pace of my life in my mid-forties would be all about balance and harmony, nor did I ever believe I would leave London and live by the coast with such opportunities. I’m grateful for such an incredible team and how acceptable it is to work from home and Zoom.

Best reason you've had to turn your Out of Office on recently?

We had a wonderful trip to Orcas Island near Seattle to stay with our best friends who have a holiday home there. It was such bliss to be on an island surrounded by water, to commute everywhere on a boat. It was really grounding to just be amongst nature, cooking the crabs we had caught, resting, sitting on the terrace reading, painting and making things with the children. It was such an inspiring trip, we will definitely be going back there soon. 

Your go-to Out of Office outfit: Issey Miyake Pleats Please trousers, a  Ganni shirt, a Needles cardigan from Nepenthes, and Nike Undercover Daybreak trainers.

Your happy place anywhere in the world: Palm Springs. The weather, the culture, the mid-century antiques shops, the friends that we go there with, the memories!

Your favourite bar or restaurant: Decimo at The Standard in London, opposite St Pancras Station. I order a classic margarita, the Spanish tortilla, a pork belly taco and the Ensalade de Tomate

Something cultural/sporting you booked recently that you'd recommend: “Chaos and Order” at FRMD in East London. It was such a great exhibition in a tiny gallery space of two talented and wonderful artists and friends. It was pretty much a sell-out show. I’m rather biased as to why it was so great as the artists in question are my talented husband and our dear friend Marcus James. They both used their very different artist practises and collaborated on the same paper to create such relevant and wonderful paintings. 

A very small intimate music recital from Alda Dizdari in the ballroom of her home at Lees Court Estate near Faverham. Alda performed to a small intimate audience with Camilla Pay on the harp, performing their latest album, The Words of the Candle, that they had recorded in that very ballroom. I have never been so moved by music as I was that evening. I felt every note of their performance of Bach's Ave Maria and the ladies shared stories, be it the way the music made them feel, where they first played the pieces, or the history of the composers. It was more than a music recital – it was inspiring and educational. I think at one point the entire room was in tears. 

Jeff Lowe’s summer show “Sculpture Near Distance”at Thirsk Hall Sculpture Park was so inspiring. I'm a huge fan of Jeff’s work and am fortunate enough to have some of his wonderful prints. However I have never seen his work set in such a juxtaposition where Jeff’s painted aluminium “The Juggler” sculpture dominates the hall in Thirsk, in front of a large oil of a hunting scene by John Ferneley. It was breathtaking.

Something you've listened to or read recently that you'd recommend: The Piper podcast, How I Grew My Brand. Adam Brown is interviewed by Mary Nightingale about the growth of the Orlebar Brown brand. I found it so inspiring. 

A hobby you'd like to cultivate: Pottery, more sculpture than function!

Best luxury under £25: Medik8's Surface Radiance Cleanser Resurfacing AHA/BHA Mangosteen Cleansing Gel. It's a super cleansing face wash that Nichola Joss, the epic facialist, got me hooked on when we did a virtual facial consultation during lockdown. I’ve used it ever since and I love it, but most of all I love Nichola's facials (which aren’t under £25, but worth every penny!). 

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