Out of Office

Sarah Haywood shares her Out of Office essentials

In our Out of Office interview series, we speak to Walpole member executives at the top of their game about how they live their lives away from their desks – the habits that help them decompress, the activities that re-centre their minds, and the little luxuries that they can't live without. This week, it's the turn of the internationally-renowned event planner, Sarah Haywood, CEO of Sarah Haywood Weddings & Celebrations.
24th Feb 2023
Out of Office Sarah Haywood 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?

I don’t. I have no clue what that would even look like, but I am working on it! My New Year's resolution was to not have the phone at the dining table, or let one interrupt a meal. It feels like a good start and, so far,  has been very liberating.

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

My last answer was a good segue into that. Dinner in our house is sacrosanct. We always sit down to a home-cooked meal (my husband is retired and a great cook!) or we dine out. It is a tonic every single day that I look forward to.

> Read Sarah Haywood Weddings & Celebrations' Walpole member profile

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

I love walking. I try and walk each morning and at weekends. We are based in Oxfordshire so we like to get outdoors, cook, drink good wine and watch movies. I love to entertain friends and family – it is a gentle reminder that life is really about the relationships we have and make, and the necessity of living your best life each and every day.

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

I love anything related to space travel and can recommend the BBC podcast 13 Minutes to the Moon – the story of building a team to fulfil the ambition of man walking on the Moon. In the whole of human history there’s no better example of trust and teamwork than the first lunar landing and the 13 minutes that preceded it. In a module that could be punctured with the tip of a pencil and just 17 seconds of fuel remaining before it could not get back to the spacecraft Columbia, teamwork landed man on the moon. This happened in my lifetime, and in my line of work teamwork is everything. If we all could approach every project with the same precision, dedication, expertise and trust we would truly excel. I imagine it would be the same in any business.

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

Harrods – even if it is just for a coffee!

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

I love a list. I have the same desk diary every year. I enter everything on the appointments page on the left and on the opposite page plot out the priorities and the ‘to do’ list for the week. I have a list for each project and one for home. Many of the things I enter carry forward week after week, but it keeps me accountable.

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

I have never turned on an Out of Office – not once. I’m in hospitality!

 

The OUT OF OFFICE hotlist:

 

Your go-to Out of Office outfit: A silk blouse (I have dozens of them), white trousers in summer or leather in winter, great footwear and a shawl-sized foulard to look like I made the effort (and, in these times, to glam-up a bit on a Zoom!). I am vertically challenged (no-one is designing clothes for me), so it is the best solution all-round.

Your happy place anywhere in the world: I travel a lot for my work and am lucky enough to enjoy some pretty fancy places. But my happy place is our home in Portugal: it is high-up, overlooking the Atlantic at the farthest corner of Europe (which was once believed to be the edge of the word - and you can feel why). I love it there; the clean air, the sound of the sea, the sun that shines pretty much all year round, swimming (even in winter my husband swims in the ocean!), the unpretentious way of life, the freshness of the fish, the lovely local wines - and where we have good friends to spend time and unwind with.

Your favourite bar or restaurant: That depends when you ask me! But I love the recently re-vamped bars in The Dorchester – a Clover Club is my cocktail of choice. That said, I feel equally at home at the Turf Tavern in Oxford.

Something cultural/sporting you booked recently that you'd recommend and why: Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre in London. I detest musicals (after being taken as a child to see Hi-De-Hi: The Musical). I went with some trepidation, but loved it.

Something you've listened to or read recently that you'd recommend: I am currently reading Madly, Deeply: The Alan Rickman Diaries and listening to Richard E Grant on Audible reading his autobiography, A Pocketful of Happiness. Both actors are candid, witty and warm, so each night I cannot decide which I want to go off to sleep with (if you get my drift). Richard E Grant has perfectly encapsulated what true love looks like and what the depths of grief feel like. You can only experience the latter if you’ve felt the first. That is the great conundrum in life: are you brave enough to truly love another person with every fibre of your being and risk their loss? Thank goodness many are - or I would not have a business!

A hobby you'd like to cultivate: I would like to learn to fly and acquire a pilot’s licence.

A luxury that’s actually a necessity: A good handbag.

Best luxury under £25: Buly orange blossom bath salts. As Sylvia Plath once noted: "There must be a good number of things that a hot bath doesn't cure, but I don't know of many."

Connect with Sarah Haywood on LinkedIn.

sarahhaywood.com

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