@rosalynwikeley
For this weeks WONDER WOMEN WE KNOW we speak to Rosalyn Wikeley.
Rosalyn Wikeley is a writer and Condé Nast Traveller’s Creative Content Editor. Her features have been published in the Financial Times, the Telegraph, Tatler, Country & Town House, the Mail on Sunday and Suitcase Magazine.
1. Go to Happy Hour drink?
Most cocktail menus overwhelm me (agony of indecision etc.,) so my strategy is to hunt down the word picanté and things usually turn out OK. @sohohouse Picanté á la Casa make infinitely more fun to be around.
2. What’s one item you have to take in every handbag?
A @noblemacmillan paper diary p call me a luddite but I need to see my week/month/year ahead on paper.
3. What are you reading, watching, listening to?
I’m just finishing The Hare with the Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal and am increasingly concerned that every subsequent read will disappoint. I’ve just watched Motorcycle Diaries based on the young Che Guevara’s road-trip (the experiences of which helped cement his political convictions) and I’m listening to the FT’s Culture Call podcasts and Sapiens on Audio as I battle with Battersea park’s pollen problems.
4. What are your top self-care tips?
Don’t be susceptible to the tyranny of ‘wellness’ – it’s one of our era’s greatest paradoxes. If singing Abba in the shower or reading a trashy mag relaxes you and yoga and chanting don’t, you do you! The coercive nature of what constitutes ‘balance’ can be more damaging and ultimately Saturday morning lie ins do more to level me than scheduled meditations.
5. What advice would you give to teenage you?
Spend more time building your strengths than patching up your weaknesses – there’s no curriculum in life and experts are more alluring than all-rounders. And go easy on the eye liner.
6. What advice would you give to other women trying to get into/working in your industry?
Hustle hard and hustle smart, as it won’t be handed to you on a plate. Those who dismiss this advice either had a lucky break or did in face have it handed to them on a plate. Read, read, read some more. Get digitally savvy. Find an area to build expertise in. Fine people who believe in you and your writing and align with them. Oh, and learn to play chess. You’ll need it.
7. What’s been your biggest challenge so far?
A personal one which dwarfs all career challenges, and thus, while frustrating, these are often rendered less daunting.
8. What drives you?
Restless curiosity. I strongly believe that there is no greater privilege than the ability to articulate complex emotions and social phenomena through writing. Like untangling a mental knot of delicate gold chains, it’s satisfying, rewarding, fulfilling… this drives me for now. I studied politics at University and will return to it once I’ve untangled a few more chains. Speaking of, please tell me you are following the Connell’s Chain IG account?
9. Who inspires you?
Joan Didion, every, time. For her impeccable prose and style.
10. What’s next for you?
I’d be amazed if anyone had a solid answer to this one. Corona has replaced our diaries with a crystal ball, but I seriously hope it involves travel. As soon as they lift lockdown, I’m going to fulfil last year’s resolution and confront my fear of flying by learning to fly a plane.
11. What’s your favourite Stone & Mason product?
Call me Carole Baskin but I love this bespoke leather Tiger bag.
12. How do you style your Stone & Mason?
Daytime, flung over an oversized tee ticked into black boyfriend jeans. Evening, with an unfussy LBD.
