Author: JT

  • The boarding location was Zagreb, Croatia, and I was coming off a sleepless, overnight bus from Dubrovnik. Although the 10-hour drive was in darkness, the endless, gigantic trees I saw under the moonlight became another reminder for just how small we are as humans in this world.

    I had thought I’d be able to catch up on missed sleep on the train to Budapest, Hungary. However, tickets for this service had been oversold. Walking through the train carriages, I found that all the cabin seats had been taken with travelers who all looked as rough as I had.

    The only space to sit now were the narrow walkways. Myself, and the others who weren’t as quick to board the train as those now dozing comfortably in cabin seats, piled in. Side-by-side, bag-by-bag, we sat crowded into the carriage and sat down anywhere we could.

    I found myself talking to the girl who sat next to me. Her name was Dani (pictured sleeping), she was 21, and on her way back from a weekend in Split. She first visited Split with her Grandfather who had passed the month before. She had a list of places they’d visited together and wanted to relive them in memory of him.

    Hours went by, and the carriage fell silent. Dani had fallen asleep. “Lucky,” I thought to myself. She didn’t have as long limbs as I to discover a position comfortable enough to find slumber. All you could hear now was an orchestra of the deep breathing of sleep and muffled music coming from headphones as you watched the country outside pass by.

    There was a breeze pouring through the open windows of our balmy carriage. The air was cool against our confined, overheated bodies. I felt full as I studied the scene around me. As uncomfortable as I was being cramped in a small space, I had an overwhelming sense of Eden. I couldn’t quite figure out why.

    It could be the relief of the cool air in the country. Meeting and connecting with strangers inches away from me, or seeing places of the world I had never seen or touched before. Maybe it was all of it; to be having experiences that I had never had before. Ah, yes. That was it!

    It was the feeling of connecting with a stranger on a train. Eating a type of food you’ve never tasted before. Smelling the aromas of gardens, and scents of streets you’ve never walked through. It was the feeling of waking up on a new day knowing you’re seeing something for the very first time. The silence around me now became a verve, and this moment became entirely my own. The newness, the unknowing, the unpredictability.

    The thought entered me like the air running through our carriage. It filled my lungs, cooled my blood, and imbued me totally.  This was my first time seeing Europe, I was 19. I left 6 months later, at age 20, with a promise to myself to keep on having this feeling.

    A promise to myself to never stop doing things I’ve never done before.

    (more…)

  • October 10th, 2017. “POP UP, NYC,” SZA said, announcing a free show at The Box in Manhattan. And, as the willing Queen New York is to her fellow Queens, she made sure she popped. The Box, a venue capacity of 250 at maximum, was met with thousands and thousands of New Yorkers, including my OG Shanice, and me, playing the wide-eyed Aussie in his Solange tour tee.

    It didn’t take long for it to get crazy – GOOD crazy. The streets filled, you weren’t able to see the floor.  The neighborhood had to be closed down. The NYPD filed in. The sky filled with two helicopters to assess how far the crowd was reaching. Rihanna arrived in head-to-toe Burberry. And, ultimately, the show had to be shut down.

    What followed is something that I’ll never forget. A small group of friends starts singing ‘Supermodel’, the opening to SZA’s debut album CTRL. And one by one, as if we were a pool of water that someone had dabbed with their finger, the crowd around joins in. The ripple goes out to the entire neighborhood, who all join in. We start with Supermodel, Love Galore, Doves In The Wind, to Drew Barrymore, working our way through the tracklist.

    People start creating makeshift percussion instruments, banging on metal bins, stomping the yard, clapping their hands. Few start to get on cars to scream to the sky, cupping their hands over their mouths to further the reach of their voice. An intimate concert becomes a block party. We begin dancing, all looking at each other, people who we’ve never met, catching eyes, sharing a moment and our love. We, smiling, collectively fill the air with the electricity that makes New York New York.

     

     

  • A few weeks ago, I visited Melbourne to attend Emperor Champagne’s extravagant celebration for Billecart-Salmon’s 200th anniversary. It was a tasteful evening full of elegant guests, diamonds (literally), and endless bottles of bubbles.

    What does one wear to such an occasion? Something classy, but with enough difference to turn heads. Queue Shayne Tino’s label BY HIM; made to measure suits with bold design and sharp distinction. Suits that are made to guarantee a wave of heads to turn.

    Thank you Emperor for having me. It was refreshing to attend a ball that was so grand it would have matched, or in this case outdid, those held in the prime of their time.

    See more of Shayne’s label here, and stay up to date with his work here.

    To more champagne in our lives,

  • A trip to the dry cleaners can become quite expensive when you’re piling up your cashmere sweaters, silk garments and other delicate woollen goods. It’s a problem I frequently had, until now.

    I’ve read all the blog posts, and all the magazine articles, that clearly explain how to wash your delicates. The factor that all these resources had in common was the washing liquid – it had to be natural. However, which brand or product do we use?

    Look no further, readers. Ms BROWN has saved our wallets from another dry cleaning expense by combining natural and luxury in a range of garment care and laundering products.

    Ms BROWN’s Delicate Wash and Wool & Cashmere Wash are both a concentrated formula suitable for washing machines and hand washing. They’re gentle cleansing liquids that blend all-natural and non-toxic ingredients to soften and refresh our most precious pieces.

    I’ve washed my cashmere sweaters, silk pillowcases and shirts, and woollen cardigans with these wash liquids. All of the above garments came out looking enriched, smelling beautiful, and without damage.

    I washed these pieces singularly inside a muslin cloth bag to give it extra protection and wanted to share Ms BROWN’s products to safely advise that it’s a keeper, and MR TURNER recommended.

    Read more about the ingredients and what they do for each of the washing liquids directly on Ms BROWN. And if you need both of these garment caring items in your life, this little bundle is for you.

    Take care,

  • Chapter 1.

    He adored New York City. He idolized it all out of proportion…no, make that: he – he romanticized it all out of proportion. Yeah. To him, no matter what the season was, this was still a town that existed in black and white and pulsated to the great tunes of George Gershwin.’

    Uh, no let me start this over.

    ‘Chapter 1.

    He was too romantic about Manhattan, as he was about everything else. He thrived on the hustle bustle of the crowds and the traffic. To him, New York meant beautiful women and street-smart guys who seemed to know all the angles…’.

    I love this.

    ‘New York was his town, and it always would be.”

    — Woody Allen, Manhattan

  • Henry Gresson, co-founder of NOMI, talks to MR TURNER for GANT about technology, his the challenges in business, and why perseverance is key. (more…)

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    “…for in that city there is neurosis in the air
    which inhabitants mistake for energy.”

    – Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited

     

     

  • If you’re anything like me, you have a pile of books at home which you have yet to start reading. Knowing this, you still purchase new books telling yourself that you’ll get to it someday. Maybe you plan to start reading on your next holiday, or next sick day.

    Did you stick to the plan? No.

    In 2018 I aim to read more books, learn more, collaborate more, and create more. One thing came to mind when running through ways to keep accountable for reading, and having a Book Club was the first thing that came to mind.

    How does it work?

    Each month there will be two select works – one fiction, one non-fiction. These titles will be announced on the last day of each month. Although it’s recommended that you read both, you only need to have read one. On the last Tuesday of each month, we’ll have our monthly meeting where the wine and our discussion comes hand-in-hand.

    How to get involved?

    Pick up a copy of the monthly titles. Read either, or both, and let me know if you’ll make it to our meeting via email – jt@mrturner.com.au. Once your RSVP is confirmed, you’ll be sent the date, time and location to meet. Most importantly, drinks and nibbles will be provided each month – you just need to bring the banter.

    FEBRUARY BOOK CLUB TITLES

    Non-Fiction: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

    Readers of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert’s books for years. Now this beloved author digs deep into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective about creativity. With profound empathy and radiant generosity, she offers potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering. She shows us how to tackle what we most love, and how to face down what we most fear. She discusses the attitudes, approaches, and habits we need in order to live our most creative lives. Balancing between soulful spirituality and cheerful pragmatism, Gilbert encourages us to uncover the “strange jewels” that are hidden within each of us. Whether we are looking to write a book, make art, find new ways to address challenges in our work, embark on a dream long deferred, or simply infuse our everyday lives with more mindfulness and passion, Big Magic cracks open a world of wonder and joy.

    Fiction: Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

    Isma is free. After years of watching out for her younger siblings in the wake of their mother’s death, she’s accepted an invitation from a mentor in America that allows her to resume a dream long deferred. But she can’t stop worrying about Aneeka, her beautiful, headstrong sister back in London, or their brother, Parvaiz, who’s disappeared in pursuit of his own dream, to prove himself to the dark legacy of the jihadist father he never knew. When he resurfaces half a globe away, Isma’s worst fears are confirmed.

    Then Eamonn enters the sisters’ lives. Son of a powerful political figure, he has his own birthright to live up to—or defy. Is he to be a chance at love? The means of Parvaiz’s salvation? Suddenly, two families’ fates are inextricably, devastatingly entwined, in this searing novel that asks: What sacrifices will we make in the name of love?

     

    Not that you need another reason to join, but the reports are in: joining a book club can actually help you live a longer life.

    I hope to see you next month at the first MR TURNER’s BOOK CLUB meeting!

    Till then,

  • Daniel Flynn, co-founder of Thankyou – an organisation built purely for impact to eradicate extreme poverty – talks to MR TURNER for GANT about his journey, challenges and how he learnt to never give up on his ‘why’.

    Growing up sponsoring a child through World Vision, Daniel always had an awareness of poverty. His first defining moment was at 19 when he first learnt about the World Water Crisis amidst a University assignment.

    “900 million people (in 2008) didn’t have access to safe water,” Daniel says. “I started to think, what if that was me? It moved me to the point that I was sitting at my computer in tears. It was right at that moment I made a decision to do something with my life to help change this.”

    Thankyou’s concept is not traditional, so creative and innovative thinking is distinctly important. “We have this saying at Thankyou,

    “High-five the status quo in the face – with a chair.

     

     

    Daniel continues, “when we wanted to launch our products into major retailers, we were up against a system that had been created for big businesses with millions of dollars to spend. We knew that to get the result we needed, we would have to take an innovative, creative and unconventional approach.”

    On the topic of facing challenges, Daniel Flynn mentions that “for me and the team, knowing our ‘why’ kept us moving and helped us to get up again.”

    “My advice to anyone still searching for their ‘why’ it to ask yourself some really hard questions: What moves you? What makes you happy? What makes you angry? Some people are really passionate about an issue and others aren’t – it’s not that those who aren’t are bad, it’s that everyone is wired differently and we all have different things that drive us.”

    Since Daniel Flynn’s defining moment at 19, Thankyou has helped fund safe water and sanitation programs for 545,360 people in need. Overall, they have given over $5.5 million and helped over 755,338 people around the world.

    Follow the impact of Thankyou over on their website by clicking here, read more about their journey thus far in Chapter One, and keep on scrolling to read the full Q&A interview and see more outtakes with Daniel Flynn.

    Sincerely,

     

     

     

     

     

     

    What does a typical workday routine look like for Daniel Flynn?

    There’s definitely no typical day at Thankyou, which is what I love about it. I always start my morning hanging out with my son, Jed, who is almost two before I head to our office in Collingwood.

    We have two levels in our office so we have this rule that you need to enter and exit on the opposite level to where your desk is. This means we walk past the whole team and say ‘hey’ and catch up for a moment before we sit down for the day.

    I’m doing a lot of travelling at the moment as we gear up for our launch into New Zealand. I travel for anything from sales pitches to speaking to university students or executives. It’s really an honour to speak about the Thankyou journey and how we’ve got to where we are now. I love the idea of inspiring people to go after their dreams and chase the impossible.

    Throughout the day, I have meetings for anything from marketing, sales and finance to board meetings. It’s really important to Justine (my wife and Thankyou co-founder) that we have a good work-life balance so we’ll try and leave the office by 5.30pm.

     

    What was one of your first defining moments when exploring extreme Poverty?

    I grew up sponsoring a child through World Vision so always had an awareness of poverty, but for me the most defining moment was when I first learnt about the World Water Crisis. I was 19 and doing research for a uni assignment when I learnt that 900 million people (in 2008) didn’t have access to safe water. I found this so difficult to wrap my head around. I started watching videos of kids walking to collect water for their families I started to think, what if that was me? It moved me to the point that I was sitting at my computer in tears. It was right at that moment I made a decision to do something with my life to help change this.

     

     

    What was the biggest challenge in creating Thankyou amidst a market full of multinationals?

    For us, it’s difficult going up against a market full of multinationals because they have millions of dollars to promote their products. Whenever we enter a new market, we are compared to these big brands, so our challenge is to get retailers to commit to us and take us seriously. We create quality products, so we know that once they’re on shelves, we’ll get cut through. Today, we have products on shelves around the country and in the major supermarkets, our hand washes are number one and number two in the category – without any major TV commercials or millions of dollars spent on instore advertising.

    You speak a lot about creative and innovative thinking. Why is this so important in Thankyou?

    The concept of Thankyou is not traditional, so we need creative and innovative thinking to help us grow and find solutions to problems. We have this saying at Thankyou, “High-five the status quo in the face – with a chair.” When we wanted to launch our products into major retailers, we were up against a system that had been created for big businesses with millions of dollars to spend. We knew that to get the result we needed, we would have to take an innovative, creative and unconventional approach. Even today, the markets we compete in are crowded and it’s getting harder and harder to cut through to retailers and consumers but so innovation helps you get noticed.

     

     

    You experienced set-back after set-back during the early years of Thankyou. What kept you coming back?

    We experienced so many setbacks in the early years, and even today. From our first launch being a product recall, to the struggle to land a major retailer. For me and the team, knowing our ‘why’ kept us moving and helped us to get up again. When I was feeling sorry for myself and tempted to throw in the towel, I would draw strength from my ‘why’ and remember why we were doing this. It’s also really important to surround yourself with mentors and a great team that will encourage you and keep you on track to reach your goals.

    I’ve noticed you love your numbers and statistics. Focusing on your first product, how many people has Thankyou helped in funding access to clean water and sanitation?

    To date (February 2017), our water and body care range has helped fund safe water and sanitation programs for 545,360 people in need. Overall, we have given over $5.5 million and helped over 755,338 people around the world.

    Whether you’re a business owner or employee, in any field, work can become overwhelming and chaotic overnight. How do you maintain a work/life balance?

    It can be really challenging. When you’re building a business, there is always so much to do and it can be hard to switch off. I’m still trying to figure the balance out but at the moment Justine and I have one day a week where we completely switch off and don’t talk about work. We’re not even allowed to mention the ‘T’ word. We try and lock in holidays well ahead of time so that when projects get pushed back, it doesn’t move our holidays out further and further. We also try to keep work hours as normal as possible. There’s always going to be work to do so it’s about knowing when to stop.

    You found your ‘Why’ when you were 19. Do you have any advice you’d like to share with those still searching?

    My advice to anyone still searching for their ‘why’ it to ask yourself some really hard questions: What moves you? What makes you happy? What makes you angry? Some people are really passionate about an issue and others aren’t – it’s not that those who aren’t are bad, it’s that everyone is wired differently and we all have different things that drive us. If you keep asking yourself these questions you’ll start seeing things in common in the answers and you’ll have your first lead to finding your ‘why’.

     

    Daniel Flynn

     

    Interviewed, photographed, styled, edited and written by Jordan Turner (MR TURNER), featuring Daniel Flynn for GANT.