Oberon Sinclair is the CEO and founder of the creative and branding agency, My Young Auntie. Since she founded the company in 1997, Oberon has collaborated with and managed an array of notable clients from the high luxury, art, fashion, food and lifestyle sectors, including Hermès, Vivienne Westwood, Fabergé, the Richemont Group, Jack Spade, ArtForum, Selfridges, Rizzoli Books, Island Records, David Lee Roth, among others. Oberon is known as the Queen of Kale for reviving an interest in the superfood across the world. She’s a Founding Member of NeueHouse.

OBERON SINCLAIR

I started it in '97. Before I started the company I worked with Gee Street Records, which was owned by a dear friend of mine called Jon Baker, and his wife Ziggi Golding. It was part of Island Records. And I was head of PR and worked with all the bands and artists at Malcolm McLaren, P.M. Dawn, Stereo MC's, amazing, amazing bands. After a couple of years he said to me, "You know, you really should start your own agency. And I said, "My gosh, you know, how does one do that?" And he said, "If you start your own agency, Oberon, I can help you." He'd also sold the company to V2 Records, which was a company owned by Richard Branson. So he was sort of stepping away and moving to Jamaica, and he just wanted to make sure that I was going to be okay, which was an incredible thing for him to do.

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If someone comes to me, and they say, “Oh, I have a new brand. It's a startup.” First of all, I have to like the person, they have to like me. It's a two way street. And that's the most important thing with anyone in life, not just work. In life, why do we make friends with who we make friends with? They are relationships. And if you connect with someone, magic will happen. If you don't connect with someone, and someone doesn't understand or have the same aesthetic or a similar way of thinking – you have to have something in common with someone. And if you have those qualities, which I look for, honesty and loyalty, and they're genuine, and you just know if you're going to get on with someone or not.

THE CREATIVE PROCESS

Tell us what was the concept behind NeueHouse, its different locations, and how you are involved in it?

SINCLAIR

I met the founders Alan and Joshua who started NeueHouse in 2013. They are lovely gentlemen, and they called me aside and said, "We'd love to get you involved in our coworking space that we are doing, and I have my office here. It was a construction site, and I helped them with the PR and launch and bringing in members. Actually, I brought Chris Blackwell in to have his office here, Jefferson Hack, and some other wonderful people to work out of here. And we really curated an interesting community of people. And have had pretty much everyone a lot of interesting people do talks from Paul Smith to Salman Rushdie to Wu-Tang Clan, Tom Sachs, and Ariana Huffington. And I've hosted Prince William and Princess Kate. We've had some incredible people here and I love talking to people, and I love hosting these conversations. I did one last night with my dear friend Carlos Alomar, who was the musical director and long-time collaborator with David Bowie for 30 years. And I just love people's stories. So for me, it's inspirational. The one thing I like to do is to inspire people -not me - but if I can show them someone's life, it's a way for people to learn.

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I didn't go to college. I barely went to school. I left at a very young age. I wasn't really an academic. I was more visual, and I learned by seeing and by working with people. And that really was my passion. And, you know, we all have different ways of learning and doing, and for me that was the way for me to learn was to work with people. And I did that at a young age, and I still continue to learn.

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All these people and all these companies, we want to celebrate people that have been the longest employee, even if it's the women making cups of tea every day. Those people are interesting. Everyone has a story. Everyone's important, and everyone wants to feel loved. That's really what it comes down to at the end of the day.

This interview was conducted by Mia Funk with the participation of collaborating universities and students. Associate Interviews Producer on this episode was Riya Patel. Digital Media Coordinators are Jacob A. Preisler and Megan Hegenbarth. 

Mia Funk is an artist, interviewer and founder of The Creative Process & One Planet Podcast (Conversations about Climate Change & Environmental Solutions).