Summer Fridays Co-Founder: Marianna Hewitt – Building a Real Brand, Cross-Generational Community, & Why There Are No Quick Wins

Summer Fridays Co-Founder: Marianna Hewitt – Building a Real Brand, Cross-Generational Community, & Why There Are No Quick Wins

The Gstaad Guy sits down with Marianna Hewitt, co-founder of Summer Fridays and one of the earliest and most instinctive voices to emerge from the first wave of Instagram and lifestyle blogging, to explore what it truly takes to turn cultural momentum into something that endures. From her early days in fashion to becoming a first mover in the content creator space, Marianna reflects on the decisions, values, and relentless consistency that laid the foundation for one of skincare's most beloved modern brands. The conversation gets into the thinking behind Summer Fridays, why great skincare should never feel intimidating, and what it really means to build a brand with genuine cross-generational appeal. Marianna speaks honestly about the realities of life as a founder, the difference between good friends and old friends, and why decisiveness, not luck, is the quality that separates those who last from those who fade. Grounded, direct, and full of hard-won perspective, it is a conversation about community, longevity, and what it means to build something real in an industry that moves very fast. Filmed at The Maybourne Beverly Hills Garden Suite. (00:00 Intro ✨🎙️ (02:21) Starting Social Media 📱✨ (03:48) Love For Content ❤️🎨 (04:04) Fashion World 👗✨ (07:12) Being A First Mover 🚀🌟 (10:00) Why "Summer Fridays"? ☀️🧴 (13:38) Skincare Can Be Intimidating 😰🧴 (15:21) Effective Branding & Marketing 📢✨ (19:46) Remaining Excited & Motivated 🔥💪🏻 (21:14) "There Are No Quick Wins" ⏳💡 (25:22) Role Of Founder & CEO 👔🏆 (29:54) Forging Strategic Partnerships 🤝🏻🌟 (33:25) Creating A Social & Digital Brand 📱🌍 (36:14) Cross-Generational Products 👴🏻👶🏻 (39:00) Seeing People Use Your Product 😊❤️ (41:14) Message To Your Younger Self 📝🪞 (44:10) Old Friends vs. Good Friends 👥❤️ (45:34) Being A Decisive Person ⚡✅ (47:05) Key Skills That Drive Success 🔑📈 (49:38) Values 🏛️❤️ (53:16) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Langosteria Founder & CEO: Enrico Buonocore & Strategy Manager: Alessandra Maestroni – Intuition, Understated Excellence, & Building Italy's Most Desired Table

The Gstaad Guy sits down with Enrico Buonocore, Founder and CEO of Buonocore Hospitality Group, and Alessandra Maestroni, Group Strategy Manager, the founders behind Langosteria, Milan's most quietly coveted restaurant and one of the defining expressions of contemporary Italian hospitality, to explore what it truly means to build something extraordinary without a plan, guided entirely by vision, instinct, and an uncompromising sense of what feels right. Partners in business and in life, they reflect on the rare alchemy of working alongside someone who shares both your values and your ambitions. The conversation moves through the philosophy that built Langosteria from the ground up: the importance of locality, the details that most people never notice but always feel, and why understated excellence will always outlast noise. Enrico and Alessandra share what Italian cooking means to them in an era when it has been recognised as Unesco cultural heritage, how Milanese luxury differs from everywhere else, and why passion, not strategy, has been the truest compass throughout. Honest, warm, and deeply considered, it is a conversation about building something that lasts by never losing sight of why you started. Filmed at Mandarin Oriental, Milan. (00:00) Intro ✨🎙️ (01:28) Langosteria 🦞🍽️ (03:25) Italian Passion 🇮🇹❤️ (06:38) PEPE Barra Italiana 🍹🇮🇹 (07:25) Building A Team 👥🤝🏻 (08:38) What's Right For The Business 💼⚖️ (09:50) Starting New Projects 💡🚀 (11:39) Langosteria A Casa 🏠🦞 (13:55) Understanding The Customer 👂🏻🎯 (16:16) Italian Excellence 🇮🇹🏆 (22:14) Types Of Consumer 👥🔍 (24:00) How Milanese Luxury Differs 🏙️💎 (26:20) The Details 🔍✨ (30:15) Running A Successful Restaurant 🍽️🏆 (37:13) The Truth Behind Table Reservations 📋🤫 (39:55) Working With Your Partner 🤝🏻❤️ (43:28) Passion Driven 🔥❤️ (44:05) Path & Strategy 🛤️🧭 (51:10) Langosteria DNA 🧬🦞 (55:24) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨ (1:01:05) Spending Time With Family 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Bentley Motors Chairman & CEO: Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser – Heritage, Industrialised Craftsmanship, & the Most Complex Consumer Good in the World

The Gstaad Guy sits down with Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, Chairman and CEO of Bentley Motors, to explore what it means to lead one of the world's most iconic luxury brands at a moment when heritage and innovation are being asked to coexist more urgently than ever. The conversation opens with something genuinely rare: The Chalet Edition Bentley Bentayga by The Gstaad Guy, a collaboration that captures what happens when two distinct visions of mountain living and automotive excellence find common ground. From a childhood obsession with cars to a career forged in the high-pressure world of motorsports, Dr. Walliser reflects on the journey to the top of Bentley, the extraordinary team required to build something that transcends transport, and why a car remains the most complex consumer good a person will ever own. The conversation covers the balance between substance and status, the meaning of timelessness in an industry racing towards the future, and what British ingenuity continues to offer a world increasingly drawn to speed over soul. A compelling and wide-ranging conversation about excellence, legacy, and what it takes to keep an icon moving forward. Filmed at Bentley Mulliner in Crewe, England. Explore The Chalet Edition Bentley Bentayga by The Gstaad Guy: https://www.bentleymotors.com/uk/en/models/mulliner/ewb-the-chalet-edition.html (00:00) Intro ✨🎙️ (00:49) The Chalet Edition 🏔️🛋️ (01:45) Bentley Motors 🚗👑 (03:29) "What Does Bentley Mean To You?" 💭✨ (06:38) Bentley Work Culture 🤝🏻💼 (07:17) Developing A Brand 🌱📈 (07:54) Balance of Substance Over Status ⚖️💎 (19:40) Entering The Car World 🚗🔑 (23:40) Motorsports 🏁🏎️ (24:59) The Volkswagen Group 🚗🌍 (27:16) Network 🤝🏻🌐 (31:14) Becoming CEO 👔🏆 (38:16) Nostalgia & Curiosity 📷🔍 (40:08) The Future Of The Automotive Industry 🔮⚡ (44:08) Car Manufacturing ⚙️🏭 (48:47) Generalist vs. Specialist In The Automotive Industry 🔧🎯 (54:25) Timelessness ⏳✨ (58:57) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨ (1:05:18) Industrialised Craftsmanship 🏭🧑‍🔧 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

The Business of Fashion Founder & CEO: Imran Amed – Following a Feeling, Being a Pioneer, & Building the Voice of an Industry

The Gstaad Guy sits down with Imran Amed, founder and CEO of The Business of Fashion, the platform that fundamentally changed how the fashion industry understands and talks about itself, to explore what it truly takes to bet on a calling when everything rational tells you otherwise. From journaling as a child to consulting at McKinsey, Imran traces the long and winding road that led him to build one of the most influential media businesses of his generation. The conversation covers the early days of stretching himself thin across multiple jobs just to keep the dream alive, the insecurity and need for validation that shadowed his ambition, and the moment the universe seemed to stop offering alternatives. Imran opens up about the internal struggle between security and purpose, how meditation and silent retreats helped him find stillness amid relentless pressure, and why genuine optimism, not the performative kind, has been his most durable asset. An unusually candid and deeply personal conversation about identity, courage, and what becomes possible when you finally stop ignoring what you were meant to do. Filmed at The Twenty Two (London), Gingko Suite. (00:00) Intro ✨🎙️ (00:54) BoF VOICES 🎤🌍 (03:34) How It Started 💡🌱 (05:15) Failure ❌📉 (07:06) Rise Of The Internet 🌐💻 (08:07) Following A Feeling 🧭❤️ (12:20) Prosumers 🔄💡 (13:34) Perspective 👁️🌍 (15:47) Creation Of The Logo ✏️🎨 (21:05) Turning Into A Business 💡💼 (25:37) "Why London?" 🇬🇧🌆 (28:35) Consumer To Prosumer 🔄✨ (30:00) Adapting To The Times ⏳🔄 (33:04) Being A Pioneer 🚀🌟 (35:13) "State Of Fashion" 👔📊 (41:05) BoF & McKinsey 📰💼 (44:12) The Impact Of Knowledge 📚💡 (47:57) Banned From A Fashion Show 🚫👗 (49:56) Breaking The Fashion Communication System ⚡🔓 (53:56) Industry & Business Relationships 🤝🏻💼 (56:45) Good vs. Bad Campaigns For Creators ✅❌ (58:18) Brands Keeping Up With Culture 🌍👔 (1:00:42) Imran Amed 📰✨ (1:04:11) Applying To McKinsey 📝💼 (1:09:36) Mechanics Of A Consulting Firm ⚙️📊 (1:11:06) Internal Struggle 💭⚡ (1:15:26) Meditation 🧘✨ (1:20:20) Silent Retreats 🌿🔇 (1:24:43) Optimism ☀️🌟 (1:26:35) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Classic Car Dealer, Collector & Writer: Simon Kidston – Classic Cars, Earned Authenticity, & Doing What You Love

The Gstaad Guy sits down with Simon Kidston, one of the most respected figures in the classic car world, a dealer, collector, and writer whose life has been shaped by an unwavering obsession with the machines that defined an era, to explore what it truly means to turn a passion into a life's work. Raised across cultures and educated in the Swiss Alps, Simon reflects on the upbringing that sharpened his eye, deepened his taste, and drew him inevitably towards the world of rare and extraordinary automobiles. The conversation moves through the philosophy of collecting, the singular allure of cars like the Mercedes 300 SLR, and why authenticity in this world cannot be manufactured, it can only be earned over time. Simon shares what classic cars reveal about the people who seek them, why obsession and discernment so often go hand in hand, and what it means to keep old machines alive and relevant in a modern era. At the heart of it all sits a quietly compelling conviction: that doing something you truly love is not indulgent, it is essential. A rich and unhurried conversation about passion, provenance, and the art of knowing exactly what you are looking for. Filmed at The Twenty Two (London), Gingko Suite. (00:00) Intro ✨🎙️ (05:17) From Passion To Job ❤️💼 (07:05) First Car 🚗🔑 (08:52) Upbringing 🏡👶 (12:30) Gstaad 🏔️❄️ (15:04) Relationship Building 🤝❤️ (21:27) Mercedes 300 SLR 🏎️💨 (28:28) Archetypes Of The Car World 🚗🎭 (33:26) The I.C.E. 🔥⚙️ (35:27) "The Gstaad Collector" 🏔️🏆 (37:29) Andermatt 🇨🇭⛰️ (38:59) Dream 5-Car Garage 🚗✨ (48:19) Bugatti Royale 👑🏎️ (54:22) Rallies 🏁🚗 (54:57) À La Poubelle vs. Fantastique 🗑️✨ (1:00:50) "Do Something That You Love" ❤️🌟 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]