The Essential List: Lauren Parmar
Lauren Parmar is head of culture and studio operations for The Mill London. After joining The Mill in 2017, Lauren quickly took up a pivotal role in the company, working on many milestone moments for the business, including the launch of The Mill’s Berlin studio in 2019.
Since then, Lauren has been instrumental in articulating and developing The Mill's Culture across all global studios, working to create an outstanding experience for clients and employees alike. Lauren’s passion for People & Culture has seen her design and implement multiple new policies and initiatives including redesigning The Mill London’s maternity policy, creating global mentoring programs, introducing new onboarding collateral and procedures, leading The Mill’s commitment to become a Disability Confident Employer, creating The Mill’s Hybrid Working framework, leading the global Learning at Work initiative and most recently creating The Mill’s new Cultural Charter which outlines The Mill’s values and commitments to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging.
Lifestyle
o Place of birth: Kent
o Hometown: South-East London
o Staycation: Rye or Cornwall
o Vacation: Italy
o Pet: My pet Pomeranian Frank, who’s actually 3% Burmese Mountain Dog (yes, we did a doggy DNA test on him)
o Place of work: The Mill
o Place of workout: Kindred Yoga Studio in Deptford or Pilates online with Harriet Heath – the best in the biz.
o Side project: I design handmade, personalised jewellery for my brand frank (named after the dog, obviously.) We try to keep things as sustainable as possible so everything is custom made to order and sent using recycled / recyclable packaging. You can find our little shop on Instagram www.instagram.com/frankcreates/
o Mode of transport: Walk
o Bonus travel essential: A good podcast
Culture
o Artist: Yayoi Kusama, my friend Charlotte Joseph who creates beautiful artworks with oil pastels and my Dad who’s taken up water colouring in his retirement.
o Musician: Nick Cave
o Commercials / music video director: Megaforce
o Film director: Greta Gerwig
o Photographer: Nan Goldin
o Film: Interstellar
o Series: Ahh this one is tough. Some all-time favourites include Fleabag, I May Destroy You, Game of Thrones & Succession.
o Commercial: Burberry ‘Open Spaces’
o Music video: ‘This is America’ Childish Gambino
o Board game: Chess - determined to beat my husband one day. Or Scrabble, which I always beat him at. Not that we’re competitive or anything.
o Book: The Goldfinch
o Podcast: Currently enjoying Bruce Daisley’s ‘Eat, Sleep, Work, Repeat’ and ‘John Richardson & The Futurenauts’.
o Newspaper (off or online):
o Magazine: Vogue
o Bonus culture essential: A trip to the theatre. I started my career as an Actress and love seeing new work at the Royal Court or comedy at Soho Theatre
Food and Drink
o Breakfast: Oat milk flat white
o Restaurant: Kudu in Peckham or Tillingham in Rye
o Cheap bite: Yard Sale pizza
o Working lunch: Norma
o Favourite dish: Pasta – all flavours, all varieties. I just love it.
o Signature dish: They call me the salad queen
o Snack: Babybels are life
o Guilty pleasure: Vegan sausage roll from Greggs
o Bar: Joyce in Brockley
o Booze: Negroni
o Not booze: Not interested (joking. I actually love water)
o Bonus food: Cheese
o Bonus beverage: Full fat coke
Kit
o Phone: iPhone forever
o Computer: MacBook Pro
o TV: A big one
o Headphones: Old school Apple
o Camera: Fujifilm Instax
o Soundsystem: Googlehome
o Pen / pencil: Biro, preferably a Bic
o Where you document an idea: In my notebook or on my phone
o Casual clothing: Goodhood
o Smart clothing: SIR, Ganni & Rotate Birger Christensen
o Footwear: Nike
o Watch: It broke!
o Collection: Pearly anklets & name necklaces from www.instagram.com/frankcreates/
o App: By Rotation – I love clothes but am trying to make more sustainable fashion choices and it’s a great app for renting some amazing pieces.
o Website: net-a-porter.com – online window shopping is a form of therapy
o Favourite social media feed: Instagram
o Morning grooming / makeup essential: Supergoop Glow Screen (a tinted moisturiser with SPF), lip balm and a good brow gel.
o Bonus kit essential: Dyson Airwrap. An absolute game changer.
