Upside Down and Inside Out - A conversation with Georgie MacEchern

We had the immense pleasure of interviewing Georgie, such a huge female crush and inspiration to all of us! More than an industry professional, she is like a superhero: she is Head of Sales and PR for the award- winning entertainment company Caviar by day and, under the alter-ego of DJ Miss G, amazing DJ by night. She has also made, exclusively for Cinegirl, a Spotify playlist you can listen while reading the article, to help fight the lockdown blues: https://open.spotify.com/user/1144667049/playlist/59kLPEjYz8PobdQarMjl72?si=YJJWe675Qnius3AMTpIxIA

About to celebrate her 7 year anniversary with Caviar, here is her account and wisdom from this unexpected year:

It has been such a weird year: both your careers - DJ and Head of Sales/PR - are costumer-based, and you usually seem to travel a lot. How did you hold up during the lockdowns? What helped you keep motivated? Any inspiration from these hard times?

I know right. I don’t think any of us could have foreseen the impact the pandemic would have had on the world. I am not gonna lie: one year of solitude & lockdown has been super tough, probably one of my toughest years yet. I also faced some very challenging health issues which led me to a major burnout before the pandemic kicked in. So in some ways the lockdown actually came at a good time for me, giving me that much needed space to slow down and recover. However, this sadly had a knock-on effect on my long-term relationship (previously living between London and Paris) which came to an end at the same time. My life as I had known it got totally turned inside out and upside down. But I am a firm believer in the good old saying “what doesn’t totally break you only makes you stronger”. Out of this, I am ever so grateful for the massive spiritual path this year has put me on: embracing healthy daily routines like meditation, breath- work, energy healing and yoga. Although I am ready to put the challenges of this past year behind me, I feel very grateful for the time to go inward and as a result I am a very different person and now know my main focus has to be on my wellbeing, so I think I definitely won’t be rushing back to my old fast paced lifestyle, as my health and wellness is my number one priority now.

Georgie with Bella - Photo Courtesy of Georgie MacEchern

About ways to survive lockdown: I'm a new puppy mama myself, and my dog, Toby (@tobys_gourmet_kitchen), loves your Insta @bella_my_frenchie! Aren’t they just the sweetest things?

Yes!!! It’s the best, isn’t it. It just felt like the right time in November: with the ongoing lockdown looming and the fact that we were indefinitely working from home, with plenty of time for puppy training. For me, getting Bella was the best thing to come out of the pandemic. Her companionship has really helped
me through these past months, she really is my little side kick. The unconditional love you get from them is something else and I can’t imagine my life without her now. I am also very fortunate to have an amazing support network around me: my family and friends who love her as much as I do, and who are happy to help and have her if I am away. Our office is also very dog friendly which helps. And most of us are dog owners. All of these reasons made the decision of getting her easier.

How has your work adjusted to the pandemic?

Well, the Dj’ing has been non-existent. But, as I mentioned, that’s not a bad thing as juggling two very demanding careers over the past 10 years really has caught up with me and my health. In fact, I had already stopped any regular mid-week DJ residencies and decided to just focus on bigger industry and corporate private events and weddings. It is very strange to think my last DJ gig was at the beginning of December 2019! But in these months, I have been lucky enough to do a couple of instagram live gigs and DJ’ed the UKMVAs live from my living room. After 20 years, DJing is second nature to me, so even if I don’t play for 6 months it all comes back pretty quick - like riding a bike. But yes I am looking forward to getting back behind the decks when things start to open up again as it is fundamentally my number one passion.

With Caviar, it has been as busy as ever. It was just the case of adjusting our ways of working to meet the challenges the pandemic threw at us. For me that mainly consisted of moving in-person meetings and networking to 100% online. Sorcha Shepherd, who runs Caviar very cleverly, had already came up with Caviar Connects live online talks and workshops which we started hosting way before they became the ‘in’ thing and other companies followed suit during the lockdown. PR has always been an important part of my role, so this and running Caviar’s socials has been more important than ever: having a strong online presence, getting our work and directors featured in as many industry publications as possible and entering more work into online award shows so we stay at the forefront of people’s minds as a company. Also, as Head of Sales, my job never slows down as you are expected to bring in new work 24/7 and that pressure has been even tougher this past year. Shoot wise we were very lucky despite a slow start to the year it ended up being super busy. Q-Take monitors and directors being able to shoot remotely opened up new ways of working and resulted in a nice flow of great work coming out for us across the board, from branded content to music videos. We also signed some amazing new talent: Andrea Jade Colomb, Fanny Hoetzeneder, Maxim Kelly & Reynald Gresset to name but a few.

Photo Courtesy of Georgie MacEchern

Advertising by day and DJ by night, how do they connect, and how do you usually balance your working life?

I am very lucky as I have found two careers I love that actually go hand in hand. I have been in the advertising industry for 10 years now. I came into it with no prior experience, just knowing I wanted more of a daytime career (as constantly working long hours and late nights as a DJ is exhausting and pretty lonely). Both my roles are all about having great interpersonal skills & relationships with people. I do 4 days a week with Caviar, as there is no way I could combine full time work and Dj’ing too: when it gets busy I don’t have weekends as that is when the majority of my DJ gigs are. Both jobs involve a lot of travel and are super fast–paced so it can take its toll on you. Plus, I am a lot older than people think I am ;) and after challenging health issues these past few years I am now more aware I can’t carry on like I did before. I used to run around London, in and out of meetings and Dj’ing super late nights. I was on the go all the time. It’s too much and as we all know the body is the first to tell you when you need to stop or slow down. It’s a tough one though as it’s the combination of the two that keeps my passion for both alive. I’m very lucky as well as I am also one of the go-to DJs for all the industry events, which is great as you know our industry do love to party and also an invaluable marketing tool for Caviar.

Photo Courtesy of Georgie MacEchern

Working at Caviar, you look after some of the most exciting talents in London. Is there anyone we should keep an eye on? (any female talent to highlight among them?)

Yes, I feel very honoured to work with such amazing directors. Most of whom have become friends and are also some of the nicest human beings too, which makes me want to push and help to develop their careers even more. I would mention them all if I could. But, as its #IWD, some of our rising superstar ladies to keep an eye on are Amber Schaefer, Cloé Bailly, Lainey Richardson, Lisette Donkersloot, Tania (Los Pérez) and…

…and, of course, Chloe Zhao! She is repped by Caviar and with Nomadland she is ruling this year’s festivals run - most recently winning Best Drama and Best Director at the Golden Globes…any insights? You must be all very proud! - if I’m not wrong she is the second woman after Barbara Streisand in 1983 to win the Golden Award as Best Director

I just love seeing the ladies finally getting the recognition they deserve and flying the flag for Diversity and Inclusion too. Obviously, I work on the commercial side of things, but Caviar has also produced some incredible feature films too: notably, The Rider with Chloé which also garnered a lot of awards and recognition. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend watching it. Caviar’s latest feature Sound of Metal with Riz Ahemd is also winning awards left, right and centre and is currently on Amazon Prime. Another must see. So yes super proud of my directors, team and colleagues for what they are achieving on all sides. 

Lockdown blues: tell us about a couple of your favourite memories of nights out and gigs (in London or International) and why they are important to you.

One of my favourite nights is my Tropicool After Party, which I host at Cannes Lions each year. It combines what I love most about my day job and Dj’ing: I get all my favourite industry friends from all around the world in one sweaty club dancing the night away and playing the kind of music I love. For this party, I have that creative freedom to just go with it and the energy and vibes from the crowd take you to another level as a DJ. There was hope Cannes Lions would happen this year but I doubt it will take place with the current restrictions or if it does I doubt many will be attending in person – this year will be a vast majority attending virtually am sure. I also miss chilled dinners and drinks, catching up with friends in a very low key manner. I don't drink alcohol anymore so late nights are quite rare unless I am working, or supporting mates or I’m headed to somewhere like DC10 in Ibiza…then try and get me off that dance floor, I’ll be the last one standing!  Its these kind of nights I miss – the freedom to be spontaneous.

What’s your mantra? Do you have any pearls of wisdom to share with us?

Quite a few actually - obviously all come from life experience and through challenging times:

1) Treat others how you want to be treated. This has always been my key mantra in life.  

2) It’s just a job, just do your best. I am a perfectionist and I easily get stressed out. I will put 150% into everything I do. So, after burning myself out a lot over the years, I have to remind myself its just a job, we are not saving lives and I am not paid to run the company so I don't need to put all that pressure on myself. Being a natural giver, you have to be careful that people don’t take advantage of you.

3) Life and work balance: I am finally finding it and I have to thank this lockdown for allowing me time to put healthy routines & boundaries in place. It's so important.

4) Gratitude: this past year has taught me how important it is to be grateful for your health, family and friends and take pleasure in the simple things in life

Any exciting projects (both with Caviar or gigs) on the horizon - now or after lockdown?

Yeah, always some exciting stuff going on!

At Caviar, our latest feature Darius Marder’s Sound of Metal has just been nominated for 6 Oscars which is incredible am so proud of the team and also our rising star Anthony Nti and his short film Da Yie also produced by Caviar which has won all the big short film festivals this past year and was also long listed in the Live Action Short Film category at this year's Oscars. On the commercial front, our latest Coca Cola spot directed by Los Pérez with music by Tyler the Creator, which came out a few weeks ago, has been getting great reviews.

Photo Courtesy of Georgie MacEchern

What’s the first thing you would like to do as soon as the lockdown ends?

Travel is a big part of my life and in order to stay balanced and healthy, I need to have my ocean and  mountain fix. So, as soon as I can get on a plane and get away from the lockdown city life the better. I want to feel the sun on my back and have some space to breathe…it will be amazing.  One day, the plan is to move to Europe mostly likely France to be closer to all of this. As we have all seen this past year, working remotely is possible and our priority in life should be our health, happiness and wellness.

You can follow Georgie at:

Caviar: www.caviar.tv / instagram - @caviar.tv 

Personal: www.djmissg.com / instagram & ClubHouse - @dj_miss_g