House News
Meet the Members: May edition
This month, we launched a new series on our North American Houses' Instagram feeds, Meet the Members, where we get to know some of the members around our Houses. Below, meet members who are making an impact in a multitude of ways, from packing lunches for those in need to hosting festivals highlighting LGBTQ filmmakers.
NEW YORK: Antonia Hylton
Antonia Hylton is an award-winning correspondent and producer covering politics and civil rights for VICE Media and HBO’s VICE News Tonight. Follow her here.
What’s your favorite spot in your local House and why?
“Any table posted up by the windows at DUMBO House. I'm typically in a busy newsroom with harsh lighting and a million screens or I'm cramped up on an airplane on my way to hustle through a shoot. I am desperate for big windows and natural light.”
Favorite indulgent item from any of the House menus?
“I am currently very into the cashew dip as an afternoon snack.”
What do you love about this city?
“The number of places there are to go dancing.”
What are some places in this city that feel like home?
“The answer is a lot of little places: I love my neighborhood's family-owned dry cleaning spot. I love the guy who sells plants outside when the weather is good. The roof of my office. My best friend's large couch at her place in Clinton Hill. My boyfriend's family's kitchen in Manhattan.”
What’s a charity or social initiative in the city that you support?
“I support and volunteer for Hearts of Gold, a family-run, tight-knit organization that provides services for homeless mothers and children in New York City. I've known the founder for a long time, and am in awe of how committed and boots-on-the-ground her team is. They offer every kind of support from clothing and housing to education, job preparation and summer camps. They've helped countless women transition from abusive or dangerous living situations. And they do it all with a young, diverse team that doesn't do the stuffy, inaccessible philanthropy thing.”
What’s a way you want to give back this year?
“I’m actively working to make more space in my calendar for young and up-and-coming journalists. I've gratefully soaked up the support and generosity of writers, producers and creatives around me over the last few years. I only recently realized that I, too, have my feet on the ground now and can pay something back. I'm working on a way to formalize or organize this, but for now I'm setting aside deliberate time for coffees, google hangouts and resume reviews. I want to see more and more and more people in this field who don't have those traditional connections and haven't seen their communities in mainstream coverage.”
Interested in being featured or want to recommend someone? DM @sohohousenewyork and let us know
WEST COAST: Ajay Relan
Ajay Relan is the founder of #hashtaglunchbag, a global movement that gets communities together to create bagged lunches, complete with notes of encouragement, for people in need. Follow him here.
What’s your favorite spot in your local House and why?
“Easily the Garden at Soho House West Hollywood, southeast corner couch - I spontaneously got married there in December 2018. It was quite the experience. There was giant True Detective billboard in the background at the time — my wife and I joke how Mahershala Ali was our best man.
Has there been a specific event at the House that you’ve loved?
“I look forward to the Soho Good 363 dinner, celebrating those those give back year round (not just on designated days of giving). When you're always putting out energy to make the world around you better, it can get exhausting. Acknowledging the people who choose to go the extra mile is extremely important."
Go-to cocktail or favorite beverage to drink there?
“Picante De La Casa with mezcal.”
What’s a charity you support?
“Has to be #hashtaglunchbag - the most fun, easy, cool way to give back. It started here in Los Angeles and has now spread to over 100 cities worldwide.”
What’s a new way you want to give back this year?
“I’m currently in a place where I'm working to be of service through every action I take - however big or small. I’ve found that giving has had the most impact when practiced regularly and I find the most happiness when coming from a place of service - whether in a professional or personal setting. I will give back not just this year, but every day, for as long as I live.”
Interested in being featured or want to recommend someone? DM @shwhmembers and let us know
SOHO HOUSE TORONTO: Andria Wilson
Andria Wilson is the executive director of Inside Out, Canada's largest LBGTQ film festival, and the co-founder of OUTeast Film Festival. Follow her here.
Has there been a specific event at the House that you’ve loved?
“I just attended the newly added Frigays event in April - I’m so excited about the new LGBTQ programming at the House. There was an amazing kiki ball in November that gave me life, and watching the Golden Globes with my nearest and dearest was a definite highlight. I try to make it to as many music sessions as possible too - just caught Allie X last week for an intimate set.”
What do you love about this city?
“Toronto is an amazing city to work in the cultural industries and one of the best places in the world to run a film festival. I’m surrounded by peers, by experts, by brilliant, passionate and diverse artists on a daily basis. It pushes me to keep innovating and to explore new collaborations and opportunities.”
What's a place in this city that feels like home?
“I love spending time on the Island. I grew up near the ocean, and being able to walk along the water and enjoy the quiet and solitude away from the noise of the city fills up the tank for those intense work weeks."
What’s a charity or social initiative in the city you support?
“I’m lucky enough to run a charity in Toronto - aside from being a LGBTQ film festival, Inside Out is also a nonprofit charity that supports and promotes queer film and filmmakers year-round. The work being done by Toronto charities that serve the LGBTQ communities is seriously inspiring. I love the work that the LGBT YouthLine is doing, and organizations like ASAAP (the Alliance for South Asian AIDS prevention) are doing exceptional work in health, education and advocacy.”
What’s a new way you want to give back this year?
“I’m privileged to work with an organization that puts a microphone in my hand and allows me to speak on LGBTQ issues and art. This year, I want to focus on passing that mic, and ensuring that my organization is centering the voices and lived experiences of those most impacted by these issues.”
Interested in being featured or want to recommend someone? DM @sohohousetoronto and let us know
SOHO BEACH HOUSE: Rachael Russell
Rachael Russell is the founder of Style Saves, a nonprofit she launched at age 23 to help provide underprivileged students and families with clothing for school, proms, graduations and more. She is also the fashion director for Miansai. Follow her here.
What’s your favorite spot in your local House and why?
“My favorite spot in the house is the Club Bar because it so versatile - you can take meetings or dance on tables. It doesn’t get better than that.”
Has there been a specific event at the House that you’ve loved?
“Style Saves launched at what was then the House's tiki bar in July 2011. It was only a few months after the House opened, and nobody else was activating for Swim Week, so we were the first people to do a fashion show and private event in the space. We went on to work with the House in many ways: we were a partner in the first year the tent was on the beach for Basel, we’ve done Tiny House events, hosted Fashion For Breakfasts, partnered on Soho Good give backs, to name just a few. It was extremely important and fundamental to our growth to have Soho House as a founding supporter when we were establishing the organization in the community.”
What do you love about this city?
"I love the culture here and the quality of life is unmatchable since you can spend time outside all year round. I love being able to wear a bikini, workout and do activities anytime or season."
Tell us about Style Saves.
"The idea came about in 2011, when I was looking for an impactful way to use my background and creativity by uniting fashion and philanthropy. We started programming fashion-focused fundraisers and givebacks for kids in need, which includes giving clothing, shoes, school supplies and accessories at events like: Back to School, Prom, Halloween, Holiday, Disaster Relief and International Service trips."
What’s a way you want to give back this year?
"We started by dressing 50 kids for back-to-school — this year our target is 7,500 and next year it's 10,000. We also recently added disaster relief to our scope of givebacks, focusing on the devastation in the Florida Keys, Puerto Rico, Houston and Malibu. We plan to continue to expand globally and be a helping hand wherever we are needed."
Interested in being featured or want to recommend someone? DM @sohobeachhouse and let us know
SOHO HOUSE CHICAGO: Xavier Ramey
Xavier Ramey is the CEO of Justice Informed, a Chicago-based social impact consulting firm. Follow him here.
What's your favorite spot in the House?
"In the winter time especially, it's the 6th floor, in one of those extra comfy, half-circle spots. The luxuriousness of those pillows mean you just sink into the corner with your laptop."
What's your fondest Soho House memory?
"I was here really late one night with my friend Chris who used to play in Hamilton when it first opened here in Chicago. It was the end of the night, some of his guests had left and so had some of mine, and we ended up at the piano on the club floor. I was playing, he was jamming it out. We did K-Ci and JoJo's 'All My Life' and then some Stevie Wonder. I think that encapsulates why the 11pm onwards time is my favorite time in the House"
Tell us about Justice Informed.
"Justice Informed is here to change the face of expertise. I'm a consultant, which means I sell ideas. The challenge is that it's based on the idea that expertise can be sold, which means that there are only certain people who can be seen as experts. That's one of the reasons I pay attention to my staffing and team models. I hire activists to be consultants. I hire artists to be consultants. I hire students, the elderly, all types of folks to be part of my community consulting team and to go into corporations, nonprofits and all those boardrooms to share their expertise. It changes the face of expertise to show that it's your lived experience, plus your academic and vocational experience that builds an expertise we can share with these institutions that really need it."
Interested in being featured or want to recommend someone? DM @sohohousechicago and let us know
AUSTIN: Alexis Jones
Favorite indulgent item from any of the House menus?
"I’m a huge chips and guacamole girl and Soho House West Hollywood crushes it. I can’t help but order it every time."
What do you love about this city?
"As a city, Austin has a motiveless kindness and a genuine passion for giving back to the community. It’s really a triple threat city: great food, great music and great people."
What’s the place in this city that makes it feel like home?
"I split my time between LA and Austin, and when I'm in LA it my best friend’s house that makes it feel like home. I’m a Texas girls, so friends and family are everything. When I’m in LA, I stay with my her and she is one of the many personifications of 'home' to me. When it comes to Austin, Barton Springs is what makes ATX feel like home. Being a unicorn and growing up in ATX, we would rush out of school to go to Barton Springs every day of senior year and some of my best memories were and continue to be made there."
What’s a charity/social project in the city you support/would want to promote?
"I’m obviously super bias, but I’m fiercely passionate about both I AM THAT GIRL, a badass version of Girls Scouts for college girls, and ProtectHer, a documentary and conversation guide educating young men on the importance of respecting girls."
What’s a way you want to give back this year?
"My husband and I are super passionate about investing in our hometown; specifically in our youth. We’re pumped to have moved back to Austin (where we both grew up) and to make a positive impact back where it all started for us."