#ivan massow

[togaysnews-blog]

GayLondonVibe Launch Party brought the Crème de la Crème of the Femme de la Femme to Lab Bar for a night of celebration, bubbles and porn star martinis

New Gay and Lesbian Magazine Gay London Vibe held a fabulous launch party in the heart of Soho.

The party was thrown at Lab Bar, Soho with a range of 300 fabulous guests included LGBT Businessman Ivan Massow, Radio Presenter Vanessa Feltz and various members of the British Press, including the infamous Diarist of the Daily Mail, Alexis Parr.

Gay London Vibe is run by Joshua Walker with key contributors and sponsors from Pink Lobster Dating, Juliette Prais and Emma Ziff.

The magazine will feature top stories and everything you need and must know about being gay in London and beyond. 

[ideasbritain-blog]

Ivan Massow - from social services to City Hall?

Serial entrepreneur Ivan Massow looks about as establishment as you can get. He's running for Mayor of London; he likes horse riding; he opines in several daily newspapers – and Joan Collins is his best pal. But the story of this multi-millionaire is real rags-to-riches – and a peerless 101 in what's possible when there's self-belief in the tank.

Born poor, and soon folded into Britain's social system, dyslexic Ivan left school at 16 with practically nothing. By 30 he was a multi-millionaire. It was while working a low-level job in insurance that Ivan concluded the country's financial services industries were institutionally homophobic. Openly gay Ivan watched as clients' mortgages, loans and credit cards were inflated or even canceled because, as gay holders, they were deemed riskier candidates. At 23, Ivan had his eureka moment. Armed with only a mobile phone, Ivan started Ivan Massow Associates, offering advantageous insurance policies for gay people - and those with HIV - from a squat in North London. Building a disruptive business in a hostile market – during the crippling recession of the early 1990s. It shouldn't have worked. “If you can find something that's deep inside you, something that you really love,” Ivan told Ideas Britain, "then I think you can make a business out of it." Sure enough, Ivan found his and made a business work. He soon had offices in Manchester, Edinburgh and in London's Soho – an area he's long called home. His personal worth quickly shot into tens of millions. “90% of success is turning up and occupying the space, day after day after day,” Ivan told us. “It'll just happen.” By driving better equality in the financial services, Ivan became an important force in raising the profile and the worth of the gay market. Today the “Pink Pound” is lucrative, mainstream and an affluent segment that brands fight tooth and nail to engage. For Ivan, success pushed him into more ventures in financial services – and also in cosmetics and professional networking. He even produced Banksy film Coming for Dinner, starring his friend Joan Collins. Ever since his breakout, Ivan has been advising the Conservative party across a range of policy areas. Not to be overly political, but as a gay man born poor – he's not your usual Tory party fodder. Uniqueness, however, has always worked in Ivan's favour. As he vies to be the party's choice for London Mayor, Massow's political strategy is similar to his approach in business. Just as he, 25 years ago, found that he was best placed to solve a problem on his own doorstep, Ivan's asking Londoners to tell him their passions – and he's inviting citizens to help build solutions. From social services to City Hall? That remains to be seen, but Ivan Massow is an unrivalled example for what's possible when you're fuelled by self-belief and a cause that's close to home. If anyone embodies that spirit better than Ivan then Ideas Britain wants to meet them – so we can invite them to join Ivan on our coaching roster for launch in June.

[ideasbritain-blog]

Welcome to the lifeboat – enjoy the ride

Sixteen, no qualifications, few job prospects. I fell out of school and into the lifeboat of entrepreneurialism. By necessity, not by choice, I became a solo sailor. Nervous, naïve, unsure of myself – as a young man, I gave myself and my career over to two golden rules. Rule #1 brought me success and satisfaction – but Rule #2 wound up costing me days, weeks and months. And the two are inextricably linked.

Rule #1 – Just do it A great message – I should sell it to a sports brand Ideas Britain came from an idea. Starting the business is a scary, daunting, herculean task – but we're making it happen and I believe in it. In my last blog, I mentioned the importance of signing up people and partners who also believe – they're the ones who'll give the best return. That's why I've reached out to mentors and coaches who are just do it people; fellow sailors who bear the business battle scars that come with just having a go. Celebrity chef and Ideas Britain coach Bobby Chinn was a shoeshine boy, a kite flyer, a mail room assistant, a Wall Street trader and a stand-up comedian before a short-lived career selling seafood to the mob pushed him into the food game. These days he has two top restaurants in Vietnam, an award winning show on The Discovery Channel, and now a flagship restaurant in London's Soho. I can think of few better to mentor those toiling with the prospect of going it alone than Bobby - or Ivan Massow. "Just do it" were IB coach Ivan's words of advice to aspiring entrepreneurs when we spoke with him last week - and he's a man who embodies that spirit utterly. Ivan was born poor and has no formal training – yet he built an insurance empire with little more than passion, charisma and a mobile phone. And that's Ivan's advice: find your passion and just do it."Success is 90% turning up and occupying the space." He told us. Ivan today is on the fringes of the establishment – he's even running for Mayor of London – but he was once a disruptive and divisive figure. A lucrative and sought-after segment today, the gay community 25 years ago was subjected to systemic prejudice – especially in insurance where they were thought to be high-risk prospects. In the early 1990s, Ivan started writing fairer policies for gay people. In doing so he rewrote history - and made a fortune. He's another shining example of where the just do it attitude can take us. Rule #2 – I want it now Wasn't that a Queen song? The just do it attitude is often tangled up in I want it now – but a generation of experience has taught me that the destination needs the journey, not the other way around. The bad, the toil, the struggle, the steps - it all matters, it's all necessary. Immediate now success is cheap. When Buddhists meditate they don't do it to fix or find euphoria – they do it to lock themselves in the moment; in the now; in the present, and appreciate suchness. I have cultivated many unhealthy attitudes and habits in my life – I'll save the tales for the autobiography – but the biggest offender has always been my I'll be alright when … attitude. When X is over, life will be bliss. Once I've got Y, it'll all be ok I can't wait for Z to happen! I can be guilty of it now: wanting the final score, without the pleasure of 90 minutes play. In other words, I'm so fixed on the destination, the result, the conclusion, that I fail to embrace the journey – and it's the most important part. There's a meditation reference in there because computing the now is a millennia-old struggle. They say Buddha existed circa 600BC – so that's a long time mankind has been at odds with the now. I recently watched the finale of The Office (US) and heard Andy Bernard's parting shot: “I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them.” And I've lost many a good old day – thinking about tomorrow. So Rule #2 was changed to it's the journey, not the destination – it might sound like an old cliché but people like Bobby, Ivan, agree - it couldn't be more true. Today, my amended rules sit together better than they ever did. For me, life begins at the edge of your comfort zone – but savour every moment, even the bad.

[thefiveeyesshow]

Visit Original Link

Last time on our show we looked at some comments made by Zachary Quinto regarding HIV and the gay community. The Star Trek actor said young gay men had become complacent in the fight against HIV, and even lazy. Now a Conservative candidate for mayor of London and gay tycoon Ivan Massow says the city's gay scene has a drug problem. In an interview with the UK's Gaydio, he says gay men don't know how to behave and they need to "grow up." He says that a straight mayor can't clean up the problem because any attempt to do so would be seen as homophobic.

Is Massow right that a heterosexual who confronts drug use in the gay community may be viewed as homophobic? Can only a gay mayor confront the community's drug problem?

[rebeccahossackartgallery]

  Friday 28 November

Final preparations for Miami were underway, packing pictures to take as hand luggage. And considering buying a new car.

Rebecca Hossack with potential new wheels

Thursday 27 November

Two thanksgiving meals: lunch with Tina and Belinda and turkey with Alvin and Ian in Highgate, surrounded by their amazing Aboriginal collection.

Then desserts and much discussion about Alvin and Ian’s forthcoming wedding party at the gallery.

 Wednesday 26 November

I arrived back in London, and unpacked and repacked for Miami for Saturday 29. The climate of both are similar.

That evening, we had an amazing party at the gallery for the Aurora Scholars. Four years ago there had never been an Aboriginal scholar at Oxford or Cambridge- now there are 26. We had cocktails and the Aboriginal scholars spoke. Their stories were amazing. The philosopher A C Grayling talked to one scholar doing a doctorate in Cambridge in the Philosophy of the Mind.

The Aurora Indigenous Scholars

Rebecca Hossack with Jon slack,  Director of Australian  and New Zealand Literary Festival

Rebecca Hossack with A.C Grayling , Richard Potok and Jon Slack

Tuesday 25 November

I totally love Burnt Ends restaurant. The owner Dave Pynt looks like Ned Kelly- and of course he is Australian.  

We were having a party to launch Laura Jordan’s new Singapore series.

Dave was at a wedding in Margaret River in West Australia and rang to see how it was all going- quail’s egg, a wood food oven and the pictures looked stunning. It was perfect.

At 8.30, I left to catch the midnight plane to London. another week, another long international flight.

Monday 24 November

The waitress at the restaurant where I dined lives in Malaysia because it is cheaper and travels four hours each way to and from work. She has two little boys and loves children. It was 11 pm and she was still working.

Friday 22- Sunday 23 November          

Yo-Hann Tann took me for a delicious dinner at an Italian restaurant on Saturday night. It was quiet and relaxing and delicious. He had just come back from Seoul. Everyone I meet in Singapore is weekending in Jakarta, Hong Kong, Cambodia....

The fair finished Sunday evening. We had virtually sold out.

My Sunday evening roll call of crates is always something I dread and we had work to be shipped to London, Hong Kong and to remain in Singapore.

However, the prospect of a delicious dinner in Duxton Hill and cocktails on the roof top terrace of Marina Bay Sands with the other British dealers sustained us as we wrapped and packed.

At 2am, I was back at my hotel but too tired to sleep. I went to the 7-11 in China Town and bought two Magnum ice creams, and sat under an awning watching the rain.

Thursday 20 November

The juxtaposition of vast skyscrapers and little shops with shrines placed on the streets, with offerings like a cup of coffee or an orange in front of them never ceases to amaze me.

Skyscrapers and shrines

This morning I went for a run and saw an old man gathering fallen flowers and putting them in a plastic bag. Later I saw the same flowers spread out on the ground at the entrance to a temple.

Scattered flowers at the temple

It is impossible to run in Singapore.

Wednesday 19 November

Although it was like being in a refrigerator, the opening of the fair was totally ablaze. Laura Jordan’s new Singapore series was appreciated by a crowd three people deep.

Our stand at Singapore

Rob Tucker paintings, channelling the vibe of Singapore colour

Monday 17- Tuesday 18 November 

Experiencing the bucolic joys of Autumn at Griff and Jo’s, it was hard to come back to London and pack for my departure to Singapore on Monday evening. I still had not unpacked from my trip to New York one week before, and I could not think HOT, and I had decided to carry Robert Bradford’s recently completed sculpture of a bejewelled dog AND an Iain Nutting scrap metal horse. Three cases, and not enough clothes.

I arrived in Singapore on Tuesday evening and went straight to the art fair, where I found Isy and Sarah had already unpacked the crates. It was so hot and humid, but then they do this crazy thing in Singapore where in every car, shop or hotel the air conditioning is absolutely freezing. What is wrong with lower buildings and the slow whir of a ceiling fan?

I bought a Magnum ice cream for dinner (Singapore is hard for coeliacs) and went to bed.

Friday 14 November- Sunday 16 November

Griff Rhys Jones has been criticized in the press for his complaints about mansion tax. So he was not on totally ebullient Griff form for his birthday weekend in Suffolk. But his daughter Katherine created the most delicious meals- breakfast segued into lunch and by the end Griff was singing opera around the table. We found the biggest oyster in the world in the mud at the bottom of their garden.

Thursday 13 November

This is the time of year when I meet all the artists and we plan their schedules for the forthcoming calendar. 

Iain Nutting is doing really well with his life sized gorillas made from reclaimed metal. And Rebecca Jewell is continuing as Artist in Residence at the British Museum.

A late dash to Charlotte Street for the opening of Hepzibah Swinford’s show. Her daughter Beatrice, burlesque dancer extraordinaire, has made cakes to complement, inspired by the paintings.

Lee Evans continues her support of Hepzibah by buying a superb work. 

Wednesday 12 November

The team from Anthropology love RHG, and after the success of Holly Frean’s chicken show they want to work with more of our artists. Barbara Macfarlane was in the gallery to discuss her NYC show and they loved her work and hearing about her amazing Khadi paper project.

We had cakes from the Brazilian café and then it was time to head to the Burlington Arcade for the Christmas lights. With so many meetings, Frankie claimed she was slipping into insanity. At that moment, the Poetry Group started to arrive. John Stammer is a wonderful poet and he has mentored the group for over a decade. They were launching their new anthology in the gallery.

Rebecca Hossack with poets Edward Barker and John Stammers

I wanted to stay and hear them read the poems (Edward Barker is my favourite) but I had to go to the Resurgence and Ecologist Dinner at the Lancaster Hotel. I am a trustee of Resurgence and a huge supporter of Satish Kumar, the Editor.

I hated the hotel ballroom and the hotel seemed so removed from what Resurgence stands for, but someone told me they keep bees on the roof. Hmmm…

Tuesday 11 November

Awoke with a sense of dread. Philosophy class tonight and I HAVEN’T READ PLOTINUS. Resolved to spend the day reading. As if! Morning meeting with Laura Jordan and lunch with Frankie Whitaker, tea with Katherine Virgils. Artists all day long and then a dash to the 7pm start of the two hour class. The teacher really annoys me. He is so tentative. I want to sit there and be told things, but he expects me to THINK!

Monday 10 November

Adrian Dannatt brought his 90 year old mother to meet me. In January, we are celebrating her birthday with an exhibition. I adore octo and nona- genarians. They are so brave, so modest, so interesting.

Saturday 8 November- Sunday 9 November

This was my first weekend in London for months,  and so Matthew and I rode our bikes to the Tower of London to see the poppies. A bit of product placement in the City of London.

All weekend people flooded the gallery to see the Derren Brown exhibition. Sold one of his photos.

Friday 7 November

Ian Butchoff is a remarkable man. He was born in a house with an outside loo, which his family shared with four other families. He began his career as a young boy buying silver plates with his father from Bermondsey market. Now he presides over a beautiful, and vast, antiques shop on Kensington High Street.

Ian and I are both Directors of LAPADA (The Art and Antique Dealers Association) and he took me to lunch at the coolest restaurant in  Fitzrovia, Dabbous.

 My dinner that evening was with another remarkable man, Yo-Hann Tann. As a student studying at LSE , Yo-Hann used to walk past my gallery and say 'One day I will buy something'.  Now he is a lawyer, and he has. I took him on a studio visit to Emma Haworth and then we went to Scotts for dinner. We discussed art and Singapore, two of my favourite topics

Thursday 6 November

One of the strangest things I have done was to carry a stuffed black swan down Euston Road on New Year's Day. I had bought it for Derren Brown, the genius illusionist. The swan settled in Derren’s home, and Derren and I had coffee and discussed his portraits.

Rebecca Hossack with Derren Brown's stuffed swan

In order to excel at his craft Derren has to study the human face intently. This understanding of physiognomy is fundamental to his art. After lunch with fellow LAPADA board member Catherine McKenna and a visit to her beautiful Beauchamp Place shop, I returned to his opening at the gallery, alongside Barbara Macfarlane's mapscapes, which was a WOW. It was particularly a WOW seeing the subjects of the portraits standing next to the canvas.

Ivan Massow is standing for the next Mayor of London. I like him.

Rebecca Hossack with Ivan Massow

[lisbetadair]

More Ivan Massow (my personal Soap MacTavish headcanon) porn.

He's both gay and a Tory (for the non-Brits is like the Republican party equivalent) which I regard as personal taunting by God.

Picture is from a naked shoot in gay mag Attitude.