Matilda Goad on Balance, Joy and Playful Homeware Design

Summary

Homing Podcast: Matilda Goad on Balance, Joy, and Playful Homeware Design

Host: Matt Gibberd
Guest: Matilda Goad, designer and founder of MG & Company
Release Date: January 12, 2026
Location: Matilda Goad’s Victorian terrace house, London

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Episode Overview

In this episode of Homing, host Matt Gibberd welcomes homeware designer Matilda Goad to talk about creativity, entrepreneurship, wellbeing, and the emotional forces that shape our homes. Matilda opens up about her unique upbringing on a National Trust estate, the roots of her creative drive, the steady (and sometimes chaotic) path to building her business MG & Company, and how she balances motherhood with maintaining a joyful and evolving home. The conversation weaves candid insights on self-care, money, and the realities behind a seemingly “Instagrammable” life, while celebrating the role of home as a source of love and renewal.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Upbringing and Early Creative Influences

• Growing up on a National Trust estate ([02:42]–[09:39])

  • Childhood in a cottage at Uppark, surrounded by nature and pre-digital boredom.
  • Creativity was encouraged: “I kind of was probably a bit of a loner in a way of constantly just kind of being a bit bored and finding ways to fill that.” ([03:54] MG)
  • Family influences: grandfather was an artist; mother ran a children’s clothing shop (“Emma Goad”).
  • “The fancy dress box...piles of fabric...constantly playing around and being creative in lots of different guises.” ([04:30] MG)

• Early signs of entrepreneurship ([11:24]–[13:32])

  • “I set up a jewelry business selling Bacardi Breezer caps and making them into earrings. I sold those three pounds a pop.” ([12:29] MG)
  • Holidays spent handing out flyers, seeking financial independence early.

2. Career Path: From Fashion to Homeware

• The fashion years ([14:27]–[18:26])

  • “...by the time I was in my early 20s, I’d already decided I didn’t want to go to university, I wanted to start working.”
  • Camberwell Art School foundation, skipped degree for work experience.
  • Positions at Russian Vogue, Wonderland magazine, and as assistant to Venetia Scott shaped a rigorous work ethic.

• Pivot to homeware and launching MG & Company ([27:43]–[34:00])

  • Discovery moment in prop houses: “Something inside me just clicked. I realized this creativity that I have doesn’t just have to be in art or fashion.” ([28:15] MG)
  • Accidentally started making “scallop lampshades” after seeking to inject personality into her boyfriend’s bachelor pad.
  • Persistence in production: “I called every single supplier and got to page three and a half and came across what is still our lampshade supplier today...” ([32:06] MG)
  • Organic business growth: “I probably ordered 20 of those lampshades. I sold them to friends, put the money back in and ordered 60...” ([33:14] MG)
  • The importance of Instagram for early brand growth, but noting her sharing there is evolving: “I’ve noticed recently...that I’m a bit more reluctant to share as much as I used to.” ([36:56] MG)

3. Wellbeing, Rituals, and Self-Care

• Managing stress and anxiety ([21:23]–[24:16])

  • Practices breathwork, silent retreats, acupuncture, careful nutrition.
  • “It is possible to worry about everything and it can take over your life. It’s all in your mindset and you can reset yourself quite easily.” ([21:49] MG)
  • Describes “box breathing” and monthly 1:1 breathwork sessions with a coach.
  • “You feel so free...Once you’ve done that sort of breath work, you can just hold your breath...and it’s this – you feel so free.” ([24:10] MG)

• On optimism: ([20:09]–[20:41])

  • “You can have a bad day and go to bed, and you can wake up and, you know, the sun still comes up every morning...each day as a new, fresh opportunity to do something.” ([19:07] MG)

4. Business Realities and Money Talk

• Profitability and growth ([37:23]–[42:16])
  • Matilda opens up about money: “We’ve been profitable since day one and I take a salary...I like to think that all my team are on healthy salaries that can support them.” ([37:23]–[39:55] MG)
  • Philosophy of “slow and steady” organic growth: “We sort of use the analogy of the tree putting down the roots...building a clear foundation.” ([41:08] MG)
  • Advocates more openness in discussing fees and salaries: “It should be more upfront, I think.” ([40:32] MG)

5. Home, Design, and Balancing Family Life

• Origin story of her Victorian terrace ([42:56]–[45:31])

  • Bought after knocking on the door and being shown around by the owner in a dressing gown.
  • The importance of “feeling” in choosing a home: “I really believe in the feel of a space. I walked in and it just felt kind of interesting, and it had a good feeling.” ([43:58] MG)

• Approach to interiors ([45:31]–[53:13])

  • Slow evolution; layering neutrals with color: “Homes constantly evolve...even in this room, I’ve just had that ottoman in here...the acid yellow – suddenly, that’s what’s missing.” ([46:44] MG)
  • Emphasis on waiting for the right piece: “While I’m a very impatient person in the home, I’m quite happy to wait to find the perfect piece.” ([49:11] MG)
  • Respect for lived-in imperfection: “If you’re gonna have a nice fabric on a sofa and they spill orange juice on it, like, so be it.” ([49:12] MG)
  • On clutter and organization: “I love a lot of things, but I don’t like a lot of stuff. Pieces have to have a purpose.” ([50:57] MG)

• Partnership and parenting ([53:19]–[58:01])

  • Husband Tom is supportive; their dynamic: “He really lets me be who I am…He’s much more chilled than me and much more calm.” ([54:04] MG)
  • Balancing work and motherhood: “I think I need one to complement the other. I think I’m a better mother when I’ve been stimulated and I’ve had a really productive day at work...” ([57:22] MG)
  • Both children born at home: “The home is such a safe place for me...it felt like the place that I wanted to welcome in my kids.” ([58:26] MG)

6. Sensitivity to Space and Identity

• Environments that trigger or soothe ([60:04]–[63:31])

  • Home and comfort with familiar rituals; aversion to clinical, impersonal spaces: “If I go for a checkup or a doctor’s appointment...I’m sort of needing to do my breath work and instantly it kind of throws me.” ([60:04] MG)
  • Finds airports and supermarkets overwhelming due to sensory overload.

• Home and self-identity ([63:54]–[65:12])

  • “It’s my visual identity...styling a room in the same way as getting dressed. I lean on basics...but it’s the layers, and that’s what I feel like in the home is within my home...” ([64:01] MG)

• Reality vs. perception ([65:12]–[69:40])

  • Not always “glamorous”: “Probably a good handful of times a week there are some big problems at work, most specifically with production...so much disappointment.” ([65:53] MG)
  • Value in having a strong, complementary team.

7. The Meaning of Home

• Home as love and renewal ([72:18]–[73:50])
  • “What really comes to mind is love. You know, it’s a space that is warming. It’s a space that brings people together. It loves throughout, in a way. It sees every emotion. It sees everything.” ([72:21] MG)
  • Replicates “home” wherever she goes: “If I’m going away somewhere, more than a night or two, I’ll try to bring certain elements of home to where I am...I'll put my jewelry in a dish. I’ll manage to make [it] my space quite quickly.” ([73:15] MG)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On new beginnings and optimism:

  • “You can have a bad day, go to bed, the sun still comes up every morning...each day as a new, fresh opportunity to do something.” — Matilda Goad ([00:00], [19:07])

• On business:

  • “We’ve been profitable since day one...I like to think that all my team are on healthy salaries...” — Matilda Goad ([37:57])
  • “It should be more upfront, I think.” (on fees/salary transparency) — Matilda Goad ([40:32])

• On design evolution:

  • “I do think homes constantly evolve...lean into what you love and it will come together.” — Matilda Goad ([48:14])

• On perfection and family:

  • “You can’t be precious about things and the home, you know, I’m never going to have really plump cushions in this house.” — Matilda Goad ([49:12])

• On the core meaning of home:

  • “It’s a space that is warming. It’s a space that brings people together. It loves throughout, in a way. It sees every emotion. It sees everything.” — Matilda Goad ([72:21])

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Key Timestamps

• Childhood and Early Family Life: [02:42]–[09:39]
• Entrepreneurial Spirit as a Child: [11:24]–[13:32]
• Breaking into Fashion & Professional Journey: [14:27]–[18:26]
• Morning Rituals & Optimism: [18:29]–[20:41]
• Coping Mechanisms & Wellbeing: [21:23]–[24:16]
• The MG & Co Story: [27:43]–[34:00]
• Instagram and Brand Building: [34:00]–[36:56]
• Business Realities & Money: [37:23]–[42:16]
• Home & Design Philosophy: [42:56]–[53:13]
• Family, Motherhood, and Work-Life Blend: [53:19]–[58:01]
• Homebirth & the Role of Home in Life Transitions: [58:26]–[60:04]
• On Sensitivity to Space: [60:36]–[63:31]
• Home as Identity: [63:54]–[65:12]
• The Imperfect, Behind-the-Scenes Reality: [65:12]–[69:40]
• The Future, Moving, and What Home Means: [69:40]–[73:50]

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Tone and Language

• Reflective, candid, gently humorous, often philosophical but always accessible.
• Matilda is direct yet warm, sometimes self-deprecating, optimistic, and focused on practical joy and balance.

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Takeaways

This episode offers an inspiring journey through the intersections of creativity, home, business, and personal wellbeing. It pulls back the Instagram curtain to reveal the improvisation, experimentation, and real-life challenges behind a thriving creative business, while celebrating the emotional heartbeat of home—love, acceptance, and the courage to keep evolving.

Transcript

[Matilda Goad]

You can have a bad day, go to bed, the sun still comes up every morning, and I really think you can lean into that and look at, you know, each day as a new, fresh opportunity to do something. While I'm a very impatient person in the home, I'm quite happy to wait to find the perfect piece. It's a space that, that is warming. It's a space that brings people together. It loves throughout, in a way. It sees every emotion. It sees everything.

[Podcast Host]

Hello, Happy New Year, folks, and welcome to a new episode of Homing. Today's guest is the designer Matilda Goad. Having started out as a fashion stylist, Matilda pivoted to homewares after the phenomenal success of her first product, a lampshade with a scalloped edge. Her brand, which is called MG & Company, now sells everything from cutlery to door handles. And she's just opened a gleaming new shop off the Pimlico Road, which is a clever modern take on the traditional hardware store. We recorded this podcast at her beautiful Victorian terrace house in London, which she bought after knocking on the door and persuading the owner to show her around in his dressing gown. Matilda's home is like a three dimensional portfolio where objects from flea markets come and go and she experiments with color and pattern. It's also a safe space for her and she gave birth to both of her children at home. We discussed the early signs of her entrepreneurial spirit and it's clear that she's always had a lot of energy and drive. She tells me about the self care that's needed to maintain a balance, including lengthy breathwork sessions and a close eye on nutrition. Matilda kindly gave me a tour of her house as well, which you can watch over on Patreon. She showed me all sorts of ingenious details, like the bespoke fridge and drinks cabinet she's made, a children's stair gate that disappears into a cupboard, and a set of hinged bar stools inspired by Japanese sushi counters. Head over to patreon.com homingwithmat to.

[Interviewer]

Take a look at.

[Podcast Host]

That. Here's the podcast and I very much hope you enjoy.

[Interviewer]

It. Hi, Matilda. Not normally this comfortable, so thank you for the lovely setup. I always start with going back to your early life, so I believe you grew up on a National Trust estate, is that.

[Matilda Goad]

Right?

[Interviewer]

Yes. So tell us about.

[Matilda Goad]

That. So I grew up in a cottage on the grounds of up park, which, yeah, is a beautiful National Trust house that was in my family a long time ago, but now is owned by the National Trust. And there was actually a big fire there, huge fire that burnt most of it down a few weeks after I was.

[Interviewer]

Born. Do you mean the main.

[Matilda Goad]

House? In the main house.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Oh.

[Matilda Goad]

Wow. And then my family along with my cousins, we've all sort of live in cottages around on the grounds. Okay, so it was an amazing childhood. You know, it really was the kind of expanse and having cousins all around. I'm actually the youngest in my family by 12 years. So while I have brothers, you know, my childhood was kind of. I was almost like an only child and really left to my own devices, of course, pre phones and the digital world. So I remember there was a program called Art Attack and they used to create amazing things and that kind of was my world. I kind of was probably a bit of a loner in a way of constantly just kind of being a bit bored and finding ways to fill that.

[Podcast Host]

Gap. So what do you make of.

[Interviewer]

That? Growing up in the countryside with a lot of time to yourself in your own head, do you think that that contributed to your.

[Matilda Goad]

Creativity? I think so. You know, I think it's also kind of in my blood, I.

[Interviewer]

Think. Tell me about that.

[Matilda Goad]

Then. Well, my grandfather was an artist and my mother had a kids clothing company that she ran in sort of 70s.

[Interviewer]

80S. What was that.

[Matilda Goad]

Called? It was called Emma Goad and she used to have a shop on Beecham Place. And it was very definitely not what my kids are dressed in today but you know, it was little sailor suits and romper outfits. And so I think creativity is always kind of, you know, it's been a kind of the running the common thread in my family. I remember, you know, fancy dress box, the fancy dress box, you know, piles of fabric falling out of kind of shoe boxes, rick rack, you know, constantly it was kind of playing around and being creative and you know, in lots of different guises. I, you know, used to move my room around the whole time. I then went through a phase of sort of trying to be a bit more handy and you know, getting tools and bits of wood and being a bit more kind of DT in that.

[Interviewer]

Sense. What did you make out of.

[Matilda Goad]

Wood? Oh, I used to make sort of all sorts of things, you know, little houses and shelves and all sorts of.

[Interviewer]

Things. That's quite impressive. Yeah, I definitely didn't do that. Absolutely terrible with a hammer. So tell me about your mum then. Was she around a lot in your childhood or was she very busy.

[Matilda Goad]

Working? She was, she was. So she actually gave up her business just after I was born. So she was around all of my childhood. And, yeah, you know, kind of one of my real memories as a child is going to antique fairs with her. I remember going around and, you know, she used to buy up. She's always loved chintz and certain types of rugs. And I remember going round, you know, these kind of sports halls in kind of Sussex, where there'd be weekend antique markets and stuff, you know, which is now something that I love doing. And we quite often go together to various antique fairs and flea.

[Interviewer]

Markets. Nice. And, I mean, it seems to me that because my wife Faye, grew up in the countryside as well, that there's something about the value of sort of boredom as well. I see that my own kids, because we live in the country as well. But looking back on it, do you think that that was quite a good thing for you, that. That boredom element? I mean, is that the right word, even for.

[Matilda Goad]

You? Yeah, I think it was. You know, at the time, I probably couldn't put my finger on it, but, yes, it's that. It's that, you know, expanse of time. You know, I look at my own children now, bringing them up in a city, and, you know, they kind of constantly want to be entertained or go out and do things. It's harder for them to occupy themselves at home here. And, you know, I. You become inventive and, you know, whether that was collecting lavender and, you know, making fake potions and trying to sell scent and, you know, that. That just being. And. And that sense of time you have to fill, you do have to be inventive, I.

[Interviewer]

Think. Yeah. Yeah. So tell us about the house, because it was. Was it a deer keeper's.

[Matilda Goad]

Cottage? Yeah, it was an old lodge where my parents still live today. And very, very low ceilings and lots of beams. A kind of bit of a rabbit warren with, you know, lots of little rooms, but, you know, it's such a feeling of home and, you know, it's got wonderful garden with kind of, you know, the old outside loo, you know, still exists, which is just a shed and. Yeah, it really is, you know, particularly in the summer. I was there over the summer with the apple trees and really just a wonderful place, you know, filled with so much chintz and prints.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. So they're still there. That's amazing. So how long have they lived there.

[Matilda Goad]

For? They've probably been there about 45.

[Interviewer]

Years. That's amazing. That's very rare, isn't.

[Matilda Goad]

It?

[Interviewer]

Yeah. So how does it feel for you going back there now.

[Matilda Goad]

Then? You know, it's wonderful. And, you know, my kids Love going there. You know, it's not too far from London, so we do go quite a.

[Interviewer]

Bit.

[Matilda Goad]

But. But it's, you know, my mother has changed rooms since I lived there. She's also quite like me and quite ruthless at getting rid of things. She doesn't hold onto things. So it's not like my old bedroom exists as it did when I lived there. But it's wonderful and I, you know, it holds so many memories, but it's. And while I can sort of recognize where a lot of my creativity has come from, it's a very different style to how I. What I project. You know, I now have this feeling the room we're sitting in here, that is an extension in my home. You know, I really wanted this sense of having a bit of scale and light and.

[Interviewer]

Space.

[Matilda Goad]

Okay. Which, you know, in the cottage there were very small windows and a lot of low.

[Interviewer]

Ceilings. That's really interesting. So in some way you're reacting against that. Yeah, that is interesting. Tell me about your dad.

[Matilda Goad]

Then. So my dad, he worked in property and I loved going to sites with him. I remember sometimes when he'd exchange on a block of flats and it needed renovation. I used to love going with him. It was also growing up with changing rooms, all of that excited me so much. My dad has always been very entrepreneurial and still to this day he's the person that I get second opinions things at work. And he taught me to sort of. He always had this motto growing up of if a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well. And that's something that, while I feel I used to sort of grunt a lot in my teens about it, it's something that I really recognize in myself now. I don't see the point in doing something half. Half done, you know, not getting a job done. You know, I think if you're gonna do something, you've gotta do it, finish it, put everything away rather than, you.

[Interviewer]

Know. Yeah.

[Matilda Goad]

Yeah. So I think that, that and that kind of perseverance of just sort of looking at things slightly in a different way and. Yeah. Finding a solution around things. I think he taught me a lot, in a.

[Interviewer]

Way. Okay, so it sounds like you. Are you quite a sort of independent spirited person? Is that.

[Matilda Goad]

Fair? Yes.

[Interviewer]

Yes. So if I asked you to describe your character when you were young, let's say 10 years old or thereabouts, and we were a bit of a fly on the wall, what would you have been like? What would you have been.

[Matilda Goad]

Doing? I mean, I think the first thing that came to mind was probably being quite.

[Interviewer]

Stubborn.

[Matilda Goad]

Okay. You know, I, I'm very instinctual about stuff, which, you know, is a great skill to have when you're designing and you're hanging to sign off stuff. I really know if something's gonna work or not. But as a child and you know, as, as I was the youngest by a long way, I sort of was around a lot of adults. I often would be taken, you know, my parents went to dinner parties and I'd be taken along and, you know, watch telly in the other room and I'd always be. Or I'd stay up and have dinner on holiday with my parents. You know, I wouldn't be put to bed. I was treated like an older child, I guess. So I always had this sort of, you know, I had such a wonderful childhood, but I always just wanted to be older. I wanted that independence, as you said. So. So very early on, you know, at school I would, I remember very clearly, I set up a, a jewelry business selling Bicardi Breezer caps and making them into.

[Interviewer]

Earrings.

[Matilda Goad]

Wow. So I sold those three pounds a pop. You know, I've always had that spirit of wanting to earn money and whether that was clearing out my parents garage and doing a car boot sale. So, you know, in my holidays, maybe from the age of 15 or so, on my school holidays, I'd go and hand out leaflets, flyers, do, you know, work wherever I could. I was never very good at sitting still and I just wanted that idea of obviously the financial independence of being able to earn a bit of money. But it was more just like I got a glimpse of this bigger world that existed and I wanted to be.

[Interviewer]

There. What was the thrill there for you? Was it. Do you get excited by taking something like a Bacardi Breezer bottle cap and monetizing it? Is it the idea of making something more valuable that gets you going? Or what is it about that process that you.

[Matilda Goad]

Like? That's a good question. I think it's seeing an opportunity and being able to monetize it, as you say, but also sharing something that at the time, let me tell you, they were a big.

[Interviewer]

Hit. I can imagine.

[Matilda Goad]

Yeah. I think it's seeing that opportunity and kind of wanting to share it with that vision. And if I look at that fast forward, however many years to when I first designed my scallop lampshade, I came across something where I hadn't seen lampshades created in this way. And I spun it on its head and, you know, I wanted to share.

[Interviewer]

That. Yeah, it makes a Lot of sense, though, actually, with your mum having a shop and then your dad's trading property. You're kind of bringing those instincts together, aren't you.

[Matilda Goad]

Actually?

[Interviewer]

Yeah. So that makes a lot of.

[Matilda Goad]

Sense. And I think it's also just, you know, I had a great social group at school. I love school. You know, I wasn't shy to partying. You know, I had a great time being a kid, but. But I just saw this wider world that existed of being around older people and that felt much more exciting to me. You know, by the time I'd sort of, you know, particularly my kind of early 20s, where I'd already decided I didn't want to go to university, I wanted to start working. Like, I've always wanted to get out into that world and seize that opportunity. So I left school and straight away I got a place at Camberwell Art School. I did a foundation course and I did a year there. Even. Even that I found it was quite conventional in a sense, that we were kind of. There wasn't that much structure, but I enjoyed it. I found, you know, it was my first time being in London. Just 18 in London, going down to Camberwell. You know, back then it was, you know, it was great. And I met so such an interesting group of people who are still really great friends to this day. And I got a place to go on to art school for three more years in London. And at that time, I'd been doing a lot of work on the side, some paid, some more work experience, but I literally said yes to everything. Stylists, shoots, artists helping in studios. And at that time I was offered a job working for a stylist. And it just felt like that was what I wanted to do and I went for it. And then I got a job soon after working at Russian Vogue, which is based in London. It was an amazing person. At the time, Anna Harvey was running that department, so there were quite a few of the international Vogues in the building behind Vogue House. And I worked there. And then I sort of jumped around. I worked then at a magazine called Wonderland magazine and sort of climbed up the ladder there. And then I was offered a job. Well, a job became available working for Venetia Scott, the photographer and stylist, and at that time working in fashion. I realized I really wanted to step aside from the styling and look what options there were in photography. But traditionally, photography assistants are male because, you know, it's a lot of heavy load and moving the equipment. And very few photography assistants were females. But with Venetia she worked. You know, her background was in styling and she had shoots peppered in, but she had a lighting assistant who came along. So it was literally the dream job. And I got the job and I worked there, I think, for four years in total. And really, those years with Venetia were like, the best training I've ever had. You know, they were so inspirational to, well, you know, what I do today. Venetia has a very particular eye and worked, you know, we were just us two. Day to day. I'd go into the dark room with her, we'd look at the coloring on prints, down to location scouting, you know, going to the prop houses and, you know, we worked on American Vogue shoots, you know, in all over the world, massive campaigns. And it was. It was such an eye opener. And really, you know, my work ethic really came into its own there because I was suddenly surrounded by people that it was like this. This energy that suddenly I'd kind of been wanting, looking.

[Interviewer]

For. Yeah, the word energy is. Is a good one, isn't.

[Matilda Goad]

It?

[Interviewer]

You. You clearly have a lot of energy, don't.

[Matilda Goad]

You? I do. I'm. I'm definitely an a Morning person. I wake up with, you know, and if I wake up early in the morning, I, you know, I. I can't go back to sleep because my mind is. And then definitely towards the end of the day, my. My energy levels. I'm not, you know, I can't knock out a, you know, a pitch in the evening. I'm not one of those night.

[Interviewer]

Owls. I get that. Yeah, I think a lot of us will feel that way as well. So. Okay, so what does Matilda look like then? When your kind of batteries are running out, what happens in the.

[Matilda Goad]

Evening? I quite like sort of slow evenings. You know, I think I really like to kind of set the house in a certain way. I like to have loads of. The light's really dim with just a few lamps on and candles. It's really important for me that. Why is that when you walk into a room in the evening and it's bright light, it feels really your sort of circadian rhythm. It feels like completely off. But also I think it's that leaning into winding down for the evening. I've got quite into sort of rituals in a way, and I like that idea of, you know, how dawn brings a whole new perspective. You know, you can have a really. Rather than writing off a whole week, you know, you can have a bad day and go to bed and you can wake up and, you know, the sun still comes up every morning. And I really think you can lean into that and look at, you know, each day as a new, fresh opportunity to do something that's very optimistic.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Is that another way word you would use for.

[Matilda Goad]

Yourself? Yeah. I mean, going back to my dad, he is eternally optimistic to sometimes, to an extent where you're like, you've killed it, that's too much. But I think with where I am today with work, I think you do have to have that optimism and I think running a company and a team, you know, you have to have that.

[Interviewer]

Positivity. So do you sometimes have to sort of like fake it till you make it on that front? You know, if you wake up and you're not really feeling it, but you've got to go and be positive in front of your team.

[Matilda Goad]

Right? I think so, yeah. And I think there's a lot, you know, in your mindset anyway, where you can reframe how you feel. You know, it's easy to wallow in something and suddenly when you look at your problem compared to the expanse of the universe, suddenly it's easy to worry. And I'm prone to worrying. So I've been really trying to spend time looking at.

[Interviewer]

That. Okay, so what do you do about that.

[Matilda Goad]

Then? I've been doing quite a lot of breath work and just looking at the bigger picture and, you know, I've been able to reframe it how, how I look at it because, you know, it is possible to worry about everything and it can take over your life. So I think, you know, it's all in your mindset and you can reset yourself quite easily by doing, you know, a bit of breath.

[Interviewer]

Work. Do you do that at.

[Matilda Goad]

Home? I do.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. So what does that look like? Where will you do it and how will you do.

[Matilda Goad]

It? So I, I work with, with a friend of mine who's a breathwork coach and my husband actually got me into it and he will come, you know, maybe once a month and we'll do more of a larger breathwork session, one on one, which can be. Have you ever done.

[Interviewer]

It? Never. I love the sound of.

[Matilda Goad]

It. You work through your body and you do this mouth breath, which is unnatural for the body. So suddenly you can bring so much, so much comes to mind to thought and your body, you can start sweating, you start shiver, your body sort of, it resets it almost. So that's really interesting as a sort of one off. But then, you know, just considering your breath throughout the day and, you know, if there is something that's you know, been a bit triggering. You know, you can sit for even a minute and just do a box breath or just follow your breath and it does really reset you, I.

[Interviewer]

Think. So if someone doesn't know what a box breath is, what is.

[Matilda Goad]

That? So box breath is, if you imagine so you're breathing in, you're holding it, you're breathing out and you're holding.

[Interviewer]

It. And each of those four things are the same amount of time, are.

[Matilda Goad]

They? Exactly. So that could be four, you know, you could breathe in for four, hold it for four, breathe out for four, or that could be more increased. That could be for six. But if you imagine it, it's the square going.

[Interviewer]

Around. Yeah, I love that, actually, that you do that with a friend. That's a really nice thing to do. So one of those sessions, how long will that be? How long are you breathing.

[Matilda Goad]

For? It can sometimes be about an hour and a half because you'll sort of settle to begin with. You'll do maybe the intense breathwork for 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and then you'll. Which you'll be sitting up for, and then you'll lie down and you'll do more of a sort of slower, which is. That's when it feels really good. It's extraordinary. Once you've done that sort of breath work, you can just hold your breath. Not breathing in for, you know, it feels like a massive amount of time. And it's this. You feel so free. I think it's really.

[Interviewer]

Powerful. It really is, isn't it? Is there anything else that you do on that front to sort of keep you on an even.

[Matilda Goad]

Keel? I have done a few silent retreats, which are really interesting. Oh, wow. I kind of lean a lot on Eastern medicine and having acupuncture regularly really, I find can balance me. I feel I have to feel good in myself. So I'm very invested in what I eat and the supplements I.

[Interviewer]

Take. Tell us about what you eat.

[Matilda Goad]

Then. Well, I sort of, you know, I eat meat, I eat dairy if I'm feeling good. But, you know, as soon as I get the sign of a cold, I'll cut out.

[Interviewer]

Dairy.

[Matilda Goad]

Okay. And, you know, I don't have a particularly strict diet, but I don't, you know, I try not to eat ultra processed food and a lot of sugar. You know, I try to eat a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables. It's. I see, you know, when I travel, I go to India quite a bit to see our suppliers and I'm eating, you know, delicious food, but I, you know, I Don't eat a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables there. And I instantly, you know, within a few days I can really feel it and suddenly everything gets off kilter. I've got a great green powder that I have in water now when I'm in India and you know, I, I've got my crutches and things that I know, like I know that I have to take a sleeping pill on a flight if I'm going to be working the next day on a long haul flight because I know that if I don't sleep, you know, and I think it's just recognizing those red.

[Interviewer]

Flags. We're all different on this. I mean I have my own routines and rituals and things as well. And it's a form of controlling your world so that you feel like you have some power over it. Right. Especially when you're really busy, it feels like things are spinning out of control. So for me, if I feel too far out of control, that manifests itself in anxiety and it's quite. Physical anxiety. What, how does it manifest for you? What is it that you feel when you're off kilter? What's going.

[Matilda Goad]

On? Like you are sort of quite a physical anxiety in my body. And you know, it's the, you know, constantly with work, you're problem solving, you're, you know, there's, there's always a problem and it's, there's always a solution and if your mind and you're in the right space, you can, you can action that quickly, you can think clearly. And when I'm in these states and of feeling overwhelmed, you, you know that I can't, my instinct goes and I can't think clearly. In that sense, everything just feels a bit more unattainable, I.

[Interviewer]

Think. Yeah, exactly. I often think this, that if you're an energy person, an anxious person, it comes with it a real downside which is that you can feel overwhelmed like you're describing. But there's a really big upside to that which is that anxiety is also a form of fuel. So I think with you having your kind of energy, you must have a lot of output is the upside of it. So just tell us a moment about how you got going with your brand, MG and Co. Because that's obviously come from this burning desire, this kind of selling bottle tops to people. This. Yeah, this, this, this inner energy that you clearly.

[Matilda Goad]

Have. Yeah. Sort of rewinding. So I was, I'd been working with Venetia Scott and you know, really the first five years of my career had been deep in Fashion, you know, I was calling Prada looks from shoots to go on Couriers, and that. That was the world I knew. And I didn't really know much about the interior world. You know, I'd been immersed in it. My mother has great taste, and I'd been to beautiful houses that I'd appreciated, but it never kind of had occurred to me that I may fall into that space. And I remember one day going with Venetia, as we did to the prop houses in Acton up the road from here, and we were trying to find something, a particular bedspread that was going to go in a shoot. And I remember walking into this warehouse and seeing, you know, aisles of different colored telephones, and, you know, people from all the film industry go there. And I just. Something inside me just clicked. And I realized, you know, wow, like, this creativity that I have and I really appreciate it doesn't just have to be in sort of art or fashion, which sort of growing up at school and that was all I sort of really knew as a kind of job opportunity. And something really clicked there. And. And then around that time, I decided that my time in that job had come to an end. And I spent, I think it was probably the next year just saying yes to jobs and through the contacts that I'd made in fashion. It was just when sort of tablescaping and events was, you know, and Instagram was all coming together, and I kind of just said yes to jobs. I remember Lulu Little at Sohn got me in, and I styled some tables for. I think she was doing a series of dinners for press. And, you know, I remember going to the Portobello market and buying boxes of pomegranates and putting gold leaf on them and sourcing plates and using her fabrics as a tablecloth. And sort of. I just started playing around in this world. And, you know, I'm really grateful to these people who gave me, you know, these lucky breaks. Penelope Chilvers, the shoe designer, gave me sort of, you know, the contract to do her windows and both her shops, you know, every quarter. And then the. The events were kind of scaling up a bit, and suddenly, you know, I. I said yes to a few weddings and these slightly bigger events, which I sort of had gone down this route. And, you know, they were great, and they look beautiful, and I love the process of pulling people together, but I suddenly was like, you know, hang on, this. This production world, this. I've gone too far down this road. But I did realize along the way that I loved the process of being given you know, the sewn fabric and making them into some fab, some napkins for the table. And I love this process of creating something and finding the supplier and having an idea that you draw on paper and ta da, the product's there. And around that time I moved in with my boyfriend, my now husband, who, which was the first person that I'd lived with other than girlfriends. And you know, I, I wanted to sort of make his bachelor pad a bit more feminine. And so I sort of was looking around and on the market, trying to, trying to see what I could buy. And you know, I was used to go to Kempton Market a lot, which I still do, buying lamps, some old lamps that I'd get rewired, but I couldn't find a lampshade on the market that, you know, at that time was in my price bracket. So I sort of would stick different braids on fabrics. And I realized there was a complete gap in the market. And also at that time I questioned why every lampshade I was looking at had this straight bottom. Okay, why, you know, why does it have to be that way? Why could it not have a scallop or a different shape? And so I set about quite literally typing in lampshade supplier to Google and called every single supplier and got to page three and a half and came across what is still our lampshade supplier today who agreed to make a.

[Interviewer]

Sample. What did you say? What were you asking them to.

[Matilda Goad]

Do? I'd made a. To make a lampshade with a scallop.

[Interviewer]

Bottom. Simple as.

[Matilda Goad]

That? It was as simple as that. But traditionally a lampshade would have a wire top and a wire base. And so with this construction, it couldn't have a wire base. So most of the people said, who are you? No phone down. But, you know, it was that persistence and I kept going because I believed in it. And yeah, you know, I. God knows what that first email was. I think I probably drew on a. Borrow, on a bit of paper, a picture, you know, probably six months later the first sample came and it was just when Instagram was beginning. And I felt, you know, it was, it was a great time then because you could gain traction quite quickly, which you can't now. And I think I probably ordered 20 of those lampshades. I sold them to friends, I put the money back in and I ordered 60. And it very slowly was like that, but quite quickly it gained momentum. And, you know, I then branched out and did a few different colors and different sizes. And, you know, I got my first Office. I used to go. I had a little Mini, and I used to pack up the lampshades every day to go to the post office on Goulburn Road. And I could only fit probably about 6 of the boxes in my Mini, so I had to do multiple trips to the post office every day to drop off the orders. But almost ignorance is bliss in a way. I didn't know what I was doing, but I knew in my heart what I was doing. I knew how to get there, even though it was maybe a different way to what's on paper. And so I kind of winged it for those first few years and brought in new products. And then it was really in 2020, with the lockdown, that the business kind of suddenly, it gained a bit more.

[Interviewer]

Traction. Okay, you talked about Instagram there. Do you think, would it have been possible without.

[Matilda Goad]

Instagram? It was, you know, I'd like to say yes. You know, you look at brands prior to that, you know, back in the 90s, you know, 80s, you know, word gets around. I think it would have gathered momentum at a slower.

[Interviewer]

Pace.

[Matilda Goad]

Okay. You know, I think I like to show things through images, and I really enjoyed the process of styling the lampshades in my. In my flat at the time and showing them in different ways. And it was a really great visual tool to sell the.

[Interviewer]

Product. Yeah. And sorry to interrupt, but you just made me think. So obviously, you know, we've. I think we all feel like a lot of us feel like we've got to know you a little bit through Instagram because you're not afraid of sharing your world in that arena. I'm always intrigued by that. In terms of how. How comfortable is that for you? Or do you see it as kind of something that you have to do to get where you need to want to get to with the.

[Matilda Goad]

Business. Yeah, I mean, it's a good question. It's. It's never been, you know, I think because the way that the brand was set up and, you know, there wasn't a business plan, there wasn't a pot of funds from an investor, it's always been little by little that I guess Instagram kind of became a crutch in a way. And it was, you know, we still. We don't have a separate brand Instagram and a personal Instagram. And it's just, you know, my personal Instagram almost became the brand Instagram. So I think, you know, it's a great way to be able to show things to our customer base, you know, our customer base, which is, you know, Very far reach, you know, to people in Saudi Arabia or the east coast of America, you know, who wouldn't have fallen upon me had I been selling my lampshades on a market stall, you know, with something that's very visual. I think images are very powerful and you can show them in your home. I do find the, you know, and I think my style translates. You know, my background initially was in fashion and now it's in interiors. So I love getting dressed, I love buying vintage clothes. You know, my style very much spans across fashion and interiors. So I'm happy to share a certain amount. But, you know, and I've. I've noticed recently as, as the brand has maybe grown up a little bit that I'm a bit more reluctant to share as much as I used.

[Interviewer]

To.

[Matilda Goad]

Okay. You know, and I think it's constantly evolving and changing, isn't it? And it's just recognizing.

[Interviewer]

That. Yeah, yeah. I know this is a very direct question, but people don't often ask this, but can I ask you about money? Because the reality of being a small business founder and owner is that it's not always easy on that front. Does what you do make money? I mean, that's a question.

[Matilda Goad]

Really. Yeah, well, yeah, and I think it's a great point to bring up because I think people don't talk about money. And I'm really lucky. I've got a group of girlfriends, actually, that, with four of us together and we live all over London and we probably. I see them more than my friends that live around here because we see each other. We have a dinner every two months and they work within this space in fashion. And we're so open about money and, you know, separate to the brand for the moment. But, you know, if a job comes in on a partnership or something different, we're so direct. How much, you know, how much did this brand pay for this? Like, and we all are very open about it. And I think it is really important to talk about money because you need to understand, you know, particularly with partnerships and on that sense, you know, what the level is someone's offering you money and how that sits. Because I think one's worth is really important going on to the brand. Yes, we, you know, we're, we're in a really lucky position where we have been profitable since day one and I take a salary. It's. It's always been really important for me to be profitable. We've been very considered in our growth. You know, we, we currently attend people full time in the office. Three years ago, I think we were four people and initially, you know, it was me and a couple of part time staff. So it's always, I think, I think because it as going back to those first 20 lampshades and that was the money that was put in. That is the, you know, that is the initial pot that sits in our bank today. But you know, that obviously has grown. It hasn't been anyone else's money. So I've always been very careful of it and very considered and you know, I like to think that all of my team are on very, you know, healthy salaries that can support them. You know, the way that they live and you know, justifies their skills and you know, it's always been. That has been more important than the, the bigger picture. And you know, I'm in it for the, I'm the long run. Yeah, it's, it's the slow and steady.

[Interviewer]

Race. Yeah, slow and steady is good, I think, refining as you go along, learning what works and what.

[Matilda Goad]

Doesn'T. But I think it's really important to talk about it and it should be a topic that people talk about more in, in a more open.

[Interviewer]

Way.

[Matilda Goad]

Yeah. Even people's salaries and, and there's somehow this. I, I think in America they're a lot more open about it. It's quite a British.

[Interviewer]

Thing.

[Matilda Goad]

Yeah. To you know, or, or even working with, with people, creatives, you know, people skirt around talking about the fee and, and busy selling the creative bits and it should be more upfront, I.

[Interviewer]

Think. Yeah. I mean the reality is in this environment it's extremely difficult for every small business and larger businesses as well, of course. But I think that's not said enough really. You know, everybody is finding it difficult and that's okay. It's okay to say.

[Matilda Goad]

That.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. But I think it's great that, you know, you've. That's exactly the model that we employed with the modern house, to be honest. It's was just very, very slow organic growth at first and then after a while it feels like if you hit a seam then you can roll with that. But you can't run before you can walk, I think.

[Matilda Goad]

Completely. Yeah. We sort of use the analogy of, you know, the tree putting down the roots and you know, really building. I think you've got to have such a clear idea of your foundation and you know, we, the brand, you know, not pivoted but the direction that we've gone on. You know, when I, when it was more. When I didn't have a supplier base and I was finding the suppliers, you Know, we ended up making a lot of pottery because when I was on holiday in Puglia, I came across a great supplier. But, you know, as we build out the team and I've got staff that have, you know, great knowledge, we've really been able to deliver on what we want to do, which is now a lot of hardware and lighting, and we're much clearer on that direction. And, yeah, I think there's. It's kind of glamorized in a way, this idea of overnight.

[Interviewer]

Growth.

[Matilda Goad]

Yes. But, you know, to me, while I'm not an academic, you know, it's instinctual. Looking at the books and seeing it doesn't feel comfortable for me to go beyond our.

[Interviewer]

Means. Yeah, exactly. Let's talk about this.

[Matilda Goad]

Place.

[Interviewer]

Yes. Your very beautiful home that I feel like, you know, some of us have seen online here and there. And I think it's really interesting to be in here because, of course, the reality is always slightly different to what you see on the screen, actually. And so it's been. I've really enjoyed feeling the volumes of the spaces and the materials you've got in here and the colors. I think it's a very, very elegant, beautiful place. And I've actually really enjoyed looking around. So thank you for that. What was it like when you got here, and what's the kind of origin story of how you ended up.

[Matilda Goad]

Here? Well, firstly, thank you. That's very flattering coming from you and all the homes that you've been in. So this home was. It was actually quite a funny story. I was looking to move out. I sort of spent Most of my 20s living around Portobello, Notting Hill, and I was looking to move to this area, wanting more space, and. And I had been looking a lot different places online. And I came and I was walking around one Saturday morning and I saw a sign outside here, for sale. I hadn't seen this house online, and I knocked on the door.

[Interviewer]

And.

[Matilda Goad]

Brazen. Yeah. And early in the morning, because I'm an early bird. And the. The gentleman who lived here came to the door in his dressing gown and I was like, hi, I'm just looking around. Anyway, he. He, you know, we had a private tour of the.

[Interviewer]

House. Was he the owner or the.

[Matilda Goad]

Tenant? The owner. He was the owner. And he'd lived here for 35 years. Him and his wife both worked in the theater. And the corridors down there were lined with every poster of every production they put on. And it was amazing because, you know, it. It had such character. You know, it hadn't had Fake cornices put in. You know, it really had. That it hadn't been touched, so. And it just. I really believe in. In the feel of a space. I don't know if you do, but I walked in and it just felt kind of interesting, and it had a good feeling. The garden. The garden, you know, it had. It has this big wall of ivy, so you. It's quite. You're not very overlooked, which I really like. And I sort of just had a real gut feeling on it that it. It had this great.

[Podcast Host]

Potential. A reminder that you can watch my house tour with Matilda over on Patreon. She explains why her kitchen worktops are much higher than usual, why her extension has three pairs of French doors into the garden instead of the usual bi. Fold doors, and how she's brought the beachside spirit of the Hamptons to a busy London street. Head to patreon.com homingwithmat to take a.

[Interviewer]

Look. And so what was the kind of first step? You know, if you're approaching a project, what do you think? Like, what is it? I want to conjure a feeling, or I start with a particular color or a fabric or a, you know, what is.

[Matilda Goad]

It? We were quite limited by budget, so that. That, you know, meant there were certain constraints. I think it was first working out the layout, and the kitchen was always in the front of the house, which is quite rare in a terraced house. But I loved the idea of. In here, we were always gonna, you know, extend the room a little bit. I loved the idea of having this pitch ceiling and it being a really light space. So once we'd sort of cemented that that was gonna be the layout, it was really maximizing the space to the best of its use. And so we did quite a. Quite a quick initial build, building out this room and, you know, putting a bit of rewiring and plumbing. And then, you know, it really was over. You know, it's been a slow evolution here. You know, even in this room, I've just had that ottoman in here with that fabric, and I feel that is the piece that's been missing. You know, the acid yellow. Suddenly, that's what's missing in this room. I think I mentioned earlier this idea of sort of cooking and adding in, thinking about the sweet and the spice, and, you know, it needs that balance of.

[Interviewer]

Room. There's the.

[Matilda Goad]

Acid. You know, I do think homes constantly evolve. And we've done, you know, we did a little bit of a reconfigure when, you know, we moved in here with no children. And I now have two kids. Two kids. Two and five. And, you know, I was completely clueless. Like, I had no idea how much mess and chaos and how much stuff kids come with. So we then did a bit of a reconfigure on the first floor. We knocked out two tiny, tiny rooms that weren't very useful and sort of opened up the landing to make it a sort of playroom. And that was. You know, we did that maybe two years after the initial build. But, yeah, in response to, I guess your question was, you know, the palette that. The colors on the walls, I kind of lean towards more neutral colors. I like to think of the canvas as quite a neutral canvas, and then it means it can have layers of. You know, I'm not stuck. Stuck in a particular era. I'm not afraid to put a sort of IKEA stool next to a design hero from the 50s and vice versa. Putting a kind of Colfax fabric with something that's much more modern. I just really believe you lean into what you love and it will come together. But I think having that natural, that sort of neutral canvas really.

[Interviewer]

Helps. Yeah. So where do you get most of your stuff from? Because it seems a real mix. Right. But is a lot of it coming from fairs and markets and ebay.

[Matilda Goad]

And. It sort of is, but it's because, you know, I just think from a. You know, it's very cost effective, certainly, to find something that has personality and the quality. If you can't afford the high end, it's far better to find something that's secondhand and to recover it or, you know, recondition it than getting something from a high street, you know, supplier that's not very well made. But, you know, that said, it's, you know, there's a bit of everything in this home I love. You know, I like to fall upon pieces, and I like that story that goes with it. So I'm not. While I'm a very impatient person in the home, I'm. I'm. I'm quite happy to wait to find the perfect.

[Interviewer]

Piece. Okay, that's.

[Matilda Goad]

Interesting. I'm not that fussed that the home isn't perfect, and I think I've really lent into that since having small kids and realizing that, you know, if you're gonna have a nice fabric on a sofa and they spill orange juice on it, like, so be it. Like, you can't be precious about things and the home, you know, I'm never gonna have really plump cushions in this.

[Interviewer]

House. But you were saying earlier that the kind of freestanding work table that you had in the kitchen broke.

[Matilda Goad]

Right?

[Interviewer]

Yes. What happened to.

[Matilda Goad]

It? The kitchen is underneath my bedroom, and so my husband sometimes on the weekends would give the kids breakfast in here so they can watch telly. I know it's a bit sloppy, and so he brings it in for them. And they love to sit behind here with their high chairs, having their cereal, watching the tv. So in one of its transportations, the marvel cracked in.

[Interviewer]

Half. Oh, no. But that's the sort of thing that happens, isn't it? And it's interesting that you're just happy to live with that gap for a while. You know, you're having something made. But, you know, I think it's.

[Matilda Goad]

Completely. You know, I feel, you know, friends come to me and, you know, they've moved. They've just moved in somewhere and they're like, oh, but when coming over, but it's not completely done and, you know, and then they've sort of rush. Bought quite an expensive bit of furniture that doesn't really work, and then they don't like it. And, you know, it's quite hard to rehouse furniture in that sense if it's a new piece, you know, it's big and bulky and, you know, it's hard to resell. It's not like a piece of clothing where if you made a bit of a mistake on a dress that you're not gonna wear lots, it lives in your cupboard. Do you know what I.

[Interviewer]

Mean? Yeah, yeah. Where do you stand on.

[Matilda Goad]

Clutter? While I love a lot of things, I don't like a lot of stuff. I know that sort of contradicts itself, but I don't like lots of clutter. Pieces have to have a purpose. They've got to have a use. And I think as far as we go is the shells we collect on holidays with my kids and the pebbles, if they're all grouped together in a bowl, that, you know, that. That works. But I'm definitely not going to be someone that has sort of pieces of china lined up. I think they've got to be concise and they've got to have a use. And I like clear.

[Interviewer]

Surfaces.

[Matilda Goad]

Okay. You know, as I've got older and, you know, particularly since becoming a mum and probably having quite a busy life, I've become very organized, which is a bit of a bone of contention with my husband, who's quite disorganized. I really believe you can learn to be organized, and I think it's something you can train yourself to.

[Interviewer]

Do. Go on. How do you do.

[Matilda Goad]

That. Well, I think it's just practice and there's certain aids you have, and I think this idea of objects having a home. I love the idea of the junk drawer in one's kitchen. The drawer where you have the plasters, the sun cream, the scissors. That idea of, you know, it can be messy in there, but everything lives in there rather than on top of a.

[Interviewer]

Surface. Yeah. And, you know, that's where the plasters.

[Matilda Goad]

Are. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I like to know where things live. I think it feels really good when you're efficient, you.

[Interviewer]

Know? Yeah, yeah. So if I was to come in here and, I don't know, like, shift a few things around on your mantelpiece, would you notice.

[Matilda Goad]

That? Probably not, because I think it was my kids, but.

[Interviewer]

No. Okay. So it's not that level, I. E. It's not that everything has to be set in the right.

[Matilda Goad]

Position. No.

[Interviewer]

Sorry. Yes, I would.

[Matilda Goad]

Yeah. I think it's more. I don't mind if things are out of joint aesthetically, but I like to know that, you know, in the top drawer of my desk, I've got the pen that I like to write.

[Interviewer]

With. Yeah, okay, got it. So tell me about Tom, your husband. How did you guys.

[Matilda Goad]

Meet? We met through his brother.

[Interviewer]

Actually.

[Matilda Goad]

Okay. And, yeah, it was. It was quite a quick instant. I think we were together for about a year when we got engaged. In hindsight, I was very.

[Interviewer]

Young. How old were you.

[Matilda Goad]

Then? I was 26 when I got.

[Interviewer]

Married. Okay. That is quite young these.

[Matilda Goad]

Days. But then we had. We had, you know, maybe five years without kids, so it was interesting. You know, we've got a great dynamic, but, yeah, we were young for.

[Interviewer]

Sure.

[Matilda Goad]

Yeah. But we sort of almost carried on almost dating in those early years of being.

[Interviewer]

Married. Got it. Yeah. Okay. What is it about the two of you that works character.

[Matilda Goad]

Wise? I think he, you know, really lets me be who I am and, you know, I'm quite expressive and. And have my certain ways, and he kind of really lets me flourish in that way. He's much more chilled than me and much more calm. So I think. I think you kind of need that.

[Interviewer]

Balance. That sounds good. That sounds good. So applying that to your home, then. Does he have an opinion on it or does he just leave it to.

[Matilda Goad]

You? He is. No, he lets me sort of. He does have certain opinions and actually, you know, I'm quite particular in certain ways in this room. He particularly wanted to put in this porthole window, which at the time I couldn't visualize and I didn't Understand why. And actually, I think it's one of the elements that makes this room. And we built the fridge in our kitchen together. I mean, I say together. I gave some initial ideas, and he really did that. So, you know, he's a bit. A very important clog in the design, but, yeah, sort of lets me develop the ideas, I.

[Interviewer]

Guess. But in every household, right, there's certain things that wind us up. Okay, what does he get, out of interest, what does he get irritated by or wound up.

[Matilda Goad]

By? I mean, he probably gets. Because he does all the cooking, and it's probably more me because he's quite messy. You know, I always think there's one person who's messier than the.

[Interviewer]

Other. Okay, so you're saying that you spend a lot of time clearing up after.

[Matilda Goad]

Him? Yes, yes. Putting the pens back in those.

[Interviewer]

Drawers. Okay. Okay. Sounds symbiotic. And then you've got two children, so you've got Domino, who's 5, and August, who's 2. What's that been like for you, being a mum? Because it's obviously a seismic shift for all of us, but what's it been like for.

[Matilda Goad]

You? It's, you know, it's the most wonderful thing that happened to me. I. You know, I love being a mother so much. It's. You know, my daughter came into the world right in the peak of the first lockdown just as my business was sort of gaining a bit of momentum, you know, so, you know, I've kind of only ever known juggling work and motherhood with my second, with my little boy. I chose to take a bit more time off on maternity leave because I felt I missed it the first time round. But I actually. I really miss work. And I found, you know, while I may complain that I'm spinning plates, doing both, I think I need one to complement the other. I think I'm a better mother. When I've been stimulated and I've had a really productive day at work, I feel I can give more to my kids than, you know, the days when I was on maternity leave and, you know, they felt quite long. I didn't feel I had that sense of.

[Interviewer]

Purpose.

[Matilda Goad]

Yeah. You know, and it's. It's amazing. Like, I've just started. My daughter comes into my office here and there in half terms, and it's so amazing seeing her come in and she'll play with the 3D printer and pick up prototypes. And I think it's amazing to see that example. And it's wonderful seeing as the kids get a little bit Older. You see how their imagination works. She'll stay up. She's such night owl. She quite literally goes to bed when I go to bed. Cause I go to bed really early and she'll be. Will have set up an entire show sharp and you know, really creative.

[Interviewer]

Imagination. What time do you go to bed.

[Matilda Goad]

Then? Maybe.

[Interviewer]

9:30. Yeah, yeah. Has that changed as you've got.

[Matilda Goad]

Older? Yeah, definitely, definitely. But you know, peppered in with, you know, dinners and you know, they'll stay up late, but if I'm at home, I like to get an early.

[Interviewer]

Night and so you had both kids at home, didn't you? Home.

[Matilda Goad]

Births?

[Interviewer]

Yeah. For anyone listening who's thinking about that, do you advocate that.

[Matilda Goad]

Idea? I thought it was. I had the most positive experiences with. With having both home births of my. Both my kids born at home. You know, I'm. It was something I was always quite interested to explore, but certainly not with. With my first child. But she was born in early May of 2020. And I kind of realized that, you know, and I had some amazing support around me who gave me the confidence that actually this would be, you know, my. One of the best options I could have. You know, at that time you weren't allowed any. Any companion. You weren't allowed anyone in the hospital. Whereas if I was at home, I'd have the team of people, my husband and you know, it really shows like the home is such a safe place for me. I'd spend, you know, there have a many months before of lockdown here and it feels, you know, it had. It was my safe space and it felt like the place that I wanted to welcome in my kids. You know, I had the support of the medical teams that were here. I knew that the hospital was 15 minutes away if I needed to go there. And yeah, it was really wonderful. My daughter was born in the sitting room, my son in my.

[Interviewer]

Bedroom. And I love the idea that the home can be this starting point to a new life and the backdrop to those really, really important life.

[Matilda Goad]

Experiences. Completely. I think Western medicine is completely amazing as and when you need it. But you know, if I go for a checkup or a doctor's appointment and I have the bright lights and all of that, instantly I'm sort of needing to do my breath work and you know, instantly it kind of throws me. So, you know, those simple comforts and I think it's, you know, those simple things you can adjust if you have time. Like if you're in a hotel room. I often move things.

[Interviewer]

Around. It's interesting from doing this podcast, I was contacted by a consultant neurologist, and he said, wouldn't it be interesting to see if good design can have an impact on people's experiences when they're recovering from brain injury or brain surgery? So we're going to try and do that piece of work together, which I think would be really exciting. But what do you feel about being sensitive to environments? And what environments do you find hard to be in because they kind of trigger you in that way? I mean, hospitals are an obvious one. Are there any other places where you find similar.

[Matilda Goad]

Things? Well, firstly, I think that's amazing. I think, you know, there's, you know, we've. I know that there's, like, certain recovery centers where, as a brand, we've donated certain products for people. And I think 100%, I am sure that your surroundings can help aid, you know, certainly the emotional recovery. Yeah, I think that's amazing. In terms of other spaces, I feel. I find airports quite.

[Interviewer]

Overwhelming. Yeah, me.

[Matilda Goad]

Too. There's just always something about them that is.

[Interviewer]

Fraught.

[Matilda Goad]

Yeah. You know, and again, that's an interesting one. I wonder why, you know, that, you know, they could be toned down in a certain way, couldn't.

[Interviewer]

They? Well, it's funny you say that, because I was thinking that on the Tube on the way here this morning, and I was thinking about Heathrow airport. So Terminal 5, which I'm sure you would have traveled through, I actually think, despite being a really big terminal, is one of the most humane ones there is. And I think actually the acoustic design in there is excellent. It's amazing that in that huge space, it's not a very resonant sound, and you don't feel that sense of the sound crashing off hard surfaces and sort of overwhelming you like a wave. Whereas I think there are many other airports, Gatwick, et cetera, et cetera, that just feel a lot less humane. And I think it's just a combination of hard surfaces, you know, really not very nice. Artificial lighting, completely. Often not being able to see out of a.

[Matilda Goad]

Window.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Because that's. I think that's very important to be so underrated that just give us a window to be able to look out.

[Matilda Goad]

Of. Completely. Completely, you know.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. But, yeah, when I was talking to Chris Packham, he said that supermarkets he finds really hard, which I was interested by. And he said for him, a lot of it's to do with smell. So if he walks into a supermarket, he gets kind of like fish and meat and dairy and everything in one go, and his senses Kind of say, well, that's not all supposed to go.

[Matilda Goad]

Together. Yes. Yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. So this word identity I've written down here, because for you, it seems to me that your home, it's a home and you share it with your husband and your two kids, but it's also kind of a calling card, and it's part of your identity. So how. How do you. Is that. Is that a fair statement and sort of. How do you feel about.

[Matilda Goad]

That? Yes, I think it. I think it is. You know, I. You know, it's my visual.

[Interviewer]

Identity.

[Matilda Goad]

Yeah. And, you know, as I referred to earlier, I think it's in the same way as my visual identity with the way that I choose to.

[Interviewer]

Dress.

[Matilda Goad]

Yeah. I kind of often compare styling a room in the same way as getting dressed. You know, I lean on a lot of basics with what I wear. I love denim and, like, a white T shirt, let's say, on a normal day. But I have so many handbags and sunglasses and shoes. And, you know, it's. It's the layers, and that's what I feel like in the home is within my home. There's a lot of layers, but actually, if you take them away, it's quite a simple.

[Interviewer]

Canvas.

[Matilda Goad]

Yeah. And I think it's that idea of, you know, that identity can evolve and change and, you know, in the way that, you know, I lived here for a year without having kids and, you know, while, you know, it looked the same, there were certain things that were different, you know, and I think that's in the same way with the way you.

[Interviewer]

Dress. Yeah. It's really struck me, I think, sort of spending some time with you today, that you're someone that you're about momentum and moving forward, clearly, and you've clearly got a lot of energy and you've talked about doing breath work because there's a kind of breathlessness that comes with that type of character. Right. So I suppose I'm interested just to probe a bit more with you, because I think it's. I think it's helpful for other people to understand kind of behind the. Behind the scenes of the Instagram feedback, you know, when the wheels are kind of coming off, what does that look like for.

[Matilda Goad]

You? So, you know, I found my early 20s quite hard. I, you know, I had a great time. You know, it was maybe concealed quite a lot by working hard and partying and surrounding myself and being social. You know, in hindsight, you know, I hadn't found my proper home. You know, I. I'm now got my partner and my family and I've got a real reason to put down the roots of my home. But that kind of period of it's always hard. I think you're, you know, whether it's in your teens or early 20s that you know, maybe you don't have that maybe I didn't have the confidence that I do today to be who I am. You know, you're always slightly looking around at what other people are doing and wondering whether what you're doing is the right thing. And I think it kind of goes hand in hand like I kind of needed to prove myself. And I think that's also something that going back to finding it hard at school, maybe I've always had to be busy and work hard to prove myself, that while I wasn't getting 100 out of 100 in exams, I could prove myself. I can achieve things in a different way on a day to day level. At work. I have built myself a team of incredibly talented people who each play such a huge part in my company. I've got an amazing COO who is the right brain to my left brain. Left brain to right brain. A document comes in, I'll open the visual doc, she will open the contract. We're completely different people, but we can read each other. And so I think it's building that support system around you that's been invaluable. And no doubt we would not be here today without the team. They have played such a huge part. So I think in some respects it definitely isn't all glamorous. Probably a good handful of times a week there are some big problems at work, most specifically with production. I wish people knew just how hard it is to produce something. I think people often think it's a very easy process and it's an easy job. There's so much hand holding and so, so much disappointment. So many letdowns, delivery windows missed, quality control. There's a lot of things and that can be really disappointing, particularly when as a team you're so efficient. But I think you also have to realize that a lot of it is out of your hands. And as long as you know, every problem is also solvable and it's just getting to that, that's that solution. But you know, it's, you know, I, I find recently, you know, certain the last few years that the creativity window of my day has really been swallowed.

[Interviewer]

Up.

[Matilda Goad]

Yeah. And it's trying to find those pockets still. And I try to sort of not stress too much about it and realize that actually often it's when I'm sitting on the tube that an idea comes. I don't necessarily have to be sitting with a sketchbook in front of me and a pen because, you know, when I think that I'm going to be researching something one day, a problem comes up that we need to sort the future of.

[Interviewer]

Home. You have been here a while now. Do you see yourself being here forever or do you think there's another chapter for.

[Matilda Goad]

Home? No, definitely, definitely. I don't see myself being here forever. But I think the next question is, how long will I be here for? And it's a question that's sort of going round and round in my head. I grew up in the countryside, as did my husband, and that pull is really, you know, strong. However, you know, on the contrary, you know, my kids are thriving in London. It's different to what I know, what I knew growing up, but they have a great life. I get to drop them at school and I can cycle to my office in 10 minutes. Everything is a lot more manageable here. So, I don't know, whenever I'm in a new place out of London, I'm always looking at what's round. But it's that idea of evolving. Even the next place I'm in. I don't think I could ever say this is my forever.

[Interviewer]

Home. Oh.

[Matilda Goad]

Really? No, I think it's too final. Yeah, it's too final. And I like the idea of, you know, maybe I'd live abroad for a few years. I don't.

[Interviewer]

Know. Where would you. If you could pick a country, which one would it be?

[Matilda Goad]

Italy. I think it would have to be quite close to home. Italy I love so.

[Interviewer]

Much. It was a.

[Matilda Goad]

Guess. I could see myself in.

[Interviewer]

Ibiza.

[Matilda Goad]

Okay. I think there's a great expat community there. But, you know, like, this is all a. This is all sort of 3:00am Worries, right? You know, right now I'm in the office four days a week. You know, my husband needs to. He's on different building sites every day. So it's a one day, but I think there's definitely a few different places ahead. And, you know, it's back to this idea of evolving, you know, it would be the next place and, you know, after our kids leave home, you know, somewhere.

[Interviewer]

Different. The final question I always ask everyone, which is, I think, a really enlightening one, because this word home has so many different meanings and connotations, I think, from the physical structure that you inhabit to the community that you're a part of, to the feeling within yourself that word Home, I think, has multiple meanings to it. So if I was to ask you to summarize the word home and what that word means to you, what would you.

[Matilda Goad]

Say? What really comes to mind is?

[Interviewer]

Love.

[Matilda Goad]

Okay. You know, it's a space that is warming. It's a space that brings people together. You know, it loves throughout, in a way. You know, it sees every emotion. You know, it sees everything. And we also are also great, you know, so grateful to have a roof over our head. And I think it's. Whatever it is, it's that place that, you know, it's in your heart, I.

[Interviewer]

Think. So. Do you think about home when you're not.

[Matilda Goad]

Here? I do, but I also. I try. And if I'm going away somewhere, you know, more than a night or two, I'll try to bring certain elements of home to where I.

[Interviewer]

Am. Okay, like.

[Matilda Goad]

What? Well, I'll maybe move the room around a bit. I hate quilts on beds. That's like the first thing I go into a hotel room. They have to go in the.

[Interviewer]

Cupboard. Oh.

[Matilda Goad]

Why? I just think it's a bit gross. And then I'll sort of move things around quite often, you know, I'll put my jewelry in a dish. I'll sort of. I'll manage to make it. MySpace, quite obviously, my space quite quickly. You know, if. If I'm on holiday and there's sun hats, they'll be decorated.

[Interviewer]

Around. Cheeky raffia lampshade goes.

[Matilda Goad]

On. Totally.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. I love that. Thank you so much, Matilda. Thanks for your time. Thanks for inviting us in here. It's been really.

[Matilda Goad]

Fun. Well, thank you. It's been wonderful to.

[Interviewer]

Speak. Nice.

[Podcast Host]

One. A big thank you to Matilda and thanks to all of you for listening. You can follow Homing on YouTube, Instagram or TikTok. You'll find us @homingwithmat. And of course, if you subscribe to Homing on Patreon, you.