Many people ask what is the significance of the Stanley Lewis logo…..’Inspired by the need for balance’.  The Stanley Lewis logo was derived by a series of events described in the passages below and summarized in ‘Our Philosophy’ section of this website http://www.stanleygentlemen.com/philosophy/.  

Today’s pace of life is hectic for everybody.  Driven by a need for fulfillment, but a fulfillment of what?  We seem to have come full circle with confusion between needs and wants. Stanley Lewis tries to represent the equilibrium we all  so desperately search for.  A place where life is proportioned and quality time is a reality not a frustration as it so often is.  The harsh reality came soon after my mother died.  Desperate to keep busy and bury my emotions, I successfully hid for the next 10 years in a flurry of deadlines and self made goals. I held a 50hour+ position as a Retail Fashion GM, a position I had held for 10 years ; Stanley and I did the ‘sea change’ relocation in search of ‘balance’ and to be closer to my father, which in fact added an additional 3 hours travel time to each day.  Get the picture!  On top of which as keen property investors, weekends were spent at endless open for inspections in search of golden opportunities! As Stanley had 4 children from a previous life, this added to the adventure and the madness of weekends as we set upon unsuspecting Real Estate agents.  And there’s more…I traveled frequently with my work and spent countless hours in transit lounges  admiring many of the well groomed men in suits. One day it dawned on me as to what was the missing link in men’s fashion and what was really letting men down in dressing.  We all know the devil is in the detail, but did you know approximately ninety percent of all men in suits, no matter how expensive and how polished their accessories are, let themselves down in the sock department.  It appeared to be a case of ‘If I can’t see my socks, then no one else can’.  Wrong!  And how many well dressed suits are let down with the careless addition of misunderstood accessories who, in their own right are magnificent but when put together without thought or consideration are a disaster.  Unbeknown to me at the time, this was the beginning of Stanley Lewis and my search for the best gentlemen’s accessory makers in the world  had begun.  Naturally our destination was Italy.

While searching for this so important balance in life, it suddenly hit me one day.  My father had moved an hour away which made quality visits difficult.  We had purchased an 11 acre seaside farm about half an hour drive from him and I had naturally insisted on landscaping and livestock – hence, ‘the girls’ – 4 beautiful Scottish Highland cattle.  On one of our weekly visits to my father, we sat in his sunroom and enjoyed a cup of tea.  As we had been farming I did not have a watch on.  While my father was talking, I watched the shadows move slowly across the floor realizing it would soon be time to leave; we had an hours drive ahead, supermarket shopping to do and hungry mouths to feed before I could even think about ‘relaxing’ by searching for hot real estate opportunities, email possible leads to birth Stanley Lewis, and finally to sleep. With shame I realized I had only one part of me listening to my father’s magic words – I was so engrossed in time and having to leave I was missing what was really important.

Driving 1200 kilometers a week was not ‘balance’, and keeping so busy that important things in my life like quality time with my father, became an interruption.  Something had to go. It was time to throw caution to the wind… we sold the farm, I resigned my post of 21 years and looked at life for all it really had to offer.

Today Stanley Lewis is 18 months young. It takes us 5 minutes to get to the office. We no longer invest in real estate and take only a ‘casual ‘interest in what is happening.  Stanley’s children are all grown up.  I indulge in Yoga classes 5 times a week and have a very active social calendar.  But most importantly, my father now lives 12 minutes away by car and we visit him every second day for ‘quality’ visits.  Yes, we are still handicapped with how fast the hours go by and in particular with Stanley Lewis being such a young company, each day brings new, exciting and challenging experiences.

But I do believe, I finally found my balance. Have you found yours?

                                  Until next time….

                                                            Anne