Kindred Tales | Clem and Maggie | Producer and Casting Director
Hey, I’m Clem! It might sound odd, but I will be using “we” quite a lot in this interview. I'm talking on behalf of my family: Victoria (my twin sister), our dog Margaret aka Maggie and our angel boy Carlos; who left us three months ago.
Tell us a bit about your work and how it all started?
I’m a producer & casting director for Lock Studios (a production/casting agency, that specialises in end to end content creation within the fashion industry). Lock is also a photographic studio for shoots and event space. Situated in the heart of De Beauvoir.
I truly love my job, my team and the work environment is just amazing! Lock is a very dog friendly place to work and Maggie is welcomed everyday! She’s actually been introduced to clients as a full member of the team!
Tell us about your dog/dogs and how they came into your life.
From a very young age, we have always been around dogs. We were practically raised by our angel Loulou, a very patient and friendly Greyador. We learned how to walk (Victoria and I) thanks to Loulou.
Then in June 2014, Carlos came into our lives. Carlos was our little sunshine boy, a real angel, no words can actually describe him. Victoria got Carlos when we used to live in Barcelona. He was Victoria’s baby, the dog she'd always dreamed of and he was beyond anything she could ever imagine.
A full 12kg of unconditional love...that was Carlos.
We lost Carlos in July 2020, after a year battling against a brain tumour which turned out to be extremely rare and incurable. There isn’t a day that goes by where we don’t miss or think about him. He left us way too early, but thanks to him we were able to live the most beautiful past 6 years and meet our little girl Margaret (aka Maggie).
We’ve adopted Maggie in 2016, she was around a year old, and it was love at first sight. She came into our life unexpectedly, but Carlos & her fell in love straight away. They were a match made in heaven. Inseparable, they used to do absolutely everything together and loved each other unconditionally. Maggie has this way of catching everyone's eye: her beautiful eyes, or very sassy attitude maybe? Who knows! She’s our special girl which makes us the happiest mamas.
Maggie is my everything, she goes, lies, sit wherever I go, and the closer the better. She’s my shadow and there’s not a thing I dislike about her because she’s just perfect to me and I’m just convinced we were meant to be.
How does Maggie fit into your general working day?
The well-being of our dogs has always been our no.1 priority, and not being able to bring Maggie to work just wouldn’t be an option for me. She’s the perfect (snorer) office dog, and there’s not a day that goes by without the team reminding me how good it is to have her around.
We cycle to work (with Maggie in her little basket) usually going through the park for our morning walk. Then we meet up with Victoria at lunch for another big walk together. Rain or shine, Maggie is the best reason to take a break and spend as much time as possible the three of us together.
When you’re both not working where do you like to head out to with Maggie?
Weekends mean long dog walks! We usually meet up with our friends and their dogs for long walks in Victoria Park (where we often grab a pain au chocolat and/or a bagel!) We also love Hackney Marshes, but our favourite weekend trips are when we go to the beach. We usually go to the beautiful dog friendly beach of Camber Sands. The beach was Carlos’s absolute favourite place on earth (when not in Victoria’s arms) and it became Maggie’s too. We take the car, spend the day there and do a big walk in the morning. After that we go to a dog friendly pub for lunch (Maggie looooves the pub!), and then head out for another walk in the afternoon before heading home. This is our favourite thing to do and there’s nothing better than seeing the happiness in Maggie’s eyes (full of sand)!
What essentials do you always have on you when heading out for a dog walk, and what do you carry them in?
I’m going to sounds like the perfect Kintails candidate, but that is what we are! Maggie always wears her Kintail collar (we swap colours depending on her mood and the day) and we either have the matching standard lead or the really handy (cross body) adjustable long lead. This means we can hold a croissant and our coffee without having to hold on to her! Then in winter we make sure she’s warm and dry in her Kintails coats.
We always have a small tote bag with our coffee cups, a travel water bowl, Maggie’s ball and a blanket for her little cold paws in winter when we’re going to the pub.
What adventures do you both have planned with Maggie for later this year?
Our next adventure with Maggie will definitely be another trip to the beach, making the most of the winter season. This time of year is so lovely, quiet and full of dogs. Then we are hoping to be in the South of France to visit the rest of our family for Christmas. Maggie is clearly the most spoiled alongside with Nala (our mum’s dog). We absolutely love going home for Christmas! This means we get to enjoy long dog walks in the countryside and have lots of cuddles on the sofa watching our favourite Christmas films (we love this more than anything).
