Meg Williams is one of New Zealand’s most influential creative leaders. The 42-year-old has helmed some of our most significant cultural events and is the chief executive of the World of Wearable Art (WOW), the theatrical fashion show attracting 60,000 viewers each year.
Growing up in the UK, creativity and volunteering was always a part of Meg’s world. She helped backstage at local village hall shows and children’s productions, and played bass guitar in bands while studying English and American literature at the University of Warwick.
Drawn to New Zealand after her father emigrated here, Meg, her husband Olly Bisson and their daughter Bess, eight, have called Wellington home since 2009. In a career made of many memorable moments, she remembers convincing acting legend Stephen Fry among others to recite Shakespeare for a crowd-sourced YouTube video.
Can you recall a funny behind-the-scenes story from WOW?
I was told this yesterday by one of our team about a WOW designer, Allan Gale, who created a garment called “Ten Breasted Suitcase” made from suitcase leather. He was trying it on the night before submitting it to us and got terribly stuck. He couldn’t get anyone to help him, so he actually had to sleep the night in it. Thankfully, a friend could help release him from the garment the next day. [Allan went on to win the Man Unleashed section in 2007 with that design.]
Are you a dab hand with the hot glue gun or how do you express your artistic spirit?
I do love a glue gun, which is one of the great things about having an eight-year-old. For me, though, music and words are my art form. My mum always told me that I sang before I talked. I played the violin from a young age. Then a teacher at high school needed a bass guitarist, so asked if I would have a go at it. I remember trying to figure out the different shift from using a treble instrument to a bass one. Now, purely for fun, I play the ukulele.
Share a favourite memory growing up in England’s West Sussex…
I had an outdoorsy childhood, playing amongst oak trees and the woodland. There was always something going on at the little village hall. I used to sneak up there from a young age and watch the amateur dramatics society rehearse. I’d offer to wash up or be on the door and tear tickets. I’d try and be a helper so they’d let me in. Then as a teenager, my favourite thing was to hop on a train up to London and head to Ronnie Scott’s jazz club to soak up amazing music.
What’s something you learnt from your parents?
It’s the need to use both the left and right brain. Even though they’re both scientists, my Welsh father Mike plays guitar and my Yorkshire-born mum Judith likes to paint.
How did you end up in New Zealand?
My parents split when I was six and Dad immigrated to New Zealand, where I visited a handful of times as a child. When my husband Olly and I visited again in my late-twenties, it was because I wanted to have a family connection with my four siblings who lived here. And we fell in love with the country.
There weren’t many formal qualifications in events management in the early 2000s – how did you get started in it?
I wrote to a lot of festivals and asked if I could volunteer. One of them said yes, so I was working in the box office or putting posters around town and putting my hand up for any experience. Now when I’m talking to young people, I always say, “If you’re a helper, it gets noticed.” The people who had been running that festival went on to form a production company that toured the UK supporting other arts festivals. They needed a junior and that’s how I got my break.
Was it during this time you served the Buena Vista Social Club musicians a terrible cup of coffee?
It was! I was working at the Canterbury Festival in Kent, and my job was to go to the venue and make sure the artists had everything they needed. The Buena Vista Social Club had just released their movie worldwide. They had soup and coffee on their [hospitality] rider. But we only had one of these industrial-sized tins of freeze-dried instant coffee. I remember watching these legendary Cuban musicians scooping out two tablespoons of the stuff and thinking, “This is bad, I’ve got to fix it.” They were so warm and wonderful. Thankfully, I found one place on the High Street that did espresso. It wasn’t like New Zealand – Brits don’t do good coffee.
What’s the most flamboyant WOW-y item in your wardrobe?
I’m not a hugely flamboyant person, but there’s an item I bought when I was invited on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s trade mission to India in March. It was a packed schedule but I carved out a little bit of time to meet one of our WOW designers, Ashish Dhaka, from the northern city of Gurugram. He spirited me away to a little boutique and I bought an emerald-green and sapphire-blue silk piece. It’s just exquisite. I love things that have a story behind them. I was quite flamboyant with my wedding dress too, which I bought from Ziggurat on Cuba Street. It was made from vintage ’80s satin with a big bow on the back, like something Madonna would wear. I would never have gone in there to buy that. But when I tried it on, there was something about it that was fun for getting married on New Year’s Eve.
What book has most impacted you?
Awe by psychology professor Dacher Keltner. His research into the science of emotion convinced him that happiness comes down to one thing: finding awe. The book helped me realise how much of my life has been searching for big emotional experiences… those goosebump moments. I happened to be reading it when I was approached about the WOW job. Sometimes awe is really big and showy, and other times it’s quiet.
In 2014, you established The Slow Reading Club in Wellington, which grew into an international trend. Tell us about that concept.
I always loved reading books but life and social media took over. I realised it’d been a year since I’d finished a book. The thing about book clubs is you have to go in ready for a literary discussion and it can be intimidating. All we wanted to do was carve out an hour’s reading without distraction but with a nice drink. So we got in touch with the Library Bar, who said we could use a private room. I popped it up on “meet-up” and a bunch of people showed up. So we did it every Sunday. Then I got contacted by a Wall Street Journal journalist, looking at this trend of analogue reading. I quickly set up a website – the article dropped and I got inundated with people wanting to set up a Slow Reading Club. Suddenly they were popping up in South Korea, England – all over. It was an introvert’s dream because there was no pressure to converse with others, while still having community.
Name one thing New Zealand can do better within the arts sector?
I think Kiwis really value that they live in a place where they can access arts as an audience member or be involved themselves. But we can do better to understand and appreciate what goes into artistic labour: the years of training, depth of work and hours of preparation that goes into creating something – and therefore how it is valued monetarily.
How did you get actors Stephen Fry, Andy Serkis and Michael Hurst to be in a promo video?
You don’t have massive budgets working in the arts, so you have to find a way to cut through. There’s often incredible goodwill from people. While working for Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts – there were a number of Shakespeare productions that year – we came up with the idea to do a crowd-sourced YouTube video of “To be or not to be”, where we filmed celebrities on their phone to voice a line from it. Stephen was in New Zealand filming The Hobbit at the time and he came along to the festival too.
Best professional advice you’ve received?
It would be to trust yourself and your own instincts. Be your version of what a CEO looks like. In this job, Dame Suzie Moncrieff has been powerful in championing me. WOW is a taonga, a treasure. As its founder, nearly 40 years ago, Suzie created the soul of the company and my job is to keep that magical spirit alive. But the great thing is, she’s also about evolution. Anybody who’s been to WOW knows you can never expect what will come next.
In three words, describe your leadership style?
Creative, collaborative and considered.
Does your daughter think her mum has the best job?
Bess loves being backstage at WOW, but when I asked her this question, she said “No, being a baker would be better.”
WOW is held at the TSB Arena Wellington from September 18 to October 5. Tickets are on sale now at worldofwearableart.com
