Jenna Ellsby-Bennett on Building Studio Collective, Room Service, and Empowering Women in Creativity

When I met Jenna Elsby-Bennett, I quickly realized that there's no way a single title can define her. On a sunny Friday afternoon, she popped in, rocking her Tom Ford aviator frames, and already, I was invested. Unfortunatelty, I didn't get to chat her up while weraing silk pajamas over dinner at the Ritz-Carlton, but I was just as comfortable nonetheless. As the founder of Studio Collective, a female-led "house of creatives" that collaborates with global lifestyle brands, Jenna has established a practice that encompasses all aspects of event design, styling, product creation, branding, and content production.

Yet her journey is anything but linear. In our conversation, Jenna began by reflecting on her upbringing in rural Wales, dreaming of a career in fashion PR, and even hoping to work at Vogue one day. However, she later discovered her true creative voice while working abroad in Australia. That chapter opened her eyes to the vast, unconventional avenues within the arts, discovering spaces where creativity thrives without rigid structures or class-bound expectations.

Her career since has been shaped by curiosity and what she herself calls a kind of "greed" for experiencing it all, a hunger to explore every corner of the creative world. From building Studio Collective in the wake of COVID to launching her intimate YouTube and podcast series Room Service: Conversations With Creatives, Jenna continues to champion authenticity, collaboration, and the messy, beautiful evolution of the creative process. We place you in the center of a candid dialogue that started with the question of how to even define her multifaceted path, and unravels into a story of resilience and reinvention, but mostly, the power of creating spaces where others can shine just as brightly.

---

How did we end up at Studio Collective?

That came about by accident. I had no intention of starting up my own business at the time. Fast forward many years, I'd move back from Australia to the UK, move from London to the countryside where I live now, and got a job working in-house for a really amazing agency that specializes in luxury hotel marketing. So, I was like the in-house art director there. 

I had these experiences at all these different hotels, and I was like, "I'm never leaving this job. It's amazing." And then COVID hit, and the job literally disappeared overnight, obviously, because the travel industry shut down. I then took voluntary redundancy from that role and founded Studio Collective. I found that there was a real niche opportunity for me post-COVID, where, unfortunately, in that time, certainly in the UK, lots of creative people had been made redundant or let go from their jobs. Unfortunately, it tends to be the first thing that goes in times of crisis. These companies, big and small, had a real deficit of talent in-house for creative projects. When the market kind of opened up again, there was a real shortage of people who could deliver an amazing event, create a brand, or whatever the project might be. 

Through word of mouth and industry contacts, people approached me for a series of little freelance gigs, and it just snowballed from there. So, I always say that Studio Collective is like an extension of your in-house creative team. For big companies that we work with, which have all those disciplines in-house, we sometimes bring a fresh perspective to their team.

One interesting note that caught my attention was that Studio Collective is entirely female-founded. When you say "female-run," what does that signify to you, and what have been the unique strengths or even challenges that you faced with this kind of position?

Gosh, that's a good question. As I said, Studio Collective formed quite organically. 

I didn't set out to create a business plan and define what I wanted it to be and look like. It just happened. Then, when I was a year in and had a moment of reflection, I kind of backpedaled, if you like, and thought, "Right, okay, so I have this business now. If I were starting it from scratch again tomorrow, what would my morals be? What's my integrity? What's my purpose?" And I really, at the time, wanted to create a business that gave opportunities to women who might be young mothers or mothers who have children that are now kind of in the teenage years and not so dependent on them. And so they can refocus more on their career.

Because I just felt like, as a young mum myself and as a single mum at the time, there's this sort of stigma in the workplace, that you missed out on these amazing opportunities because you had children, and people thought that you wouldn't 100% be focused or you wouldn't 100% be available. You'd have to do split weeks and all these complicated things that employers traditionally don't like. And I just thought, there are so many incredible women out there that aren't getting the good jobs. 

And so, therefore, why can't I bring them on to projects in freelance spaces that work with the hours they have available to them? They are these incredible visionaries who have had really high-profile jobs, in fact, and had to change the way they work because of their family. That was the purpose, in a way, or what I wanted to achieve, from a social respect for Studio Collective. I didn't really do too much to make that happen, but it has happened organically.

It's been on a handful of occasions that we've had clients in very male-dominated spaces. And they've really valued bringing in an all-female team to challenge their way of thinking and their way of doing things. And that's worked really well. But that's also been a challenge. As with every story, I can say that it was actually a real positive. There's a counterbalancing story where that's been a challenge because, you know, people have been reticent to value a female's opinion. 

I've had to deal with owners, old-school hoteliers, and owners of hotel franchises, or those with an old-school, gentlemen's Club vibe, like sixty-plus-year-old men who are quite stuck in their ways. And I've had to bat heads with them to get things done. But yeah, it's all part and parcel of it, I think, and I'm still here, mostly smiling. 

Mostly smiling is a good result for any enterprise, honestly. Currently, there are two men at the magazine, and everyone else is a woman. It's interesting to find that balance and also try not to bring your own biases or preconceptions into the space, allowing it to flow naturally. 

Yeah, it's an interesting time to A) be alive, but B) work in any kind of industry like this, which involves a lot of collaboration and vulnerability at times! 

I mean, when I first started out, it was just so like, only women were in the marketing and events teams, only men were in managerial positions or in the finance and accounting and IT departments, and it was such a clear gender divide. And that is just changing massively. Actually, whilst it's a female-run business, I love working with men. I do. I love the kind of banter and the way that the whole environment kind of shifts in tone. And I think it's for the better for both sexes. 

Totally agree. Going back, actually, since we did touch on Room Service, I find it really intriguing that you conduct interviews in studios and hotel rooms over dinner, over literal room service; it's a fascinating concept. Where did that idea come from? And how does that type of setting change the conversations that you're able to have? 

Yeah, okay, so the idea covered a few bases, if you like. 

I wanted to create something that could showcase what we can produce through the Studio. That was the commercial aspect; rather than waiting for a client to approach me with an idea, I thought, "Let's just do something ourselves. What would a fantasy project be?" And then, selfishly, I designed something that I really wanted to do. 

And notoriously, I love lounging around in Silky Pajamas. The minute I get home from work, no matter what, I get out of my clothes and I put my PJs on. That's just the way I've always been. 

We're all on an even playing field, and it disarms you. We're on a bed, we're chilling out, we're eating. It's the sort of environment where your guard comes down and you're used to being with a friend or a loved one or a partner or a family member when you are that vulnerable. So, in creating that environment, yes, there are three cameras, a big boom mic, and a room full of people. But that aside, we try to make it feel as close to that experience as possible because that does sort of challenge people who are used to being interviewed in a more formal setting, and it does pave the way to more open and honest conversations, and that was always the premise for the show.

How do you choose the guests that you would like to invite into such an intimate setting, and what makes that story feel like it's right for the show?

So I have a fantasy hit list, or guest list, we should say. You know that kind of dinner party conversation topic that comes up sometimes, where it's like, "Who would you invite to your fantasy dinner, dead or alive?" And this is kind of like my version of that, but obviously, I can't bring on any dead people. But, you know, it is literally a list of all people that I, myself, hugely admire or genuinely have a burning question that I want to ask them, like, "How did you get into this, or how did you respond to that situation?" That's our starting point. We tend to do six to eight episodes a series. So we then like to pick guests that, as a group of six or eight, complement one another. 

There's variety, there's diversity, there are people with varying backgrounds, each with a different story to tell or a different perspective. And we try not to have too many kinds of the samey people in the same series so that there is that kind of variety for the audience when they're watching it, that they feel like they're represented or, you know, a path that they're aspiring themselves to go down. They genuinely are going to learn something from the show and follow someone else's footsteps that's a couple of paces ahead of them, perhaps.

And then the last thing is getting someone like lovely Olivia to hound them and convince them to actually come on the show. So it's an ever-evolving beast, but that's generally how we put it all together. 

I love it! Has there been any conversation on Room Service that has, particularly - well, of course, all of them are standouts - but any that come to mind that personally shifted your perspective on creativity or society at large?

One of them that really stands out, I think it was episode three. It's a lady called Micaela Sharp. She is an upholstery designer. She wears many hats as well. She does a show on Netflix. She's a published author. She's a British woman that's emigrated to Spain and is renovating a house over there. So she's got loads of things going on. 

That was one of my favourites, because we had such chemistry that you just couldn't have predicted. So the conversation felt really natural, and she was really open and vulnerable and didn't self-edit or shield any of her answers in such a way that it did shift my perspective. I mean, she wouldn't mind me saying this - it's all in the interview, but she comes from quite a, you know, she's had some real trauma in her life. She was raised by her grandparents, and lost those in quick succession, not that long ago, while she was going through a divorce. 

So everyone she loved in her life sort of vanished at the same time. And I think that experience could break a person. But, with her unique wiring, her unique character, her mindset, she turned that into an opportunity in a way, and she did all these weird and wonderful things and went to like nudist retreats in Thailand, did silent retreats, and all these crazy things. And then she put this energy out into the world, and then she got picked up by Netflix, and then she got a book published, and all these incredible things happened in the face of such adversity.

I think that that certainly challenged my perspective on things, I think, because I had a traditional kind of background, a traditional education, and sometimes I find myself falling into the thought pattern that you have to do this before you can do this, and there's an order of things... but I don't think that's the case at all. I think you can come at it, "it" being your passion, or your work, or your project, from any number of angles. And yeah, she really challenged that for me. 

Just when you described her, honestly, before you went into the details, it already sounded like your type of woman! So I can see that. 

You should go back and watch that episode. She is a shining light, that lady. She really is. She does big things already, but she's gonna do even bigger, I know.

I can say the same thing for you! You've spoken about championing women breaking down age barriers or stigmas such as single motherhood in the industry. What message do you hope women, whether in their 20s, 40s, or beyond, take from your work and your own journey, given that you often spend a lot of time highlighting the journeys of others?

Yeah, well, I am not ashamed to say that I turned 40 this year. That was hard to say, and, you know, that was a milestone birthday that I was nervous about. I'm not going to lie. And it was... it fell, however many months, certainly under 12 months, since I started room service and put myself out there in front of the camera. And I had many moments leading up to that going, "What the hell am I doing? Who is going to want to listen to me?"

When I look at these channels and I look at my contemporaries, I guess, who are kind of creating this style of content. They're all in their 20s, you know? "Am I going to be cringe? Am I going to be irrelevant?" All of these kinds of, you know, self-limiting thoughts came into my head and still do. But, you know, I just thought, "If you don't put yourself out there and do it, you'll always sort of regret it." And it will always be this burning desire in me that I wish I'd have made that crazy idea come true. So, I just had an - excuse my French, but a fuck it moment, and went for it. We talk about it in the show; I hope that is inspiring to anybody. I hate to sound like I'm Nicole Kidman or someone massively Influential. But you know what I mean? Like, if one person sees that and is like, okay, well, there's a 40-year-old woman giving it a go, why the hell can't I?

I appreciate how candid you are.  I've seen a few episodes, and right now I feel like I'm actually a part of an extension of that series in a way, where it's kind of like a role-reversal where you're the candid, inspiring figure and I'm the inquisitive mind who's eager to learn more. This is great. 

One interesting thing is that you mentioned your contemporaries being mostly kind of 20-year-olds. When you think of this kind of space, you think of TikTokers or Instagram influencers. However, long-form video formats, such as podcasts or live streaming, are gaining momentum against the backdrop of clickbaiting, which people often refer to as "clip farming" or just short-form content in general. Where do you see this movement going, and how do you think, or how do you feel, that audience expectations are evolving, where people want more of this long-form content rather than being bombarded with 30-second bursts of entertainment? 

I totally was on your wavelength because that insight that you just shared was exactly my thinking behind Room Service. 

So, first and foremost, it's a YouTube show to be watched; that's one thing I always try to make super clear. Yes, it's available as a podcast, but it is not a podcast.

It is designed to be watched, and it is longer-form content to go head-to-head into battle with those awful little clickbaiters that are reeling in my 12-year-old son as we speak. And, you know, I really wanted to create, as a creative person, as I said, with a kind of background in writing and storytelling, I just wanted to be able to produce something that was actively pushing against that really transactional, like one-dimensional scroll, doom scroll, type form of entertainment. I mean, I've got to mention that goddess Amelia Dimoldenberg from Chicken Shop Date. 

She obviously has pioneered this form of content, I think, and I think it's just going to go from strength to strength. I know a year or so ago, she was campaigning for this form of content to actually be recognized at the BAFTA, to get a BAFTA Award. I don't know if she's won that battle yet, but I do see that as being something that will happen in the future. I think that this will be a kind of platform or a form of entertainment that is recognised as much as watching a series on Netflix. So, we edit the shows really conscientiously to fall within the right time period; they are about 20 to 30 minutes maximum. 

So it's short enough that it's not a massive investment of time and busy lives, but it's long enough so that you can actually sit down, enjoy, watch, get to know a person, listen to what they have to say, and be changed or moved or learned something in some way. It's not transactional. It's deeper than that. And that was a real conscious sort of decision in how we wanted the show format to be.

Wearing all of these hats, how do you avoid burnout? What do you do to keep this creative flame burning when you're working on so many things and have so many different endeavors? 

Negroni. Several Negronis. No, I'm joking. Well, half joking. Goodness. How do I avoid burnout? 

I mean, I've been burnt out many times. I'm not going to lie. I have been there. The question is, more specifically, how do I avoid repeated burnouts? 

Or, how do you handle burnout? Let's say that. 

I'm lucky enough now that I have a little team around me, so that when I see the signs, I'm able to delegate more than I used to. I used to do it all on my own, and that was out of sheer stupidity, but also budget restrictions and just kind of where I was in my life at the time, whereas now I have a little team around me that I have nurtured and that are friends, they've grown into being friends. So I know that if I'm getting to that point, I can delegate, actually, and I've realized that the world does keep spinning and everything does. 

I know that if I'm getting to that point, I can delegate, actually, and I've realized that the world does keep spinning. And I think there's an arrogance to people that are perfectionists in a way because they feel like, well, if I don't do it, it won't be done well enough. And actually, you've got to get over that. You're not the be-all and end-all. There are many other people that can do what you do if you just give them the opportunity. So, I've got a lot better at delegating. 

And then, again, massive cliche, but travel is like a big thing for me. So I have to have one or two trips, whether they're a little weekend away somewhere new or, you know, a big mega trip where I'd turn my phone off for 10 days. As long as I've got that booked into my 12-month schedule, that is like my island of peace, hope, and sanity, that I will look forward to. And I completely unplug when I go away. Like, my phone goes off. I read books, not Kindles, proper books. You can hold and sniff and, you know, I do all of those simple things that bring me peace. 

Also, they recharge my creative battery as well, because if I'm kind of stuck in the home office or in the studio for too many hours a week, I'm finding that I feel a bit flat. I need to go out or watch a new movie or whatever it might be. It goes somewhere that I haven't been before to absorb that inspiration and that's what gives me energy. And then the Negronis on a Friday. That is my genuine ritual. I don't drink during the week, but I make a Negroni on a Friday and that's all I look forward to. Massively. It's like my little treat. 

How did you learn to start letting go and just allowing other people, I guess you can say, to drive? 

Do you know what? I think I let go in really difficult, challenging periods in my life. I'm very open to speaking about this. I've struggled with mental health in the past, with anxiety and, you know, those sort of really, really kind of common things that a lot of people face. When there have been moments where I've really suffered, I had a sort of dark period, if you like. In that moment, I had no choice but to let go. And then when the thing you fear the most, which for someone like myself might be losing control, it actually happens, and you realize that you don't die. It's not the end of the world. That bad thing happened, and we still continued. That gave me the strength and that I don't have to wait for really dark periods of time. I can just kind of adapt that and bring that into my everyday life as a way of existing.

I think my hand had to be forced in order to delegate or to let go or to make mistakes, and then when I saw that actually the fallout from that wasn't catastrophic, then I brought that into my daily life a lot more now, into every aspect of it, work, friendships, parenting, relationships with family and friends. I used to get this terrible guilt if I didn't respond to a message immediately because I didn't want that person to think I was rude, but I've let a lot of that go. And it's a calmer way of existing, I'd say. 

Well, now that you have your counterbalances, looking ahead, what do you think is next for Studio Collective, Room Service, and Jenna? Do you envision expanding into other media? 

Yeah, well, there are big plans, big ambitions for all of them, I would say. I'd love to bring Room Service overseas. It is currently being filmed entirely in the UK with all British talent. We haven't had any international talent yet? I don't think we have, have we? 

But that's purely because of logistics, location, and ease of shooting. Still, I would love to do a sort of special edition series in New York, say, during New York Fashion Week or something, and interview loads of talent in front of and behind the camera that make that amazing experience what it is. I think that would be a really interesting concept. So, I'd love to travel with Room Service, and that's certainly the goal for that. In terms of Studio Collective, the same: I just want to keep working with amazing people and amazing projects. 

My dream, and I'm going to put it out there, is to work behind the scenes, on some sort of set build or set design for film and television. That's a sector that I've not worked in before. So I'd love to kind of translate everything we do in terms of like event design and space design and take that into the kind of entertainment sector. 

And then in terms of Jenna, well, I mean, I feel lucky and that I've kind of created a work life where the boundaries between my private life and my work life are really blurred because I enjoy what I do so much. And I know that, again, that sounds really kind of cliche, but it's the truth. So all of those experiences, I guess, would just give me a real profound sense of achievement and worth, and that's what I think personally and professionally, I'm always chasing, I guess, as a kind of creative person. 

Yeah, and more travel, much travel. Like, I have a 12-year old son who is basketball obsessed and I really want to take him to an NBA game in the States. So if you can hook a girl up with some, you know, if you've got any contacts, let me know! Just weaving in those core memories for him and myself while he's at such a crucial age in his development, like that's a real goal and focus for me. 

He's just started Senior School, I think it's middle school for you guys, isn't that the equivalent? And he's changed overnight. He's gone from being all like my little baby to like, calls me "bruh" and I'm like, "I'm not your bruh. I'm your mother!"

Oh my God, that's amazing. Okay, so final thoughts. Any words of advice for any young entrepreneurs or even seasoned entrepreneurs who are looking into new ventures, new adventures, new enterprises - a word of advice from Jenna Ellsby-Bennett.

It would be to turn those self-limiting beliefs off or change of frequency. Tune out of them, because we all have them. And I think, you know, that woman that you just described is really vulnerable and susceptible to those sorts of thoughts because of society, and so many kinds of things that have been in our way in the past. 

So tune out from that as best as you can and try to get into that childlike way of thinking when you used to dream about what you wanted to be when you grew up, and what steps did you have to take to get there? Age shouldn't be a barrier in that. If anything, you've got more experience, you've got more interesting stories to tell, more scars and battle wounds. You've got better advice to give; your points of reference are so much richer. 

So that should come with confidence to put yourself out there and not this feeling like, "Oh, I've had my time." I'm not there, and I'm sure loads of people that are my age don't feel like they're there yet either. Like, there's still so much ahead and so much to give and do. 

That is my advice. Yeah. Be your own champion, because at first, others won't be. So you've got to get that validation from yourself and just keep going. 

Love it. Jenna, it's been a pleasure. This was great. 

Thank you!

I'd like to call this 'Negroni with Jenna' when it appears in the magazine, since it's actually a Friday. 

We should have made a Negroni! 

Alright, so I was on one of my little trips last year. I went to Rome for three days on a culinary retreat, which was one of the best experiences I've ever had. And the head bartender from Drink Kong, I think it's the name of the bar in Rome, taught me how to make a Negroni. I thought I knew how to do a Negroni until I met this guy. 

So I replicate it every Friday, and the trick is a splash of Angostura bitters, which not a lot of people put into a Negroni, and it makes all the difference. I am like a Negroni aficionado now because of this guy, because of that one trip I did. 

I really appreciate your time. Thank you so much. 

Well, thank you for your generosity and sensitivity to listening to me ramble. 

Of course! I feel like it's time someone did it for you. 

Thank you so much!

---

Photo Credits:

Jenna Elsby-Bennett in the studio, photos by Felix Russell-Saw.

Jenna Elsby-Bennett at the Broadwick in Soho, photos by Jason Lloyd Evans.