Winch Design CEO Aino-Leena Grapin

When it comes to superyacht, private aviation, and architectural design few studios can match the long list of award-winning commissions Winch Design has produced since Andrew Winch founded the firm in 1986. And as you’ll see here Winch Design’s CEO Aino-Leena Grapin is uniquely qualified to shed some light on how Winch Design continues to create yacht, private jet and architectural designs that bring joy and satisfaction to many of the wealthiest (and most demanding) clients in the world. 

BS: All of the people I’ve interviewed in the superyacht business seem to agree that it’s fun and crazy and competitive and interesting. What do you think?

A-LG: I agree especially with “fun” and “crazy”, and I would add “diverse.” It all boils down to the people: the clients who are at the source of it all and the fantastic people we work with every day. At Winch, our circle of clients is incredibly diverse culturally, but they all have in common that are some of the smartest, most successful people in the world. It is a privilege to interact with these inspiring individuals. No two clients are the same and therefore no two projects are the same.  

How much fun we have is also about the quality of people we work with. We are all a passionate, talented, driven bunch of people at Winch and that is so energizing. If we want our clients to enjoy their yachts, we need to enjoy designing and building them for them. To bring projects to life it takes close teamwork, memorable trips together, richness of client relationships, diversity of points of view. Every day is truly different.

BS: How’d you get started in the yachting business? 

A-LG: I started in yachting when I became the CEO of Winch Design in 2016. In the first year, I had a lot to learn from Andrew and the rest of the Senior Leadership Team, but I love learning! I’ve had a variety of roles, with the common thread being business leadership in a creative space. I started off as a strategy consultant at Bain & Co, before dedicating the bulk of my career to the auction and fine art world. First, at Christie’s in a variety of strategic and operational roles, including my last role as International Business Director in the Russian Art department. 

I then went from a 250-year-old established company to a tech disruptor start up, Paddle8! I led the expansion of this NY based online auction house in Europe and the Middle East, before joining Winch Design. It was a natural step: our projects are so unique and intricately designed that they are like works of art.  

My whole career thereafter was in art and luxury creative industries. Even though the products are different, there was a lot of commonality in terms of types of clients, client experience expectations and working with creative minds. Yachts are like works of art in themselves and like the choices of an art collector, a yacht is a reflection of the client’s individuality. That’s why I was immediately fascinated. 

And remember, Winch Design is not just in the yachting business! We truly cater to all our clients’ dreams on land, sea or air. Architecture accounts for about half our activity because our clients have so many residential projects. So, it was a very deliberate choice for Andrew and Jane Winch, our co-founders, and Clive Beharrell, our Chairman, to entrust this role to someone from outside the yachting business. 

BS: It’s no secret that the yachting industry (like many others) has many more men than women in the C-suite. Has that reality impacted you and your career? If so, how?

A-LG: I don’t believe it has slowed me down in my own career, except perhaps when taking maternity leave to have my two children. Much progress has been made in many industries. In the UK’s FTSE 350, women represent 30% of board positions for the first time. The yacht industry should follow suit because diversity in leadership positions means diversity of thought, which is proven to drive higher business performance. Different ways of leading companies benefit men as much as women, as they too sometimes feel straight jacketed in the traditional models we’ve all known. 

At Winch, we employ more women than men overall and 2/3 of our leadership team are women. Our clients are often a couple where the woman is a key decision maker, or female clients driving their own projects. How can the yacht industry serve these female clients in the best way possible: by having women in senior roles, too. Supporting women at Winch is very dear to my heart because I’ve also been supported by women and men in my career. 

But where our industry probably has even more progress to make is on other types of diversity. We must ensure equal opportunities for all, as only then, will we be working at our maximum potential. A business is built on the strength and talent of its people, our only focus should be to recruit those best suited to the role at hand.

BS: What advice would you share with other women who might aspire to lead a company in the superyacht industry (or any industry for that matter)? What lessons have you learned that might help others?

A-LG: My advice is that now is a great time for women to embrace the career of their dreams. Whether a man or a woman, it is key to find your purpose, to find what you love and gives you energy. If that is working in superyachts, then go for it! There are women today who are captains of megayachts, engineers, leaders of shipyards and design studios. If you cannot find a company who will support you, start your own! 

You do need to find a company that supports women’s careers and doesn’t expect you to pretend to be a man at work. You need to be the best leader you can be without having to play a role. Think about all the qualities of leaders you admire and emulate that. For me, it is a passion to serve others with vision and humility and to strive for effective decision making. 

If you have a partner and children, it is essential to have a partner who is supportive of your ambition. I cannot emphasize this enough! 

And lastly, my advice would be not to forget to support other women on your way up and to have a support network of other women, a “Lean In group” like I do, because as Madeleine Albright famously said, “there is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women”. 

BS: What’s the best thing about your job?

A-LG: What makes my job so special is the privilege to work with such a talented group of people and  that each day is completely different. One of my favorite things about being in the studio is walking around and seeing the sketches and visuals coming together, seeing spaces come to life. We are a vibrant team of over 110 individuals, with each one, whether in our central departments, finance, in-house CGI, procurement or the design teams, bringing a unique energy that combines to create the special Winch culture that we all enjoy. I love that we all embrace creativity, innovation and change and don’t shy away from a challenge. Since I’ve joined, we’ve launched so many new initiatives and entered new segments of the market. For instance, we’ve launched many gorgeous brand collaborations, with the next one being with Poltrona Frau which I am so excited about. 

Another driver for me in my role is the fact that we are in a key position to drive change in the industry. Sustainable design is now at the top of the agenda and we are determined to play our part in revolutionizing the industry. In early 2020, Winch signed the Water Revolution Foundation’s (WRF) “Code of Conduct” which aims to unite the whole superyacht supply chain in a vow to take charge of our own sustainable transformation, before regulation does it for us. 

I have particularly enjoyed chairing the newly formed Designer Roundtable for the Water Revolution, with all of the great design minds in the industry debating very meaningful topics. I have no doubt that this transformation will happen, we just need to be science led in our decisions, not fall for green washing, and find the right words to guide our clients.

BS: What’s been the hardest thing you’ve had to deal with during the Covid19 pandemic?

A-LG: We have a particularly committed and supportive culture at Winch. To quote Selina McCabe who heads up the Architecture Interiors studio: “Never look down on someone unless you’re helping them up”. That’s been so important during the pandemic and we had thankfully already worked on internal awareness about mental health issues, and we had agile working in place before the first lockdown. So, we have been able to carry on with hardly any disruption. But we are also a high-performance business, and it’s been really hard for staff to keep up with the high expectations, for this length of time, while dealing with stress and often grief. We have all experienced the disconnectedness and relentless of screen time which means it sometimes feels more like “living at work” than “working from home”.  

It is our job as leaders to support our teams in dealing with uncertainty, to try to make them feel better. To be honest with them while giving them some optimism. Right at the beginning of lockdown, I picked up from a seminar that that we would all be remembered by how we handled this crisis. “Don’t be an asshole” is probably the best management advice. I think the pandemic will have changed us all as leaders. We understand that the more people feel supported, the better the long-term results.

BS: The popularity of yachting (charter, ownership etc.) seems to be growing. Is this true? If so, why is that? Has the pandemic shown people (who may not have been interested otherwise) just how special escaping onboard a yacht can be?

A-LG: About six months into the pandemic, we started to receive a flurry of queries about new superyacht projects, indicating the increased popularity of spending time at sea. Privacy and security have always been of great value to our clients and are of even greater importance now. Yachts offer the ultimate opportunity to travel together safely within a bubble, limiting the need for interaction with the outside world. Some yachts, especially explorer yachts, have an extended range meaning that owners, their families and friends, can enjoy life at sea for months at a time. 

Health has ranked as a top priority for UHNWIs for some time but is now soaring to the top of the agenda. As health and well-being takes center stage and designers are increasingly considering natural light cycles, plant life, Feng-shui and ergonomic design. Some clients are requesting specially designed medicine rooms and accommodations for an onboard doctor in addition to the usual gym and spa facilities. 

The pandemic has re-aligned many of us with what’s important to us. Enforced separation has created a yearning for connection, and what better place is there to spend time together then in complete privacy on a yacht designed just with you and your family in mind.

But our clients have also increasingly wanted to refit their existing yachts and upgrade their residential spaces. That’s why last year, we introduced ‘Studio Winch’, a new bow to our arc. With Studio Winch we wanted to offer the Winch Design magic, but in a quick and simplified way. So, Studio Winch calls on the extensive expertise of our interior design and procurement teams, to bring to life smaller scale projects, with a focus on fast turnaround, decoration and furniture, fixtures and equipment. 

BS: When you look at your career up to this point, what are you most proud of?

A-LG: I love to drive change in an organization, so seeing the Winch Design team grow from 70 t0 120 over my 5 years in service has been really rewarding. And not just because we are a bigger studio, but a stronger studio with new talent and diversification into new areas. Our Architecture studio has been booming over the last few years, in both work for private clients and now commercial. I am especially proud of the growth and diversification of the Winch portfolio, while putting a lot of effort into retaining our central design ethos of attention to detail, complete dedication to our clients and being a fun & enjoyable workplace.