A day in the life of Sam Diss

“We sometimes have client meetings in the pub”, says Sam Diss as he sits at the counter of the pub adjoining Netil House, where he has his office, maybe as a means of explaining why our interview with him is about to take place around a pint of lager. The journalist, whose words you might have read on Vice, Four Pins or Buzzfeed is currently the Head of Content at Mundial Studio, the agency behind Mundial football magazine. We sat at the counter with him to talk football (obviously), glycolic acid, and hair sprays.

Hi Sam, could you introduce yourself to our readers?

My name is Sam, I’m 27. I’m the Head of Creative at Mundial Studio, which is the studio attached to Mundial football magazine.

Tell us more about Mundial.

Mundial is a magazine we started among friends, and it turned out quite a few people started to buy it! It’s a football magazine. Recently, we’ve had more and more brands reach out to work with us, on print or video projects for example. Our latest work has been for Adidas, the Los Angeles Galaxy football club, and Ladbrokes.

How did you start working with Mundial?

I met the guys right at the beginning, to be honest. That was six years ago. Now we’re like a gang. The magazine is four years old, and we publish four issues a year. We’ve just published issue 15, with Héctor Bellerín on the cover. On top of my creative role within the studio, I’m also the magazine’s Commissioning Editor. In other words, I write some articles and commission articles from other writers.

Are you a trained journalist?

No, I never went to journalism school. I consider myself more of a writer than a journalist. I’ve written for Vice, the Guardian, Buzzfeed, Complex, Four Pins, amongst others. I’ve sort of found my niche: conversational content in which I always find a way to drop a reference to West Ham. I enjoy working from memory. I like legends, and telling stories, and sometimes that means not quite remembering things and inventing what you forgot.

At what time did your day start today?

I wake up at around 7:00, take one look at myself in the mirror, and go straight back to bed! [laughs] In all seriousness, I’m quite thorough. My shower routine is very ordinary: shower gel, and a glycolic acid face cleanser from Anthony’s or a Malin+Goetz scrub. Then I use the Horace toner, and face moisturiser. My girlfriend told me I have combination skin. For a long time I used products for dry skin types, and ended up with super oily skin, which no one likes. I also use sea salt spray on my hair, for texture, because I really like it when my hair moves naturally.

You use quite a variety of products, then...

I do! And I haven’t even detailed the entire list. I don’t want to age, ever! I sometimes put ice packs on my face, and it makes me look like Patrick Bateman. When I was 18, 19, I would use a bunch of products, before giving up for a while for lack of time and interest. I finally came back to a product-heavy grooming routine, because I enjoy looking good. I pay close attention to the ingredients in the products I use because I have sensitive skin. Which is also why I appreciate Horace products. I love that natural deodorant. Pure class. I’ve also recently started shaving again. I had a beard for a long time, and had forgotten what my face looks like! I use Cornerstone Shaving Club products when I shave. They have a pre-shave face scrub with charcoal, after which I generally use their shave balm and a little Savlon to prevent redness. I like going through the motions of a full routine. If I’m told to do A, followed by B, and C, I’ll do A, B, and C in that order. I don’t want to get anything wrong!

At what time do you make it to the office?

I get in the office at 9ish. I start my workday by reading articles for 30 minutes, and then I get into email management. We have a very collaborative approach to work. We communicate a lot, and we’re constantly switching desks. It’s pretty cool. To be completely honest, I’m not the most productive person there is, but I’m working on it. I’ve started listening to audio books on productivity. I signed up for an app, to see if I’d like it, and it cost me £60, so now I feel obliged to use it. Audio books are pretty useful, though!

You spend your day working on your passion, with your friends, isn’t it too complicated to switch off?

As I mentioned previously, we have a relaxed working environment. If we need to wind down, we won’t hesitate to play FIFA in the middle of the afternoon. That being said, we also have to understand that what we do is now a job, and no longer the hobby it was when we started out. Hence the audio books on productivity! [laughs].

Speaking of which, since when had your life revolved around football?

I started following football when I was 4 or 5, and I started supporting West Ham about a year later. I’ve always been obsessed by football and talking about football. I’m more interested in what’s happening around the pitch than the tactics and strategy of football, even if I also love that side of the game. Mundial isn’t that interested in transfer rumours, and we can't compete with the big media, anyway, they’re just too fast. We strive to publish a magazine people can read for three months while they wait for the next one.

Do you think it’s the interest Mundial has shown for the cultural impact of football that has made the magazine so successful?

I believe that its success is due to the fact that many football fans are exactly like us. Football is much more than what’s happening on the pitch. In a way, what we’re attempting to do is replicate the football pub conversation in a magazine. We’re trying to have a dialogue with these football fans, we want them to relate to what we write. This is why we can keep releasing this magazine, and also work with agencies or clients on sizeable projects. That being said, we don’t lie about our numbers. Quality and good content come first. I think people can understand that.

Right. And how often do you play?

On average, two or three times a week. I’ve started playing more this year. I’m a very aggressive defender: my dad told me I should play ever game like it’s the FA Cup final... I think I’ve never really shaken that. But now I do wear pink adidas Predators. I guess you have to be half decent to wear them so I’m getting the practice in now!