My work family

In 2017 I said goodbye to my work family from the previous 8 years. It was and still is one of the toughest things I've ever had to do. I miss those bliksems every day.

It reminded me just how much I cared for them and how special they were to me. I was in awe of their talent and the proudest thing for me was playing a small part in their growth.

After walking away from these incredibly talented and amazingly good people, I made peace that I may never have that again. I'm still recovering, but don't tell anyone.

I joined Just Design in 2018 and instantly realised I was surrounded by incredibly talented and down to earth people. We clicked as a team and managed to have a record financial and creative fiscal. I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to learn and grow with so many amazing talents. How is this possible? Did I get lucky again?

I re-learnt the obvious:

• We are world class. We still doubt ourselves, but we shouldn't. I've known this since my days working for GREY Cape Town and New York. "Souf Effricans can gooi ou maat, so hold my dop and watch this". We recently won a global duty free pitch and I was doubting our chances throughout the process - telling myself it would be a good growth experience, but we were hands down the best agency. Still kicking that SA talent doubt around - it's a tough one to kick.
• Team is everything. When you work as a team with a growth mentality, no-one can stop the inevitable. You will grow as an individual because of the team and you will create amazing, fulfilling work. We...never I.
• Great people are all around. Oi vei....Great song title. I know this sounds cheesy, but we forget that the industry and country is filled with amazingly talented good people. Once we let our guard down, we see moerse good people.
• I discovered my purpose: Helping people grow and achieve their full potential is what gets me up in the morning.......after my son Jude wakes me for two chocolate biscuits. It's become less about the company and more about the people, which is fundamentally the same thing - just better. It's not easy challenging people and helping them grow, but if they adopt the growth mindset it's easier. The toughest wall is that mindset, after they break through it - you can't keep up :-)

If you're in a great team, and I guess you may very well be - appreciate it and if you're going through change and fearing the new agency or company, know that there are an abundance of amazing people out there, wanting exactly what you do.

Make that difference, help your buddy, teammate, boss, assistant... do something to make them better, then give them space to grow and they will inevitably make you better. If anyone in my team ever reads this, thank you for your support and helping me grow. I hope I made a small impact and you're doing the same.

Enjoy.