Riding the dragon: What nearly 20 Years at Casual has taught me about who I am

Your work doesn’t define you.

?

When we first started Casual Films in London during the heady days of the late Aughts, the company was at the centre of nearly everything I did. We worked together, stayed together, played together. We worked weekends and missed weddings, birthdays, and holidays. I worked over Christmas for five out of seven years.

?

Our work took us all over the world, getting up at 3 am to film the sunrise in countries most people just hear about on the news. Meeting colourful people in new and interesting places. Making films in new and exciting ways for ever larger clients and campaigns.

?

We paid ourselves next to nothing, continually reinvesting back into the company. The budgets went on the production, ‘on the screen’, every time. The work we did won lots of awards, which led to awards ceremonies and more fun times. They gave us a calling card and really helped us to become the company Casual is today.

?

Throughout it all it was hard to think about who I was outside of the business.

?

When things went well, I felt extremely fulfilled and confident. When they went badly, it was hard to avoid the slump that I am sure most entrepreneurs know well. You’re living life with the emotional contrast of the work bit turned up to 11. The highs are so high and affirming, the lows are so low and inescapable. I’ve lived it every day for nearly 20 years.

?

You’re riding a dragon. You can pull its reins and point it where you think you should go but sometimes, as much as you pull, the dragon will do what the dragon will do.

?

Running any company in the UK over the last 20 years has been an exercise in expecting the unexpected. No sooner had one macroeconomic wave broken and receded than another was there in its place, splashing down on your best-laid plans. The dragon continued to buck.

This is one of the reasons we have expanded to all our markets. We’re fishing in different areas of the pond, able to smooth out the income of different teams while offering our global clients a global service. We’re taming the dragon.

?

It remains a dragon, though. The key, then, is to remember that you are merely the rider. You are a fortunate and capable rider, possessing immense agency to control it, of course. Yet, be aware that sometimes the outcome may not entirely be in your hands. This is why it is crucial to separate your own identity from it.

?

Has Casual made me a better person? I think so. Is it one of the most important things I will do in my life? It’s one of them - but it certainly isn’t the most important. If it is a stunning success or an abject failure, does that make me a better or worse person? Absolutely not.

?

It doesn’t define me. Learning that – and I am still working on it – has been one of the most important lessons of the last year.

?

It gives me the freedom to look at the business more dispassionately. To make better decisions and to be more anti-fragile about it. It’s so hard to do but it is so liberating if you can manage it.

?

It’s certainly more easily said than done, but whatever you do, it pays to know you’re so much more than whatever you do.

In the photo: filming a crazy charging horse at 4am outside Abu Dhabi. We were in a pick-up, hanging on for dear life, chasing horses across the desert at 60mph, while the horses tried to escape. It was nuts... but one of many great memories.

Daniel Hollis - Director of Photography

Jenny Manby - Producer

Frank Maclaran - Sound recordist

David Priestley - Client: TAQA (off camera)

If you enjoyed this post, please like, comment and maybe share it. Each week, I get lots of people telling me how much they like these posts, but they rarely do anything on LinkedIn to register that. I'd be really grateful if you let your network know too!

Thank you! Nick.