Chapter One – 8 years ago
I was getting ready to start university. I’d grown up in a small town which I had grown tired of. I had big dreams of moving to New York, working for a huge corporation who specialised in designing beautiful, expensive things. I wanted to live out the rest of my years wearing said beautiful things, in an apartment within walking distance to Central Park.
I distinctly remember the smirks on the faces of those who listened to my aspirations. Teachers, school friends, family members…. and in part I understood the lack of encouragement. It seemed like a naive pipe-dream of a teenager who’d watched too many American films and TV shows!
Chapter Two – 5 years ago
I was working on the 9th floor of the Empire State Building in New York, for a huge corporation that specialised in designing beautiful, expensive things. I was living in an apartment within walking distance to Central Park.
(No, I haven’t just accidentally copied and pasted an excerpt from a Sex & The City script!)
This is how my adult life started. I did it. I achieved that pipe-dream. And it was a big lesson in life that continues to shape my career and outlook on the what an ‘aspiration’ means to me.
As it turns out, the Big Apple was a Big Mistake! The corporation I worked for expected me to sit quietly in meetings (a joke for anyone who’s actually sat in a meeting with me in recent times!), my big ideas for the business were typed out in a rushed and fevered manner but were dismissed by management. I was a small cog in a big machine. So, I moved back home, with the same restless feeling I’d initially left with.
Chapter Three – 3 years ago
3338 miles later, I found myself back to square 1. Jobless! But I wasn’t disheartened. I applied for and successfully completed the interview process to join a design agency that was in its infancy, in the hope that working amongst other creative minds would provide me with the job satisfaction I desired. I found myself walking into a tiny office in Basford, Nottingham; My first day in my new job at Affari Media. I was the 5th person to join the team, the 3rd graduate and the 1st female. The business itself was very small, but their potential was huge.
This career curveball was massive, it was a thousand miles away from my original aspirations (quite literally). BUT – my own thoughts and ideas were valued. I had a great manager who was incredibly ambitious, and he wanted to hear what I had to say. I was no longer restless. Every day was different, and I found myself learning quickly.
People familiar with business will have heard of the 80/20 Pareto Principle. 80% of clients were start-ups, 20% were larger tech firms. We decided to drop 80% of clients and apply all our efforts to our shared dreams for Affari… to become a well-established creative agency for the biggest tech firms in the world and grow to a team of 20+ people by 2019.
Chapter Four – 2 years ago
It wasn’t long before I was promoted to Marketing Manager, I’d embarked on a new venture for Affari, something I coined as ‘Project Brave’. This saw me outlining our business vision, identifying our niche and communicating the Affari brand to a wider, but highly targeted audience. It also saw us taking a huge (and quite frankly, scary) business risk, hence the ‘brave’ tagline! As a team of 5, sat in a tiny office in Basford, I could yet again feel the returning smirks on peoples’ faces when I explained what I was trying to do with the small agency I was working for. I was bombarded with negativity;
“The market is saturated with design agencies, Affari probably won’t succeed.”
“Working for an SME is a huge risk, they could go bust at any time.”
“You could get a higher salary at a bigger company, why waste time?”
But at this point, my previous experience taught me that being a believer in a world of realists had its advantages. For starters, you work harder, because when you’re truly invested in something, you are driven by passion and pride rather than a mundane necessity to simply get through the day. The biggest advantage? You are more than likely to succeed!
Chapter Five – 2 weeks ago
2 weeks ago I started a 6 month course at Nottingham Trent University called ‘Innovation Community Lab’. One of the topics covered was high growth mindsets vs fixed mindsets. It immediately struck a chord with my own experiences of business thus far. I realised for the first time that it wasn’t just talent and experience that was making Affari sky rocket, it was a shared psyche amongst every team member and a strong belief that we had something special. On reflection, my adverse experience of working for a corporate was simply down to my own outlook on life. I needed to be in a team of high-growth mindsets who looked to the future, rather than a team who were fixed on the present day.
Chapter Six – Today
Today, as I celebrate 3 years of working for Affari, I look back with pride on the success we have experienced since my first day. We have not only achieved our goals, we’ve surpassed them! The power of positivity won.
We are now an incredible team of 20+, working with some of the biggest tech brands out there, beating our target by 2 years. But it doesn’t stop there, we have exciting 10 year plans in progress that, yet again, is going to take us to a whole new level!
What is the point of my long-winded story?!
Well firstly, both myself, and Affari as a business, still has a long way to go. In 10 – 20 years time, this won’t have changed. This will never change. Because being good at something means you have to continuously evolve and keep a firm hold of that high-growth mindset.
Secondly, it’s to drown out negativity, both personally and professionally. Those are other people’s voices, not your own. Don’t allow pre-determined attitudes to dictate your own outlook on what’s possible.
Thirdly, its to find something in life that you are genuinely passionate about, if that means moving yourself 3338 miles from where you thought you wanted to be, do it! Surround yourself with people who share your passion, work with people who inspire you to do better and believe in yourself. Its a cocktail for wondrous things.
Thank you Affari for the last 3 years, it’s been a rollercoaster and I look forward to continuing the ride!
