The choice is yours

Image c/o Aspen Garfoot

Image c/o Aspen Garfoot

Everyone has a choice of how to react to their various experiences. I was brought up to be like Teflon - the non-stick version. My mother would say, “Don’t let other peoples opinion of you become your reality.” I think that it’s essential to take responsibility and learn from the experiences, and I have seen others who are clueless about what happens to them.

Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you.
— Aldous Huxley

Have a great day and learn from your experiences.


I travel light

I don’t think that complete objectivity is possible! That’s a massive statement, but in reality If I led a media channel, for example, even if I didn’t mean for it to, it would naturally reflect some of my passions. So, when you have similarly educated people with similar backgrounds running all of the main media institutions, even if they don’t intend it, the outcome will obviously be biased. This week’s UEFA EURO 2020 Semi-Final between England and Denmark showed the problems with nationalism and how it makes people delusional and ugly. It’s hard to get better until you become humble.


I think the beauty of an action comes not only from when it becomes a habit, but also from its sensitivity, consciousness, clarity of perception and accuracy of response. The older I get, the more I realise that I am not compelled by any conditioning or programming from my past experiences or from my culture. Jamaican parent, British societal values and Danish awakening has stamped everything on me, fortunately, I am now in a position where I no longer react on the basis of my upbringing. I have learned how to experience things fully, both good and bad experiences. How to learn from them and then drop them, and move on to the next moment, uninfluenced by the previous ones. I travel light as I am uninfluenced by labels and titles, I just treat people with respect. 


Life = C+C+C

The pandemic has exposed and increased inequality worldwide, leaving many to struggle for a basic level of economic security. Many people, myself included, have begun to reevaluate what makes life worth living. The things I’ve missed and appreciated the most are friends, family, experiences, nature, connection. I really hope that people have gained new values, and used this time to stop and think about the meaning of life. And ask themselves about what they would like to achieve both personally and professionally. What do you want to do with your life?


I recently lost my mother and whilst writing both her obituary and eulogy, I questioned myself about the meaning of life. In her honour, I have already begun to make changes in my life, for example, saying no and being far more selective about how I spend my time and with whom. I think that we all have the ability to transcend our egos, connect with other people and contribute to society.


One never stops learning

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c/o Adobe stock photo’s

Understanding how to build a sales team both inside and outside is an incredible gift. Personally, I thrive in an environment where I can meet and work with great people, and this may have emerged from my sporting past. Everything I do, I really want to do well. Football is a performance game just like sales, whether you win or lose, you are measured by your performance. Sales is about getting better every single day, developing your skill set and putting them into practice.


I’ve led sales teams of representatives (agents and distributors), customer success (back office), product managers, marketing department. My strengths are understanding a business and people and my weaknesses are understanding the corporate politics in organisations. Contact me via e-mail in confidentiality and let’s arrange some sales training for your team.

You never stop learning. If you have a teacher, you never stop being a student.
— Elisabeth Rohm

The past is a good predictor of the future

Deep thinkers always listen to what you have to say because it’s another opportunity to learn. I think everything we experience is the result of something we feel. Yet much of what we feel goes unnoticed, sometimes it is suppressed and at other times it is actively denied. When we are at constant war with ourselves we cannot make much headway in a world that is not really made for us. Contact me via e-mail and let me know what you think.

Don’t seek the truth; just drop your opinions. Drop your theories; don’t seek the truth.
— Anthony de Mello

A problem without a solution is...

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"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” - Theodore Roosevelt


Business Model Canvas

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A business model is nothing else than a description of the value a company offers to one or several segments of customers and the architecture of the firm and its network of partners for creating, marketing and delivering this value and relationship capital, in order to generate profitable and sustainable revenue streams.
— Osterwalder & Pigneur

Take a look at yourself

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I think that we are all selling solutions to external problems and customers are buying solutions to internal problems. The story should always be about how the hero is feeling about their external problem. For example, I recently watched a show on Netflix where the hero is trying to disarm a bomb. A few years ago, he tried and failed. Lots of people were hurt, now he is full of self doubt. He asks himself, can I do this? He feels ill equipped, self doubt has kicked in and he is not sure whether he can get the job done. Does this sound familiar?


Customers wants us to guide them on their internal journey as they also have an external problems. The external problems are causing them frustration and unpleasantness, and this is exactly what they are trying to resolve. Companies try to resolve external problems but people buy resolutions to internal problems. Do you understand what I mean? If not send me an e-mail and I will explain it to you.

Win, lose or draw

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How many people do you know who are unaffected by praise or blame?We spend on much time reacting to labels, are own and others’. When you win, be kind and when you lose, be kind, most people learn these valuable lesson in kindergarten. I think that to completely disagree with someone and yet engage with them with respect and honesty, is a superpower. I have observed that smart people are not offended by the truth.

We all need a personal mythology not because it tells us who we are but because it tells us who to aspire to be.
— David Amerland

Life is a banquet

Image via Shutterstock

I’m in the process of writing an obituary for my mother and there are so many things that I could write. I have just forwarded the first draft to my sisters for some input, as I need their opinions. I think that if you and your loved ones are healthy, you have a family that loves you, some good friends, food on your table and a roof over your head - then you are richer than you think.


We are the richest people on earth and we don’t even realise! And when I say this, it means that we are alive when we can see the moon and the stars at night. Please make sure that you take the time to appreciate these gifts, nourish yourselves with nature, with your breath, with quiet and stillness. This will give you the energy to deal with your pain and challenges.


The big five

Image via Inc. Magazine

Image via Inc. Magazine

COACH = Curiosity, Openness, Associations, Conscientiousness and Healthy practices. According to Tony Robbins, the definition of a life coach is someone professionally trained to help you maximise your full potential and reach your desired results. They hold you accountable and provide encouragement throughout your journey to become a better version of yourself. According to Thorbjörg, the definition of a health coach is a supportive mentor and wellness authority who helps others feel their best through individualised food and lifestyle changes that meet their unique needs and health goals.

What do they all these coaches have in common? I think that they all identifying needs, plan and implementing suitable programmes. Whether the coaching involves developing the individuals’ physical or psychological fitness, the coach will encourage them to maximise their performance. Contact me via e-mail in confidentiality and let’s arrange a coaching session.


Growth at all costs

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We have seen that over the Covid pandemic consumer expectations and behaviours have fundamentally changed. Technology and innovation have moved brands into a place where relationships with individual consumers could be directly formed, nurtured and serviced. I think the greatest growth potential going forward will be differentiated retail. This will mean creating an elevated brand experience where both the brand and product are celebrated through clear and compelling storytelling.

The future is not just about omni-channel, it’s going to be about customisation, community and content. Individuals with unique personal goals brought together to form a global community. Contact me via e-mail when you are ready for an external perspective on your brand engagement.


Just Do It

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NIKE is above everything else, a master storyteller that also happens to make well designed products. Products that become an emblem, declaring one’s cultural alliance with the brand. The actual things that NIKE sells are simply an outward symbolism of that cultural affiliation, thus the relationship with a brand like NIKE becomes transformational whilst the majority of their competitors have only a transactional relationship with their customers. I don’t think that NIKE could have predicted the pandemic, but the decisions it make 4 years ago have powered its performance through it and has provided a roadmap for others. 


The lessons for retailers across categories are clear: 

  1. No single customer or level of sales volume is worth sacrificing your brand as In reality, the brand is all you have!

  2. Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) sales is just a throwback to the way retail has been performed for generations. In fact, the true value of a brands rests in the power of the stories it tells - “Lose the story and you lose the brand and lose the brand and you will lose everything!”

  3. Bricks and mortar shops have opportunity to become the most powerful media channel on earth, real life stages from which those unique brand stories can be told.



We all see things from different perspectives. Don’t be shy, contact me via e-mail when you are ready for an external perspective on your brand engagement.


Life is good here

c/o Getty Images

c/o Getty Images

There is an unstoppable movement towards greater consciousness about what our actions are doing in the world around us. And the younger generations are continuously searching for higher meaning and more sustainable behaviours. I think working together in flat, loosely connected networks, in a peer-to-peer fashion, is behind the most significant changes in human society over past 100 years.

Do you work in an organisation where decision making was clearly expressed and democratically distributed? I wonder what it would be like to work in an organisation where communicating your dreams and ambitions is encouraged. Where the decision making is led by a leader who collaborative and is interested in having feedback from outside of the C suite. Once the decisions have been agreed, no one in the group will have any remains objections and consent to implementation.

What does it cost us to make a decision that no one believes in or is willing to commit to? Are you trying to do too much with everyone involved? Contact me via e-mail for a meeting where we could take a deeper dive into your situation.