Reprobate Ltd

Why My Taxi Driver is Smarter Than You

Wed, 22 Jun 2022 17:02:00 +0000

If I’m honest, I don’t see what the big deal is.

I need my local council to spin up a train station within walking distance of my house on thedays I need to go into London.

If indeed there is a downside to living in the Cotswolds, it’s the fact that you’re not near to anything or anyone.

So every trip into London involves a taxi to a train station which if I’m honest, I just loathe.

It amuses me that the yellow pages are probably responsible for the fact that most cab firms begin with ‘A’.

I always felt unnerved by their “Let your fingers do the walking” strap-line anyway.

One London-bound day, after calling six different firms with just 30 minutes notice and then complaining they had no-one available, Alan from Andrea’s Cars turned up (More A’s than you could shake a phone directory at in his title).

I’ll hazard a guess that Alan is about 70, disarmingly polite, walks with the swagger of Robert De Niro (He has trouble with his hips) and his wrists are the thickness of my neck which means that I’m always polite back.

Seconds into the journey I liked Alan.

When we arrived at the station and I’d paid my bill, Alan delivered a one liner that has stayed with me three years later to the point that I’ve bothered to write this piece.

He said “If you go and get your train ticket, I’ll grab you a coffee”.

I’m British, so the dance of politeness ensued “There’s really no need, that’s very kind but no, you rest your hip, I’ll get you one.

With that, Alan shook his head at me, patted me on the shoulder and swaggered off to buy me a coffee whilst I paid for my ticket.

Simple but very effective.

Why?

Then enter Alan from stage right, delivering a cup of coffee to make sure you don’t run the risk of missing your train and ensuring your journey is warm, caffeinated, with the added bonus of no nasty waiting-room assault charges looming.

I love that man.

Now you may be thinking, what a ridiculous build up for one sodding sentence but I have news for you.

Have I used another cab firm since?

Our existing customers excepted, I meet many organisations every week that have their own version of Alan’s cup of coffee and they almost all tell me that they’re their own ‘best kept secret’ which is of course a euphemism for ‘We’re s*** at marketing ourselves’.

I never get why being your own best-kept secret is heralded as a badge of honour because in reality, it should be your passport to the corporate naughty step with a ban on social media unless accompanied by a grown up.

Having your ‘cup of coffee’ is one thing.

Alan doesn’t pummel me with taxi propaganda, he doesn’t email me reminding me that he drives the same car as he did the previous week (but now it’s shinier).

He makes himself available to me and I know exactly what value he brings.

If you work in almost any other market and plan to accomplish the same thing without creating engaging content in the digital world….

Never Give Up

Wed, 22 Jun 2022 16:46:00 +0000

The ridiculously happy little chap on the left with his coach is my youngest boy, Isaac (AKA Sharkbait) and the look that you see on his face is reserved for three types of people in his life.

On the right, is Peter Jones of Dragons Den, trying his absolute best to make sense of whatever shite was leaving my mouth at that given moment.

So, the first one is easy.

As they start to venture out into the world, the more they experience, they inevitably encounter the first of life’s ‘knocks and set-backs’ and nobody can prepare you for that shit.

Earlier this year, Sharkbait won ‘Most Improved Player’ for his team and he thoroughly deserved it.

The summer came and went, the next season arrived, and without any warning signs, my little boy just crashed.

He was in tears at the slightest knock and just wanted to come off the pitch the moment the game began.

Now, if you want to learn anything about life, I say go and stand on the side of an under 9’s football match.

I don’t care who you are, there is no emotion like watching your kid try to make their way in the world first-hand and playing sport has a funny way of shining a light on the sort of grown-ups, these children may one day become.

One major life lesson you learn is that it’s amazing what a difference a few kind words can do to make someone else’s day (or world for that matter).

The coaches and parents have their own kids in the team but all of them (without exception) still manage to put an extraordinary amount of effort into helping other people’s children.

Slowly, they all started building Isaac back up, encouraging him, reminding him of the progress he made in the last year and more importantly, how to learn from your mistakes and to just keep playing.

They may be helping him play football on the day, but I think they’re the perfect example of the type of people you need in your life, full-stop.

When you see your kids trying to learn by picking themselves up and trying again, you find yourself wishing that you had half their guts and determination.

Which brings me nicely onto the other side-line teaching and that’s perseverance. With the help of the coaches and his mum, Isaac kept going out onto the pitch and gained his confidence back.

I wish I could pin-point the moment that he changed but I honestly can’t.

But there was Sharkbait, playing his heart out, with the coach’s words in his ear, skinning every player that came near him and not backing out of a single tackle.

I also like to think that at just 8 years old, he learned the importance of backing yourselfwhich brings me nicely onto my dance with Britain’s most notorious dragon earlier this year.

At 45, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do.

As a family, we’ve had times when our lifestyle has been very comfortable and on balance, I’ve had my share of good luck.

When I was asked to work with Peter Jones at the beginning of this year, shortly after closing my company, it was like being asked to play in the business equivalent of a Champions League final at a time when I was considering standing down altogether.

But when the day came where I began work with Peter, I knew exactly how Isaac felt on that swamp-of-a-pitch in Oxfordshire.

As I write this today, my work with Peter has contributed to the nomination for seven
industry awards so far this year.

Anyone that’s taken a few hits will tell you, games are won on the training ground or those moments in your head when you’ve got two choices.

And on that note, I’ll leave you with this.

The last game Sharkbait’s team played this season was up against one of the best clubs in the area and there wasn’t one single kid that didn’t play their heart out.

It was one of the toughest games I’ve seen them play and right at the beginning of the match, Isaac was at the centre of an important goal they conceded.

As the other team’s celebrations dispersed, I noticed that Isaac had tears running down his face, but it was different this time - he was wiping them away.

At the break, he was visibly choked-up, so I asked him if he was ok to carry on.

‘Nothing’s going to get past me this time daddy, not today’.

You can learn a lot from your children if you’re smart enough to listen.

Whether you find yourself unexpectantly face-to-face with a Dragon or if the game isn’t going the way you’d hoped.

Never.

The Art of Not Growing Up

Wed, 22 Jun 2022 16:44:00 +0000

Do you see how happy I look in that photo?

Somebody sent me that photo just two days ago.

There’s something quite brilliant, weird and liberating hearing a bunch of actors regurgitate lines that a matter of days earlier, only existed in the dark recesses of my perverse imagination (And trust me, I got them to say some weird sh*t that wouldn’t sound good if ever read back to me as evidence in a court of law).

But I had fun…a lot of fun.

It’s strange but that one isolated week, made me reflect on how I spend my days.

Only I know why she took the trouble to leave me with those two poignant words.

The combination of receiving that photo and aimlessly staring at that piece of paper (when I really should have been working) vicariously got me thinking about my own kids and their unwavering commitment to having fun.

Children in general, do an excellent job at highlighting just how rubbish adults are.

My youngest son Isaac (aka shark-bait) for example loves football. it’s bloody exhausting.

Joshua my eldest boy at 15 loves music. share the same oxygen as that young man.

Jude, my 13 year old son is one of the funniest people on the planet.

And then there’s my only Daughter Poppy.

Just last week, she fell off a horse and was back on it in a heartbeat (quicker than any adult would be) and the first thing she did was to make sure the horse was ok.

I have to be honest, I got a bit choked up writing that.

I, like many parents work to give my children opportunities in their lives and encourage them to do what they love.

Equally, almost every mum or dad I know will tell their children they can do anything they set their minds to but let’s be candid here, leading by example when you have bills to pay can be a challenge.

It’s easy to view work as the thing you do to earn money, to get you the things that you want or to look after those you love - but if you forget to have fun along the way, then somethings gone horribly wrong.

Do I do what I dreamt of as a child?

Now I know as grown-ups occasionally, we all have to do stuff that we don’t want to do but with that said, we can all learn a little something from our children, in particular their capacity to embrace all that is possible and fun about the world.

Even when someone is acting like a total tool, I try and remember that they are some poor sods mum or dad and they’re just trying to earn a living for them.

However you make your way in the world, there is always a way to make yours and the people’s lives around you that little bit better and you can do worse things than bringing the attitude of your own children (or for that matter, the younger you) to work during the day.

Just don’t forget to employ the social graces that you’ve learned as an adult because let’s face it, nobody likes a crier in a meeting.

You’re a long time dead, enjoy every day kid.