Part 3 of “The Office” blog series.

Last time, our resident coiffed king Aaron enlightened us on the inner workings of the creative team. However, none of this would be possible without the man behind the (new)group. The glue that keeps the office together, our resident surfing expert and casual astrologer, Newgroup’s Managing Director Roey spills the beans on what it’s like to run a kooky and diverse team.
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What inspires you the most about your work?
What inspires me the most is the opportunity to work with various type of people, with different skill sets and ideas. I like to communicate through the challenges rather than ignore them, to build both great businesses and relationships. Like our logo, I like to shape and polish and Newgroup gives me that opportunity. In the past few years, I have been privileged to work in a team with talented staff members, suppliers and business owners; and with them I faced lots of difficulties but have also experienced lots of success. Apart from the above, I also believe that every person needs to do what they love doing and focus on building their lifestyle rather than their bank account. We’re all here to do what we are passionate about, learn from and respect each other, so it’s the fact that I enjoy my work so much that inspires me daily.

Everyone in the office knows you have a thing for astrology and starsigns. Why are starsigns so important to you, and what do you believe is the strongest star sign?
Anything we do in life is about relationships and trust. When you hear, read or meet someone for the first time, it’s very hard to know who they are, find out what are their characteristic and common interest for you to chat about. When I decide I want to work with a person, whether if it’s a team member, supplier or a client, I want to get to know them as much as possible. This is why I believe starsigns are important, as they give some sort of an indication about their personality. Of course, it’s not always correct or that there is any good or bad. I just believe that particular star signs suit different roles. Let’s say I’m about to hire someone or read about a client/supplier, my first interaction will mostly be very generic and technical as opposed to something that is out of the box. So, when I ask the question, it gives people a chance to be creative with their answers as well as understand that I do things differently to other managers. Starsigns have helped me differentiate Newgroup in a diverse market.

I know you hold a strong passion for surfing – where do you think is the best place to ride some waves?
I have been traveling in multiple countries to surf and each place was unique and holds plenty of wonderful memories. While you always seek for the perfect wave, it’s not always about the wave, it’s about the place, the energy, the people, the weather and the point of time in your life. Surfing has given me a lot, even on stormy days, as it afford me time to reflect upon my life. Some days are cloudy and it’s probably time to take a big breath; stop, review everything you’re doing and prepare for the next wave. If you are prepared to that deal with a messy ocean and choppy current, you can handle anything and it’s just a matter of time until the storm will pass, the sun will shine and the clean easy perfect ride will come.

If you were to do any other job than what you are doing now, what would it be?
It’s very hard to say, simply because I love what I do and the people I work with. All I can say is that I would love to work more with travel related brands and anything to do with surfing. The role doesn’t matter, as long as I feel that I learn, grow, and am being challenged and appreciated.

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I always imagined you as an eccentric tour guide, but I like your answer a lot better! Well that’s it for our deep and meaningful with the big boss. Stay tuned for our next instalment in the series, where we dive deep into the matrix and get in touch with our tech whiz, Ramesh.

Signing off,

D

Exercising Creativity with Newgroup Marketing