Creating a Job You Love

By Eve Marx (Communications Assistant)

This week we attended a brilliant Maven event about working to create a job you love, with some great career advice from Pip Jamieson (founder and CEO at The Dots), Joan Murphy (co-founder of Frame gyms) and Martha Swift (founder, owner, and baker at Primrose Bakery).

We learned and laughed a lot. Here are some key take-outs for creating a job you love.

1) Reflect, Iterate, Build

As entrepreneurs, we are often told to always look ahead of us. What’s the next big thing and how do we get there? Sometimes the answer isn’t in our future, it’s in our past. Never underestimate the value of your past experience to learn, iterate and build. Often the best ideas come from revisiting old ones, the best working environments and team dynamics from development on old structures. It’s one instance where nostalgia works in your favour!

2) Define Your End Game

Although maintaining momentum and not resting on your laurels are key to a successful entrepreneur’s journey, try to define what success looks like to you upfront. Then be sure to celebrate it when it happens!

Joan Murphy gets frustrated with the frequent inability of motivated entrepreneurs to pat themselves on the back and give credit where it’s due. In the long run, not admitting all the positive outcomes of your business will inevitably affect your (and your team’s) morale. That’s why Pip organises ‘Thank You Sessions’ every other week, where her team get together and celebrate their ongoing work. It’s a great way to keep updated on your process moving forward and appreciate everyone’s achievements.

3) Gut Feeling Is A Good Feeling

In the era of automated machinery and data analysis, nothing is more valuable than a good old gut feeling. Sometimes, no one knows you better than you (or your dad in Pip’s case, who still offers regular business advice).

Of course, having the confidence to listen to your gut is a skill you develop, but the whole panel agreed on the importance of surrounding yourself with positive teammates.

Which brings us to the importance of your hiring process… We’ve all worked with people with an impressive CV but a terrible, negative attitude. Digging deeper into the person (and personality) that you are hiring is key to remove this hiring risk. At Sense Worldwide we know this intuitively and have developed our own bespoke hiring process as a result; one that allows us to engage both parties and really get to know our future co-workers.

4) Listen To Others… Even If You End Up Ignoring Them

All advice is worth listening to even if you don’t end up taking it. From board directors to best friends, it’s important to listen and challenge your cognitive bias.
Part of being a successful driven self-starter is being single-minded. However, by looking for opinions other than your own, you can begin to form your strongest, most balanced personal and professional growth strategy. Some will be brilliant and some, of course, will need to be taken with a pinch of salt… all, however, are important to cement your own path.

5) Failure Is Ok If It’s Part Of Your Process

We all fail and we all know it. Yet failure seems like an unlikely beneficial part of your business plan. Joan shared her own personal philosophy and go-to mindset in her business: the “Rule Of Three”. Of three projects you embark on: