Robert Lee

My first job was a waiter in an old English restaurant when I was 15. That taught me a few lessons about working 'with' people (the other waiters / chefs) and 'for' people (our customers). In either case, I always preferred working 'with' or 'for' people who treated me like a friend.

The kind friends (the waiters) I worked with, gave you the tip because, whilst they bought out the plate, you were the one who mainly spoke to the customer, kept them entertained and made their meal and experience special. The best customers turned out to not always be the ones who gave you a tip but actually talked with you about your day, what you are doing, what you were going to do when you finished school etc. They made the work not feel like 'work'. In fact, a few became friends that I could bump into on the street and would say hello to.

I started my first company when I was university. It's not too dissimilar to REAS and I made wedding videos. I remember working on a friend's wedding and thinking of all of the things that could go wrong leading up to it. I was just me so I had to make sure I did not miss anything important, getting my kit prepped and charged, the walk down the aisle, the first dance etc. It taught me about self reliance and being completely focussed to meet my client's expectations. Plus, she was a friend and I wanted her to have the best wedding video I could create.

The one thread that stitches all of my experiences together is that all of the people I enjoyed working 'with' or working 'for' were real friends, like the kind you didn't want to say goodbye to at the end of the school term because you knew it would be a while before you saw them again - that kind. Today our crew is made up of friends, our suppliers are made up of friends and our clients are made up of friends. And that's just how we like it 😊

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