Remember when you first stepped into high school? Or onto your campus at college? What about your first day at work?

Was the first thing that loaded in your memory what you felt?

I am positive (I can bet my money even) if I were to ask you the question, ‘how was your first day at…’ (Fill in the gap with anything you want), the response I would get, is about how you felt.

 

Emotions have a huge effect on how you act and fit into new environments.  Especially how you feel on your first day of work-sitting at your new desk, working in a new environment, so much  learning and catching up to do, so many acquaintances to make, nailing your first assignment, making it through probation successfully, Oh my! The list is endless! Emotions have a big impact on your potential.

But, some may be thinking, ‘how can I control how I feel? I can’t help it.

That’s bollocks!

What you need to realize is that your emotional system can give you an advantage in making decisions, if you use it properly.

So keep those annoying little things (nerves) at bay, by doing these things on your first day of anything:

 

• Eat-have a proper breakfast before heading out. The ‘ hungry man is an angry man’ mantra is no joke
• Remember the qualities that got you the job in the first place. And no, it’s probably not that envious academic background. Use your confidence, attitude, organization skills
• Make it your business to introduce yourself to your new colleagues- join in on coffee breaks. This is where you will learn the unwritten rules of the office. The team will accept you easier and faster.
• Stop shuffling your feet and ASK! ASK! ASK! It is the only way you will get to know how things work around you and not look like a clueless newbie.

Many people think of their emotions as something they have to manage and control, rather than something they can use. Evolution has given you an internal system that stores of a huge amount of data about any situation. This is something to work with rather than view as tiresome. Just like the thumb on your hand, emotions have evolved to help you, even though they might seem to get in the way sometimes.

So, use your nervous feeling to shoot to success alright?!

*cool beans*

Written by- Stellamaris Thuku, Content Manager aka the Newbie

 

 

 

“Creativity is intelligence having fun.”

Albert Einstein.

 

That quote defines working at a digital agency.

You see digital marketing is a fairly new term in the Kenyan industry. It is growing at an exponential rate as corporates and start-ups have found a way to engage consumers, and also market their products through social media in a strategic way using analytical tools.

My internship adventure has been full of surprises. I call it an adventure because it is an unconventional industry with “no clear guidelines”. It is not like working at a bank or a “regular job”. You can check in to work with your pair of converse or have hair as long as The Jackson-Five. Your work is your word and you better stand by it.

Working at a digital agency entails having fun, by creating unimaginable ideas and turning them to reality. It brings back memories of when we were kids and we would have impossible ideas. I am privileged to be working with people who have brilliant minds and ideas. They are able to envision the future of marketing and advertising. When you are working with people and they challenge you every day, then to me you are in the right place to work and grow as an individual and in your career.

Working at an agency is very fun because you work in environment that is full of activities, for example:

1. Having a theme of clothes on a particular day, like last Friday we had a vintage theme so you had to bring your old skool game
2. Taking selfies every Friday
3. Celebrating birthdays every month with a cake

The advantage of such an environment, is that it gets the best out of you, as you grow ties with your colleagues. Some have become more than colleagues, some have even become brothers.

At Bean Interactive we have this saying- ”#KYS” Know Your Shit. Pardon my French but you better know your shit. By being passionate about your work and your ideas. It is like any ordinary job, like if you ask Chris Kirubi why he is successful, he will probably tell you, “I love what I do.”

It is a very competitive industry as there are not so many “hands-on” digital agencies out there. Competition is very high. It is why you have to be good at what you do, by:

1. Doing constant research
2. Learning trends of consumers
3. Interacting with social media.

“Work hard play hard” that is also another quote that people follow. I am amazed by the levels we go to perfect our work so that the client can approve the work, or before the deadline reaches.

But after that we always have “Omera” by our side, as we can order a cold one baada ya kazi

 

Written by Wayne Njaaga- Content department Intern

 

 

 

I will protect you!

In my organization, and many others I trust, there are different departments that do different work. In mine specifically, we have:

The creative team– These guys create and design things out of thin air. The take the ‘put the nini over the whatever and mash it together to form a kasomething’ and make it into a picture the client didn’t even know they wanted, and are now irrevocably in love with.

The media team– These guys buy media. They go into the internet and tell Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Google (anyone really), ‘we need to show this ad to this specific person’. ‘Which person?’ the internet asks. ‘This 25 year old married woman living in Nairobi, with her child and husband, who likes to eat from KFC and hang out at Blankets and Wine. This person’. ‘OK’ the internet replies and responds.

The technical team: These guys deal in ones and zeros (not the alphabet, like us, mere mortals). They literally open up the part of the website nobody cares about, and make it sing and dance. The client goes, ‘can this picture move up and down and then stop moving and turn blue when it is clicked on?’ and they say, ‘yes, that’s possible’ and make it happen. Geeks!

The finance team: We rarely see these guys. They are always running to the bank or some other ‘money place’. We side-eye them when our salary is late. And smile at them when we need the requisition we have put into the system, expedited. Normal guys at the end of the day, but they have a certain atmosphere around them (of money).

The strategy team: The client wants to do this, that and the other, and they have no idea how- these guys will tell them. With pretty pictures and graphs, they will draw out a road map for ANY campaign. They are like tour guides- ‘Welcome to the internet, I will be your guide’.

The account management team: We are the protectors- the electric fence between clients and the rest of the team. Our main work? Communication- we are constantly emailing and calling clients. We cry in secret and get angry alone. We do not show that we are stressed. We are a buffer, which takes a lot of guts and emotional intelligence.

A client says, ‘you are useless! Where is my creative work?’ and copies the entire world and their mother.

We respond, ‘I’m sorry you feel that way, I will check in with my team and get back to you as soon as possible. Please accept my sincere apologies’.

We go into the bathroom to regroup, come out and say with a smile, ‘Hey (guy in creative team), have you finished with the work for (disgruntled client)? When can I have it? Thanks, see you later’.

And go back into the bathroom to finish crying or go into the bar for a drink.

Being a buffer is lonely. There is no one to be the buffer for you!

 

Written by- Kitt Kiarie, Account Manager