Dressed like that?
“Are you sure you are going out dressed like that?”
I freeze, and look back at my wife puzzled.
“What’s wrong with my outfit?”
I look down at my slightly too large jeans, and ok yes, maybe little too old shirt and ok yes, maybe also slightly too small blazer.
“Isn’t this smart casual?”
My wife looks at me almost in disbelief. And says “eh, no honey, smart is definitely not the word I would use”
I had to host a superconnectors event that evening, and this was the moment that I realized that all my fancy clothing from 10 years ago, didn’t really evolve with me.
Also having a wife that works in fashion doesn’t help.
Homeless Johnny Depp
Let’s zoom out to a lunch in the German office of Funk-e 7 years ago.
One of our German employees leans in close to me and says:
“hey alex, did you know the team has a nickname for you?”
“Oh really, what is it?” I ask awkwardly.
“Homeless Johnny Depp” she says.
Even though I appreciate the acting talents and good looks of Johnny Depp, I can’t help but think of people picturing me as a drunk Captain Jack sparrow from pirates of the Caribbean.
And I have to give it to them, they were right. Especially when I was younger, I almost made it into a goal to dress as casual as possible, to make a point that we would not become a formal boring company.
I wanted our clients and our team to know at all time that creativity was at the heart of everything we did, and the casual look was a natural consequence.
But if even one of the most creative team members said that to me, I must have taken it a step too far.
Shopping spree
Now that I am active in a new industry, the whole “but we are young, cool creatives” narratives was simply not going to work anymore.
So after many months of hearing my wife complain that my new job needed a better look, I finally gave in and went on one of the most extensive (and expensive) shopping sprees of my life (did I mention I really hate shopping?).
After startup makeover
Now that I have really gone beyond the first experimental months with Superconnectors, the effort of building a new company got real.
Somehow this really unlocked something in me. It almost felt like that moment that you end a relationship and start a new one.
It’s like a full re-assessment of the choices I made. What do I like to do, what I don’t, what new habits fit my new goals, and even superficial things like: what look fits my new profession?
The change is real
Now that the sale of Funk-e is 1 month behind me I feel like it’s really starting to sink in.
My new activity is literally official, (Superconnectors in now officially incorporated) and my entire life, routines, and schedule (filled with flights to conferences) is really starting to take shape.
After months of living in limbo between two different realities, where one would mean staying more involved in my agency and another would mean traveling the world and meeting exciting new people, the decision is now really made.
And my after startup makeover is the kickoff to that change. Ladies and gentlemen, the change is real.
