Mobius Days

Every once in awhile, I would meet colleagues whom I would describe as valuable as gold. Rish is one of them. 

Back in the Dentsu Mobius days, we were young, energetic, a little raw, but certainly very talented, spirited bunch. I knew Rish as the heart of Mobius - he was the "strategic social media" guy back when Facebook, Twitter, Instagram were incumbent social media giants. I would call him the godfather of developing social media strategy. Passion shines from his work. He has produced prodigies who now owns social media agency - that's Stephanie Phua from Duo Studio and Xinrong, who was then a talented social media strategist and decided to be a MOE teacher. 

 

Then Dentsu Mobius company logo (2012 - 2014)

"I've never met a more strategic and creative team than in Mobius"

If you talk about career switch, he is your classic example as someone trained in finance (wth?) who ended up doing social media. 

Perspective. 

I wasn't a particularly good team player in my Dentsu days. I was struggling with direction and self-identity. I didn't find fulfillment in my job, and was not interested in putting extra effort either. I found the task rather grinding and mundane. 

Challenges.

It was my first job working in a multicultural environment with many diverse multinationals. I was a country bumpkin who have never interacted with people from other nationality at such a close daily proximity. I was extremely shy and uncomfortable, at times fearful of speaking up because of such a drastic difference to the 'normal' Singaporean culture. I couldn't get used to the British accent and was half the time trying to figure out what the heck my Irish office manager Caroline was saying (Sorry that you always had to repeat yourself 😂)   

Looking back, Mobius remained a specially awkward space in my heart. 

What I took away from Mobius. 

1. To my own surprise,  I made friends who remained on close terms with. 
   
   
2. I grew accustomed to working with people from different cultures and appreciate the beauty of diversity. 
   
   
3. I met people who lived their lives championing positive reinforcement.
   

   "How are you always so positive and optimistic, Marg?"

   "It's because of my mum. My mum taught me that."

   Optimism always shine through Margary's face, her deep aqua blue eyes, golden curly hair and beautiful freckles.
   
   
4. I met a rare unicorn who looked at me with a different lens, someone who thought of me from a better perspective than what I viewed myself - To Rish, I wasn't a bad team player. Just lost.
   
   
5. Nellie first introduced me to the "vlookup" formula. I found out I was that interested in working with dry excel sheets and numbers. 
   
   
6. Had my first experience working on a mac laptop.

Rish & I, older and much wiser (Jan 2021)