In Dynamic Duos, Mumbrella each week asks two colleagues with a professional and personal affiliation to share with readers the importance of workplace relationships in an increasingly hybridised world of work.
Rebecca Page:
We met back in our early 20s, when I was at Initiative on the Bunnings account, and Nic was at Channel Seven. Sales reps can be very enthusiastic, but I don’t think I have ever (or will ever), meet anyone as enthusiastic as Nic! We quickly became great friends, and I’ve been lucky enough to work with him on five different occasions over the last 16 years (my entire media career), with pretty much every job we have both worked at, crossing over.
I remember when I was looking after CSR Sugar and Nic was at Active Media, we worked together to sample ‘Smart’ sugar in gyms (who would have thought we’d be working together at a sampling agency that Nic created, in the future!). We both then happened to move to the UK at around the same time, and again our paths crossed with me being at Maxus (now Wavemaker) and working closely with Nic at International Business Times. They were great times, there were a big bunch of us Aussies over there at the time, and I have fond memories in particular of a trip Nic took a few of us on to Cornwall, with Nic chasing anywhere there was surf!
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Then fast forward to being back in Australia, I was at United and Nic was selling me the Blobfish International dream! And then Covid happened…with Nic then asking me to help him out. Fast forward 3.5 years later and we are now Australia’s largest sampling agency!
Even before working directly with Nic, what stood out was how genuine he is. He really cares about everyone. I’m sure anyone reading this that knows Nic, would agree. He’s always had a hugely entrepreneurial and ambitious spirit, and I can honestly say that Blobfish International is the most amazing, happy and rewarding place to work, with the most incredible team culture, and this all stems down from Nic. He has such a strong work ethic yet manages to make everything fun! I’ve had a bit of a rollercoaster couple of years personally, and Nic has been a constant and always positive source of support. I feel very grateful to have Nic as a great friend.
We have a long friendship built on trust, and now working together, a great understanding of how we work best together. Nic is definitely more outgoing than me, but we complement each other and I know he appreciates that I am a stickler for detail!
Nic Cann:
My first job in media was at Channel Seven, and after a glorious year of working on the Mitchell’s account, and then Mediacom, I earned my stripes to gain a promotion from sales assistant to sales executive – with the privilege of being gifted the Initiative agency as my main focus. Fortunately for me, Bec was looking after their biggest client in Bunnings and so we got to work very closely together. Being of the same age, it was brilliant as we got to attend all the events that media had to offer, as well as the fun ones that NGEN offered to us young media whipper snappers. It was the start of an awesome and wonderful friendship!
Well, we became good friends and so that ensured our relationship continued throughout the last 16 years. We’ve always stayed in touch and hung out regularly over the years – from my days at Channel Seven, to selling gym advertising, and even when we both worked together in London. It’s fortunate that we did too, as when Blobfish needed another awesome person to add to our epic growth, Bec was the perfect candidate – especially as in a small business, you really are more friends and family than anything else.
It’s a purely organic and easy friendship. We got along well from the start, and that continues to be the case. The media industry is all about relationships, and we all know when those are genuine, and this is when they survive the longest. Bec and I have had a genuine friendship for such a long time now.
Rebecca on Nic:
Most memorable moment with Nic: Last September Nic and I attended the MFA Awards (one of our campaigns was nominated). We arrived at the venue, had a glass of champagne, were mingling, getting professional photos taken, chatting to a few people. I didn’t recognise anyone. I kept mentioning to Nic how young everyone looked, and Nic was confidently telling me that’s how media is these days, as we get older, everyone just looks younger! I kept saying everyone looked really, really young. I was concerned with how young everyone looked, and Nic kept assuring me it was totally normal. As we made our way to the front to see what table we were on, we realised that we were actually at a Year 12 formal!! So we very quickly ran out of there, and into the actual MFAs!
Best word to describe him: Can I use four words? Sunshine in human form. In 16 years of knowing Nic, I’ve never seen him down, upset or angry once. It’s actually incredible!
Most annoying habit or endearing behaviour he has: Nic’s endless positivity, optimism and constant enthusiasm, and his gift of the gab.
Nic on Rebecca:
Most memorable moment with Rebecca: When Bec was my client in London (at Maxus), and I asked her what her team would like to do for fun, she asked if we could go to some real world cinema event. I had no idea what it was, and so booked the tickets thinking I was showing up to a movie night! The day before, I found out that I needed to buy a pair of scrubs and a mask, because it turns out we were attending a zombie apocalypse ‘28 Days Later’ real world movie. It was so much fun, even when you had real zombies chasing you, and random people throwing blood (fake) on you. At least it finished with watching the movie on hospital stretcher beds! It was such an awesome experience and one that was very memorable – and it wouldn’t have ever happened without Bec, and her love of random awesome events.
Additionally, and Bec has mentioned this, accidentally dragging her recently to a Year 12 formal going on next door to the MFAs probably trumps this, especially when I was trying to convince her that the media industry is just getting really young now. Whoops.
Best word to describe her: Meticulous. Nothing ever slips past Bec!
Most annoying habit or endearing behaviour she has: Bec’s extremely caring nature about others. I’ve always joked that Bec is head of Blobfish HR, as she’s all about ensuring the rest of the team are trucking along well, and that we have plenty of social outings to ensure the mental morale always remains high! So important in our small team!