‘When you’re in a small boat, you can see who’s paddling hard and who’s looking around…’ One of the joys of being a start-up is that everyone is paddling hard, and the sense of team pulling together is amazing. Employee appreciation day is later this week, and we want to celebrate the people behind the brand. But let’s start with our Founder Jez, who is currently at the production facility seeing to all the details himself. Jez spent his sporting life looking for marginal gains in weight, speed and materials - and he’s doing the same for Dragonfly right now. The eye of a product designer, with the heartbeat of an elite athlete - we’re stoked to be on the same team. But if he does happen to ask you on an 80km bike ride over lunch - think twice before saying yes! As a brand, do you want to be seen, or be remembered? Brands need values and vision, heart and soul. Dragonfly was built to set you free - and building the brand around that freedom is Alex our Content and Social Manager, and Ben our Brand Director. Together their experience is vast, having worked with brands from Apple and Beats, to Nike and Adidas. They’re both also into board sports - surfing and snowboarding, and have loved being the test pilots for every D-Fly prototype, coining the phrase ‘The more you lean, the more fun you have…’ Let’s talk about people who love the detail, keep the trains running on time, and keep everyone on track with the budgets, their own time, and most importantly of all - their sense of humour. Well, yes. Every team needs a Nick, our COO whose tireless support of everyone at the brand is pretty great. Unless of course you offer him a fresh croissant, in which case he can see red. He loves them but he’s got a wheat allergy… Now, in the sporting world, teams have their fans. In our world we have our fans too - our customers. How we communicate with our fans is at the very heart of our mission - and who’s there almost 24/7 - Kevin. He always goes out of his way to ensure the customer comes first, and he never falls short of passion or drive. So, we show our Customer Services staff as much appreciation as our customers do. If you’ve come across the Lion King, you would also remember Rafiki - the wise one. Adventurers always fare well under this experienced advisor. This is particularly true for a young brand and at D-Fly, we have our own Rafiki, Graham our Chairman. Get yourself a Rafiki - they’re great, wise and offer timely advice, reassurance and the experience to know how to make the most of every opportunity, and every mistake. All of our team members bring something special and something different. Energy, positivity, problem solving, quick learning and strong brand advocates. Most importantly: don’t forget to show them the appreciation they deserve! 🙂
