Blowing minds since 1997

The Shakalaka! origin story

A few years ago I came across the Holstee Manifesto. Around the same time I got to know a company in Malaysia called Mindvalley. Their CEO is a guy called Vishen Lakhiani and his vision on running a company blew me away. I distinctly remember seeing his 50 minute presentation Why Happiness is the New Productivity on a Sunday afternoon and watching it again immediately after, frantically taking notes. Following Vishen’s request to copy his vision and ideas I re-created my own company and more specifically my view on what I was doing.

Relentless organic content evangelist

In 2016 I had the honor and pleasure of becoming the oldest intern ever at Zimmerman Advertising in Florida. It was a strange experience to me. I felt as if my head was split up in physical departments (and floors of the building). What stuck after my stay was the vision of Jordan Zimmer and the way he transposed his tenacity to the different teams within the agency. I kept the tag on my desk and I have proudly taken over the relentlessness stated in my “title”. Never stop. Never hesitate. Go on when others would quit. That is what makes the difference. It describes exactly the way I run my projects. Time after time.

photo (c) Zimmerman Advertising

Values

I believe that everything I do is based on 5 foundations. Passion, Talent, Creativity, Design and Respect. Recently I added a sixth principle, it’s not a foundation, it’s a vision that I discovered while working on The Flemish Primitives with some of the world’s greatest chefs. The new generation of chefs has grown to a level of quality that is higher than ever before. This happened through something that scares the hell out of most of us: sharing. I used to believe that my system was mine and mine alone and it was my strongest USP. It isn’t. After seeing how today’s top chefs are not afraid to share their problems and their solutions, I started opening up and sharing.

The Flemish Primitives - photo Bruce Palling