Strands of Genius: 5M Payphone Calls Every Year, 5 Creativity Tips (APG), From Retailer to Landlord
plus, our thoughts on: new assistant, here to help
WRITING FROM | Worcester Park, UK
WORKING ON | final touches on a new talk and a workshop for Weds.
LOOKING AHEAD
June 6-24 | London, UK (Rosie & Faris)
June 9-16 | Italy (Rosie Only)
June 24-27 | New York, NY (Cristina & Ryan tie the knot!!)
June 27-July 12 | Wingdale, NY (Rosie & Faris)
:: WHAT’S NEW & WEEKLY GRATITUDE ::
London in the sun is a delightful place to be, only slightly marred by the fact that it is huge and also expensive to live in, which means everyone we know, especially those with children, live far across London from each other (or Surrey, Kent, or Hertfordshire, and so on). Anyway, social commuting notwithstanding, we’re excited to be in prep for a big client event next week and delighted about the weather and getting to see whomever we can.
This week, we’re especially thankful for:
Abdullah, Antonia&Ronan&Leo, Katie, Dave&Kam&Lexi+theBrothers, Mike, Janka, Leo, Mike G, the weather, pubs, real ales, Working Moms (Netflix) & YOU.
:: THE LINKS ::
PODCAST: ENHANCING CREATIVITY, FROM A NOMAD
Last week we talked with Account Planning Group of Canada - APG Canada's Grow Op, and shared our top 5 tips to enhance creativity from a nomad (even if you’re not one yourself). (Grow Op on Apple Podcasts)
FIVE MILLION PAYPHONE CALLS ARE STILL MADE EACH YEAR - WHY?
Fascinating long read on the iconic red British phone box. Did you know there are 20,000 working ones left and they are used to make 5M calls every year? Or that local communities can ‘Adopt a Kiosk"‘ for their local community from as little as 1GBP from BT? “Now, they house things such as mini libraries, art galleries and plant displays; many contain defibrillators, for ready access in a medical emergency.” But many are still used, and vital, for many people: “150,000 calls were made from phone boxes to emergency services. And then there are the other emergencies: the 25,000 phone box calls made to ChildLine that year; the 20,000 calls to Samaritans. Calls made by people who can’t make them at home or on a mobile, for reasons too private or painful to know.” (Guardian)
FROM RETAILER TO LANDLORD?
John Lewis is an employee owned partnership middle class / upmarket retailer of home goods and groceries (via Waitrose) that has done some very famous advertising around Xmas in the UK to great plaudits. They have just announced an unusual pivot turning two supermarkets and a depot into homes to diversify their business and “raise standards in rental property”. It will also offer tenants furnishing packages, a complete one stop shop and is looking to build 10,000 homes in the next ten years. Lots of interesting elements here: as more shopping moves online, less retail space is needed, and housing supply is scarce making property expensive. “Helping to create homes has always been at the heart of what we do and we now have a unique opportunity to use our expertise and skills in new ways to deliver much-needed new housing.” Lots of retail brands own large real estate footprints…as a point of comparison, The U.S. has an estimated 23 square feet per person, compared to the U.K.’s 5, and a significant housing supply shortage…WalMart homes? Target Homes? (Standard)
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:: WHAT WE’RE THINKING ABOUT - A NEW ADMIN EXTRAORDINAIRE::
We have been absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to work with our latest hire, Valerie — however she is leaving us for a full time position in July! If you know of anyone who is a pro when it comes to scheduling in multiple time zones, is excited by organization, and has a passion for a less traditional working style… please send them our way!
We spend our days helping companies solve business problems using creativity, and our Admin Extraordinaire is the behind-the-scenes force that helps keep our business & life on track. It’s a part time remote job but we need someone who can get to grips with the different elements of our business and our life.
We are looking for someone who has experience as a Virtual Assistant, and who can provide at least two references.
You might be the right fit if you are:
Self-Motivated & Proactive. You take the initiative, and anticipate the solution before the problem has arisen. You don’t need someone to guide you step-by-step; You’re adept at creating your own plan of attack. You don’t treat stop signs as dead ends: You research and exhaust all options before asking for help. You follow-up before we’ve asked you to and likely take joy in crossing items off your to-do list.
Reliable & Detail-Oriented. You don’t need to be reminded of deadlines, and aren’t expecting someone else to check your work. You consistently deliver on-time, every time. You aren’t easily rattled when it comes to scheduling calls or flights in various time zones. You check, and double check, and catch the mistakes that even we might have missed.
Communicative. You have strong communication skills, and are comfortable communicating on the phone, via email, and text. You strive to be polite and positive in your professional interactions, no matter who you’re engaging with. You take information and synthesize it into something that is visually appealing and easily understood. You must be fluent in English.
Curious. You ask questions, and look for opportunities to learn and grow. You enjoy figuring out things that don’t have easy answers almost as much as you enjoy finding out there’s a better way to do something. When you’re given a topic to research, you spend time truly investigating rather than giving Google a cursory glance.
In this role, you will be expected to:
Manage calendars, organize meetings and appointments — including reminders of important tasks and/or deadlines
Book and arrange travel, visas, transport and accommodation
Implement and maintain procedures/administrative systems (including but not limited to: managing file storage, digital subscriptions, client onboarding, client billing, etc.)
Support the team with miscellaneous personal tasks ranging from ordering gifts, to party planning, scheduling personal errands, filing insurance claims, e-mail management, family event coordination
Support the School of Stolen Genius through tasks like: helping to upload and tag content, coordinate community meetups, communicate with suppliers, schedule and send community updates, send Thank You follow-ups.
Support Genius/Steals and our clients through tasks like: scheduling, proof-reading, communicating with our guest curators, research tasks, formatting newsletter content into an existing template, partnership research, etc.
Hours & Rate | You will be hired as an independent contractor, and compensation will be based on experience. After one year, you’ll be eligible for a bonus based on your total hours worked, as well as an increase in your hourly rate. Hours will vary month to month. You will work at minimum 10 hours/month, and could work as many as 30-50 hours/month.
We will require a sample assignment prior to help aid our interview selection process. Please email Ashley@GeniusSteals.co with your relevant experience and hourly rate, and if it feels like it could be the right fit, we’ll provide you with the sample assignment.
:: AND FINALLY… REMEMBER WE’RE… ::
Join a community of people looking to work smarter, not harder.
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http://schoolofstolengeni.us
If we can ever be of help to you, even outside of a formal engagement, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
rockON,
faris & rosie & ashley | your friends over at geniussteals.co
@faris is always tweeting
@rosieyakob hangs out on instagram
@ashley also writes for deaf, tattooed & employed
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It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.
Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. Our Director of Operations is nomadic like us, our accounting team is based out of Washington, our company is registered in Tennessee, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.
Hit reply and let’s talk about how we might be able to work together :)