10 years working together, and no sign of divorce, yet...
In 1999, I walked into the offices of the SThree Group in Manchester.
Somewhere in amongst the cuff links and fat ties was a somewhat out-of-place (humble and modest) chap called Frank Wadsworth.
I didn’t pay him much attention. Nor did he me.
He was a Contract Recruiter. We sophisticated Perm Recruiters didn’t mix with rhe riff-raff! 😆
So I had no reason to engage with Frankie Wadsworth. And vice versa.
9 months into my tenure at the SThree Group, I barely noticed as Frank bid his farewells to his Contract colleagues, and quietly got on a plane to Australia.
Shortly after, somebody said to me “I think that Frank bloke used to work with that client!”
“Frank?” said I. “Frank Who?”
He was already a distant memory.
8 long years later, I too found myself landing in Australia, with the daunting task of starting an R2R in a city of strangers.
I knew not a single person. Nobody! I scratched my head. There must be at least one person I can reach out to, to try and breathe life into my little business.
Then, light bulb moment! I remembered!
“That Frank bloke”. “Nice Frank” they called him. HE moved to Melbourne. "I wonder what he’s doing!" "I wonder if he’s still even in Recruitment?" "I wonder if he's still "nice"?"
I somehow looked him up.
Turned out “Nice Frank” had done alright for himself.
Not only had he became a Million Dollar Biller, but he was now an award winning Manager for one of the best recruitment brands in Australia.
“Flash bastard”, I thought. "Best give him a wide berth!" But, I was desperate. So I rang him.
We caught up, and annoyingly, I quickly remembered why people called him “nice”.
He was still a thoroughly decent human.
Frank was in a position to give me a chance, and without hesitation, gave me a leg up.
He became my 1st client in Australia, and we did LOTS of business together. He significantly helped me launch my little empire here in Australia, when I knew absolutely nobody else.
Then, over the years, that acquaintanceship became a friendship.
He confided in me one day that he was tiring of the corporate hamster wheel he'd been spinning round on for a decade.
I said “Well, stop being somebody else’s gimp, and work for yourself, with me, but for yourself, and me, but mainly for you, but also for/with me, but for yourself, alongside me, on your own, obviously!”
It was such a powerful pitch, he had no choice but to say "Yes"!
His lovely Mum (unbeknownst to me) even signed her home over to him so he could access equity, in case of fiscal emergency. (See post below).
That was exactly 10 years ago.
That “humble and modest” chap from 1999 became the best colleague I could ask for. (But he’s still “annoyingly nice”).
HAPPY 10 YEARS, FRANKIE!
PS: I couldn't find a 10 year old photo of us to accompany this post, then it occurred to me that the Mint website hasn't been updated for about a decade! PERFECT! So I just stole a screenshot off of that and ever so slightly amended it!