Sunset on Year One

It is nearly a year, since we started Good Wolf, which has got us in even more of a reflective mood than normal. John reminded me that we both wrote some ‘blog’ type posts (that were never shared) in our first weeks. I have just had a read through what I wrote on week 1. I suppose the beginning of any relationship has a slightly candle lit Instagram filtered hue to it, and that’s how this blog feels. I was at the start of a new relationship with Good Wolf and everything was new and special. So almost one year later and there is nothing I read here and think ‘Pah – How naive!’ …so, that’s good! But I do see in this blog someone who didn’t realise quite how conditioned I had become to working and being motivated in a way that enabled me to be my best, but in a very different environment. I have had to change quite a bit. One thing that got me was that I had been used to my workload to a significant degree being shaped by the needs of others, and by sets of deadlines. When there are just two of you sat in an office/Dr Who shrine with some shiny new stationary, the normal pile up of emails, calls and problems to solve isn’t there to keep you busy. It has taken a long time to get out of this mindset and I am still learning.

This is what I wrote on week 1…

This week we made a concerted effort to realise the ideals and ambitions that have been there a long time, we just had to get ready to do them justice. Timing is everything and this is it, we are now ready!

We have awarded ourselves the luxury of giving ourselves the time to start from scratch and build at the rate that works for us. Because if we give ourselves time to be our best, then we will stand the greatest chance of giving the community the best they deserve from us.
This means spending time on our business plan, values & purpose. Which is great and surprisingly easy. I think this is because this has been in our hearts and minds for quite a long time. We were a bit worried that we would just spend the first day staring at each other in shock, and although our faces are lovely I am pleased to say we just got on with thinking, planning and talking. The beauty of having two directors is the immediate feedback. The person listening to you is 100% motivated to be in the conversation because it’s equally important to us.

Having said that, it pays to be on the watch for opportunities because there’s nothing quite so motivating as a potential proposal and the deadlines that come with that! Necessity is a great driver and makes things like sourcing insurance and a DBS umbrella company much more interesting.

Interesting things

• There is a ‘participation city’ project in West Norwood
• The door to my new home will swing shut behind me and lock me out if I’m not careful
• Library notice boards are a fountain of wisdom
• Sometimes the opportunities are sat there waiting for you wanting you to hurry up and start already

Kelly Wolf xx