Hi there, my name is Carol and I’m the co-founder and director of The Stellar Effect, a creative audio agency and SA’s first commercial podcast production house. What a fun industry to be pioneering in, especially in our beloved home, South Africa.
The way we work has pivoted in lockdown, but the foundations of our digital marketing agency are still the same – we focus on playing to our strengths and keeping our culture alive. People always come first at Yellow Door, and we’re grateful to have such a strong team, albeit one that’s spread a bit thin at the moment! To create a bit of breathing space, we have two part-time roles opening up.
“Evolve or die” has been ringing in ears across virtual boardrooms and video group calls for the last month or two. Though COVID-19 has led to rapid evolution of business models, service offerings and working patterns themselves, in some industries there aren’t appropriate adaptations. Across many sectors including but not limited to hospitality, entertainment and leisure, this pandemic demands a pause in operations.
Running a business requires the ability to focus on multiple daily, weekly and monthly tasks, but unfortunately, most of our brains aren’t naturally designed to perform at their best while multitasking. The good news is that the advancement of technology is constantly bringing about new ways to increase efficiency and productivity in the workspace, helping you maximise your time so that you can focus more energy on priorities and meeting deadlines.
Have you ever visited a website that has interesting content, but you can see that the last article was written 3 years ago? Or do you have your own website and you are guilty of this too? Or worse, you had a website built for your business that you spent a lot of money on, and were very proud of, and then years later you had to spend more money rebuilding it as you didn’t spend the time on website maintenance.
One of the most fascinating aspects of this pandemic is that it has acted as a powerful accelerator. By this, I mean that it has accelerated changes that had already started in our society but were being pushed forward at a slow pace. Our new normal has caused most of us to immediately change our daily habits: there’s a surge in online shopping virgins jumping on the band wagon, a mass shift to working at home, and a rise in home cooking and creativity in meal-making, just to name a few. Change will always be daunting, however, this acceleration perspective provides a lot of hope and opportunity from the viewpoint of marketing.
Does anyone else relate to this photo? (The hard work bit, rather than the great outdoors!) Life in lockdown is no easy feat – whether it’s juggling work and kids, clients and suppliers, or just trying to stay positive despite the uncertainty. But what about post-lockdown? Have you started working on a game plan for your business?
Having recently joined an agency environment, after years in key accounts, I have only just been introduced to the concept of tracking my time!
I wrote the first draft of this blog post about a month ago, before we really understood the dramatic impact COVID-19 would have on our economy. Although still relevant, it needed a bit of tweaking before being published today – which is a perfect example of my top tip: stay agile.
I’ve worked part-time from the age of 16, and it’s been an important aspect of my life ever since. This is mostly because of the relative financial independence I’ve gained through having a job, but also because having a job allows me to feel productive and as though I am actively working towards a future for myself. I find it painfully easy to waste a day away in front of the TV or lounging around on my phone, so I feel like I almost need to have commitments over and above school or varsity work to give myself a sense of fulfilment.
Email us on
When we’re not on lockdown at home, you can usually find us at:
Unit 27 Roeland Square
Corner of Glynn and
Upper Canterbury Street
Gardens, Cape Town
South Africa
Made with ❤ by Yellow Door Collective | © 2020 All rights reserved.
Sign up to our quarterly newsletter for updates about #lifebehindtheyellowdoor, relevant tips and news articles.
