We met for the first time on a business trip in the Autumn of 2011, but really got to know each other some months later during a two year collaboration building and launching a brand to improve the health of cats. We gathered a team of like-minded people around us who all dreamt big, were fun to work with and had a track record of getting ‘shit’ done. Some team members felt inexperienced in the field of global marketing while at the same time expressing the wish to learn and to develop new areas of expertise.
Start with Why
We used Simon Sinek’s Start with Why approach (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0HIF3SfI4 ) to reveal the needs behind the needs of our patients and customers, to shape our own team dynamics, and to identify our own personal drivers. Until this date, this was one of the most inspiring and efficient teams we had had the honour to be a part of: we saw people grow and develop new skills, both professionally and personally. We jointly created a soaring international network organisation built on trust, passion and accountability, which catalysed the growth of a brand and associated science and healthcare solutions beyond any expectations.
This experience sparked our wish to venture even further outside our own comfort zone while continuing this magical combination of team flow and the wish to make this world a little bit better. Carrying the belief that any successful company is a solution to a problem and is built on the “Why” of its founders, we set sail to the Dutch island of Terschelling where we dug into our personal drivers and where the concept of Lino and Luka was born: https://linoluka.com/2017/08/21/205197/
A few months later we met again for a long weekend. This time on Andrew’s home turf. He rented a horse stable attic on the estate of a picturesque Lochinch Castle in Scotland, home to the Earl and Countess of Steir and their family.
Ubuntu
Here we spent hours, while walking in the autumn winds or sipping a hot drink in front of a roaring log fire, to refine our personal drivers in light of the core values of our yet to be founded enterprise. We believe in a connected society where we as people exist and thrive because of each other, in good and in bad times. Indeed: Together in Moments that Matter.
Or as Boyd Varty (https://www.ted.com/talks/boyd_varty_what_i_learned_from_nelson_mandela) eloquently explained it within the framework of the southern African concept of Ubuntu: (“People are not people without other people.”):
“In a more collective society, we realize from the inside that our own well-being is deeply tied to the well-being of others. Danger is shared. Pain is shared. Joy is shared. Achievement is shared. Houses are shared. Food is shared. Ubuntu asks us to open our hearts and to share.”
Expanding your personal horizon
And thus a Dutch and English veterinary surgeon decided to move out of their comfort zone, far away from veterinary medicine, to enter the arena of children’s book writing and publishing while setting up an international enterprise with a social impact at its core. Our lives have become even more fulfilling ever since.
Now we did not share all of the above with many people but these were the reasons why we did what we did. We were therefore extremely surprised pleased when we were approached by Petra Agthe for her blog “Goodlife Campaign”. Like us, Petra is a veterinary specialist by trade. She has become interested in positive psychology and well-being. When she came across the Lino & Luka website and its blog she immediately understood the deeper drivers behind our one-for-one concept and asked us to feature in her November 2017 blog “Expanding your personal horizon: why opening your heart and mind increases your well-being” on the benefits of personal growth and self-development, and the many ways we can achieve them: https://followthegoodlifecampaign.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/
You will find us at the very end of the blog: a beautiful and unexpected psychological view on the drivers behind an unexpected career move within veterinary medicine!
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