April 21, 2022

At the end of my first week working at My Mustard, I was lucky enough to join the rest of the team for a ‘Strategy Day’ on April the 14th.

I got in my Uber heading to Watford High Street, slightly nervous, but mainly excited to meet some of my new colleagues and sink my teeth into the day’s activities.

The day started at The Florist, a cocktail bar/brunch-type place just outside the Atria shopping centre. I’d never been before but as I walked in I thought to myself: ‘seems a bit dull’, until the man outside pointed out to me that I had to walk upstairs to get to the actual restaurant, which was pretty fancy.

On the day, I met Jude, Natalie and Roberta for the first time. Straight away they were welcoming and friendly, so that put the ‘meeting new people’ fears to rest for the day. June then gave her My Mustard report and the plan for the next 6 months, which was super beneficial for me personally because I got to learn a bit more about everyone’s roles, the clients and how things have developed (and will further develop) within the business. Furthermore, it made me feel part of it all – up to speed.

As the day progressed, everyone began with their presentations. Again, I got to learn more about my colleagues and get a feel for their personalities. Everyone presented so confidently, and it made me grateful to be a part of such a creative group. I particularly enjoyed Hugh’s presentation because I got a brief, but detailed explanation on a lot of the clients that I had been researching in the office. Jude’s presentation on her clients, and agri-tech at Rothamsted in particular, was also very interesting (even if she doesn’t believe me on that ha ha!).

The food was delicious. I had the prawns and chorizo as a starter, followed by the pork belly and rice for my main. The extravagant swinging kebab towers looked great too.

After lunch, we were joined by Gretta Acton of ‘Peer 2 Peer’, who led a ‘Contribution Compass’ workshop, where we learned about the types of people that make up the engine of a business, and did some team building exercises. The task at the end was to write something about each member of the team that motivates you. Having been at My Mustard for only a week, I wrote “you seem nice” on everyone’s card and moved on… just kidding.

Full of food, we strolled across the street to our next destination – the Escape Room. My team did the pirate room, and I’m pretty sure a friend of mine who works there was the man pretending to be Blackbeard and doing the strange pirate voice, guiding us and telling us off. After a plethora of daggers, pianos, parrots, severed hands, mermaids and broken keys (sorry), we finished it and found the treasure. This was a big moment for me, as it was the first one I had actually finished!

With our remaining pride and our heads held high, we rounded off a fantastic day at TGI Fridays for a drink. Thanks June and the rest of the team! 

Can’t wait until the next one…