Joe Rogers ?

Way back in 1997, when I attended a month long course in the beautiful mountains of Colorado, at Winter Park, I met with Jane Rogers. A very brave English lady who migrated earlier to Nova Scotia, Canada, with her family followed the same course to improve her skills. We shared a few meals together and exchanged views on raising a family.

Few months after, Jane got in touch with me and requested for some assistance for her son, Joe who just graduated from university in marketing & psychology. Joe wanted to have some international experience before starting a career. After we set up a meeting in Montreal Canada, Joe decided to take up the challenge of spending a year at Rogers & company as a management trainee at the Consumer & Retail cluster.

During his year in little Mauritius, he had the opportunity to work on different projects to hone his skills. The small and almost intimate surrounding of the Mauritian business environment yielded a large and enriching experience to him. It was possible to learn from many sectors of the business and to have a first hand experience in different fields: Fuji photoshops, white goods retailing, supermarkets, car dealership…etc..

He thereafter found no difficulty in securing a job at Leeds, in the UK in a business strategy and design consultancy firm. Today he is heading the Australian branch of an international firm renowned for having won numerous awards.

The good news is that after at absence of 7 years, Joe is back for a short surf and kite surfing holiday. Joe renewed with his friends and rekindled the friendship with the lot he left to pursuit his career.

Last week, I met him with great pleasure. He has become an international businessman braving the big names of the industry he wages in. Steadily and surely he is climbing the ladder of success. Now based in Melbourne, he has managed to double up the size of his branch in less than a year and a half and captured markets of big names of the like of Nike, Coles, Fronterra….

Joe yesterday shared his experience with a group of entrepreneurs. He focused particularly on his thinking for the “Coles Chain of supermarkets: Creating emotions to the brand. “What are you famous for?” was the take home punch line of his enriching presentation.

Thank you Joe.