Post 26 Build it Journey
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Today was my best day so far. Just about everything was right about it. The scenery was too beautiful for words and the people I met were simply awesome.
As you may remember I spent the night on the Wild Coast last night so it stands to good reason that this is where I woke up and that is exactly how things happened I was awake at about 05 30 only to discover that the electricity was out. Not an uncommon occurrence as any South African will know. After initial fretting about tea making and book reading I repositioned myself on my bed and literally lay dead still watching the whole magnificent sunrise that unfolded itself across the eastern ocean that was in front of me – just outside my room window. My command of the English language is not sufficient to describe the beauty of what I witnessed this morning. It was better than watching any movie, it proved that each day on this earth is a miracle and also a gift bestowed on us by whomever you may believe is your God. For me, it just re-confirmed my personal beliefs of where I am from, where I am going and who is looking after me. It was magic.
I had a lovely breakfast on Wavecrest’s deck with only a small lamentation that I had not been able to better utilise the wonderful beaches and paths that go on both directions from the hotel. The morning was crisp, the sky was blue and life was good.
I hopped in my trusty car – which took another dirt road battering today – the poor little Korean thing – and headed for some Build It store visits.
First up was Sondela Build It where I met the very on the ball manager Sipho Fumile. He was most impressed with our site and got everything right away on how beneficial homeimprovement4u.co.za is to his store and the Build It group. With us sending 15,000 leads every month to the 278 stores we do hope it is making a positive impact. Sondela is in quite a remote and rural area of the Transkei and I was so pleased to see that their store had received 71 visits and no less than 28 leads. Amazing!
After a great visit I was on my way to Tsomo Build It where I met with John Curwick whose busy schedule unfortunately would not allow me to spend much time with him. Incidentally this store is owned by an old buddy of mine Lyle Wicks who I hope to bump into during my travels through the Transkei and surrounds.
There was quite a bit of stop and go on the road so it was heavy going along the roads but my spirit was too strong today. Next up was Nkwenkwezi Build It where I was lucky enough to first speak to Brendan Raasch the owner who was in the store at the time. What a great guy – and he saved me at the Build It conference at the Wild Coast Sun in May earlier this year when I forgot to bring along a black tie and he gave me his spare one. I was very scared of Rob Lister and not being attired properly for the unbelievably classy and amazing gala dinner generously hosted by Build It that night. Luckily all went well. Thanks Brendan and thanks for being an all round good guy.
Just as an aside the Build It annual conference has to be the most unbelievable get together in the whole of South Africa. It is superbly run and managed, I have never attended such an interesting day of talks as I did on the one day. Then the generosity of the Build It group in looking after everyone, the amazing and fun theme evenings every night, everything so slick and well done. I felt so privileged and lucky to have been invited and it was without a doubt the highlight of my working life after coming back to South Africa. Just to also finally add, overarching all of the above was what good, salt of the earth, awesome people there were at the conference. Both the management and staff of Build It head office and the Build It owners themselves – really I have never met so many good people in one place in such a short period of time – honestly. I left the conference desperately wanting to own a Build It just so I could belong to this group of people. Thank you Rob for allowing me the privilege of being there.
Back to Nkwenkwezi where after chatting to Brendan I went through their listing with store manager Rodney and Barbara. More good results and another successful visit.
Then I had sensory overload with the countryside opening up at last and I was in what I think was the beginning of the Karoo which I absolutely love. I was driving towards Queenstown and from twisting and turning I turned a corner and suddenly the whole earth seemed to spill out before me. Wide open plains for miles and miles and long straight roads. If you have been in the Karoo you will know what I mean. You just feel totally liberated – the openness of it all is just exhilarating. As you can tell, I was in a good mood today.
I arrived in Queenstown and without taking anything away from anyone else had my best visit so far. I met with Tamlyn, Catherine and owner Vaughn and the visit was fantastic. For a start not only did Tamlyn know exactly what the site was all about to its every detail but she had long before I got there used her Login details to go into their listings and make the changes that ensure that their listings are working to their maximum benefit. I was so impressed and told Tamlyn how awesome she was.
Catherine kindly made me tea and I spent far longer on this visit than I probably should have. We discussed work, the site, where to visit for the weekend in the area and a few other fun topics. I had such a great time and after not really chatting socially with anyone to a huge degree so far this week the visit was a breath of fresh air. Thank you so much Tamlyn and Catherine and Vaughn for being so nice to me, I really appreciated it. I hope we can stay in contact in the future – we definitely will work wise anyway
Just as an added bit of luck Vaughn also owns the Whittelsea and King stores and so we went through those listings too bringing my total tally for this week to 17 stores which I think is a good week’s work. However, I am not on my bike through this part of the journey as I am even scared for my safety (as in crashes) driving my car around so I definitely don’t want to be on the bike. But I hope to be back on the bike around the PE area.
Life is good. Hope you had a great week end everyone