Atmosphere One

Recently I’ve realised that for most of my life, I’ve had a certain ‘greater level than normal’ preoccupation with the concept of freedom.  Freedom comes in many forms and manifests in many different ways – I suppose I see it as the right to create who you chose to be in this world, without breaching the rights of others. Some forms of freedom that come to my mind would be:

• Freedom from oppression
• Freedom from negative or limiting thoughts
• Freedom of speech
• Freedom of information
• Physical freedom
• Emotional freedom
• Time freedom

A week ago on Anzac Day I pondered on freedom some more – on the brave men who have died over the years in the name of our freedom.  I considered whether I personally, am truly making the most of this gift I have been given – of living in a society that has mostly untold freedom (well, aside from the prospect of our up coming internet censorship, but that’s for another blog!).  I turned my attention to anything unwanted that is holding me back, enslaving me in my life. Smoking.  So with a turn onto Tuesday, I haven’t looked back and haven’t smoked since (miraculous, since Im one of those tedious perpetually giving up smoking people – this time I think I’ve actually done it for good though).

That’s awesome Charlotte.  Pat on the back. Go and gloat some more in your smoke free-ness. But how does this relate to work and recruitment I hear you ask?  Well I suppose, I think it’s always good to be thinking about whether a higher level of freedom is yours for the taking when it comes to your work life too, especially seeing as it takes up so much of our lives. It could be that you could create more freedom for yourself if you are in a job that really sucks.  Working for a company that takes too much and gives back little. In a career you don’t want to be in. Working for a company that goes against your values.  If you’re not paid enough or can’t make ends meet. If your hours are ridiculous. If your health is suffering.  If you’re bored or uninspired. If you’d rather be living somewhere else.  If the people you work with are toxic. If you’re not using your amazing talents and abilities.

Sure, there may be valuable lessons in the current situation, though the point Im trying to make is, I believe it is possible to create your own personal best sense of freedom.  Remembering you have the power to make things change and make things happen, for you. To live your best possible life.  Things might not happen over night.  It might need a careful plan. It might be a hard slog. You might need to change, (even if it’s just your perspective for the time being). There may be sacrifices.  You might not succeed straight away.  But then again, who says you can’t? You just might.

Atmosphere One has just turned three. For the sake of sentimentality and for the lack of an actual official launch date, let’s say it was three years ago today.  Three years ago today, I was under pressure.  In the three weeks prior I had make sure everything was organised and ready to go – I had to choose a name for my business, make sure the name domain was free, register my business, open a bank account, complete the business plan, develop processes, buy furniture, fine tune the value proposition, get my website up and running, choose the right telco provider – everything you could possibly think of to set up a business from scratch. In that three week period, the thing that took me the longest was choosing the name.  It took an entire week.  If you imagine that I had sunk everything I owned into setting up my business and that I had four month window to succeed, you’ll understand that the name was kind of important to me.

A lot of people in business will tell you how hard it is to choose a name.  First you have to like it, second it has to work, third it has to be available and then fourth the available domain name needs to be free.  I have had a lot of different reactions about the name Atmosphere One.  From the tentative, ‘Are you sure it doesn’t sound like a nightclub?’ to the bemused ‘How did you choose THAT name?’ Well believe me when I tell you I went through the entire dictionary, ruling out the obvious ‘People, Recruitment, Resources, Search, Talent etc.  It came down to Magnetic and Atmosphere. I chose Atmosphere because truly, I believe one of the main ingredients for success in any relationship, team or company is the vibe.   How people feel at work.  How they feel when they deal with you. Do they trust you?  Are you trustworthy? Can they feel safe to be themselves? Is there inspiration? Where is it going long term? Do they feel part of something special and unique?  I only want to be a connector for teams who have a great atmosphere for the candidates I work with. Or where I can see I can help to create a great atmosphere, by adding star performers as key ingredients and the way I see it, a star performer always brings that something special – the right energy.