In honour of our 9th Anniversary, Liliana Ragbir writes about her experience working at Pepper.
March 12th 2007 is a date I will never forget. It’s the day I joined Pepper at #52 Picton Street and started my career. Leaving the OJT programme to come to Pepper was a no brainer but I never thought I would settle here, at least not for almost 7 years of the 9 years that Pepper has been around. I had planned to stay 6 months, a year tops. Working with marketing genius Dennis Ramdeen has been an exciting though sometimes challenging road. Besides his very high expectations of his employees and his way of doing business, his passion for branding and positioning differentiates him from any other boss or client that I have met. I have learnt so much from him and from Pepper. I think the most valuable has been the exposure to so many brands across multiple industries over the years.
In my role in Client Services I have been fortunate to work on almost every client account and new business project at Pepper. As a Team Lead, I have also been able to impact on the operational side and contribute to Pepper’s overall growth. In addition to the invaluable marketing and advertising experience I have gained, Pepper has taught me about HR and employee turnover, training and motivation, dealing with difficult clients and suppliers, managing the “hurry up and wait syndrome” and looking at the business from a management accounting view. Ironically enough Pepper’s mantra is “own one thing” but as a small agency you are often pulled in any and every direction and must do what is necessary. It has not always been a smooth ride, sometimes more of a rollercoaster. Clients have come and gone, staff has left, we moved buildings 3 times in 9 years, there has been many long nights, sweat and tears but for sure the Pepper culture has lasted. I have seen the evolution of Pepper, the good, the bad and the ugly and I believe we have great potential and the best is yet to come. To sum up my experience at Pepper – “never a dull moment”. As we begin our 10th year at Pepper, let’s learn from the past and look towards a brighter future.
