January 1st 2016. I had planned to make this year my best one yet in business.
But stuff didn’t work out like that and it ended up being the most testing
year of my life to date.
It all started when I took my father into hospital in late December 2015
with stomach pains. The news wasn’t good but despite him having emergency
surgery to remove his large intestine, I was convinced that everything would be
fine when I woke up the next day.
Christmas in Critical Care was hard but not as hard as New Year’s Day 2016,
ironically my father’s birthday. That’s when I had the phone call from him,
informing me that he had terminal cancer and had been given up to a year to
live.
Instead of 2016 being the year I put everything I knew to the test gaining
some more experience with global brands within a better-established agency than
my own, I chose to use my position as a small business owner to stand by my
father every step of the way through his cancer. This included intensive
chemotherapy, numerous meetings with consultants and ended up with daily visits
to Sue Ryder, Thorpe Hall Hospice nearing the end of the year.
On 17th November 2016 I was with my father as he passed aged just 58. He
fought a courageous battle to the end.
My father would often tell me: “Son, you should be working; you have a
family to feed and a mortgage to pay.” I would always reply “Dad, I can make
more money, but I can’t make more time”.
Apart from the fact the time was way too short, I don’t have any regrets
about all the time we had together. Nor do I regret the reality of facing up to
the fact that, of course, my father was right, and things are tight.
My father taught me a great deal of things and was key to my unconventional
route into the creative industry. Having served as traditionally time-served
sign writer, he taught me about the shapes of letters, fonts, kerning and basic
emotional connections with different types of letter styles. It sounds simple,
but no one really teaches this kind of stuff to the level I was taught it.
Looking back, it has given me a fabulous grounding for doing what I do. It also
provided a platform to work on projects with iconic Formula 1 brands, including
Goodyear Racing, Bridgestone Motorsport, and at the time, Jordan F1, Jaguar F1
and Minardi F1 with my father’s company. There was so much more besides this
too.
This is just a small fraction of stuff that relates to business – of course
my father was so much more to me and I’m lucky to have known him as well as I
did, in fact he ended up being my best friend and someone who I could talk about
anything too.
I have just got over kidney stones which erupted shortly before my father’s
funeral. I didn’t make his wake for the pain, and ended up in hospital.
Thankfully this has cleared up now.
It’s been a difficult year, but I remain optimistic; I have learnt more
this year that I could have imagined and I’m better prepared and equipped than I
was at the start of it.
Business is often portrayed as a cold, hard world. But it’s not true
everywhere. There are good people about, I have had contact with them in the
past and as 2017 approaches I look to reboot - stronger, wiser, more determined
and most importantly, kinder than ever.
I don’t know where 2017 will take me, but I do know that I am open to all
opportunities that come my way with my business Sensation Creative, or even
elsewhere, should the right opportunity come my way – who knows.
One thing is absolutely for sure: I’m ready.
Simon Bell
Director
