Nik Penhale-Smith, Marketing & PR Director (AMS)
Marketing and PR whizz Nik (pictured right) shares what he gets up to outside the office.
What is your passion outside work?
Aside from my beloved Norwich City Football Club, my passion outside work revolves around adam & aoki, the startup I founded with a good friend I grew up with.
Simply put, our aim is to stop people from getting sunburnt. We’re working on a technology that — without phones or electronics — uses a colour change to warn people that they’re at risk of getting sunburnt. It’s designed to take into account different skin types, as well as SPF factors.
2) How long have you been doing it?
The idea for adam & aoki first came about three or four years ago. I came across a fabric that changed colour when it was exposed to UV light and while nearly everyone was using it for fashion or gimmicks, it was obvious to us that it could be put to better use. I lost my mentor to cancer when I was 14 because he spent too much time in the sun and got burnt too often, so it was logical to see a potential in the fabric to do good.
After ALOT of concept and product development, testing and failing, we’ve just secured funding for phase two of the development, which is set to be completed in two to three years.
3) How do you balance it with life at AF?
I try not to think about it in terms of balance because that adds pressure to the time I’m dedicating to each one. There are always peaks and lulls and I try to keep this in mind whenever I’m not spending as much time on adam & aoki as I’d like.
The biggest personal challenge I have with the time I spend between both is that I struggle with being mentally present in downtime. I’ll be physically present, but mentally I’ll be a million miles away thinking of challenges, opportunities, and solutions. It drives my wife bananas!
4) What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a passion project?
Do it with someone you can have fun with, get a good accountant and when things don’t go so well, don’t forget why you started it in the first place.
5) Wild card question: Superman or Batman?
Superman. I don’t love the spandex bodysuit but just imagine never having back or muscle pain ever again. It’d be heavenly.
