What we learnt in 2015

New beginnings are as much about looking ahead to discover opportunity as they are for reflecting on everything you’ve achieved up until now. Achievements aren’t always necessarily big things though. Sometimes they are small but significant nuggets of insight, those moments when we begin to see life and the people around us just that little more clearly, giving us invaluable guidance for the year ahead.

Without marching too swiftly into 2016, our team took a brief, but collective, pause to gather some of these light and hopefully lasting learnings from 2015. We hope you enjoy our reflections.

What we learnt (shared in our team member’s own voices)

I learnt that humour and laughter are great unifiers, and also the fountain of youth. — Jozel

I’ve learnt that everybody has a story, and if we’re lucky we get to feature in a chapter or two, especially when that chapter is written at 10pm in the pack lanes on a Wednesday night with Mariah Carey’s Greatest Hit’s blaring through the speakers. — Nick

I learnt that sometimes having no meeting agenda leads to a more inspiring and productive outcome. — Fiona

I learnt that you can’t write well on a hungry stomach or next to a distracted colleague. — Andrèa

I have learnt that keeping a desk plant alive is harder than my green fingered colleagues make it look. RIP Frank. — Angela

I’ve rediscovered that people are always more valuable than profits. — Evan

I learnt that no matter how busy people are they will always take time to help show you the ropes. — Caterina

I learnt that bringing diverse people together over wine is a very lovely thing. — Fiona

I learn’t that working in a team is a helluva lot better than trying to do everything yourself. — Gen

I learnt that we are in fact down the road from the Virgin Active and not the Active Virgin……although this has resulted in some hysterical laughter from the team and customers. — Sue

I learnt that there is more than one way to peel a pineapple. — Jozel

I learnt that the collective noun for spatulas is… ‘a beautification’. — Evan

I learnt that great things come when you put effort and trust into your team mates. — Rob

I learnt that despite having the best online store in the country, customers still like browsing and buying in our physical shop. — Andrew

I learnt that frothing milk perfectly every time is akin to voodoo. — Tim

I learnt to expect the unexpected and somehow prepare for it, because it is much more likely to happen than the expected anyway. — Matthys

I’ve learnt that when I am battling, helping someone else puts me back in winning status. — Margot

I learnt that making 5 coffees for other people is more energising than drinking one coffee for yourself. — Andrèa

I learnt that Christmas at Yuppiechef is like running a marathon, but in your brain. — Lulu

Whilst some customers have asked us to dabble in government as our efficiencies are sometimes inspiring, I have learnt that maybe we should aim to run the traffic department. Our festive season has seen extra hands brought in just to control deliveries, collections, rogue parking thieves and all with the feel of a high scoring Tetris game! — Victoria

I learnt that working with a shop next door that sells sweets makes you fat and broke. — Dale

I learnt that a smile and a high five goes a really long way at Yuppiechef. — Justine

I learnt that there are no problems, only solutions — Donnae

I’ve learnt that the best way to bond with a colleague is over a good cup of coffee, a cheesy joke or a sweaty tablet armband. — Inge

I learnt that lots of small incremental changes can have a massive impact further down the line. It’s not the big changes that you make once in a while, it’s the small things you do everyday that make all the difference. — Jon

From all of us here at Yuppiechef.com, we hope your new year is a wonderful one, peppered with some valuable learnings from last year and of course plenty delicious, home cooked meals with the special people that make it all so worth while.

Written by Andrèa Fedder