Coffee with Rod Findley
]Rod Findley
Group Managing Director at The Immotion Group
Age 55
Coffee at Coffeeology, 308 King Street, Hammersmith W6 0RR
Career Overview
Born in the UK, Rod received his Bachelor of Arts degree from McGill University in Montreal and an MFA in Film at University of Southern California. He spent two years in Japan teaching English and learning Japanese before returning to LA and starting C2K, a creative agency known for its award winning work for Toyota, Toshiba, Sony, Guthy-Renker and Canon among others. In 2018, C2K was acquired by Immotion Group, a Virtual Reality specialist that creates immersive brand and customer experiences. Rod lives in LA and travels frequently between the UK, Asia and the Middle East.
What early decision proved to be the most useful to your career?
Living in Japan and becoming fluent in Japanese before I started my career. This decision turned out to be quite strategically advantageous and allowed me to enter the Japanese market to start a creative agency that ended up winning clients like Toyota and Panasonic.
What do you think are the most important qualities for sustaining a fulfilling career as you grow older?
Optimism. If you can keep hold of the optimism it propels you past the defeats and allows you to learn from them, rather then succumbing to the negativity. Even if it has been a bad day, I try and wake up the next morning and look forward to the goal and not get too hung up by all the potential negatives. Once you turn your mind to something and start thinking about the possibilities, doors open for you because you are viewing the world through a prism of possibilities.
Like one of the goals I wanted to achieve was to expand my company internationally. We had an office in LA and one in Tokyo, but it was too easy to look at the company as a binary thing — just a Japanese / American company. However, if we expanded into a third region then we would automatically become a global company. I was thinking about the Middle East and ended up on vacation meeting someone who was able to help me start an office in Dubai, this then allowed me to present the company as a global entity which then put me in better stead to negotiate a merger to form our current company. The Middle East remains one of our strongest business regions. And it was all from just keeping my mind open to stuff and thinking about future possibilities.
How do you view career opportunities differently now that you are in your 50s?
I have to look at things differently. My runway to do things is shorter so when planning anything new I think about the exit strategy. My work is more entrepreneurial, so I don’t have the luxury of a pension waiting for me when I turn 70.
What do you think is the biggest challenge for people wanting to make a career re-entry or re-invention later in life? Any advice?
It’s very easy as a person returning to the market later in life to look at all the problems and hurdles that will trip you up and become discouraged as a result but it comes back to what I was saying before… about keeping your mind open to all the different possibilities and staying optimistic. And sometimes just talking to people and saying hey this is what I want to do, can help? If you start viewing the world through the prism of opportunities, I think doors will open.
What are the opportunities for people wanting to work in their 50s, 60s and beyond, especially women.
The women I see returning are more likely to move into areas where it can be slightly more flexible and entrepreneurial, whether starting their own business or going into something like real estate. The thing I would say is not to reply on just going on google but go to events, talk to people to really understand the lay of the land.
But what do you do when you don’t know what you want to do but you know you want to do something?!
Well, that’s a tough one.
What advice would you give your 20 year old self knowing what you do now?
This is a good question. I think my advice would be not to go it alone. Start working somewhere and learn the ropes and soak in everything you can about the business, but don’t expect to be running the show right away. Earn while you learn. Then when you feel comfortable you can jump into doing your own thing. I think, I started my company too early without a clear enough idea of the industry I was entering into.
Can you recommend a book to read, podcast to listen or website to browse while drinking coffee that might help people figure out their next career act?
Hmm, I read the New York Times every morning, go for a run and look at the view of the city from my house [Editors note: it’s a pretty sweet view of the Pacific Ocean from the hills of LA Pacific Palisades]. This routine helps me stay grounded and positive.