New to #teamRosetta, 22-year-old Zandi Pretorious has already made his mark and is learning fast.
In this week's "It's Not All About Coffee" Blog we learn about how Zandi has decided to make excellence a lifestyle.
ROSETTA: Introduce yourself to us and tell us what you do at Rosetta / how long have you been working there?
ZANDI: Hi, I'm Zandi Pretorious. I'm 22-years-old from Strand, and I've been working for Rosetta for just over 6-months.
ROSETTA: What are some of the best things about being a part of the Rosetta team?
ZANDI: The best part of working for Rosetta is most definitely their innovation in coffee — not just following the rules as a cafe, or doing what other cafe's do, for example, serving short and tall grandes (and whatever else), but actually going, "No. This is what we think a good cup of coffee is." And then working on the product consistently.
Over and above coffee, they are interested in taking people on a journey of good coffee (developing people and not just saying fancy things to sound smart).
To be honest, it's amazing to work alongside guys who are so passionate — everyone's passionate about something, not always coffee!
The innovation, the passion, the dedication, the personal growth — training never stops — and it's one of the coolest things; we're inspired to learn constantly.
ROSETTA: Do you have any other passions, hobbies, special skills, are you a parent? We want to know about your life outside your current job!
ZANDI: I spend a lot of time on graphic design, although I don't like to box it in as just that — it's about how things look and feel — design thinking. I'm passionate about that. Creativity. I think it helps me in my job — understanding user experience. Knowing what people experience when they walk in and they see a cool graphic or experience the aesthetics. In the same way a simple logo may have more meaning than a simple design, people might also "ooh" and "aah" when they find out some of the meaning behind a "simple batch" — "Oh, I didn't know that came from Indonesia." "This is a Frinsa; it was farmed here and there."
ROSETTA: Has the pursuit of excellence in one passion helped you to pursue excellence in another? And if so, how so? For example, "the pursuit of excellence in coffee has taught me how to be excellent in my other work because…"
ZANDI: I don't know whether I have any special skills, but I know that what I've learnt at work has become like a lifestyle. Why not learn how to do things better? Why not learn to adjust details? Why not fine tune your life just like how we fine tune the coffee every day. Doing constant checkups — am I in the right place? Am I going in the right direction? Almost like taking a look every day and assessing whether it's still working... That sort of approach with Rosetta and coffee has filtered into my life and helped me to pursue excellence consistently.
I think it has also helped me in my design work.