Hear me roar
The years have helped me lose the "corporateness". I stand proud of the brand I work for and the marketing world I operate in. I care passionately because there are right things to do and say in my business, not because I interpret the "correct" way to play things.
Speak up! Find the right business to express your talents. And the right people to work alongside to exaggerate your skills. You can be you, no matter who you are.
I know too much to go back and pretend
I’ve seen a lot. The franchise partners and teams at Domino’s have certainly seen a lot, maybe more. It doesn’t make me sceptical or bitter. The reverse. I want to do things better, listen and understand more, help people and show them the way.
Marketing is about hunting for and dramatising the truth, but there had better be some truth at the end of everything. Your customers will spot when there’s not.
A wisdom born of pain
The ups and the downs of work and life teach you so much. The ups can be dangerous on reflection. You think you’re behind it all (falsely). It’s you calling the shots. Where’s my throne? It doesn’t exist.
I don’t fancy the lows but when they materialise they do drive real energy and change. Sometimes what’s slung your way feels a bit like a hard-won romance, where the reality of what you strive to attain is irreconcilable with the original expectation.
Force yourself and your team to learn from the tough times.
I’ve been down there on the floor
In late 2015, I decided to jump ship from House of Fraser to BHS. One man’s meat really is another man’s poison.
BHS was such a fantastic brand and experience – even then. I don’t care what anyone says but my six months there taught me so much.
The end was obviously a massive low. The brand and its people fought harder because it was more challenged; and there’s so much for us all to learn from that.
Its people were, in the main, truly better because of circumstance. Then again, one man’s fish is another man’s poisson…
Look for the positives in everything
As a supporter of West Ham, I’ve certainly had my ups and downs. Year after trophyless year wears your ability to care away, until you eventually resign yourself to the fact that the football gods hate you.
But, on the other hand, you become a better human being, much more laid back and far more accepting of what life throws at you.
So when your local Domino’s pops some pineapple on your Pepperoni Passion, you shrug your shoulders and pick off the offending fruit.
When your mate beats you to the last lager in the fridge, you sigh and put the kettle on. And when you discover your wife has blown the life savings to fund a dirty weekend with her rugby-loving lover, you shake his hand and congratulate him on his good taste.
There might just be some rays of sunshine that you’re missing.
Become what you are
In some ways, I’m still an embryo, yet I’m about to turn 48. It can’t be real. My team make me feel 28 (and my children make me feel 18).
I still have so much to do and so much to learn. Maybe my late parents were pondering winding down at this point in life. What were they thinking!? Things have only just started for me.
Our generation are later developers. This marketing world is so exciting and forever changing; it’s the industry and the people that keep me alive.
Tony Holdway is sales and marketing director at pizza chain Domino's. He was previously chief marketing officer at BHS and brand marketing director at House of Fraser. Holdway has also worked for Wickes, Littlewoods, WHSmith and Mothercare.