Mäd Team: Rose.

Mundane and Mäd are polar opposites to us. But, weekly work surely requires a degree of repetitiveness or habits shaped to maximize success- we decided to explore the routines of our team, to share our industry insights and introduce the colorful characters behind our work.

Today, we caught up with Rosavid Ek - one of the key Creatives behind the MarComms team at Mäd.

Introduce Yourself.

Originally hired to do user research, my passion actually resides in reading, writing and illustrating. Although not an expert in any of these interests, the passion factor helps me fare pretty well.  

Instead of championing 'specialists', Mäd recognizes the potential of 'generalists', also known as 'M shaped' individuals.

'M shaped' represents individuals with multi-skill profile and the ability to apply knowledge across situations/domains. That's where the term 'M shaped' originates from, not because of the perfect coincidence that Mäd also starts with the letter M.

The cultural understanding towards generalists at Mäd made it encouraging for me to explore my passion in a real work setting. Now, I am the go-to person for user research, as well as helping out with in-house illustration, project management and content writing for some of the insights and case studies showcased on the Mäd website.

Quick-Fire Questions

Hobbies? Reading and writing.
Proud achievements? Proud dog mum.
Favorite place? Anywhere in nature.
Favorite software? Notion & Illustrator.
Personality type? Fluctuates between INFP & INFJ.
Favorite weekend drink? I love smoothies.

What've you been reading recently?

I've recently read '4-Hour Work Week' by Tim Ferriss. As its title suggests, the book essentially presents all the tips and tricks to working smarter and not harder. Although I was already familiar with some of the concepts introduced and explained in the book, I really liked the way Ferriss explains things that made it stick with me even more.

For example, the Pareto's Law, better known as the 80/20 rule:
80% of results are from 20% of action.
80% of outputs are from 20% of inputs.
80% of consequences are from 20% of the causes.
80% of profits are from 20% of products and customers.

A practical use of the 80/20 rule is to ask yourself:
Which 20% of sources are causing 80% of my problems and unhappiness?
Which 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness?

As an over-thinker, I can definitely get fixated on a lot of the small details that don't matter in the grand scheme of things. Even though I already knew that there's no point in muling over the past, what's done never felt done to me.

However, the 80/20 rule effectively puts things into perspective for me. It's as if the mechanism of the statistics kicked my comprehension into place. I've since been able not to let the 20% ruin the 80% much better than I used to.

What does your daily task list tend to look like?

The first thing I do when I start my work day is check Bloo and all the other communicating channels that my colleagues and clients use to reach me i.e. my gmail and telegram to see if I've been tagged into any urgent task.

If there is no urgent task, I browse my To-Do list on Bloo to give my memory a refresh on what's been done / what needs to be done and start prioritizing all the tasks I need to do for the day.

Generally, it looks something like this:
✤ Writing insights / case studies
✤ Answering clients queries
✤ Illustrating for insights / case studies
✤ Interviewing users
✤ Translation work

It changes from day to day.

Having a mixed role means that i'm never bored at work. If I'm stuck with one task, I put that task on hold and begin another task. I find this helps keep me in a state of constant 'flow'–focusing on the present, which is (arguably) like meditation.

With a strong skillset, Rose added instant impact to the Mäd team with her meticulous detail-orientated research skills and strong copywriting abilities. Rather than place individuals into job moulds, we instead mould the role around their skillsets and interests - further developing their career progressions, and ensuring a higher quality output.

What's your biggest achievement at Mäd, so far?

One of the hardest things about multitasking is that it takes some time to switch your brain from one task to another. This is one of the downsides of 'multitasking'–it takes a considerable amount of concentration.

Aside from my ability to balance my mixed role, regular praise I receive often is the speed by which I'm able to deliver my work. I never realized it before but my time at Mäd has definitely made me see and appreciate this as one of my strengths.

The ability to wear multiple 'hats' is hugely valuable to us. Forming a cross-functional team helps us move at speed, and with both confidence and quality. Whilst it can indeed take time to recalibrate between tasks, projects, and softwares, our 'M shaped' team have developed this to a fine art.

With our MarComms team developing at speed, Mäd has turned to the future, chalking up ambitious plans to remain at the forefront of HCD agencies both regionally and internationally.

To join us, visit our careers page, or to work with us, visit the contact page for further information.