Deborah Rita Paterson

Life once gave me the gift of a skull fracture, traumatic brain injury and concussion, which resulted in me being crazy enough to start a business in the middle of college/hospital appointments. It then gave me the craziness to give away what I'd built to another part of the team, who then gave it away to part of their team, and now that part of the team is giving it away again.

Why? Because we all believe in giving away opportunities for young people to make a difference and learn what they need to succeed.

So if you know a young design graduate in New Zealand who could benefit from an opportunity to learn how to run a creative agency and make opportunities for other young creatives, you know where to find me and Denny..

Why we’re giving away our business. DesignGel’s Pay-It-Forward Business Strategy It probably doesn’t sound like a good business strategy to just give someone your business right? We’ve put a lot of work into building DesignGel, so it’s worth explaining where we’re coming from here when we say that we’re looking for a team of emerging designers and entrepreneurs to take over the...

A lovely piece of writing by my friend, the talented Simone Stolzoff... Simo never ceases to inspire me with his wholesome, down to earth nature and general lust for an authentic, creative life and this is one the beautiful ways he expresses it..

One of the elements of was finding my own authentic way of starting the day before you get swept into the autopilot of the city and business life. Just like Simo is reclaiming his meals, I also set out to reclaim the start of my day, breakfast in particular, by connecting with the people who inspire me most over a good plate of eggs. It gives my body the fuel it needs for a productive day as well as my mind a fresh burst of inspiration to create something new that day.. I've written speeches, done brainstorms, planned my next career move, pondered on the future, cried, ranted, you name it. It happened over toast at some point.

Thought you might wanna try it sometime. If you're ever in a city I'm in don't hesitate to send me a breakfast invitation and help me continue to reclaim my meals.

Why I’m Reclaiming My Meals — The Dish Alarm. Shower. Coffee. Commute. Email. Coffee. F̶a̶c̶e̶b̶o̶o̶k̶. Slack. Food.

Jetting off somewhere new isn't all that easy because you often leave a lot of awesome things and people behind, but thank you easyJet for getting me to London in one piece (almost vomited from the turbulence!).

In the last week, I successfully packed my life up into a few suitcases and I finally made it to Kent to enjoy the English countryside for my post chapter creative time and a break from the craziness of trying to function in a new culture and language.

Thank you to everyone in Berlin who made chapter two of so full of lessons, celebrations, tears, yummy new food, eye opening sights to see and amazing new experiences...

Thanks especially to the Mimi crew, whom I spent most of my days with trying to build a company and a product to help people enjoy the sounds of their lives in the best possible way.. Two Moleskins and hand written notes are pretty appropriate gifts for me and it just goes to show how much you've grown to know me and what's important to me over the last 7 months.

Now it's time to unpack, enjoy this beautiful green view and get some reflection, creativity and design done..

Vielen Dank meine Freunde...