Future Leaders: Dominic Richards Of Zentive Agency On How Ambitious Young Adults Are Redefining Success
An Interview With Eden Gold
The pandemic enabled workers to work from home as lockdowns were enforced around the world. This newfound flexibility came with a number of benefits including reduced commuting time, more time spent with loved ones, decreased costs, more comfort and surprisingly for everyone, increased productivity. This therefore created a shift in the working lifestyle. When the lockdowns started to lift, employees didn’t want to return to the office. The new way of working was too good and a lot better in many people’s opinion. And from the will of employees, this new way of working has stuck to today.
In a world rapidly changing through technology, societal norms, and global challenges, a new generation of leaders is emerging. Ambitious young adults are not just aiming for traditional markers of success; they are redefining what it means to be successful. Beyond the corporate ladder and financial milestones, they prioritize impact, sustainability, and personal fulfillment. They are entrepreneurs, activists, scientists, and artists who are shaping the future with innovative ideas and actions. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Dominic Richards at Zentive Agency.
Founding and directing the growth and development of Zentive, a sustainable event agency, Dominic has communicated the concept of sustainable events around the industry and beyond, championing the way events can do better for the planet whilst achieving their goals.
During this time, he has continued to nurture relationships with suppliers and industry professionals whilst delivering innovative, future-thinking events for his clients. From his efforts, Zentive Agency is now projected to achieve record growth levels whilst also investing in social impact projects and informing the industry of sustainable practices and pushing CSR efforts.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion about cultural sensitivity, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
Yep sure, I initially got into the events industry during university, running nightclub events whilst studying for my degree. Once graduated, I entered the corporate events world and enjoyed the variety of the industry. However, I noticed that there was a huge amount of waste involved. Food, energy, travel. The industry was a big culprit for emissions. At the agency I was working at, I tried to make changes internally and communicate a better way of doing things but didn’t have much luck. Then, the pandemic threw the industry into turmoil, and after losing my job, I started planning to create an agency that did things differently. We were going to create and deliver sustainable events that had a positive impact on the planet. We would proactively make changes to decrease carbon emissions and make the event as sustainable as possible, whilst informing the industry of sustainable practices and creating a positive change. I haven’t looked back since.
It’s hard not to mention the pandemic. The events industry’s whole purpose is to get people to meet. When this isn’t possible anymore, then what do you do?
Events started getting cancelled every day. We were constantly refreshing the news and seeing in real time, the virus spread to new countries and lockdowns getting imposed. It wasn’t long before it happened to the UK, and I was unfortunately made redundant and the company I worked for closed its doors. There’s a lot of things I could’ve done, freshly unemployed during a global pandemic, under lockdown and no signs of an industry I loved being revived. What I decided to do was swallow my pride, get a job at supermarket picking shopping and research the emerging digital and sustainable event market. I guess this proved my dedication to the events industry and cemented my passion for creating a thriving events business. After several months, I found an events role in an ITAM organisation and approached an industry friend to join forces and plan for starting up a new agency.
There’s been a lot of ups and downs. I mean, the project that I eventually left my full-time job for ended up falling through after a few months! However, we’ve managed to keep going and are keenly looking towards a bright future.
You are a successful individual. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Work ethic
Being able to get up and graft, day in, day out. You often hear that success doesn’t come without hard work and it’s true. And this isn’t just in an office job. I worked in over 10 different jobs before I graduated and got myself a cushty office job. And it was hard work. Whether that was doing sales calls at 16 and getting rejected every minute, stacking fridges at 17 whilst your hands froze, serving rude customers at restaurants or peeling vegetables as a kitchen porter. I did them all and I just got on with it and made sure I did the best job possible. Developing this strong work ethic helped massively during my career. It increased productivity output and impressed managers and colleagues enabling me to rise through the ranks. It also meant I learnt a lot. Being able to apply myself to tasks and projects allowed me to learn through them.
Curiosity
I’ve always been a curious individual and this has helped me to develop my knowledge of my industry and hone my skills. I’d also say that this is why I’m sometimes considered a jack of all trades, master of some. If there’s a tool, area or process that looks like it can help or benefit myself or my organisation in some way, I’ll look into it. I’ll research it and discover the pros, cons, potential and whether it is applicable to my way of doing things. This means that Zentive and I are always at the forefront of new technologies and platforms that can increase efficiencies and decrease carbon emissions. This also means that we have strong knowledge of our industry. If there are new suppliers or existing suppliers with new offerings, curiosity gets the better of me and I need to find out. Curiosity may have killed the cat. Success brought him back.
Courage
The ability to go for opportunities, considering the risks and not looking back. It’s a lot harder than you think. You have to be courageous to be successful. I think success is about taking risks, about exposing yourself to the unknown and stepping outside your comfort zone. Being courageous gets you to explore new opportunities and unlock your full potential. I’d also say courage gives you a belief in yourself that is crucial to deliver life changing work and follow the path to become the best you can be.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview about how ambitious young adults are redefining success. How would you define success?
Success is leading a fulfilling life, achieving your own goals whilst leaving a positive impact on the world. I used to mark my success on 5 principles:
1. Strong, meaningful relationships with friends and family
2. Life-giving work that has a positive impact
3. High self-confidence and pride in oneself
4. Financial independence
5. A lasting legacy
But I would now add leading a fulfilling life to this as well. A life where you do the things you enjoy. Whether that is stamp collecting, skiing, raising a family, day trading or playing video games. If you’re happy to do it, go for it.
However, you must also balance this with life-giving work that has a positive impact. This can be a positive environmental impact on the planet, a positive social impact on a community or a positive economic impact. With this, you will eventually get to number 5 on the list, which is to leave a lasting legacy. Success is leaving the world a better place because of your life and actions.
How do you incorporate social responsibility and sustainability into your definition of success?
We all have a duty to save the planet. The last 100 years have made the earth really suffer and we now need to turn this around. Therefore, it only makes sense to involve social responsibility and sustainability into success. Being able to restore our home and ensure a better future for generations should be one of your main goals to pursue throughout your career, whether directly or indirectly.
I also believe businesses should be a force for good. In a world that has many problems, those in a better position can make positive changes, even if little by little. It’s a big challenge to tackle some of the social and environmental problems humans are facing today. However, if we can all do our bit, we can make a big impact.
Can you describe a moment or decision that significantly redirected your path toward leadership?
That is a good question. I wouldn’t say there was a key moment but a collective journey throughout my career that inspired me to try and change the events industry and hopefully human behaviour for the better.
I’ve said this before, but the pandemic definitely had a big part to play. The events industry was thrown into disarray, lots of people lost their jobs, businesses closed, but the planet seemed to heal a little. With human activity at a standstill, nature was able to shine a little brighter. Seeing these stories around the world enforced my desire to help the planet within my career.
What role do mentorship and community play in shaping your approach to leadership and success?
I think a mentor is very important, but I also think a mentor doesn’t have to be in the traditional sense where it is an older, more experienced individual. A mentor can be a friend, a partner who is there to support you through your troubles. I wouldn’t even necessarily say it needs to be official. You don’t have to ask them to be your mentor, they can just be your figurative mentor that you go to when life gets tough, or when you need a second opinion.
As for community, this is so important in making you feel part of something bigger. When you come together, you can share in similar goals and values. The events community is also useful in supporting with general questions, helping others find jobs, connecting those with skills to those in need and promoting the industry as a whole.
In what ways do you think your generation’s view of success differs from previous generations? Social and environmental impact. I’m not sure this was a consideration during previous generations. Success was determined by how much money you have in the bank. Now it’s about the positive impact you have on the planet and the time/freedom you have available.
Based on your experience and research, can you please share “5 Ways Ambitious Young Adults Are Redefining Success?”
1. Environmental Sustainability
Of course I would start with sustainability, but the fact is that younger generations are more environmentally conscious. A recent study shows that 70% of those aged 18–34 are worried about climate change compared to 56% of those aged 55 or over. We’ve seen the pollution from the last century and the damage to our natural world and want to change our ways. On top of this, the looming and current threat of the climate change is very much making an impact in our day-to-day life and is shown throughout the news. It is now up to us to make a change. We do this through daily behaviour, spreading awareness and often in our work. There has been a huge increase in existing companies changing their business model to be more environmentally conscious as well as new companies having their sole mission and purpose to improve environmental standards. Being able to confidently say you’ve improved the environment through your work is now a defining marker of success.
Zentive was founded on environmental sustainability values and our mission is to deliver sustainable events that connect and motivate people. We hope that by prioritising environmental responsibility, promoting work-life balance, and re-investing in innovative social and environmental projects, we can drive positive impact in the industry and contribute to a brighter future for all.
2. Flexibility
The pandemic enabled workers to work from home as lockdowns were enforced around the world. This newfound flexibility came with a number of benefits including reduced commuting time, more time spent with loved ones, decreased costs, more comfort and surprisingly for everyone, increased productivity. This therefore created a shift in the working lifestyle. When the lockdowns started to lift, employees didn’t want to return to the office. The new way of working was too good and a lot better in many people’s opinion. And from the will of employees, this new way of working has stuck to today.
This is now a defined metric of success. Being able to work not from just home, but anywhere is seen as enviable way of someone making it. The idea that you can choose where you work. Whether that be from your family home in the suburbs, a beach in Bali, the hills of Salzberg, or in a high-rise office in Tokyo. The explosion of coworking spaces and good reliable internet in establishments has made this even more possible.
At Zentive, we operate a remote-first way of working. Wherever you would like to work from, you can. We also offer flexibility with working hours as we realise different people prefer and work more effectively at different times. This means we operate throughout different time zones, different regions and different cultures, giving us a better perspective around the world as well as a more rounded working team. We currently have team members working from Spain, UK, Canada and South Africa. Although this poses challenges, luckily we can work effectively due to various online platforms and apps that mean we can connect easily. We are taking advantage of a more connected world to live life to the fullest.
3. Social impact
It is now commonly thought that businesses should be a force for good, not just for profit. The rise of benefit corporations shows this as well as individuals taking this into consideration when applying for a job. For instance, it is now quite common for graduates to prioritise joining social impact start-ups. Motivated by a desire to make the world a better place, they will direct their energies and ambitions into this instead over a well-paying stable job.
It’s not just having a good job that you enjoy, but also making an impact and a difference. At Zentive, we do this a number of ways including volunteering programs, signing petitions for social causes and collaborating with certain partners to alleviate food poverty.
4. Wellbeing
True success now involves having a good work life balance and being able to take care of your mental health. The pandemic is a pivotal moment for this in recent history and many of the younger generation are making mental health as important as physical health. This is reflected in a deeper understanding of mental health in overall productivity and life enjoyment. Rather than burning out and overworking, we are looking at job opportunities that offer a health work life balance, access to mental health resources and a supportive team. This results in a happier workforce, high levels of job satisfaction and loyalty.
5. Positive impact
Unlike previous generations that focused on gaining material wealth and possessions, today we want to leave our mark on the world and help those who are worse off. There are numerous examples of small businesses and start-ups that are focused on improving the condition of the global population. We aim to address pressing global challenges and leave the planet in a better place for future generations.
And if the company doesn’t directly provide a positive impact, they can use their resources and time to collaborate with organisations that do. There are numerous volunteering opportunities to help those in need and you can also offer financial contributions to boost certain non-profit’s efforts.
How do you navigate the challenges of innovation and change while staying true to your values and vision for success?
It’s always hard to keep up to date with industry changes in a rapidly developing world. Technology is growing at such a quick pace and AI is now embedding into our day-to-day life.
I like to look at these changes as tools we can use to help as instead of barriers. As someone who is able to pick things up quite quickly and as a naturally curious person, I love learning about the new innovation happening around the industry and the world and how I can apply this to my current goals and objectives.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Responsible purchasing. Putting in place a program/app/community where products and services in supermarkets and other stores are rated based on a responsibility index. From this, consumers can be more educated when making daily or more substantial purchases. We are already seeing something similar with carbon impact, where restaurants are displaying carbon emission details on menus (red meat dishes being high, vegetarian dishes being low).
If we can implement responsible purchasing, we can hit many of the SDGs including Responsible Consumption & Production, Decent Work and Economic Growth, No Poverty and Reduced Inequalities amongst others.
How can our readers further follow you online?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominicvrichards/
https://www.zentiveagency.com/
Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
About The Interviewer: Eden Gold, is a youth speaker, keynote speaker, founder of the online program Life After High School, and host of the Real Life Adulting Podcast. Being America’s rising force for positive change, Eden is a catalyst for change in shaping the future of education. With a lifelong mission of impacting the lives of 1 billion young adults, Eden serves as a practical guide, aiding young adults in honing their self-confidence, challenging societal conventions, and crafting a strategic roadmap towards the fulfilling lives they envision.
Do you need a dynamic speaker, or want to learn more about Eden’s programs? Click here: https://bit.ly/EdenGold
Future Leaders: Dominic Richards Of Zentive Agency On How Ambitious Young Adults Are Redefining… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.