In The Jungle

We were pleasantly surprised to bump into Rachel again in the middle of the CBD, not knowing that her agency had recently moved. It has been working to her advantage so far, however; she gets to do yoga almost every day and is “happy to report” that it has helped her to leave her grouses at the mat. “I try not to let work get to me because I think we shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously,” she says. “I believe that being unhappy and annoyed in a trying situation helps nobody and the attitude with which you face up to and sort out the problems is one simple way to make your life and that of those around you much easier.” The one thing she wishes she could change about her office, however, is the open-plan workspace, which she finds to be highly disruptive. “I think a good environment should have spaces for individuals to concentrate on their work alone when they want to, and ample communal areas for groups to gather so that ideas and thoughts can converge. A good pantry is underrated in many offices — feed your staff well and I am pretty sure you will see the difference.” Evidently, Rachel also turns to food to help her through some rough days. “I basically get hungry every two hours much to the horror and amusement of my friends,” she says. “If I have a bad day at work, I will always try to wolf down a good meal because good food makes everything better, especially if it is in the company of people you love.” Although she studied account servicing in university, Rachel says she stumbled into advertising after an internship at an agency, and quickly realised that she would much rather work in a creative field. She also applies this creativity to the small floral styling business she runs on the side. Quite the busy bee, Rachel still manages to look stylish and composed, but she says sometimes even she gets overwhelmed. “I recently had to do an all-nighter for a pitch and I thought I would be able to get a quick shower at the gym before the rest of the office came in, but the list of things to complete just kept growing. Before I knew it, everybody was in and I was still at my desk morosely typing away in my pyjamas and dishevelled hair,” she says. “I only managed to get rid of the Neanderthal look at 4pm but not before I got a lot of sympathetic coffee, tea and cakes from my appalled colleagues.”