Spotlight On: Doris, Chief of Office Wellbeing

Continuing with our monthly 'Spotlight On' story about a member of our team, this month it's the turn of our brand new Chief of Office Wellbeing, Doris.

What's your role at Venture1? As Chief of Office Wellbeing, my main role is to look fresh and cheerful (especially at Christmas time - Ho Ho Ho!), spreading happiness amongst my colleagues. But I also keep the office air clean. I'm a Peace Lily (or Spathiphyllum, if you're interested in my posh name), and I was recruited specifically for my exceptional air cleansing qualities! Yes, that's right - I purify the air of toxins, including ammonia, formaldehyde and benzene (as proven in NASA's 1989 Clean Air Study, no less!).

Oh, and I forgot to mention my team leadership responsibilities! Ethel and Hilda, Office Wellbeing Executives, joined Venture 1 at exactly the same time as me. We're all experts in our field, but unfortunately our first day experiences at Venture 1 were very different. On our way in, whilst I was lucky enough to turn up in one piece (or should I say peace, ha ha!), Ethel and Hilda 'arrived' upside down and somewhat battered from the journey (there was reportedly a lot of jostling in the van)! So whilst I'm pleased to say that they've both now (mostly) recovered from the trauma, it was agreed that I was the one best placed to take on the role of leading the team.

What attracted you to working at Venture 1? I'm particularly well suited to the role of promoting office wellbeing, as I'm one of the best species for inhabiting office environments like Venture 1's. Not only do I look after the air quality, I'm also incredibly tolerant of the dark (my colleagues can be quite lazy and tend to go home in the evenings and at weekends, turning the lights off as they leave), and happy with limited sustenance (which is just as well, because my colleagues often forget to offer me a Dolce Gusto coffee - caramel latte macchiato is my favourite, in case you're interested)... But I like the office vibe, and the role seemed like a perfect fit for me!

What sort of things do you do day-to-day at Venture 1? My days consist mainly of sitting on my bank of desks, listening to my colleagues hammer on their keyboards, participate in endless Teams calls, and in between times debate all sorts of subjects with one another. I focus heavily on keeping the ambient air clean, although I have to confess that this is an easier job some days than others, depending on the subjects and nature of the debates my colleagues enjoy (occasionally, the air can turn quite 'blue'!).

What’s your favourite thing about working at Venture 1? My colleagues of course! They're a lovely bunch (in spite of their negligence on the coffee front). And I've found myself becoming very educated by them. I'm now extremely familiar with topics such as politics (a little contentious and I gather one must tread carefully with this one), cricket, BREXIT, the pandemic, rugby, Room 101, things that are considered "overrated" (individual opinions only, of course, although McDonald's Chicken Nuggets seem to have divided the crowd!), and football (although chatter about this seems to have dipped a bit since poor Harry Kane missed a World Cup 2022 penalty and England were eliminated...).

But most of all, I love the vision and values that Venture 1 as a company identifies with. I, along with my fellow Peace Lilies, Ethel and Hilda, signify peace and prosperity - what could be more aligned to the company I work for than that?

If you could invite any 3 people round for dinner, who would they be?

1. Ethel – because she does like a drink or two when she's off duty!

2. Hilda – because although 'peaceful' at heart, she really does make my fronds shake with laughter when she gets going!

3. Roald Dahl – because I have delusions of grandeur, and I'd really like to know how he managed to make that giant peach!