Nicholas Young, the 22 year-old Founder of Look After.
When Nic Young, a young PR professional left without a job in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, posted on LinkedIn about an initiative to help connect other people in a similar position to businesses, he was not prepared for what happened next.
CRISP. caught up with Nic, now Founder of the agency Look After, to talk social media whirlwinds, isolation, and ideas born in the face of adversity.
How did you come up with the original name and concept for Look After?
The name has always been up my sleeve. I noticed that people in the creative consulting business always say “we look after ___” when speaking about clients. My original thought was to hijack this phrase and make it ours. I want “Look After” to become the new “Google it”. By that I mean, affiliating the sentence “we look after __” with a level of excellence that people can trace back to us.
It embodies what I want to achieve perfection. It’s all we want to do: look after businesses and charities, look after our peers and look after the crisis – that’s it.
Did you expect such an overwhelming response to your initial post?
To be honest, no I didn’t. I knew it was a good idea and that a fair number of people were in the same boat as me but I didn’t see it picking up so quickly, or indeed getting this big. I was also never really that active on LinkedIn, so didn’t know how powerful it was at spreading messages through networks. I only had 280 connections, but I sat and watched the engagement of the post increasing and spreading internationally through other peoples’ networks. Over 50,000 people have viewed it which is definitely more than I anticipated from my first post
What is your advice for brands and agencies who are reluctant to hire during the lockdown period?
I’m a 22 year old, doing his first solo venture and I’ve had insanely talented and experienced people volunteer to work for free. If I can attract that sort of talent, imagine what established brands and agencies could be snapping up right now. There are so many talented, driven people out of work and my advice is snap them up right now while everyone else is reluctant to – you’ll find yourself with amazing talent for when life resumes shortly and be in a position to pay off any risk you may have taken.
What is your plan for Look After once lockdown is lifted?
I’m 100% committed to Look After for as long as it has life. If following lockdown we still have interest from businesses I’d be thrilled to continue it indefinitely. However, if life resumes and there isn’t a place for Look After in the post-lockdown world then I’m fine with that too. Our aim is to help people and businesses through this crisis and I’m not looking beyond that, it’s a big enough task to tackle for now!
Are you planning on producing virtual content to help advise professionals and companies on Look After’s core values?
I think once we’re up and running, have got some great work under our belt and we have some credibility to our name I’d be very keen to do that should people want to hear from me!
What are you doing to stay productive during isolation?
Staying positive, exercising and helping people out in any way I can through Look After and local community support.
What are your top 3 tips for other professionals in your position?
Firstly, try to do something with your time and don’t sit idle (unless you need a break). We’re locked up inside (at least you should be!) so regular activities are off the table. Keep busy to stay motivated, happy, and to escape from the news. Whether it’s learning a new language, a new skill, volunteering, or getting fit at home, just stay occupied and positive.
Even better, if you can learn something now that will make you better placed to snap up a job once life resumes.
Secondly, if you can’t find something worthwhile to do, have a go at creating something yourself. Times like these breed new ideas, innovation and entrepreneurs so have a go – it’s probably the best time to do so and there’s nothing to lose.
Lastly, just stay positive. If you’ve found yourself in a similar position to me, it isn’t because of you and it isn’t permanent. These sorts of things are beyond our control and all you can do is prepare yourself to hit the ground running when life resumes. Enjoy the moment as much as you can but keep an eye on the future.
Learn more about Look After by visiting their site by clicking here
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