At Flow, we pride ourselves on putting our people first – they are, after all, our greatest asset, and part of what makes Flow such a dynamic place to work.
It is with this in mind that we have been profiling our staff members, to show the world the fantastic faces behind the work we produce.
This week we profile Bronwen d’Oliveira, the general manager of Flow Cape Town.
Born and bred in the Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal, Bron, as she is fondly known, moved to the Mother City to study a Bachelor in Business Science at the University of Cape Town.
After graduating and scratching her itchy travel feet for just over eight years, which included working on a small island in the Caribbean and in the big city of London, where she got her diploma in project management from Open University, she returned to Cape Town, where she eventually became involved in the work of Cape Town Tourism. It was here that she first came into contact with Flow’s work.
Bron recalls, “Tara and Richard were pitching for a website for Cape Town Tourism [and] their pitch was amazing. When they got the job I was impressed with how fast they managed to produce the website.”
Just around that time, Bron was due to go on maternity leave. Never one to sit still, it wasn’t long thereafter that she started looking around for a new challenge, and heard Flow was looking to start an office in Cape Town. She hasn’t looked back since.
Starting a new office has been challenging, yet wonderful, Bron says: “In a short space of time we have managed to build an incredible client base. We have grown and we are continuing to grow – in numbers and in clients.” Flow’s clients in Cape Town include Cape Town Tourism, the iconic Cape Town attractions of the Table Mountain Cableway and the Two Oceans Aquarium, and several projects based at the University of Cape Town, including the Archival Platform.
Bron says that what she loves most about Flow is the creative and inspired minds that make up the company. “I love the fact that we use our collective experience to come up with ways to do things better,” she says. “It’s going to a meeting each day and coming back knowing that there are people capable of delivering on what the client needs. People are always willing to help.”
And what do Cape Town’s Flowstars think of her in turn? Ingrid Sinclair, part of Flow’s writing studio and Flow’s Cape Town team, says, “Bron’s tenacious sense of humour and tireless optimism mean there’s never anything we can’t do. And you can tell that she is well-travelled – even though she’s an industry powerhouse, she remains down to earth and easy to relate to. She encourages the rest of us to keep our feet on the ground, too. I think I’d have gone nuts a long time ago if it weren’t for how calm and confident she is.”
Flow’s CEO Tara Turkington is also full of praise: “Bronwen has great energy and everyone likes working with her. She is dynamic, passionate and always full of fun.”
What does working at Flow mean to Bron? “It means that I am always challenged by strong and creative-minded people. It means that I am not afraid to work on new things.”
Even though Bron has been at Flow for more than a year, she is excited by the fact that each day she continues to learn about the communications industry, journalism and writing for the web.
Bron counts herself fortunate to be working at Flow Cape Town, not only because of the work environment, but also because the city of Cape Town has an energy that attracts people to it.
On a more personal level, Bron says that if she wasn’t working at Flow she would be backpacking around the world, reading, hiking, walking, looking at whales, and playing games at the beach with her children – or having good food and good wine at a restaurant.
As for future developments, Bron sees Flow strengthening its presence in Cape Town, collaborating more with other companies, and continuing to offer clients the very best in web development, communications and design.