Benedict Siyotula and I and are the newbies at Flow. We started just a few days apart.
And there was much confusion around his name – he was also called Benjamin, and then inexplicably I started calling him Dominic. Writing studio manager Colin Ford believes it probably has something to do with my Catholicism’s Benedictus Dominus …
But I’ve changed his name again. He is now The Benedict. He is my left-hand man. Literally. He sits to my left and we are both lefties.
He is also my go-to person for all things social media. We make a good team on the social media account of South African Tourism: he knows the techno stuff and I bring my experience as a journo. No matter how stupid the question or how often I make the same mistake, he always helps with a smile.
And I have also discovered that we share a passion for clothes shopping.
So, a little more about The Benedict.
He is the eldest of four children and the only male. He loves running, writing and the arts. He is training to run a marathon, has been writing a book and does charcoal drawings.
Family means a lot and dinnertime in the Siyotula household is an event. ‘‘We will sit down to eat for an hour and conversation will carry on for another three hours. If you don’t have an opinion on the subject we are talking about, that becomes a subject,” he says. “I think in my heart of hearts I’m really a quiet person, but I talk a lot because of my sisters.”
His mom is a teacher of maths, science, arts and culture (“That’s where I got my love of arts from’’), and his dad is an electrician and the comedian in the family.
In his second year at the University of Pretoria, where he was studying marketing, he was chosen to attend a seminar at the University of Hanover in Germany. There he was part of a team that created a website allowing artists to market and sell their work.
When he returned from Germany, and with the knowledge he had gained there, he started a company with two friends that measured companies’ online reputations.
“It was exciting. We all had dreams of being millionaires, but it fell apart for different reasons.’’
Away from work, Benedict is all about experiences.
“I am a travel fanatic. I love going out, I love having people over for dinner. Anything that promises a new experience, I jump at. I also love going to galleries – Arts on Main speaks to me, of me, through me.’’
Benedict was offered a job in the marketing department of an accounting firm a week before he decided to join Flow.
So what does he like about the company?
“It’s a young place, people are allowed to express themselves. It’s not a job that takes all your life; you are allowed to express yourself and bring it to your job. Everyone is also really chilled.
“It’s nice to be around people who challenge you to be yourself, to come out of your shell. This place does it.”