Chapter 34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Joshua
I swept into the meeting room, my top team gathered around the glass table, the London skyline in the background. I’d spent the last week replaying my last conversation with Hartford, trying to come up with something I could have said that would have made her stay.
In the end, my Genius Time told me that it was action not words that counted. I was going to show her how much I cared about her. How much I listened to what she had to say and how much I’d changed from the man who only did casual.
“I have an announcement.” I took a seat and scanned the faces in front of me.
“Today I called GCVB and told them that Luca Brands won’t be working on any accounts for Merdon.” Yes I’d hope Hartford would approve, but I’d withdrawn Luca Brands from the Merdon account because it was the right thing to do.
Gasps echoed around the room. They knew what that meant: job losses.
“I’ve not heard officially from Eric that Luca Brands no longer works for any of the GCVB brands, but I fully expect to.
” Eric would move fast and I expected him to fire Luca Brands before the end of the day. I wanted to get ahead of him.
A couple of hands shot up but I knew the questions everyone wanted answers to.
“I’ll take questions at the end. Let me just finish.”
I’d been up all night for a week brainstorming and strategizing. My Genius Time had paid off.
“I’m creating a new division of Luca Brands.
And I’m looking for top quality internal candidates to head it up.
” Relief swept over their faces. “The division will do some of what we already do, but the clients of the division won’t be luxury goods.
We’ll be working with charities and causes we believe in.
We’re also going to create a new lobbying arm to champion the priorities of these clients.
The first project for the new division will be to roll out a campaign against Calmation being approved as an over-the-counter drug.
We haven’t got much time, so I’m going to need people willing to get started as soon as possible.
” Harford had been right—I didn’t need her help to do the right thing.
Val, my right-hand woman on the original Calmation campaign, stuck up her hand. “I’d really like to head up this campaign. I know the drug, I know the issues, and I also have a kid with ADHD. The drug should be on prescription only.”
I was stunned. I liked to think I knew my employees, but Val had never said anything about her son, Oliver, having ADHD. And she’d worked tirelessly on the Calmation campaign without any kind of hint that she might not agree with it.
“I would welcome your leadership on this, Val,” I said.
“I actually have some ideas already. Because there are just pockets of opposition out there, rather than any organized anti-Calmation campaign, I think the first thing to do is create a group we can push forward as the face and voice of a unified opposition.”
“Great idea. I know who you might want to contact to start that process.” I’d put her in touch with Gerry. I’d seen his interviews; he would be a great advocate.
“Just a quick question.” Val looked up from her notes. “If we don’t have any kind of budget, where is the money coming from, and what can I spend?”
“I’m setting up a charitable arm of the company. And your budget for this anti-Calmation campaign is unlimited. Do whatever you need to do to make sure this drug isn’t approved for over-the-counter use on either side of the Atlantic.”
Murmurs through the room told me this was a welcome announcement. Maybe I wasn’t the only one who’d had second thoughts about Merdon. Maybe this would be good for everyone at Luca Brands, even if they weren’t directly involved.
“I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen.” Val beamed at me.
“Whatever you need from me, you have. Don’t hesitate to ask. Any questions?”
John at the back of the room raised his hand. “I think this is great and everything, but if we’ve pulled out of the Calmation campaign, then we’ve lost GCVB as a client. That’s got to mean jobs are going to be lost.”
“It’s a good question and I’m going to make an announcement to the rest of the company when we leave this meeting.
We’ll have to adapt our approach when GCVB inevitably pulls their accounts.
It starts with staffing the new division.
Then, we’re going to go out and get new business.
It will mean looking at industries beyond luxury brands.
I’m open to your suggestions, and I have a few ideas myself.
I’m going to do my best for you all, to make sure that no one has to leave Luca Brands if they don’t want to.
” It was going to be a struggle, and I was going to have to have Genius Time on a daily basis for the foreseeable future, but Hartford had inspired me.
Hopefully Luca Brands would stop Calmation being approved by the regulator—it was the best possible outcome for vulnerable parents and children. I also hoped it would be enough to show Hartford how I listened to her. How I respected her opinion. And how much I could change in all areas of my life.