There is a reason why we call our boys ‘our boys’ and not ‘our staff’ which is actually plain simple; they are ‘our boys’. All six of them live together with us on the premises of Villa Nangka and they feel like our family. We live and work so closely together that there is no hiding, they’ve seen it all. They’ve seen us crying, they’ve seen us laughing, they’ve seen us fighting and they’ve seen us making up. They’ve seen us when we’ve been really sick and they’ve seen us coming home drunk. They’ve seen us being really worried about the business and they’ve seen how determined we are to get back on our feet. They’ve seen the good and the bad and everything in between.
We hired our boys based on their willingness to learn, not upon experience. Some of them had no experience at all and didn’t even speak English when they started working for us. It is truly amazing to see them grow and developing their skills over the last years. We want to help them to fight for their dreams and see them come to life.
A new job description for everyone
As soon as we knew we had to close our business it was our wish to find a way to keep our boys and with the help of so many amazing people this wish came true. But there was one small challenge: we had six staff and no guests to check in and no villa’s to clean.
We had to change their job description completely and discovered they are even more multitalented than we thought. Nowadays they are cooking for our workers, they help with the demolishing and they help with the project planning. They are stepping into their new roles so easily and they continue moving forward with so much faith. It’s very inspiring to witness how easily they adjust to changes and just accept whatever comes their way. And I guess that’s the only way; focus all your energy not on fighting the old but one building the new.