If we had to sum up 2011 in a sentence: the world is a better place when you do what you love. 

The year had its ups and downs and through it all, we gained a deeper appreciation for how far passion can take you … when you channel it properly …

1. Articulate your passion

From Asilia's relaunch in 2010, we've known the kind of company that we want to be. The values we stand for, the clients we want to work with and the culture that we want to create. However, it is in 2011 that we really sat down and interrogated our aspirations; working out how best to express and pursue them. After a year of operating at full capacity, it was easier to talk about our aspirations in practical terms – easier to turn aspirations into a clear action plan. 

2. Gather the necessary reinforcements

We started the year with a compact team of three and as the months went on, we realised that to achieve all we set out to do, we needed more support. We are very happy to end the year with a bright and passionate team of seven. This means that in 2012, we're hitting the ground running with Andrew, Erick and Phelix working on development, Kathryn and Lulu working on design and Cliff and Rasoah keeping our systems running.

3. Create sustainable systems

Passion isn't enough to support a larger team, bigger projects and more ambitious plans. It needs structures that enable it to be nurtured. One of our most significant activities in 2011 was fine-tuning our systems (from HR to finance, from communication to knowledge management), enabling us to spend more time doing what brings us the most joy.

4. Keep good company

We only work with passionate people. We look at projects as opportunities to create partnerships with our clients. Together, we produce something that everybody involved can be proud of. It's much easier to do this when our clients are as passionate about their products, services and offerings as we are about how to communicate them to the people who need and want them. Our fantastic clients have enabled us to grow, learn and create exciting work. We have developed great relationships that we hope to grow for years to come.

5. Keep exploring

From the start, we've been adamant about exploring our interests and creating space for them to grow (e.g. developing ways to turn them into sources of revenue etc.). We've managed to do this with the bespoke design and development services we provide but we've also been working on a number of self-initiatied projects. In 2011, two of these projects, Afri-love and Afriapps, have steadily grown. We launched our first e-book, African Apps in a Global Marketplace, which was met with an overwhelmingly positive response. These projects have provided tremendous opportunities to meet more like-minded people and new collaborators; to share our vision and ideas in other forums (e.g. Afrinnovator and Think Act Vote (?!X)) and; to participate in exciting discussions (e.g. at the V&A museum).

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We've had our share of late nights working as well as nights kept up by ideas or worries. We've embraced these as necessary stopovers along our journey and put love into them all the same.  A huge thanks goes to all who've worked with, supported and challenged us. Without you, our mission would be much much harder to pursue.

We've got great plans that we cannot wait to share with you all – ideas that we hope will delight our fellow artists, activists, pioneers, visionaries, storytellers, rebels, explorers, tree-huggers and students of life.

We hope that you'll stay tuned.

All the best for 2012,
Andrew & Lulu
Asilia Directors

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