The Digital Dozen - Andrew Buckman, Managing Director EMEA, Sublime Skinz
The Digital Dozen is a series of profile interviews with thought leaders in the technology industry. Here we speak with Andrew Buckman, Managing Director EMEA, of Sublime Skinz, the leading solution for high-impact non-intrusive digital advertising, about his career path, and ask the question on everyone’s lips... what doughnut would you be?
What would you say is your greatest achievement?
To have powered though 20 years in the media and still have a child like passion for all the amazing stuff that surrounds me on a daily basis.
Which quality do you most value in others?
Curiosity – the constant desire to understand why things are as they are, and what happens when you press that big red button.
What profession did you want to go into as a child?
I wanted to be an international man of mystery and secret agent for MI6. I travel a lot now, so I guess I have the cover in place…
Name the best piece of advice you could give to someone just starting their career.
Work hard, be honest, and treat everyone you meet with respect.
Why do you think you’re a good boss to work for?
I listen, and I trust.
Who do you admire most in business?
Richard Branson’s parents – they believed in the potential of their son when authority figures didn’t, and worked hard and made sacrifices to empower him to follow his dreams.
How would you define success?
Success is balance. The ability to have a positive impact at work, understand the hopes and dreams of your children, support your friends in times of need and celebrate with them in times of joy, and find your soul mate and do everything in your power to make them happy. All this, at the same time.
What website do you visit first each morning?
Strava.
What one book would you recommend everyone reads?
I have read many books that have inspired me and lead me to drive change, but the one piece of literature that drives me most is not a book, it’s a poem: “If” by Rudyard Kipling. Though, in today’s society, I would have the temerity to change the last line.
The language I’d love to be able to speak is…
Python
Name one thing you wish you’d invented.
The wheel.
If you were a donut, what flavour would you be, and why?
I would be a cronut – a perfect union of two different cultures, self-indulgent, and high maintenance; yet generous and caring in its own way!