ROYAL HUSTLERS

Robin Rhode talks passion, purpose and practising gratitude

“One needs to be open to being influenced positively by absolutely anyone and anything, and if you can do that, you’re well on your way.”

These are the wise words of Robin Rhode, Senior Brand Manager of Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL), in his recent interview on the 99FM Royal Hustlers.

Taking us through his life journey that brought him to where he is today, the brand executive explains his “love affair” with marketing, consumers and the market as a whole which started way back in 2005. He also shares why he values positive influence and uplifting others above all else.

Born in East London, South Africa, Robin spent his formative years in Cape Town before settling in Namibia at the age of five. After the first few years of primary school at the Holy Cross Convent, he was once again fortunate enough to move – this time to Germany where his parents were pursuing their studies. “My sister and I obviously had to tag along. It was just when Namibia became independent and around the fall of the Berlin wall,” he recalls. He returned to Namibia to complete the last two years of primary school in the southern town of Lüderitz.

For his high school education, Robin followed in the footsteps of many of his cousins when he attended Concordia College in Windhoek. He then matriculated in Swakopmund at the English High School which is now known as Westside High School.

Finding his way back to the capital city as a teenager, Robin enrolled for a qualification in Personnel Management at the Polytechnic of Namibia. This first opportunity to pursue a tertiary education came as a huge privilege for Robin as he was able to study for free at the institution where his mother was employed at the time. “I wasn't ready to study at the time so I ended up doing what a lot of young people in the early 2000s did: I took a gap year – which turned into three years. I worked at a call centre in the United Kingdom,” he says.

Working in Liverpool Street in London, Robin treasured his time in a big city where he was exposed to the corporate world at a young age.

“But three years into it, the wide-open spaces of Namibia beckoned”.

A “LOVE AFFAIR WITH MARKETING”

Upon landing in Namibia from overseas, Robin’s first job came in the form of a market analyst position at Pupkewitz Megabuild. “This started my love affair with marketing. It inspired me to study marketing which, unfortunately, I had to pay for myself this time around,” he chuckles. After three years with the Pupkewitz Group, he joined Nedbank Namibia as a business analyst. This job, coupled with his education, put Robin on a path where he now understood business commerce from an internal perspective, especially within the context of the nuances of the Namibian market.

FINDING HIS SWEET SPOT

Robin describes joining the O&L Group of Companies as the moment “where all the fun started” in his career. “I was entrusted with some real heritage brands such as Oshikandela, Omaere and Oshitaka. Brands that we all grew up with, which made me very proud.” Buying into the values and purpose of Namibia Diaries, Robin had finally “found his spot” when he started working at the company as Junior Brand Manager. Robin is a passionate professional, as much as he is a loving family man. He describes his wife as the person who sets his heart on fire every single day. He is a firm believer in the importance of practising gratitude and living a purposeful life.

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