We’ve come up with something new at Personal Branz - something fun, functional and (if you stretch the point) even fashionable. It's a Personal Branz band, which we're now calling our "Resiliency Rater".
Okay, so it’s a fancy name for a simple rubber band. But it's one that you can not only use at your desk, but also wear like a bracelet! So we think making it sound a bit "fancy" is entirely apropos.
We are using our new bands in a talk we've just put together on Resiliency, which is generally defined as the ability to bounce back. Rubber bands just seemed like a natural teaching tool, which is what prompted us to design our own. Then we needed to find someone to manufacture them.
We ordered our Personal Branz bands from a manufacturer, based right here in Wellington...and we ended up getting a lesson on resiliency in the process!
The owner of the business is Brian Waugh. His company, Waugh Rubber Bands, is based in a warehouse in Tawa. It turns out both his product and his story are the embodiment of bouncing back.
Brian told us he didn’t set out to make his living manufacturing rubber bands, but jam jar covers - back when there were hundreds of thousands of people making their own preserves. But when grocery stores started popping up all over the country, making jams at home became a hobby, not a necessity.
The jam jar cover business spiralled downward.
Instead of falling into a similar tailspin, Brian recognised he had a choice and found a way to adapt. Part of his jam jar cover business was cutting his own rubber bands. Brian did some research and discovered a shortage of rubber band suppliers in New Zealand. So he went into business cutting and supplying rubber bands and has never looked back.
This is Brian:
Right now Brian proudly tells us he is the only rubber band manufacturer in Australasia!
Faced with what could have been bankruptcy - or at least being forced to start from scratch - Brian reframed a setback and saw an opportunity. With a positive attitude and a realistic assessment of his options, he created his own success.
Resilience. The ability to bounce back. As one American politician, Alan K Simpson put it, "He is a million rubber bands in his resilience." We think that about says it...
