How Vitae Connected : Sir Richard Branson

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MAY 22, 2020

Sir Richard Branson

Branson was one of if not the first celebrity personality to believe in and interact with Vitae London, it's still humbling to think of his support as I've admired his business exploits for many years.

We happened to be 1 of 1000 companies to receive the Virgin start-up funding out of a group of 10,000 applicants to begin with.

Virgin Start-up then sought to choose their favourite business ideas and entrepreneurs to become their ambassadors in the UK. We were all asked to submit short videos describing our businesses and why we would make great ambassadors, I saw this as an opportunity to go above and beyond and create more than just a video... but a piece of art.

Luckily I was in South Africa at the time after visiting one of our sponsored schools so I convinced my friend Brett Jones and our Videography agency; The Wind Collective to take me to one of Brett's favourite spots in Johannesburg. We shot a short beautiful montage and really impressed the Virgin execs as most other people simply shot videos with their phones, we've just brought it back on our channel so you can check it out:

Out of 1,000+ people I was then chosen as a result of this to become one of 12 ambassadors. The next stage of the process was to meet Richard Branson in his Oxfordshire residence, it was a really surreal day to say the least. We had breakfast and a round table where he shared some great gems and answered our burning questions.

I knew I had to get a Watch to him but that day felt quite pressured, there were so many of his team around him and I let fear dictate what I would do instead of boldly just presenting it to him. That opportunity passed however as I had gone above and beyond with the initial pitch I was then chosen as 1 of 2 people to get one on one mentoring with Branson and to interview him in front of a live audience.

Sir Richard Bransons choice of Watch: Kleinskool Silver

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I gifted him a Watch there and then during the interview because I knew he couldn't really say no in front of a live audience, to my surprise in return he gave me his Watch and a handful of cash! That moment was then the cover of the virgin website for the week after, and the video is still there to be seen on the page till this day!

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