The Alpaca in the room Janina Bak and Mick Griffin

2024 is the debate of our lives. Just how should businesses work and where?

Episode 8 is all about working remotely vs in office, and why it’s such an online battle to be proven right. 

Mick and Janina talk about collaboration pros and cons for both tenured employees and brand new ones. 

They cover the rise of offsite meetings, why throwing people together is not enough, and Janina’s hate for Kayaks. 

Mick and Janina also cover the ‘workation’. Is it healthy or hipster. Is it for inspiration or instagram. Just how will you get sand out of your keyboard when you drop your laptop on the beach?

All this and more on another episode of The Alpaca in the Room Podcast! 

P.s. Mick joined us from a different recording location this week and that’s why he sounds like he is in a cave. Mick has been punished for this poor planning and will have to consume one tomato one episode 12. 

Does personal health take a back seat when your career accelerates upward?

How many times have you pushed 'through' an illness, just because you felt one more thing needed to be done?

In an episode that could be sponsored by Red Bull and Seven Days, Mick and Janina share their personal stories with developing their careers, and struggling to balance their personal health.

They talk about leaders and do you have a responsibility to be healthy to set a good example for your team members.

They also debate if businesses have a responsibility to help their employees be healthier?

Come join Mick and Janina on this rollercoaster episode, and please let us know your journey with career and health!

As AI summarized today’s episode: “today’s gonna be a little bit wild”.

Janina and Mick talk about all the awkwardness in business relationships. When greeting your business partner should you go for a hand shake, high five or a hug? Is it OK to be late to the meetings and how to handle it, if it happens? We also talk about judging one’s professionalism based on his or her clothing – both in face to face meetings and… on Linkedin profile picks. These are just few topics we cover in this episode, not to mention the most important one, that is: Mick reveals his childhood trauma and it’s so good that you really need to hear about it.

Who would you be if you were not a marketer?

In Episode 5 this is the question Mick and Janina discuss. While their answers are both funny and unexpected (super unexpected), it also opens the door as to why they discuss it and why it's such a common question therapists ask.

Working in marketing has changed. What was the fun, creative job of the past, has now developed into a more demanding role, full of expectations with a summit that cannot be reached. Conversions can always be improved.

All this plus a bunch of randomness in Episode 5! Come join in the fun and let us know what your perfect job would be if you could be anything you want.

In this episode Janina and Mick talk about building a personal brand (that’s not strange) and about going to the gym (that’s soooo strange). As the gym stuff can’t really be explained and is a mystery to both of us, let’s address some alpacas in the room in terms of branding: does everyone need a personal brand nowadays? Is it possible to build it offline or do you need an online presence for that? How to decide whether you have something interesting to say and post about (spoiler alert: everyone has!!!)? And most importantly - what's the biggest mistake that you should avoid when building your brand?



We also give a shout out to Paweł Tkaczyk (or as AI calls him: Paweł Kaczek), as a man that knows everything about branding. And we reveal what was the craziest gift ever that Janina got from a brand as an influencer. Just to say it was a gift that would be highly appreciated by… alpacas and horses.

In episode #3 Mick and Janina are talking about events!



How to choose which you want to go to, and just how to plan, if you are an attendee, sponsor, or keynote speaker. 

Can events have an ROI? Should events deliver leads or learning, or is attending events now an employee benefit with zero expectations?

How much does the agenda matter? Should you prioritise the speaker or the presentation topics? How to get started as a public speaker? 

So many questions I know! All these questions and more are covered in this episode! 

Added bonus content includes 

🚀 What do Mick and Janina take with them when they attends events!

🚀 Just how much should you drink at the after parties?

🚀 Let's replace panels with battles.

If you like what you hear, please let Mick and Janina know in the comments, and hit subscribe!