Ross Hopman’s Post

Today I celebrate 10 years at duotone audio group. Some days it feels like 6 months and some days, 20 years.  I can't believe I still wake up just as excited as Day 1 to get to work with such inspiring + inspired human beings. I look around the studio- the team we have built- and selfishly, I see people who make my life better outside of work, and that's the best part. A group of kind hearted, ultra talented, self driven misfits that I get to call my work family. When I stumble, they catch me. When I'm proud, they're beside me. When they succeed, I succeed. When I struggle, they have the right words. Forget the world class talent I get to work with day in and day out- I get to share these sometimes daunting & difficult work days/weeks/years, with people who not only make the process fun, but inspire me to be great in the studio and out. Its something I attribute to Peter Nashel, that was amplified by the late David Leinheardt, and something I hope I now contribute to. There is a way to work within this advertising machine, a machine that often tries to strip things from you.... weekends, free time, work/life balance, integrity....  It can be seductive. Indulgent. Its easy to get lost. Sucked in. Conform. Find the wrong path.  But there is a way to float above it. With intention, positivity, trust, fun!  When I came to duotone, Pete made big promises. 'We aren't like other music shops'. 'This doesnt have to be a grind'. 'Make great work, work with great people, don't lose too much money'.  I'm sure some of that is smoke, I thought.  10 years in, it wasn't. The hopes and expectations here have always been - aim high, push boundaries, make with intention, move with kindness, have fun, try not to compromise too much, love what you put out there, enjoy each other, and everything else will work out. And the company has grown with each year.  10 years. 3,650 different versions of me have come to work. And every one of them was accepted by my peers. Monday we start yet another chapter. We are welcoming a new EP that holds these same values. A big move in our continued expansion. I couldn't be more excited for her to officially join the fam. I will get off my soap box now after I share a quote that one of my close friends + coworkers sent to me earlier this week when I was having.. one of those days. 'Hopefulness is hard earned, makes demands upon us, and can often feel like the most indefensible and lonely place on earth. Hopefulness, is not a neutral position. It is adversarial. It is the warrior emotion that can lay waste to cynicism. Each redemptive or loving act, as small as you like, keeps the devil down in the hole. It says the world and its inhabitants have value and are worth defending. It says the world is worth believing in. In time, we come to find, that this is so.' - Nick Cave. Very grateful for this home I've found. Thank you Pete & my duotone fam for letting me be my weird true crazy self. Happy 10 years to me! 🎂 Onward !