Creating Luka.
Let me tell you, I have been working on this website for a while. Many revisions and versions; and yet, something was missing! I was lost in all the "trying to look and sound professional blablabla."
In a conversation with a friend who is a marketing whiz, she started asking me all the competent questions like what's Luka's competitive advantage, what's Luka's market positioning, what value does Luka bring, etc. Now, I can go on and on answering also in the same professional manner, but in the spirit of Elon Musk's "first principles thinking," I gave her the most truthful answer, "this is hard man, the answer is me!" She then gracefully replied, "That's it, you promote you! You're the soul of Luka. You definitely are."
So here goes, let me tell you how Luka came about.
The catalyst that propelled me to start Luka up was the realisation that I like the freedom to create, advocate, and experiment. Although these sounds quite straightforward, they're far from.
To create: I like things unorthodox, to think outside the box. I freely brainstorm and design solutions to problems beyond the books. Thanks to a lifetime of having to make things work with the resources I have! Let's put it this way, I've got the street cred. At the same time, also a huge nerd. So whilst I colour wildly, I am mindful about staying within the ethical lines to keep my clients safe. Also, working for an organisation often discourages deviation from the norm, as it can often mean disrupting the ongoing "standard operating procedure"(oh don't get me started). So I created the freedom I wanted.
To advocate: In this field, I get to meet and support individuals with vulnerabilities. Reality in today's world and state of humanity sucks big time sometimes. When I see my clients being neglected, taken advantage of, or abused, my first go is to advocate for them, even if it means scaling a huge mountain calling out the big players. However. being an employee inherently means having a responsibility to act in the best interest and protection of the company. It created a huge conflict in me; I started to notice the potential risks of my actions and decisions being clouded and biased. That's when I know I had to make a change so that I can work and live according to my values.
So I created the freedom I wanted.
To experiment: It is no secret that there is a huge gap in mental health care in Australia. In Sydney, for example, rent does not make sense anymore (and this comes from someone who lived in Singapore & Manhattan!). Daily expenses have doubled or tripled in the last year. Survival is the mode here; don't even think about thriving and flourishing. Just not on the books for a lot of people. Therapy goes on the back burner, no doubt. The working question is, how can I bring affordable, high-quality therapy to more people? High-quality being the critical condition here! I do not have the answer to this yet, and it remains my mission to find it. Reimagining things take time that I didn't have much of.
So I created the freedom I wanted.
Welcome to Luka! Thanks for coming by. Come play in our office some time!