On January 25th, 1981, I also turned 6. It was a particularly exciting day as it was also my first day of grade 1. Mum tucked my shirt into my new navy pants, put an apple in my cardboard port and walked me right up to the classroom door. The time had come to make the transition from pre-school to the big kids world of primary school.

2011 has been a similar time for Cash Doctors.

We’ve transitioned into a stronger, more sophisticated organisation. Our team has grown in numbers and talent – and we’re finally getting recognised for it!

Placing 74th on the BRW ‘Fast 100’ list felt really good.

The highlight for me was launching the new mobile phone browser. It’s always the most fun releasing new product innovations and anything that makes things faster, easier and more convenient for our members. That’s what it’s all about, after all.

The other highlight has been moving into this big open modern office space. It’s ready for the fast growth we’re having and it’s shaping up really nicely. We’ve got new furniture, painted artwork on the walls, decorated with a bunch of pot plants – people are really starting to feel at home.

Much like I had a lot in front of me as I waddled off to grade 1 with my burgundy port – there’s still a lot in front of me as I write this.

2012 is going to be massive. More and more people are finding out about what we do and they seem to really like it. We’ll be launching a new mobile phone application in January. In the first quarter of 2012 we’re releasing something that will make applying and payment way faster for people getting their first advance from us. I’ll keep it top secret for now though. It’s got me pretty excited!

The new Cash Doctors card will also happen in 2012, along with some rewards for members who use our product responsibly.

We’re also about to welcome a few new management recruits to Cash Doctors in the coming months.

It’s all happening. Hopefully in a year’s time we can graduate into the high-school world – where we can make an even bigger difference.

Thanks for helping us getting to where we are today – and telling us where we need to improve and change. We’re always trying to improve our service to make it more convenient for you.

All the best for the holiday season.

Cheers,

Greg

To give you an idea who is behind the new look I decided to interview the design guys.

What was your role in the website refresh? Styling and implementation.
What artist do you like to listen to at work? Alexisonfire.
The best dinner you can cook (signature dish)? Roasted eggplant with Parmesan… I can’t give away the rest of the ingredients. It would blow your socks off.
How do you like your coffee? Flat and white.

How do you like to get to work? The quiet comfort of driving works for me.
What is your favourite mobile phone app? Instagram.
What is your favourite beverage? Stone & Wood Pacific Ale at the moment.
What is your favourite cuisine? I love spicy foods so it would have to be Indian.

Ever played Ping Pong?

Cash Doctors HQ hosted our first Ping Pong Tournament last week.

Ping Pong is deep in the roots of Cash Doctors. Greg and Sean used to play in the back of the old, old, office…

Now we have a new table and heaps of space so we thought we’d make the most of it.

David vs. Zoe

Kirsten vs. Zoe

Matt vs. Jackson

Lindsay!

Matt!

Cam!

Jackson!

Congratulations to Cam, our first ping pong champion. He won a signature Cash Doctors ping pong ball and a prestige that money couldn’t buy.

Cheers everyone!

I can’t cook.

Something I found out during this venture.

The actual experience was a bit of a disaster but I think I’ve made every mistake possible so there shouldn’t be many left for you.

First up: Oven on 150, fan forced.

We’ll start with the desert.

I was going to make a strawberry and watermelon granita but quickly learned that I did not possess the culinary ability to pull that off. Bummer. I used to think cooking was like putting together a piece of IKEA furniture. Just follow the instructions, step by step, and you’ll get it. If my granita was a piece of furniture then it looked like I just nailed an upside-down chair to the shelving unit.

I resorted to fruit salad and jelly.

This is what I used:

Jelly: Boil 1 cup of water then add 1 cup of sugar. Once the sugar has dissolved put 10 mint leaves into the syrup and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Chop up half a punnet of strawberries and add to the syrup.

(Technically you could just use normal jelly powder, then add mint leaves and strawberries … I was just doing a bit of improvising).

Apparently 1 sachet of gelatin works for 500ml of water (I didn’t measure mine so it took a couple of days for the jelly to set). I suggest you pour (exactly) 250ml of boiling water into the 250ml of syrup before adding the sachet of gelatin.

Place it in the fridge 2-3 hours before serving.

Next one.

Fruit salad. Basic stuff. I nailed it.

Use a love heart cookie cutter to cut out some watermelon. Hand carve a few pieces of rock melon, whip some cream and pop a strawberry on top.

You can also add love heart chocolates (I got mine from the IGA counter) and even some pomegranate and biscotti.

Entree: Pink dip with love heart breads.

Don’t make the pink dip. I started by following a recipe and ended up with a runny, soup-like mixture. Just buy some Taramasalata, also labelled as “Caviar” in the dip section of the supermarket (but the former sounds a bit fancier).

Now the bread, preferably use flat bread. If you don’t have any use whatever you’ve got. Toast it on the pan and then use the heart shaped love heart cookie cutter to cut out some pieces. It should look something like this:

Main: Beef hearts with pink mashed potato, green beans and beetroot.

This is the stuff I used:

Don’t start with the meat patties. That’s what I did and they were stone cold when I served them. Start by peeling and boiling the potatoes. Use 2 large potatoes or 4 small (the one in the photo is large). Peel and chop them into quarters. They should boil for about 15-20 minutes.

Now do the meat. Crack an egg in there, throw in a bit of bread crumbs, a pinch of salt, cracked pepper, some garlic and don’t forget to chop up some fresh chillies for that wow-factor!

Question, how would you spell chilli?

• Chile
• Chili
• Chilli
• Chilly
• Chilie
• Chillie

Fact: The smaller they are, the hotter.

Anyway. Get in there with your hands, give it a good squish around until it has all combined.

I used a baking tin with love heart moulds. If you don’t have one of these, don’t stress. Just mould the meat with your hands.

Place it in the oven for 12-15 minutes.

Now, check your potatoes.

If you were quick with the meat, they shouldn’t be ready. Make sure they are cooked right through (almost to the point that they are falling apart).

Get started on the beetroot. Use sliced, tinned beetroot. Get a knife and carve love hearts in the slices.

Drain the potatoes and add a cup of milk and a bit of butter (or just a cup of cream like Jamie Oliver does), a pinch of sugar and a tiny bit of nutmeg (just something mum does).

Add a splash of pink food colouring and use a masher to combine it all.

Now it gets a little tricky, but I managed it so I’m sure you’ll be fine.

To prepare the main:
1. Cover green beans with cling wrap and put them in the microwave on high for 30 seconds
2. Take the meat out.
3. Plate your mashed potato (use a mould or just dollop it onto the plate)
4. Plate green beans in whatever you like
5. Pop the patties on the beans
6. Decorate it with your beetroot pieces
7. Pour red wine
8. Drizzle some olive oil over the patty (put the tomato sauce away)

Bon appétit!

(I didn’t have any red wine, but make sure you do!)

Ladies: Don’t get stuck into the dishes afterwards. Let them lie around until the morning, have a night off.

Gentlemen: Remember to buy her what she wants if you want to avoid immense suffering (on your behalf). Don’t ask her what she wants – you need to use your mind reading skills. If you haven’t brushed up on them, then you’re screwed – and not in a good way.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Enjoy your evening, if you stuff things up, don’t stress… just roll with it.

Cheers!

Or was it blue and green?

Let’s hope so.

Our new office features some pretty intense green and orange walls.

You’ve seen the ‘before’ pictures, now check out the ‘after’ collection of the new Cash Doctors HQ.

I had to pick the colours for all the walls and just went with our generic orange and green combo. Then I was reading about the psychology of colours. Have you ever chosen a colour for your house based on what emotion it evokes?

This is what I learned…

Orange represents physical comfort, warmth, security, passion and fun.
Green represents balance, harmony, restoration, peace and refreshment.

In a way this represents Cash Doctors quite accurately – security, fun and refreshment.

Check out some of the pictures I took of our secure, fun and refreshed office today.