Garry Partington wears a lot of hats around the Apadmi office. Always approachable, he has a particular talent for memorising the names of every member of team Apadmi – something that’s been put to the test as we’ve grown past 200 employees.
We caught up with Garry to learn a little more about him, including who inspires him, his post-lockdown plans and what he loves about Apadmi.
What is one thing most people don’t know about you?
“I’m a pretty open book, to be honest. Most people know that I enjoy archery and love a good curry. Newer Apadmi employees might not know that I can drink most people under the table. I don’t do it as much anymore, but I’m also pretty good at downing a pint.”
Who do you consider an inspiration or idol and why?
“I have a lot of respect for Steve Jobs for what he did in the world – the way he came back from challenges. I think he was in the right place at the right time and really pushed for innovation, which is a massive inspiration for me.”
If someone wants to buy you a drink post-lockdown what should they pick?
“A nice special ale. A bit boring but always the right choice for me.”
Are you a Mac or a PC and why?
“Depends. If I’m working, I love the iMac, I really do. The iMac is amazing – but if I want to mess around, it’s a PC. You can’t mess around much with Mac, especially with the hardware. In my house, I’ve got a few Raspberry Pi lying around, an iMac and I’ve got a PC under my desk. I’m ready for anything.”
If you had to lose all but one piece of tech, what would you keep?
“This might show a little bit of how my mind works because the first thing I think about keeping is my iMac – but there’s no point in having my iMac if I don’t have my router. Then I start thinking about my watch, but my watch without my phone isn’t going to do much… so, then I have to back-track and say that the thing I would keep would be my phone.”
Name one thing you love, and one thing you’d change about Apadmi…
“I love the people… In all honesty, I love everything about it. I can’t really say the one thing I’d change because if there was anything I wanted to change, I’d change it.”
What has been the biggest learning curve of your career to date?
“Every day, every week, every month – I learn something new. The person I am now is not the person I was 20 years ago in terms of what I now know and how I work towards delivering things. It’s a constant learning journey. When you start off, you’re kind of arrogant. You think you know everything. What I now know is that, actually, there’s still a lot that I don’t know and I still have a long way to go. The only constant is change – you always need to learn.”
What are your goals for 2021?
“Get life back to normal. Get back to part-time working in the office and delivering some of the amazing products that we’re currently working on (and will be coming out very soon).”
What’s the first thing you’re going to do when lockdown ends?
“Go for a nice meal – I’ve been missing that. Going out to a nice restaurant. Going for a beer. Eating with family and friends. That’s the key thing for me.”
What are you looking forward to in 2021?
“The pub. Normality. Going out. Not being locked in. The ability to think forward. The ability to look beyond the pandemic. The ability to help people recover from it. I’m looking forward to the Apadmi summer bash. Let’s be honest, we’ve not had a get together for a year now – that’s going to be a very messy party.”
Learn more about Garry Partington on his LinkedIn page and if you would like to join team Apadmi you can check our vacancies here.
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