A cuppa with Lauren Clinnick and a mashed potato and mozzarella pie
What's been happening?
Empowering Individuals for Team Success workshop
We just ran this workshop with collaboration with Tech Leading Ladies this week. Here are a few things our participants said about the workshop:
"I've come to realise the significant impact of managing upwards, not just on my relationship with my manager, but also on my job performance, satisfaction within the team and company, and ultimately, my career progression."
"The workshop changed my mindset of why I need to communicate with others and build personal branding. I will start taking actions from today."
"Being true to ourselves and our values is also important for building personal branding. It's not ego inflation or aspiration, and it's just to communicate who we are with others."
"I like the workshop format. The content becomes easier to understand while engaging in discussions."
Do you have a good relationship with your manager? Do people at your company know what you've been working on? Or are you struggling to communicate your needs at work? To align expectations with peers? Are you able to say no when you have too much on your plate?
This workshop is designed to help you become a better communicator, prioritise tasks effectively, set boundaries, take better care of yourself.
Tickets and details for this July workshop available here.
Product engineering team health self-assessment
We work with startups and scaleups to improve their product engineering practices and culture. And we regularly see common challenges repeat with clients.
We created a survey so that you can assess your current situation and identify challenges. This survey includes a set of 30 questions for quick self-evaluation. The focus is on product engineering and team health rather than business overhaul.
We will send your results with additional information within a few days of filling the survey. If you are interested, head to https://tally.so/r/meBQlJ.
A cuppa with Lauren Clinnick
1. What do you do? And what do you like about your work?
I’m the co-founder at Lumi Interactive, a mobile games startup focused on mental wellbeing. I love building our first product, Kinder World, with our team and players. We’re a purpose-driven company with over 35k daily active iOS and Android players in our beta, so every day we get to see the impact we’re having.
2. What aspect of your work do you find most challenging?
As a founder, you must be adaptable to daily (and sometimes hourly) challenges. It’s a double-edged sword as I love the variety, but when you’re behind on milestones or have an unexpected ‘fire’ that throws out your prioritised plan, that’s certainly a challenging part of the work.
3. What are you passionate about?
I’m passionate about creating an accessible wellbeing experience for everyone, starting with Kinder World players on mobile. I believe in connecting with our players to deliver authentic moments of connection.
4. What are recent accomplishments you are happy with?
I’m very happy with players enjoying recent content and fixes we added to Kinder World with their input — feeling heard was help impactful for our players, and the happy reviews are a treat for the whole team.
5. What is one mistake that you will never make again?
Hmm, that’s a tricky one! I’ve learned from a lot of mistakes through my working life. I’ve learned a lot about my own working style and my own strengths and weaknesses — I’ve learned to spend a lot more time unleashing what I’m good at, rather than trying (with poor ROI) to bring my weaknesses up to a low average. I’ve learned that it’s better to build your advantages.
6. How do you manage stress?
Movement, decent eating habits (including cooking slowly on weekends), spending time with my wife and chickens, and of course gaming. ;)
7. What is the best advice you can give?
When you can tap into your own deep passion and purpose, the hardest days become easier.
8. What one thing would you change about our society?
There’s too many to list. I would need four hours and a bottle of good wine to come to a cohesive answer, but right now I can say there is a lot I want to change about society, and this is reflected in the work I do.
9. What are your goals or aspirations for this year?
Also a huge question, but I can be specific and say we’ll launch and scale Kinder World globally this year!
What are we cooking?
Mashed potato and mozzarella pie
Elle and Lachlan were intrigued by the idea of a mashed potato and cheddar pie they saw on Junior Bake-Off, but couldn't find a recipe. So here's what they made instead.
Ingredients
For the pastry
- 275g all-purpose (plain) flour
- 200g butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tsp Nigella seeds
- A little bit of water (up to 5 tbsp of water)
For the filling
- 300g mashed potatoes
- 1 onion, chopped roughly
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced
- 3 king oyster mushrooms, sliced lengthways
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup green peas, frozen
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- Salt and pepper
- 1 egg, separated
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 180c.
- Caramelise the onions with the garlic by frying in oil in a fry pan on a very low heat for longer than usual. Add a bit of water to the pan regularly to prevent the onion from burning.
- Combine the ingredients for the pastry (except for the water). Use your fingers to mix the butter with the flour, then add a bit of water until it forms a supple dough. Chill in the fridge while you prepare the pie's filling.
- On a baking dish, lay out the mushrooms and brush with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Turn over to oil and season the other side. Bake in the oven until golden brown. Then turn the oven to fan-forced for a few minutes to turn the mushrooms crispy. Remove from the oven, and chop into smaller pieces.
- Steam the green peas in a small pan to warm them up. Drain once cooked.
- Combine the mashed potatoes with egg yolk. Then mix in the caramelised onions, chopped mushrooms, peas, and cheese. This is your pie filling.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll out half the dough, until it is a bit bigger than the pie pan we're using. Gently press the pie dough down on the pie pan so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pan. Trim the excess dough. Optional: if you wish to blind bake the bottom, now is the time to do so. Bake the bottom for 10-15 minutes.
- Add the filling to the pie pan.
- Roll out the second half of the dough to place on top of the filling. We tried out a lattice pattern. Brush the top of the pie with a beaten egg white.
- Bake at 180c for 30 minutes until the top is well browned.
- Take the pie out of the oven and cool for 20 minutes before removing from the pie pan for serving.
- Enjoy
And we’re out
Thank you for showing an interest in our newsletter and we hope that you enjoyed the read. Feel free to contact us if you have any feedback, a burning question, or just a recipe that you would like to share.
Until next time, keep learning!
Everyone at Blackmill