People of Vox: Dylan Lockwood
“Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it.” ~ Oprah Winfrey
It’s not every day you meet someone prepared to take on a race that’s 100 miles long – and no, that wasn’t a typing error; the sentence is correctly saying ‘miles’ and not ‘kilometres’ (which is obviously what we in South Africa are more used to seeing). Let’s meet Dylan Lockwood, a Key Account Manager at Vox.
Dylan is one of an elite group of athletes who takes on the traditional ultramarathon challenge – and then runs significantly further! He combines business discipline, insight and steady habits with the physical and mental discipline of ultra‑endurance sport, which helps him to tackle life with incredible energy and enthusiasm.
We find out more about what inspires and motivates Dylan, both at work and when he’s out running in nature.
A Trusted Adviser to his Clients
Having spent his early years in Johannesburg, Dylan today is based in Sea Point, Cape Town, with almost three years at Vox under his belt. His colleagues admire him for balancing his work responsibilities with a deep commitment to endurance sports (more on this later).
While Vox is widely known for providing Connectivity and Voice solutions, Dylan’s role is to identify additional opportunities for his 70 or so enterprise clients, across the full Vox offering. In this way, he’s able to enhance their business experience overall, potentially introducing additional offerings such as firewalls, Wi‑Fi, audiovisual (AV), hardware and Microsoft licensing into the overall product suite.
He explains: “My job is to be the customer’s first point of contact, and their trusted adviser. I don’t need to be a specialist in every product offered by Vox, but I do need to understand the breadth of offerings well enough to guide clients and facilitate their access to the right product managers. My job combines technical understanding with relationship management.”
Two lessons stand out for Dylan: “Firstly,” he says, “don’t take things personally – in client service, it’s critical to separate out negative emotion from the work. Secondly, it’s important to build strong daily habits. For me, consistency is the backbone of success. I like to start the day reliably, prioritise the activities that move the dial and trust the process when complex deals take months to land.”
He’s very happy working for Vox today, but if Dylan had had access to a fortune teller when he was still studying, he would probably have been surprised to see the company’s distinctive bright green branding pulsing out from the traditional crystal ball.
Life Before Vox: Not Quite a Linear Process
Dylan’s journey after school didn’t entirely follow his originally intended path. Having first studied for a BCom in Industrial Psychology, Dylan later completed an Honours degree in Business Management while working full time: “This experience taught me how to juggle heavy workloads and study commitments!” he says.
His early career was in corporate sales with the Bidvest Group, where he discovered his deep love for the sales arena. Bidvest then sponsored further studies at Wits Business School, and he used this learning experience to further enhance his commercial skills.
He realised quite early in his career that he wasn’t entirely happy living in Joburg, especially as his love of endurance sports began to grow. He explains: “I’ve been quite active and sporty since I was at school, and when I started working in my first full-time corporate job, I found myself looking for a challenge outside work. I began exploring endurance sports when a friend persuaded me to enter a half Ironman race (70.3 miles) in 2017.
“Initially I was nervous about not having had enough time to prepare, but I was able to complete the event, which involved an ocean swim, bike ride and half‑marathon run, and from then on, I was hooked on the idea of participating in a sport that really pushes you to define your limits! I got into trail running and mountain biking and while I was based in Joburg, I rode the 947 Ride Joburg cycle race a couple of times. This helped to grow my interest in moving to Cape Town, where so much of the lifestyle is focused on nature and the outdoors.”
A move to remote work then allowed him to move to the Western Cape: Dylan took a role as branch strategist for a consumer review platform, which allowed him to relocate. After a year of remote working, he wanted to return to a more corporate role, which is when he was able to join Vox.
What Sets Vox Apart?
Dylan highlights two things that he believes differentiate Vox in the ISP market: the ability to deliver full turnkey solutions and the calibre of people. He explains: “Vox can supply connectivity, telephony, licensing, cabling and hardware, in other words, everything that a new business might need, and this breadth of service – our ability to offer more than just Fibre – is a competitive advantage.
“The other thing that I think differentiates us from our competitors is the people. I’ve had the opportunity to work in such an amazing team, including my line manager, Vanessa, and our fantastic sales administrator, Fagmidah. I’m immensely grateful for all the help and support from all my colleagues, who have often gone out of their way to support me.”
Challenges Along the Way
Dylan is candid about learning to deal with a particular health challenge – he lives with a chronic hearing condition in the form of tinnitus, which causes a constant high‑pitched ringing in his ears.
“The condition struck when I was about 21, and it initially created a big challenge in both my sleeping patterns, and being able to focus in meetings. The doctors I saw told me that it was something I unfortunately had to learn to live with. Mindfulness meditation became an essential tool and over time I’ve learned to manage the condition, so that it now affects me significantly less.”
Fortunately, Dylan’s love of running and outdoor sports also plays a role in helping him to manage the condition, and here again he’s grateful to be based in the Western Cape.
From Triathlon Rookie to 100‑Mile Finisher
Today, the easy access to the Cape’s beautiful scenery has allowed Dylan to embrace the unique enjoyment of ultra-distance trail running.
He explains: “I was expecting to continue my triathlon journey when I moved to Cape Town, and especially my mountain biking interest. But when I moved here, being so close to the mountains, I realised that the Cape outdoors is probably more ‘runner friendly’ than ‘mountain bike friendly’, and this was when trail running in the mountains opened up a wonderful new experience for me, offering me a sense of truest freedom.”
Shortly before joining Vox, Dylan completed the UTCT 100-kilometre ultra-trail race. He’s since taken it to the next level, and after six months of intense training, he recently tackled the UTCT 100-mile (165 kilometre) trail race, which started at 17:00 on a Friday afternoon, and finished on Sunday morning of the same weekend.
The course loops around the Cape Peninsula in a figure‑of‑eight, starting and ending at Gardens Rugby Club, taking runners over Lion’s Head, Signal Hill and Table Mountain, through Llandudno, Kommetjie and Simon’s Town. Dylan recalls running through the night on Table Mountain with a head torch as being a surreal highlight, a part of the race he described as “brutal” but unforgettable.
This gruelling 36‑hour feat showcased the same perseverance that he brings to his work. He explains: “I find that what I’ve learned during the preparation for these races, as well as what I learn on the race day, overflows into my personal and professional life. As a whole, it just makes my life better and easier – it gives my mind the tools that it needs to work hard and persevere.”
It all comes together to weave a tale that embraces Dylan’s professional achievements together with his passion and determination to push boundaries. Looking ahead, his personal goals include completing a number of additional trail races, such as the world-renowned Otter Trail in the Garden Route; snowboarding in Japan; and ultimately becoming a dad. He also aims to be Vox Key Account Manager of the Year one day, which is a career target that keeps him motivated.
In running, as in life, there are people who go the distance, and then there are those who go beyond. Dylan goes way, way beyond – both in life and in running. He truly embodies the Vox spirit – bold, committed and unstoppable!
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