What do you do and how long have you been in your current role?
I'm the senior events manager at EE. I started work at Orange six and a half years ago and in that time I've moved from the graduate scheme to a senior management role. It's all been a bit of a whirlwind. Currently I manage all of our central internal events and work in a consultantancy type role for the wider business across our event portfolio. I've got a big job to do this year to shape our EE live event brand guidelines and showcase how we use technology within our events.
Right now, I'm helping to build the event side of our partnerships with Wembley and Tech City, which as a massive football fan is probably the most exciting partnership I could ever work on. I'm also doing a tour of our business, recruiting an in-house promotional team to work across all of our events and sponsorships so I'm loving meeting loads of new people.
Where was your first job? What was the most important thing you learnt there?
I've always had a job, through school, college and university, but I guess I got my first proper job after I graduated. I went travelling when I finished university and came back desperate for money. One evening over a glass of wine with a friend she said the venue she worked at was looking for some help over the summer. Long story short I ended up managing a wedding venue in the south-west and did that for 18 months, while I was applying for graduate roles.
I learnt every lesson possible to help me do my job today while I was there. In the crazy world of live events I've learnt that there's always a solution, whatever the problem and that you should never panic. If things do go wrong, which they inevitably will at some point, keeping a cool head is essential. I'm also pretty adept at emergency wedding dress repair and sobering up really drunk bridesmaids.
How did you get from there to where you are now?
My wedding planning days were only ever a stop gap, I knew after university that I really wanted to get onto a graduate scheme with one of the big brands. Luckily, I managed to get onto the Orange graduate scheme and moved up from the south west to the bright lights of London.
I joined the marketing scheme and my first placement was in the multimedia team as a propositions manager working on Microsoft, Bebo and Universal music product launches. From there I moved into the internal brand and comms team and was responsible for launching a new media channel, providing campaign support and conducting a UK-wide audit of the comms channels.
My break came with a change in our CEO. Given my event background I was asked to manage 'Tom on tour' - a country-wide set of events, with our new chief executive, Tom Alexander. On the back of that, I was offered a permanent position as a channel manager where I was in charge of our parties, conferences and experiential activity. That role also saw me work on the joint venture between Orange and T-Mobile and the formation of the company that would become the UK's biggest and fastest network, EE. This was a huge launchpad for me as it meant large-scale management kick off events, industry investor days and lots of experiential engagement activity.
Shortly after the joint venture I was brought onto the core project team for the creation of EE and I took a lead role on the brand launch events, including the press launch and EE Live, the biggest event I've ever worked on. Helping to bring the EE brand to life in a live environment was a career defining moment for me. Very few people help to launch a brand and to be part of that was something special. Not long after that I was given a promotion to a senior role.
Looking back, did you expect your career path to take the course it has?
Not at all. I was at university studying for a degree in psychology, but in the back of my mind I'd always wanted to be a lawyer. I quickly changed my mind when I realised I'd need to do a conversion course and a further year before I could go into an actual job. I knew I needed to take a break from studying so canned that idea and I literally went to the careers library one day. I looked up loads of different jobs, marketing sounded exciting and I was adamant I wanted to get on a graduate scheme as I thought it would be a great opportunity.
Apart from that I didn't have a clue how things would pan out. I found myself in the right company at the right time and luckily somebody at the time recognised my potential and they helped steer me to where I needed to go. It's not where I thought I'd be but I know it's perfect for me. I love the world of branding and events is just such a natural fit for me.
Would you do anything differently?
Absolutely not, I'm a firm believer in the process of the journey rather than the end outcome. I've had a blast along the way, in good times and bad, and I'm constantly learning so I try not to live with regret.
Who has inspired you along the way?
Slightly clichéd but my parents. Their work ethic is phenomenal and they have the most amazingly positive outlook on life. They've taught me that if you work hard for something, eventually good things will happen.
Have you ever had a job interview that went particularly well or spectacularly wrong?
I once did a telephone interview for a role at an insurance firm and completely forgot how they generate revenue. I had the worst mental block and literally couldn't think of anything to say. Needless to say I didn't make the next stage of recruitment.
I also failed a maths exams for a well known FMCG brand. My poor dad took a whole day off and drove me hundreds of miles and when I got there it was on something completely different that I had no knowledge of. Everything happens for a reason though and some of the questions were exactly the same as an entry exam that I took the week after and passed.
Is there a piece of career advice you’ve ever been told that has stuck with you?
I try to live by two pieces of advice. The first is to always stop, take a breath, and think before you jump into something. In this fast-paced world we live in, people can rush into decisions far too quickly and don't think things through properly. It never hurts to think before acting. The second is to treat everybody how you'd like to be treated. Manners cost nothing, and doing things with a smile usually gets a better response. I try to treat everybody with the same courtesy and respect, from the office receptionist to the CEO.
What career advice would you give to your 21-year-old self?
Those 'old' people giving you advice actually know what they are talking about so listen to them. One day you'll be telling a 21-year old somewhere exactly the same thing.
How do you wind down and relax after a hectic day?
I'm a keen cyclist and commute daily. Last year I started competing in triathlons so you'll often see me running around the common or swimming at the lido. I'm a huge football fan and a lifelong Spurs fan, which can be pretty painful at times. I'm a bit of a foodie and love eating out at different restaurants. I also love cooking at home and find the best way to chill out at the end of a stressful day is to have a good old chop, I find it really therapeutic. I'm a massive fan of cocktails and love a catch up with the girls over a bottle of wine.
Want to share your career story with us as part of the ? Email news editor Samantha Edwards to feature in a future How I Got Here.
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