Don’t Fear the Career Pivot

An internship at Selfridges in Exchange Square in my hometown of Manchester kicked off my career in events and marketing. I was in my early 20s, assisting the team on a large event for their AW showcase which involved an entire takeover of the department store and a fashion show. I fell in love with the fast-paced nature of it all, the pressure, meeting new people, the buzz.  

Off the back of that stint, I chanced my luck when I saw a role advertised for an Events Assistant at The Arcadia Group in London working alongside the PR and Marketing Team to deliver mainly press-facing events. At the time, Topshop was an institution for me and a fashion mecca – I was there every Saturday in my university days spending my student loan - so to have a chance of working at the HQ and in London was very exciting for me.  

I loved my time as part of the events team, working with all seven brands under the Arcadia banner, delivering and producing everything from intimate press dinners, to press launches and group press days. The role exposed me to London and the culture and vibrancy of the city in a way I could have never imagined.  

Agency Induction 

Four years at The Arcadia Group led me into further brand-side roles including a stint at Gap, but my agency career began at Tribe Marketing, where I worked on the TK Maxx account. Having built up a network in the industry, I then made the leap into freelance event production and came to XYZ, having known their executive creative director, Paul Stanway, via his wife who was my original boss and mentor at Arcadia.  

I started freelancing for the agency in a producer capacity back its early grassroots days, when they were probably about two years old and had the pleasure of producing some very exciting projects in very cool venues. Some standouts from that time include the Nike Zoom Summit, Nike’s Sponsorship of The London Youth Games and Nike Air Max press events. 

The Big Career Pivot 

I’m now a very proud mum to two lovely boys who are two and five and life is very different to what it was back in my early freelancing days. With parenting comes a whole new shift in responsibilities, different pressures and more demands on my time. 

Having built up a solid working relationship with XYZ over my production days, Paul approached me about an opportunity within his team that would see me moving away from my trade and working to help manage his team. As the agency had scaled, there was an obvious gap that needed to be filled to ensure the smooth running of what was becoming a bigger creative team function.  

Given my history with the agency, my knowledge of production, the jargon, how projects are produced and managed plus knowing the team and how they worked, it was a no-brainer. Most importantly, it struck me as an opportunity that would allow for a flexible working pattern and Paul himself identified this as being integral given my parental responsibilities and for this, I am very grateful. I feel very lucky to be in a position where flex working is not frowned upon, as I know this is not always the case across the industry. 

The Hybrid-Working Boon 

For me personally, hybrid working has been a game changer. Not commuting everyday makes for an easier childminder and school run and allows me to still have family time in and around working hours. Not to mention having more hours available for work productivity.  

There can sometimes be a blurred line between work ending and personal life starting, so you need to be disciplined and set your own boundaries. 

Longer-term – How Can Agencies Avoid the Churn and Losing Female Talent? 

Agencies – and all places of work – must know that becoming a parent doesn’t stop or hinder you from working efficiently. In fact, quite the opposite. Since becoming a parent, my multitasking skills, organisation and efficiency have multiplied in bucketloads. It’s made me more resilient and more determined and pushed me beyond my boundaries. These skills are not to be taken lightly and are highly transferable to the workplace. 

XYZ has always prioritised flexible thinking and working, and I’ve seen other working mothers before and after me given the flexibility to build a new working pattern that has retained their talent. It’s refreshing and reassuring that an agency run by two male founders has such a strong stance towards championing women and encouraging working parents. 

The industry overall should support those returning from parental leave if it is ever going to turn around the chronic issue it has regarding women leaving the industry and in turn, not having gender parity at board level. Apply some flexible thinking to the roles you create and the parameters of the work and then consider how individuals can still thrive around that, within their schedules. 

The Big Ambition… 

My biggest ambition is to continue to be in a role where a good and achievable work life balance is maintained. Having a role in both my sons’ lives will be a constant, so anything I take on work-wise will always need to fit in around that.  In my personal life, my husband and I are working on a passion project which focuses on property development, so to be able to work on that, alongside a role like this would be a win for me.