As I grew up, I followed all of the expected educational milestones and found myself at University but not really valuing my experience so I dropped out and found an entry level role in a call centre. I'd always loved social and engagement activities and often found myself on charity committees and organising things, so my first junior marketing role was a big step forward and the start of a journey that I've loved every minute of.
I gained experience across the full marketing mix and was well supported by my manager and employer to pursue professional qualifications which led to me achieving my Chartered Institute of Marketing Diploma and then much later my Internal Communications Diploma and Certified Member status of the IoIC.
One of the biggest changes I've seen in my time working in Marketing and IC is how blurred the line between the outside world and organisational environment has become. In an age where social media and fast, responsive communications is the norm, IC is in a really exciting phase of its growth as an enabler of organisational success, sitting at the heart of what an organisation does and how colleagues experience it.
In my current role at Cadent, who are the UKs largest gas distribution network, I consider myself very lucky to lead a team of brilliant IC professionals and we all work as part of a larger multi-disciplined team, covering the full marketing mix. It's this variety that helps me to thrive in my role and really bring value as a communicator to the 6,000+ employees that rely on us everyday to stay up to date with what's happen across our networks.
Working in an operational business brings a huge amount of variety to my role, In over 2.5 years I haven't had two days that have been the same – but this is true of every other IC professional that I speak to. There is always something new to work on, something cyclical that needs a new perspective and lots of things that without you, could mean the difference between success and failure.
Internal Communications was never something I had considered an option when I was making choices at school and it was never something that my friends spoke about either but the world of work is changing at such a pace that now is a brilliant time to choose IC and put yourself at the heart of the conversation.
My mum always laughs when I explain what my job is to others who haven't come across IC before. Growing up (and now) I've always been talkative and I tell people that I'm paid to talk to people. I'm paid to talk, to learn, to listen, to share and to excite colleagues around me and that's why #IChoseIC.
