June 16, 2024 • 23 mins
Discover the inspiring story of Harriet McCullough, a dynamic B2B marketing manager at Pion, formerly known as Student Beans. Harriet takes us through her remarkable journey, sharing her expertise in community building, event planning, social media management, and digital PR. Learn how she emphasizes the creation of authentic brand connections and hear about her personal goal of enhancing her LinkedIn presence, demonstrating the importance of self-marketing and professional growth. Harriet also unveils the innovative offerings of Pion, including insights, advertising, and verification services, all while highlighting the company's strong employee-led culture.
Looking to thrive in a location-independent career? This episode is packed with actionable advice for T-shaped marketers navigating remote work. Hear firsthand experiences from a significant rebrand project and organizing the Youth Marketing Strategy Festival. Gain insights on selecting the right company culture, setting up a dedicated workspace, and balancing work-life dynamics. We also share effective strategies for managing daily tasks and maintaining productivity while working from home, such as creating daily to-do lists and planning ahead. Whether you’re aspiring to break out of the traditional office mold or seek better work-life harmony, this episode delivers practical tips and inspiration to help you succeed.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Alex (00:00):
Are you at an inflection point in your life and
struggling for ideas on what todo to start or grow your
location-independent career?
This series is all aboutuncovering the opportunities
that await in the world ofremote work and
location-independent business.
I'll be sharing case studies oflocation-independent
freelancers, solopreneurs,founders and leaders to give you
(00:24):
ideas on what they do and howthey're growing.
Imagine waking up in a new city, a new country or even just a
new coffee shop every week, withthe freedom and the ability to
work from anywhere in the world.
This isn't just a dream.
It's a reality that so manyhave achieved, and it's a
reality you can achieve too.
My name is Alex Wilson-Campbell.
(00:46):
I'm the founder of the RemoteWorker Life podcast, and this
series is dedicated to those atan inflection point in their
lives.
Maybe you're feeling stuck in atraditional job, maybe you're
yearning for more flexibilityand autonomy, or perhaps you're
looking for a way to balanceyour career with your personal
life.
Or maybe you're driven by a wayto balance your career with
your personal life, or maybeyou're driven by the desire to
(01:07):
explore the world withoutsacrificing your professional
ambitions.
Whatever your motivation,you're not alone.
Throughout this series, I'llshare case studies of
location-independent freelancers, solopreneurs, founders and
leaders who have successfullynavigated the transition to
location independence.
From digital nomads toentrepreneurs, we explore a wide
(01:30):
array of careers and businessesthat can be pursued from
anywhere.
So join me as we dive into thenuts and bolts of building a
remote work life, tacklingtopics like finding your niche,
leveraging your skills, creatinga sustainable income and
overcoming the inevitablechallenges along the way.
(01:50):
We'll also share the tools andstrategies that can help you
thrive in this exciting newlandscape.
So if you're ready to breakfree from the confines of a
traditional office to embark onsomething that is new and
matches your goals, you're inthe right place.
(02:11):
Today's guest is HarrietMcCullough.
She's an all-round marketerspecializing in community
building, content, seo events,social media and digital PR.
As a coordinator for thelargest Gen Z Insights Festival
globally, harriet handles allaspects of B2B marketing, event
planning and execution.
Her expertise lies in craftingfull channel marketing
(02:31):
strategies that foster authenticbrand connections through
content, social media andcommunity management.
Welcome, harriet.
Harriet (02:40):
Hi Alex, thank you so much for having me on the
podcast today.
I'm super excited to be here.
Yeah, I guess just to dive intoa bit about myself, who I am
and what I do.
So my name is Harriet McCullyand I'm a B2B marketing manager
here at Pion.
We were formerly named asStudent Beans, but we did a big
rebrand back in January.
But my current role is allabout community and events, so
(03:00):
that includes planning andrunning our third party events.
I also do a lot of customermarketing with our existing
customers and clients.
I manage our B2B social mediachannels and then kind of a big
part of my role is building outYMS, which is our youth
marketing strategy event.
So it's actually the largestyouth marketing event in the
world and we run it twice a yearin New York in March and,
(03:23):
coming up in June, we have theLondon event.
Alex (03:26):
And what made you choose to work at the company that
you're at at the moment.
Harriet (03:30):
So Pion is a really innovative brand to work for.
Our offering kind of spansacross three different product
areas.
We've got insights, advertisingand verification, so they're
kind of in a nutshell, like theservices that we offer.
So to give you a bit of context, insights is essentially giving
brands the data they need tounderstand the next generation
of consumers so we can undertakekind of research projects and
(03:51):
stuff like that.
Advertising is essentially, youknow, we offer brands a
platform to showcase their brand, their offers, their discount,
and give them that exposure theyneed to kind of a large
audience.
And then verification is, youknow, the actual technology that
verifies different consumergroups and allows brands to kind
of distribute those gatedoffers that they want to
specific groups, whether that'sstudents, whether that's
(04:13):
military, whether that's, youknow, healthcare industries,
professionals.
So yeah, we have quite a vastoffering and I think that was
something that really excited mewhen I first kind of stumbled
upon the brand and understood abit more about what they did.
But the other side, the culture, is really really strong and I
think, um, when you look at youknow what previously was student
(04:33):
beans across different socialnetworks and on their own
website.
They really do kind of live andbreathe a bit of like an
employee-led culture.
They offer, you know, a fullyfast kind of working environment
, as well as having like areally great supportive team and
people within the business.
So, yeah, I think they the kindof mixture of the culture is
(04:54):
really great and strong and thepeople genuinely love working
there, combined with the productand the offering and the
services that they have, andthat's something that, yeah,
really enticed me and made mewant to work for the company.
Alex (05:07):
Describe a personal, notable story or experience
that's influenced who you aretoday.
Harriet (05:13):
Yeah, of course.
So actually at the start ofthis year I kind of set out to
work on prioritizing my personalbrand a bit more within the
industry and I essentially madea bit of like a personal growth
plan on how, you know, I wantedto achieve that and a big part
of that was heavily focused onLinkedIn as a platform and I
wanted to kind of just set outand like define, you know, what
(05:36):
do I actually want to be knownfor and who do I need my
audience to be.
And with that came likeobviously, a whole host of other
questions like how consistentdo I need to be with things,
like when should I be doing thisand should I be targeting kind
of different people on differentchannels, and all those sorts
of questions.
Given like my experience inmarketing for brands, I kind of
thought I've never dedicatedtime to actually kind of
(05:58):
marketing myself.
So it was a really notableexperience at the start of the
year and has made a real kind ofdifference to both my personal
and professional work.
Kind of fast forward six monthsor so and I've managed to kind
of really build a network kindof like hyper engaged, hyper
relevant people that you know Ifind really inspiring but also
are great to.
You know, spit all ideas off ofand, you know, just build
(06:21):
relationships within theindustry.
Of all ideas off of, and, youknow, just build relationships
within the industry.
But aside from, like, thenetworking side, I've been able
to produce an ebook on personalbranding.
So that was a big project forme recently where I worked with
contributors within the industryto pull together this
essentially like a guide topersonal branding, giving people
tips and tricks that are alsostarting out and looking to
build and maintain a personalbrand.
So that was, you know, a greatkind of achievement.
(06:44):
Off the back of this I guess,self-reflective exercise at the
start of the year, and obviouslyfrom kind of then, I've been
able to gain access to thiscommunity of amazing marketers,
which, in turn, has then meantthat I've been able to take
opportunities like appearing inreports and sharing my expertise
as well, as you know, going onpodcasts and doing in real life
(07:04):
panel discussions and speakingopportunities and stuff like
that.
So, yeah, I highly recommend, Iguess, kind of setting yourself
personal goals in the same waythat you do at work, because,
yeah, that was kind of a notableexperience that's influenced
like who I am today and whereI've got to.
Kind of.
I guess I'm still on thejourney of building my personal
brand to get to where I want itto be, but that exercise really
(07:25):
helped me and I think it's, youknow, made me learn and grow
much faster and really kind ofhone in on what I really want to
be known for and achieve inboth my personal life and my
career.
Alex (07:36):
What are your aspirations for your career going forward?
Harriet (07:41):
Yeah, so my long-term goal has always been to one day
become the CMO of a business, sosomething I've always strived
for.
You know, I love like the peoplemanagement side of a role, as
well as being able to deliverand drive great results for
brands in the marketing space.
So a CMO is like my dreamlong-term goal, I think.
Shorter term, the idea ofcommunity building is something
(08:03):
that really intrigues me, so,yeah, I'm definitely keen to
start working on a bit of aproject around community
building.
We've got lots of things in theworks, specifically around
customer marketing in my currentrole at Pion that I'm gonna be
working on, which is a greatproject and a big aspirational
kind of thing that we'll beworking on over the next couple
of months.
(08:23):
And aside from that, I thinksomething else that I'm really
intrigued by that I definitelywant to implement more of in my
career is like leveraging AI andexperimenting with different AI
tools to be able to kind ofbetter perform and understand
more about the industry andessentially just, yeah, create
better projects, better toolsand, yeah, essentially just use
(08:47):
AI to my advantage and learn alot more about that and adapt to
be able to use it in myeveryday role.
So yeah, various different kindof aspirations in terms of
short term.
Alex (08:57):
As you look back on your life and connect the dots that
led to where you are now.
What are those dots?
Harriet (09:04):
so I studied media and cons at uni, specializing in
journalism, but I knew that Ikind of wanted to go down more
of like a corporate role withinmarketing.
So yeah, after uni I got myfirst role at an agency which
gave me kind of exposure to awhole host of different
industries and businesses andit's definitely a great first
(09:25):
step.
I guess, out fresh out of unipursuing you know, something
relevant to my degree fastforward a few years, I guess the
next kind of dot.
I moved around a couple ofagencies just to gain more
experience across you know, awide range of marketing channels
as well, as you know, workingwith various different clients,
and I did gain some really greatexperience working agency side
and got really thrown into thedeep end.
(09:47):
And it's been a year now sinceI've been working in-house at
Pion and it's actually my firstkind of brand in-house role.
And, as I said, like formerlystudent beans, we went through a
big rebrand at the start of theyear which was a super exciting
project to be a part of.
So I think like the key dotsdefinitely have to be, you know,
defining, I guess, what Iwanted to study at uni early on,
(10:08):
which then kind of led me toyou know lots of different dots,
I guess working acrossdifferent agencies and getting
great exposure to you know,finally landing my current role
at Pion, where you know asignificant part of my career,
or, you know, I guess, the kindof final closing dot of this
question, a recent highlight forme was kind of taking to the
(10:30):
stage to host a panel discussionin front of over 500 marketers,
which for me is something thatI used to find incredibly
daunting, but pushing myselfoutside of my comfort zone
essentially, you know, hasenabled me to to overcome a bit
of like a nervousness aroundpublic speaking and allowed me
to do more fun stuff, likeappearing on this podcast today.
So, yeah, just a bit of aninsight into some of the notable
(10:53):
dots that have led me on to youknow where I am now and what I
currently do what made youchoose this particular
profession?
so I've always loved writing andhad a bit of like a creative
flair.
You know, right from a child,all those kind of school
subjects that you get to choose.
Mine were always very creativedriven subjects.
I think within marketing youget to use those creative skills
(11:15):
than maybe other professionsthat or industries that are out
there.
But also I'm, you know, a hugelover of experimentation and
innovation, which I personallythink the marketing industry is
kind of at the forefront of.
You know, alongside the techindustry, marketing follows very
closely behind when it comes toinnovation and experimentation,
in my opinion.
So yeah, I guess being able touse those skills that match my
(11:37):
personality and my interest isreally why I chose to work in
this industry.
And then, I guess, why my kindof specific role?
So currently I have quite abroad role which spans across,
you know, social media, emailmarketing, events marketing and
community building, so I reallyam able to cover quite a lot of
channels within my day-to-dayrole and the strategies that you
(11:57):
know I implement for our brand.
I've got like a great varietyand flexibility.
That gives me something thatyou know I've always wanted to
have in a role there.
There's this, you know, I guessdigressing a little bit.
But there's this concept of aT-shaped marketer.
So essentially it's somebodywho has expertise in around kind
of one to three marketingfacets, but then also then kind
(12:19):
of savvy in other marketingfacets.
So it's essentially shaped into, you know, like a letter T.
And that is one of my personalgoals, you know, to become a
good as good of a of a t-shapedmarketer as I can be.
And this role really helped meto strive towards that by giving
me, you know that, exposure toas many channels and outputs as
possible.
Alex (12:38):
And was there a particular aha moment for you which
confirmed that you were in theright profession and in the
right role?
Harriet (12:46):
So I think the rebrand project at the start of the year
that I've mentioned a few timeswas a key moment for me.
You know, being involved in sucha big project was really
exciting and I was able toutilize my skills across various
channels and work verycross-collaboratively with other
departments to achieve like acompany-wide goal.
So I think that was like a greatmoment where I was able to kind
(13:08):
of see like a direct impact ofthe actions that I took and the
work that I implemented.
Which kind of made me feel likeI was definitely in the right
role, but also like a huge one,I guess, was seeing out this
year's Youth Marketing StrategyFestival in New York that we
host.
So, as I mentioned at the start, we host this event twice a
year, once in New York and oncein London, and this was the
(13:29):
first ever event that I'dorganized and done all the
marketing for since starting atPion, you know, a year ago now.
So seeing eight months of work,of marketing activity, content
planning, you know, event setupactually come to life was such a
surreal experience like youlive and breathe the event
agenda and all the comms thatare going over out kind of over
(13:50):
such a long period of time andto finally kind of be there in a
room over a two-day conferenceand see everything you've been
working towards in the flesh wassuch a great aha moment and
made me feel, you know, verygrateful to be in the role in
the industry that I'm in.
Alex (14:05):
What advice can you offer to somebody who's looking to
build their own location?
Independent career.
Harriet (14:12):
So, if it is a business or a company that you want to
work for, my advice would beresearch businesses that promote
having a strong culture, thosethat kind of foster personal
development and, in this case, aremote first way of working.
I think, if remote working issomething you're really striving
for, ensuring that you'reasking those businesses the
right questions around you, knowhow they work, what processes
(14:34):
they have in place to makeremote working actually work for
everyone, but also speak topeople within the company who
might be, you know, more junior,that are kind of like you're
going to give you a super honestanswer about what the company
is like and then you have kindof a more holistic view of
whether this kind of company isgoing to work for you in your
remote setting and if that'ssomething you want to prioritize
(14:55):
.
I think that that's some thingsthat I would potentially do.
On the flip side of that, I'dalso say you know whether you're
working for a company orworking for yourself, remotely,
making sure your workingenvironment is different to your
home, relaxing environment.
So I can't stress enough howimportant this is.
Previously, like at the start ofthe pandemic, when everyone was
(15:16):
thrown into, you know, remotefirst working, I really
struggled, working from myliving room or working from the
spare bedroom, to then like shutoff at the end of the day.
But we then kind of since movedhouse and we've now dedicated a
specific space in the house forworking.
So you know, once you'vefinished your you know you've
(15:36):
finished working at half five,six o'clock, whatever time it
might be you can shut the doorand leave that room alone and
you don't have to go back inthere until you know the next
day.
So it just gives you that guessbalance between home life and
work life, because I can'tstress enough how difficult it
can be if you don't have thatkind of I guess balance and that
barrier of separating those two.
Alex (15:59):
What made you choose remote work as an option?
Harriet (16:09):
kind of forced everyone into the remote work really.
But I guess, post-pandemic, Ifound myself far more productive
working from home than the oddoffice day you know here and
there.
I think office days for me feltmore like social occasions, you
know, catching up withcolleagues.
Hadn't seen them since lastweek in real life and I'd really
struggled to kind of focus in abusy office environment
initially, especially when thatkind of transition back to you
know, once a week in the officecame back.
(16:29):
I think people did struggleinitially with the, you know,
fully remote environment inCovid.
I definitely took, you know, awhile to adjust to it and mental
health was a big part of thatswitch.
But obviously the situationthen was heightened because of
the pandemic.
But once I had fully adapted,you know, changed my work, setup
my routine and set boundariesand, you know, started to
(16:50):
completely fall in love withthis concept of remote working.
So I guess, in terms of why Icontinue to work remotely, I
think flexibility and freedom isabsolutely fantastic.
So think about, like thecommute time that you're saving
you could be gaining you know,two hours plus a day from
previously that you know youpreviously would have lost to
commuting.
But I also think, in terms oflike productivity, my focus and
(17:14):
attention to detail is so muchgreater when working from home.
I think it's testament to, Iguess, working for a company
that's very well set up to workboth remotely and hybrid, and
obviously as well in the officeas well when people do go in.
But we have a great mix of youknow, in-person events,
catch-ups, workshops in reallife, but we also have, like,
(17:35):
all the tools that we need to beable to successfully work
collaboratively online too andhow would you describe your
current company's culture?
I think to put it into threewords, I would say supportive,
innovative and, I guess,pioneering.
You know it's in our companyname, pion we.
You know we have greatinitiatives to give you the best
(17:57):
working environment and balanceof home and work life as
possible, I think, aside frombeing remote.
First, they have kind ofmonthly P&D sessions blocked out
in people's calendars so thatyou have dedicated time to focus
on your personal development.
We have Flexi Fridays so youhave like options to have a bit
of a shorter week, some weeksand some not.
(18:18):
We also have budget allocationfor like training and
development.
So if there's something thatyou think will help you develop
in your role and you needextended budget for it, you know
that option is there.
So, yeah, the culture is reallyencouraging and I would
probably say employee led.
Alex (18:36):
What qualities and characteristics do your hiring
managers look for when they'rerecruiting new hires?
Harriet (18:42):
So, as a business, we have defined values which
essentially form an acronym,sharp, so that stands for speed,
wins, be humble, we are allaccountable, deliver results
that wow and choose positivity.
So these characteristicsessentially you know perfectly
encompass the type of peoplethat Pion want to work with and
(19:03):
the behaviors that theyessentially encourage.
So, yeah, I would say that thehiring managers 100% would
consider those kind of fivevalues that the company has
created and that's what theywould look for when they do come
to hiring.
Alex (19:18):
What's your philosophy for building a great team?
Harriet (19:22):
I mean, I think there's a ton of things you could, you
could, answer here.
I think the first one isprobably talent.
So you know, you need skilledindividuals who believe in each
other and can workcollaboratively.
Following on from that, I'd saytrust is a big one.
So being able to foster, youknow, open communication and
honesty, to build trust withinyour department or your team, is
(19:43):
absolutely imperative.
And then the last one, probablytogetherness.
So you know, celebratingachievements together, creating
a sense of belonging and alsohaving like a shared purpose and
togetherness within the team.
I think is is really important.
Alex (19:58):
Is there a particular team or organization whose culture
you admire?
If so, tell us about that.
Harriet (20:09):
So I don't particularly know like specific
organizations other than youknow the huge brands like Google
and Cisco, who are superwell-known for their culture.
But I guess, as a piece ofadvice to anyone who wants to
find out a bit more about abusiness that they're applying
for, I mean, I'd 100% recommendtalking to people who work
within the organization, rightfrom you know interns and junior
members through to seniorpeople.
(20:30):
That can give you a real feelacross the board on what that
culture is actually like.
I've done this before and it'sgone.
I guess you know both ways.
You know where it's helped mepush forward with applications
or, maybe you know, hold backfor something that from
something that might not havebeen right for me at the time.
So, yeah, google and cisco areknown for having great culture,
but if it is like a smallerorganization that you're
(20:52):
applying to or you're interestedin knowing what the culture's
genuinely like, I would 100recommend reaching out to people
who currently work there andjust asking their feedback what
do you prefer to do when you'renot working?
get out of the house and getactive.
So it's great for mental health,obviously, and, you know,
ensuring you're not constantlyin your home office or like home
(21:14):
environment.
So, me personally, I play sportthree to four times a week and
it's, you know, a fantastic wayto decompress and just totally
take your mind off of work.
You know, specifically, I'vealways really been into sport,
but I've been trying out newsports over the last couple of
years, which I really dorecommend doing.
As you know, if it's somethingyou've not tried before, it can
(21:34):
be quite challenging and likebeing able to kind of stick at
it and overcome a challenge inyour hobby or whatever it may be
, will also then reflect in yourwork life.
And, you know, build a strongercharacter and personality, make
you more resilient, and stufflike that.
So, yeah, I absolutely love,you know, build a stronger
character and personality, makeyou more resilient and stuff
like that.
So, yeah, I absolutely love,you know, getting out of the
house and getting active if, ifI'm not working, what are your
(21:55):
best tips for organizing yourday and staying productive while
working remotely?
so at the start of the week Iset out daily to-do lists every
single day of the week.
Something that I tend to do is,within those days, I will set
myself three major tasks that Ihave to get done on that day and
they're kind of likenon-negotiable the three big
(22:18):
tasks I absolutely have to getdone that day.
And then, if there are smallertasks that come in, there's more
flexibility to like move thoseon to the following day.
But also, I guess, like a bigtip is just hold yourself
accountable, especially whenworking from home.
You know there are so manythings that could distract you,
but it's about, you know, beingresilient and holding yourself
to account.
(22:38):
So something I do is break myday down into thirds so in order
to like basically check in withmyself on what I set out to
achieve within that day.
Have I got there or not?
So I will do check-ins at kindof before 11am, then 2pm and
then 5pm, just to hold myself abit more accountable, to did I
(22:59):
achieve those three major tasksthat I set out at the start of
the week?
And then, lastly, I guess, justplan for the week ahead.
So on a Friday it's very easyto, you know, log off on time
and embrace the weekend.
But I guess a top tip for me isset yourself up for success for
next week.
Plan what you need to do onMonday, tuesday and Wednesday on
your Friday so that when youcome in on you know Monday
(23:21):
morning you've actually got aset to do list and you know
exactly what your plans are forthe first couple of days of that
week.
Alex (23:28):
Yes, it may change, but having some kind of rough notes
or a rough structure of what youneed to get done and having
that planned will just make yourfollowing week so much easier
that's it for today's episode ofthe remote work life podcast,
but if you're a location,independent freelancer,
solopreneur, founder or leaderand want to provide a case study
(23:49):
for the remote work lifepodcast, get in touch with me
via LinkedIn using the linkbelow in the show notes.
Are you at an inflection point in your life and
struggling for ideas on what todo to start or grow your
location-independent career?
This series is all aboutuncovering the opportunities
that await in the world ofremote work and
location-independent business.
I'll be sharing case studies oflocation-independent
freelancers, solopreneurs,founders and leaders to give you
(00:24):
ideas on what they do and howthey're growing.
Imagine waking up in a new city, a new country or even just a
new coffee shop every week, withthe freedom and the ability to
work from anywhere in the world.
This isn't just a dream.
It's a reality that so manyhave achieved, and it's a
reality you can achieve too.
My name is Alex Wilson-Campbell.
(00:46):
I'm the founder of the RemoteWorker Life podcast, and this
series is dedicated to those atan inflection point in their
lives.
Maybe you're feeling stuck in atraditional job, maybe you're
yearning for more flexibilityand autonomy, or perhaps you're
looking for a way to balanceyour career with your personal
life.
Or maybe you're driven by a wayto balance your career with
your personal life, or maybeyou're driven by the desire to
(01:07):
explore the world withoutsacrificing your professional
ambitions.
Whatever your motivation,you're not alone.
Throughout this series, I'llshare case studies of
location-independent freelancers, solopreneurs, founders and
leaders who have successfullynavigated the transition to
location independence.
From digital nomads toentrepreneurs, we explore a wide
(01:30):
array of careers and businessesthat can be pursued from
anywhere.
So join me as we dive into thenuts and bolts of building a
remote work life, tacklingtopics like finding your niche,
leveraging your skills, creatinga sustainable income and
overcoming the inevitablechallenges along the way.
(01:50):
We'll also share the tools andstrategies that can help you
thrive in this exciting newlandscape.
So if you're ready to breakfree from the confines of a
traditional office to embark onsomething that is new and
matches your goals, you're inthe right place.
(02:11):
Today's guest is HarrietMcCullough.
She's an all-round marketerspecializing in community
building, content, seo events,social media and digital PR.
As a coordinator for thelargest Gen Z Insights Festival
globally, harriet handles allaspects of B2B marketing, event
planning and execution.
Her expertise lies in craftingfull channel marketing
(02:31):
strategies that foster authenticbrand connections through
content, social media andcommunity management.
Welcome, harriet.
Harriet (02:40):
Hi Alex, thank you so much for having me on the
podcast today.
I'm super excited to be here.
Yeah, I guess just to dive intoa bit about myself, who I am
and what I do.
So my name is Harriet McCullyand I'm a B2B marketing manager
here at Pion.
We were formerly named asStudent Beans, but we did a big
rebrand back in January.
But my current role is allabout community and events, so
(03:00):
that includes planning andrunning our third party events.
I also do a lot of customermarketing with our existing
customers and clients.
I manage our B2B social mediachannels and then kind of a big
part of my role is building outYMS, which is our youth
marketing strategy event.
So it's actually the largestyouth marketing event in the
world and we run it twice a yearin New York in March and,
(03:23):
coming up in June, we have theLondon event.
Alex (03:26):
And what made you choose to work at the company that
you're at at the moment.
Harriet (03:30):
So Pion is a really innovative brand to work for.
Our offering kind of spansacross three different product
areas.
We've got insights, advertisingand verification, so they're
kind of in a nutshell, like theservices that we offer.
So to give you a bit of context, insights is essentially giving
brands the data they need tounderstand the next generation
of consumers so we can undertakekind of research projects and
(03:51):
stuff like that.
Advertising is essentially, youknow, we offer brands a
platform to showcase their brand, their offers, their discount,
and give them that exposure theyneed to kind of a large
audience.
And then verification is, youknow, the actual technology that
verifies different consumergroups and allows brands to kind
of distribute those gatedoffers that they want to
specific groups, whether that'sstudents, whether that's
(04:13):
military, whether that's, youknow, healthcare industries,
professionals.
So yeah, we have quite a vastoffering and I think that was
something that really excited mewhen I first kind of stumbled
upon the brand and understood abit more about what they did.
But the other side, the culture, is really really strong and I
think, um, when you look at youknow what previously was student
(04:33):
beans across different socialnetworks and on their own
website.
They really do kind of live andbreathe a bit of like an
employee-led culture.
They offer, you know, a fullyfast kind of working environment
, as well as having like areally great supportive team and
people within the business.
So, yeah, I think they the kindof mixture of the culture is
(04:54):
really great and strong and thepeople genuinely love working
there, combined with the productand the offering and the
services that they have, andthat's something that, yeah,
really enticed me and made mewant to work for the company.
Alex (05:07):
Describe a personal, notable story or experience
that's influenced who you aretoday.
Harriet (05:13):
Yeah, of course.
So actually at the start ofthis year I kind of set out to
work on prioritizing my personalbrand a bit more within the
industry and I essentially madea bit of like a personal growth
plan on how, you know, I wantedto achieve that and a big part
of that was heavily focused onLinkedIn as a platform and I
wanted to kind of just set outand like define, you know, what
(05:36):
do I actually want to be knownfor and who do I need my
audience to be.
And with that came likeobviously, a whole host of other
questions like how consistentdo I need to be with things,
like when should I be doing thisand should I be targeting kind
of different people on differentchannels, and all those sorts
of questions.
Given like my experience inmarketing for brands, I kind of
thought I've never dedicatedtime to actually kind of
(05:58):
marketing myself.
So it was a really notableexperience at the start of the
year and has made a real kind ofdifference to both my personal
and professional work.
Kind of fast forward six monthsor so and I've managed to kind
of really build a network kindof like hyper engaged, hyper
relevant people that you know Ifind really inspiring but also
are great to.
You know, spit all ideas off ofand, you know, just build
(06:21):
relationships within theindustry.
Of all ideas off of, and, youknow, just build relationships
within the industry.
But aside from, like, thenetworking side, I've been able
to produce an ebook on personalbranding.
So that was a big project forme recently where I worked with
contributors within the industryto pull together this
essentially like a guide topersonal branding, giving people
tips and tricks that are alsostarting out and looking to
build and maintain a personalbrand.
So that was, you know, a greatkind of achievement.
(06:44):
Off the back of this I guess,self-reflective exercise at the
start of the year, and obviouslyfrom kind of then, I've been
able to gain access to thiscommunity of amazing marketers,
which, in turn, has then meantthat I've been able to take
opportunities like appearing inreports and sharing my expertise
as well, as you know, going onpodcasts and doing in real life
(07:04):
panel discussions and speakingopportunities and stuff like
that.
So, yeah, I highly recommend, Iguess, kind of setting yourself
personal goals in the same waythat you do at work, because,
yeah, that was kind of a notableexperience that's influenced
like who I am today and whereI've got to.
Kind of.
I guess I'm still on thejourney of building my personal
brand to get to where I want itto be, but that exercise really
(07:25):
helped me and I think it's, youknow, made me learn and grow
much faster and really kind ofhone in on what I really want to
be known for and achieve inboth my personal life and my
career.
Alex (07:36):
What are your aspirations for your career going forward?
Harriet (07:41):
Yeah, so my long-term goal has always been to one day
become the CMO of a business, sosomething I've always strived
for.
You know, I love like the peoplemanagement side of a role, as
well as being able to deliverand drive great results for
brands in the marketing space.
So a CMO is like my dreamlong-term goal, I think.
Shorter term, the idea ofcommunity building is something
(08:03):
that really intrigues me, so,yeah, I'm definitely keen to
start working on a bit of aproject around community
building.
We've got lots of things in theworks, specifically around
customer marketing in my currentrole at Pion that I'm gonna be
working on, which is a greatproject and a big aspirational
kind of thing that we'll beworking on over the next couple
of months.
(08:23):
And aside from that, I thinksomething else that I'm really
intrigued by that I definitelywant to implement more of in my
career is like leveraging AI andexperimenting with different AI
tools to be able to kind ofbetter perform and understand
more about the industry andessentially just, yeah, create
better projects, better toolsand, yeah, essentially just use
(08:47):
AI to my advantage and learn alot more about that and adapt to
be able to use it in myeveryday role.
So yeah, various different kindof aspirations in terms of
short term.
Alex (08:57):
As you look back on your life and connect the dots that
led to where you are now.
What are those dots?
Harriet (09:04):
so I studied media and cons at uni, specializing in
journalism, but I knew that Ikind of wanted to go down more
of like a corporate role withinmarketing.
So yeah, after uni I got myfirst role at an agency which
gave me kind of exposure to awhole host of different
industries and businesses andit's definitely a great first
(09:25):
step.
I guess, out fresh out of unipursuing you know, something
relevant to my degree fastforward a few years, I guess the
next kind of dot.
I moved around a couple ofagencies just to gain more
experience across you know, awide range of marketing channels
as well, as you know, workingwith various different clients,
and I did gain some really greatexperience working agency side
and got really thrown into thedeep end.
(09:47):
And it's been a year now sinceI've been working in-house at
Pion and it's actually my firstkind of brand in-house role.
And, as I said, like formerlystudent beans, we went through a
big rebrand at the start of theyear which was a super exciting
project to be a part of.
So I think like the key dotsdefinitely have to be, you know,
defining, I guess, what Iwanted to study at uni early on,
(10:08):
which then kind of led me toyou know lots of different dots,
I guess working acrossdifferent agencies and getting
great exposure to you know,finally landing my current role
at Pion, where you know asignificant part of my career,
or, you know, I guess, the kindof final closing dot of this
question, a recent highlight forme was kind of taking to the
(10:30):
stage to host a panel discussionin front of over 500 marketers,
which for me is something thatI used to find incredibly
daunting, but pushing myselfoutside of my comfort zone
essentially, you know, hasenabled me to to overcome a bit
of like a nervousness aroundpublic speaking and allowed me
to do more fun stuff, likeappearing on this podcast today.
So, yeah, just a bit of aninsight into some of the notable
(10:53):
dots that have led me on to youknow where I am now and what I
currently do what made youchoose this particular
profession?
so I've always loved writing andhad a bit of like a creative
flair.
You know, right from a child,all those kind of school
subjects that you get to choose.
Mine were always very creativedriven subjects.
I think within marketing youget to use those creative skills
(11:15):
than maybe other professionsthat or industries that are out
there.
But also I'm, you know, a hugelover of experimentation and
innovation, which I personallythink the marketing industry is
kind of at the forefront of.
You know, alongside the techindustry, marketing follows very
closely behind when it comes toinnovation and experimentation,
in my opinion.
So yeah, I guess being able touse those skills that match my
(11:37):
personality and my interest isreally why I chose to work in
this industry.
And then, I guess, why my kindof specific role?
So currently I have quite abroad role which spans across,
you know, social media, emailmarketing, events marketing and
community building, so I reallyam able to cover quite a lot of
channels within my day-to-dayrole and the strategies that you
(11:57):
know I implement for our brand.
I've got like a great varietyand flexibility.
That gives me something thatyou know I've always wanted to
have in a role there.
There's this, you know, I guessdigressing a little bit.
But there's this concept of aT-shaped marketer.
So essentially it's somebodywho has expertise in around kind
of one to three marketingfacets, but then also then kind
(12:19):
of savvy in other marketingfacets.
So it's essentially shaped into, you know, like a letter T.
And that is one of my personalgoals, you know, to become a
good as good of a of a t-shapedmarketer as I can be.
And this role really helped meto strive towards that by giving
me, you know that, exposure toas many channels and outputs as
possible.
Alex (12:38):
And was there a particular aha moment for you which
confirmed that you were in theright profession and in the
right role?
Harriet (12:46):
So I think the rebrand project at the start of the year
that I've mentioned a few timeswas a key moment for me.
You know, being involved in sucha big project was really
exciting and I was able toutilize my skills across various
channels and work verycross-collaboratively with other
departments to achieve like acompany-wide goal.
So I think that was like a greatmoment where I was able to kind
(13:08):
of see like a direct impact ofthe actions that I took and the
work that I implemented.
Which kind of made me feel likeI was definitely in the right
role, but also like a huge one,I guess, was seeing out this
year's Youth Marketing StrategyFestival in New York that we
host.
So, as I mentioned at the start, we host this event twice a
year, once in New York and oncein London, and this was the
(13:29):
first ever event that I'dorganized and done all the
marketing for since starting atPion, you know, a year ago now.
So seeing eight months of work,of marketing activity, content
planning, you know, event setupactually come to life was such a
surreal experience like youlive and breathe the event
agenda and all the comms thatare going over out kind of over
(13:50):
such a long period of time andto finally kind of be there in a
room over a two-day conferenceand see everything you've been
working towards in the flesh wassuch a great aha moment and
made me feel, you know, verygrateful to be in the role in
the industry that I'm in.
Alex (14:05):
What advice can you offer to somebody who's looking to
build their own location?
Independent career.
Harriet (14:12):
So, if it is a business or a company that you want to
work for, my advice would beresearch businesses that promote
having a strong culture, thosethat kind of foster personal
development and, in this case, aremote first way of working.
I think, if remote working issomething you're really striving
for, ensuring that you'reasking those businesses the
right questions around you, knowhow they work, what processes
(14:34):
they have in place to makeremote working actually work for
everyone, but also speak topeople within the company who
might be, you know, more junior,that are kind of like you're
going to give you a super honestanswer about what the company
is like and then you have kindof a more holistic view of
whether this kind of company isgoing to work for you in your
remote setting and if that'ssomething you want to prioritize
(14:55):
.
I think that that's some thingsthat I would potentially do.
On the flip side of that, I'dalso say you know whether you're
working for a company orworking for yourself, remotely,
making sure your workingenvironment is different to your
home, relaxing environment.
So I can't stress enough howimportant this is.
Previously, like at the start ofthe pandemic, when everyone was
(15:16):
thrown into, you know, remotefirst working, I really
struggled, working from myliving room or working from the
spare bedroom, to then like shutoff at the end of the day.
But we then kind of since movedhouse and we've now dedicated a
specific space in the house forworking.
So you know, once you'vefinished your you know you've
(15:36):
finished working at half five,six o'clock, whatever time it
might be you can shut the doorand leave that room alone and
you don't have to go back inthere until you know the next
day.
So it just gives you that guessbalance between home life and
work life, because I can'tstress enough how difficult it
can be if you don't have thatkind of I guess balance and that
barrier of separating those two.
Alex (15:59):
What made you choose remote work as an option?
Harriet (16:09):
kind of forced everyone into the remote work really.
But I guess, post-pandemic, Ifound myself far more productive
working from home than the oddoffice day you know here and
there.
I think office days for me feltmore like social occasions, you
know, catching up withcolleagues.
Hadn't seen them since lastweek in real life and I'd really
struggled to kind of focus in abusy office environment
initially, especially when thatkind of transition back to you
know, once a week in the officecame back.
(16:29):
I think people did struggleinitially with the, you know,
fully remote environment inCovid.
I definitely took, you know, awhile to adjust to it and mental
health was a big part of thatswitch.
But obviously the situationthen was heightened because of
the pandemic.
But once I had fully adapted,you know, changed my work, setup
my routine and set boundariesand, you know, started to
(16:50):
completely fall in love withthis concept of remote working.
So I guess, in terms of why Icontinue to work remotely, I
think flexibility and freedom isabsolutely fantastic.
So think about, like thecommute time that you're saving
you could be gaining you know,two hours plus a day from
previously that you know youpreviously would have lost to
commuting.
But I also think, in terms oflike productivity, my focus and
(17:14):
attention to detail is so muchgreater when working from home.
I think it's testament to, Iguess, working for a company
that's very well set up to workboth remotely and hybrid, and
obviously as well in the officeas well when people do go in.
But we have a great mix of youknow, in-person events,
catch-ups, workshops in reallife, but we also have, like,
(17:35):
all the tools that we need to beable to successfully work
collaboratively online too andhow would you describe your
current company's culture?
I think to put it into threewords, I would say supportive,
innovative and, I guess,pioneering.
You know it's in our companyname, pion we.
You know we have greatinitiatives to give you the best
(17:57):
working environment and balanceof home and work life as
possible, I think, aside frombeing remote.
First, they have kind ofmonthly P&D sessions blocked out
in people's calendars so thatyou have dedicated time to focus
on your personal development.
We have Flexi Fridays so youhave like options to have a bit
of a shorter week, some weeksand some not.
(18:18):
We also have budget allocationfor like training and
development.
So if there's something thatyou think will help you develop
in your role and you needextended budget for it, you know
that option is there.
So, yeah, the culture is reallyencouraging and I would
probably say employee led.
Alex (18:36):
What qualities and characteristics do your hiring
managers look for when they'rerecruiting new hires?
Harriet (18:42):
So, as a business, we have defined values which
essentially form an acronym,sharp, so that stands for speed,
wins, be humble, we are allaccountable, deliver results
that wow and choose positivity.
So these characteristicsessentially you know perfectly
encompass the type of peoplethat Pion want to work with and
(19:03):
the behaviors that theyessentially encourage.
So, yeah, I would say that thehiring managers 100% would
consider those kind of fivevalues that the company has
created and that's what theywould look for when they do come
to hiring.
Alex (19:18):
What's your philosophy for building a great team?
Harriet (19:22):
I mean, I think there's a ton of things you could, you
could, answer here.
I think the first one isprobably talent.
So you know, you need skilledindividuals who believe in each
other and can workcollaboratively.
Following on from that, I'd saytrust is a big one.
So being able to foster, youknow, open communication and
honesty, to build trust withinyour department or your team, is
(19:43):
absolutely imperative.
And then the last one, probablytogetherness.
So you know, celebratingachievements together, creating
a sense of belonging and alsohaving like a shared purpose and
togetherness within the team.
I think is is really important.
Alex (19:58):
Is there a particular team or organization whose culture
you admire?
If so, tell us about that.
Harriet (20:09):
So I don't particularly know like specific
organizations other than youknow the huge brands like Google
and Cisco, who are superwell-known for their culture.
But I guess, as a piece ofadvice to anyone who wants to
find out a bit more about abusiness that they're applying
for, I mean, I'd 100% recommendtalking to people who work
within the organization, rightfrom you know interns and junior
members through to seniorpeople.
(20:30):
That can give you a real feelacross the board on what that
culture is actually like.
I've done this before and it'sgone.
I guess you know both ways.
You know where it's helped mepush forward with applications
or, maybe you know, hold backfor something that from
something that might not havebeen right for me at the time.
So, yeah, google and cisco areknown for having great culture,
but if it is like a smallerorganization that you're
(20:52):
applying to or you're interestedin knowing what the culture's
genuinely like, I would 100recommend reaching out to people
who currently work there andjust asking their feedback what
do you prefer to do when you'renot working?
get out of the house and getactive.
So it's great for mental health,obviously, and, you know,
ensuring you're not constantlyin your home office or like home
(21:14):
environment.
So, me personally, I play sportthree to four times a week and
it's, you know, a fantastic wayto decompress and just totally
take your mind off of work.
You know, specifically, I'vealways really been into sport,
but I've been trying out newsports over the last couple of
years, which I really dorecommend doing.
As you know, if it's somethingyou've not tried before, it can
(21:34):
be quite challenging and likebeing able to kind of stick at
it and overcome a challenge inyour hobby or whatever it may be
, will also then reflect in yourwork life.
And, you know, build a strongercharacter and personality, make
you more resilient, and stufflike that.
So, yeah, I absolutely love,you know, build a stronger
character and personality, makeyou more resilient and stuff
like that.
So, yeah, I absolutely love,you know, getting out of the
house and getting active if, ifI'm not working, what are your
(21:55):
best tips for organizing yourday and staying productive while
working remotely?
so at the start of the week Iset out daily to-do lists every
single day of the week.
Something that I tend to do is,within those days, I will set
myself three major tasks that Ihave to get done on that day and
they're kind of likenon-negotiable the three big
(22:18):
tasks I absolutely have to getdone that day.
And then, if there are smallertasks that come in, there's more
flexibility to like move thoseon to the following day.
But also, I guess, like a bigtip is just hold yourself
accountable, especially whenworking from home.
You know there are so manythings that could distract you,
but it's about, you know, beingresilient and holding yourself
to account.
(22:38):
So something I do is break myday down into thirds so in order
to like basically check in withmyself on what I set out to
achieve within that day.
Have I got there or not?
So I will do check-ins at kindof before 11am, then 2pm and
then 5pm, just to hold myself abit more accountable, to did I
(22:59):
achieve those three major tasksthat I set out at the start of
the week?
And then, lastly, I guess, justplan for the week ahead.
So on a Friday it's very easyto, you know, log off on time
and embrace the weekend.
But I guess a top tip for me isset yourself up for success for
next week.
Plan what you need to do onMonday, tuesday and Wednesday on
your Friday so that when youcome in on you know Monday
(23:21):
morning you've actually got aset to do list and you know
exactly what your plans are forthe first couple of days of that
week.
Alex (23:28):
Yes, it may change, but having some kind of rough notes
or a rough structure of what youneed to get done and having
that planned will just make yourfollowing week so much easier
that's it for today's episode ofthe remote work life podcast,
but if you're a location,independent freelancer,
solopreneur, founder or leaderand want to provide a case study
(23:49):
for the remote work lifepodcast, get in touch with me
via LinkedIn using the linkbelow in the show notes.
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