An opportunity not to be missed

The journey so far

I chose Bournemouth University to study BSc Marketing because I liked the course but mostly after dragging my parents round endless open days it was the one place where I could see myself being. Although I always assumed after uni I’d go back to Oxfordshire, when this opportunity at bbd came up it was hard to say no.

My university experience wasn’t quite what I had in mind due to Covid but I had the best final year with life-long friends and ended up getting a First in my degree, again something I certainly didn’t expect at the start from being a B or C grade average in school. It definitely put the phrase “hard work pays off” into perspective for me and it was lovely to celebrate the achievement with family and friends at my graduation.

This isn’t my first experience of working in an agency, I had a fantastic opportunity during my placement year at a global integrated agency. I worked with a lovely bunch of people who taught me all things Client Services and inspired my career aspirations, so early on I knew agency life was for me. 

I found finishing uni and the idea of starting a new job pretty daunting but that quickly went when everyone at bbd was so welcoming, special mention to my team - Lauren, Josie, Conor and Amy who made me feel like a valuable team member from day one and continue to support me in the best of ways everyday. Having had my placement year experience meant I was eager to get stuck in so with the inductions out the way, I was on client work by the end of my first week! 

Over the last few months, I’ve had great opportunities to work on some of our larger clients at bbd, where I’ve been able to learn lots from across departments. The world of ‘performance’ was very new to me when I started so to be involved in big campaigns with paid media has pushed me out of my comfort zone and upskilled my understanding. In contrast, I also work on a creative-only account which has allowed me to take ownership of projects internally and externally. Through working closely with stakeholders, I’m really pleased with the relationships I’ve built where status calls can include discussing anything from upcoming briefs to the latest episodes of Netflix’s Selling Sunset. By having these client relationships and an internal dream team, it’s meant I’ve really got into the detail of the brand and have a good understanding of the client's likes/dislikes - helping us to put our best foot forward with the work we produce. 

Aside from keeping busy with client work, through all agency events to Friday after work pub trips, it’s been lovely to have had fellow bbd’ers go from colleagues to friends in a short space of time!

What’s next

What I love about bbd is there’s a great focus on development - personally and professionally so as someone who’s always keen to improve I enjoy having goals to work towards. A couple of these are to continue working as a member of the Voice Of initiative to implement change and add value across the agency, which will be exciting to see come to life, plus to work on more new business opportunities alongside helping to push growth across existing clients. 

It’s been an amazing eight months so far - I’m excited for the next stage of my bbd journey!