When I was a teenager I decided I wanted a job that involved wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase everyday - the obvious next step was a marketing degree. I had grand plans as an 18 year old to get a double degree in Marketing and French and travel the world as a rockstar marketing exec. Until I quickly realised I was in fact rubbish at French, and swapped my BA to study Psychology. My marketing and psychology consumer behaviour papers were a great fit, and I walked into my first marketing job at ANZ Bank armed with my briefcase and ready talk the 4 Ps and SWOT analysis. Although I did indeed wear a suit (those were the days!), the briefcase quickly began gathering dust, as I spent my next decade working in large marketing teams across a number of banks in Wellington, London and Melbourne.
It's now been over 10 years since I worked full-time, largely due to family commitments, but increasingly because of the value I place on work-life balance. Working virtually has given me the flexibility to work my family life in and around my work commitments, but also to work on a number of different clients, rather than being part of a large team that works for one organisation. Virtual contracting has huge job satisfaction for me, as I constantly feel like I'm making a difference for the small and medium size businesses we work with. A feeling I never had being a cog in the financial services marketing machine.
Working in Virtual Marketers has given me the opportunity to focus on my marketing passions - marketing & comms strategy and storytelling & content development. I also get involved with company and personal brand projects. Internally, I look after our Virtual Marketing workforce, and operations.
They say opposites attract, and that's definitely how I'd describe my professional relationship with Fran. She has a passion for the data and analytical side of marketing, while I focus on storytelling and content. We quickly worked out that we had some definite yin and yang (opposite forces that are complementary), that worked really well for our growing business venture. Doesn't hurt that we enjoy a laugh and a wine outside of work either!
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