I’m very happy to say that I am the newest Junior Account Executive at éclat, having just finished my first week at the company after joining straight out of university – in fact I haven’t even had my graduation ceremony yet! When I do graduate in a few weeks, I will be receiving my bachelor’s degree in French and Hispanic Studies from the University of Kent and, since I’ve just spent 4 years learning how to communicate, going into PR felt like a natural progression for me.
One of the first things I had to get my head around starting in a specialist cybersecurity PR company was the jargon but, having been a languages student, the idea of learning some new words and concepts didn’t faze me too much. I’ve decided to write a glossary of the key terms that keep popping up that I can add to and read around the topics that relate to our clients.
Undoubtedly the most nerve-wracking experience of my first week was making my first calls to press contacts to invite them to a media reception but, as scary as it was, it ended in securing some fantastic attendees (and doing a celebratory fist pump afterwards, of course). One thing I didn’t anticipate was the real buzz you get from a successful pitch and knowing you’re going to deliver good news to your client.
I’ve always enjoyed the feeling of doing something good for someone else, which is probably what led me to a career that’s oriented around serving our clients.
One experience that particularly stands out was helping to build a playground in Uganda a few years ago with my university’s RAG (Raise and Give) society. I’d already been involved in local charity work for several years and fancied an even bigger challenge, so I set about raising over £1,600 for East African Playgrounds, and then flew out to Jinja, Uganda to get my hands dirty and entertain the kids at the school we were building the playground for. Needless to say, this was also a test of my communication skills, but it turns out that ‘stuck in the mud’ is a pretty universally-known game. Also, as soon as you get out one of those rainbow parachutes from school, anything you might have to say is lost in a flurry of excited shrieking and flapping anyway!
Aside from work and charity, I spend the rest of my time playing poker, at the pub with my friends or gushing over every single dog I see.
I’m looking forward to learning more about the ever-changing world of cybersecurity PR and will be sure to give an update once I’ve fully settled into my role.