From Apprentice to Marketing Manager - Olivia Hullah

In this episode of the CommsHero Podcast, we’re joined by Guy Stenson, Chief Executive of Gloucester City Homes, to explore what it means to be a visible, authentic leader in today’s world. A self-confessed ‘frustrated comms professional’, Guy shares how his early passion for storytelling, from editing his school newspaper to launching a social care radio show, has shaped his leadership style across housing, health and social care. We dive into why visibility isn’t about being in the office all day, how bringing personality into your comms can humanise your brand, and why corporate and personal comms don’t have to compete. If you’re in comms, leadership, or simply passionate about better engagement, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.

In this episode of the commsHERO Podcast, we welcome Greg Reed, CEO of Places for People, to explore why he’s an active presence on social media and internal comms. From engaging colleagues online to running alongside them in real life, Greg shares how being a visible and accessible leader strengthens culture, communication, and the brand. He’ll reveal how he balances authenticity with leadership, the impact of open conversations, and why an hour with the CEO, away from the boardroom, can be priceless. If you’re in comms or marketing, this is an episode you won’t want to miss!

In this episode, Anisah will talk about her ‘interesting’ journey into the magical world of PR and Communications- it certainly was never in her so -called plan of life- but with a little bit of confidence, some talent spotting and a bunch of incredible leaders in her corner. Anisah talks about how she now manages the PR, Communications, Marketing and Student Recruitment for the first ever established and fourth largest Sixth Form College in the country… all whilst trying to make a small difference in a very special town.From a degree in Education and Philosophy from UCL, to starting her career off in the Student Recruitment field, Anisah fell into PR in your not-so traditional way. She is now Head of Student Experience and Corporate Communications for one of the oldest, largest and most academically successful sixth form colleges in the country. Call it luck, or fate but she couldn’t have chosen a more perfect career for herself. Anisah is the youngest female, ethnic minority Head of Department in the colleges history! Anisah is also a Trustee of Level Trust, Ambassador for Step Forward Luton and more recently won the Asian Women of Achievement Award for Young Achiever of the Year 2023.

‘Don’t be the magpie’ - how marketers need to avoid overlooking the essential elements of a plan for the sake of the quick fix. With the constant pressure to present value, busy marketing teams frequently fall victim to short term fixes leading to influences on a strategy that are subjective and poorly informed. It’s all too easy to lean on short term fixes at the expense of the essentials that make up the foundation of a good marketing strategy that will last into the long term. This is where the real value in marketing lies. It’s handy to take stock of the essentials often so we know that we’re still on the right track and avoid a marketing strategy with more holes than a Swiss cheese.  In this podcast, Jim runs through the thinking behind this and the essential components that he relies on to maintain a true course. Guest Biog: Jim is an award-winning Chartered Marketer specialising in digital marketing and marketing strategy with over 10 years of experience. Having cut his teeth in a range of agency and in-house positions, Jim is a keen believer in sharing his learnings and experiences (good and bad) so like-minded marketers can benefit in kind. Jim is currently serving as Head of Marketing at Onfigr - Interactive Inspiration Tools. On top of this, Jim curates the Marketing Meetup sessions in Leeds. 

On average, we spend around 90,000 hours of our life working. Life is too short, and it is so important that we spend those hours in a job, and indeed a company, where we are happy. Getting to do what we love each day and being presented with lots of learning and development opportunities is key to us being fulfilled at work and making the most of our careers. Working in a business where I feel valued is incredibly important to me and I’m a big advocate for not staying in a job where you are not happy – I know this is easier said than done sometimes, but, trust me, there is always that perfect job out there for each person. I’m very lucky that I started my marketing career in such a business (Screwfix) and am now proud to have found ‘my place’ at Specsavers. 

Earlier this year the CIPR published ground-breaking analysis of census data about PR practitioners, undertaking by Chalkstream.  This is the first study of its kind involving data from the 2021 census and the latest in a series of Chalkstream studies investigating the population of UK PRs.  It covers off all sorts of demographic information, including sex, age, religion, passports and even how many practitioners own second homes.  The results pose a significant challenge for PR, shedding new light on imbalances between genders.Connect with Ben on LinkedIn here.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that organisations are only ever one social media post away from a crisis. But social media is also an opportunity – to turn those crisis situations around, to learn what your customers think about you and to build relationships with the stakeholders that matter most. In this podcast, James talks about how the social housing world, which is on the cusp of a new era of consumer regulation, is communicating with the residents the sector exists to serve. He then shares his top tips for organisations looking to turn those Facebook frowns upside down.

Join Olivia Hullah and Asif Chodury on this podcast episode as they share Olivia's incredible journey from a marketing apprentice to the Marketing Manager at Trust Electric Heating, all by the age of 22. The episode delves into the challenges and triumphs of marketing radiators ethically in a Net Zero landscape while making it exciting and personal.Get ready for an insightful conversation that explores the unfiltered life of working in a small company, apprenticeships, the sustainable future, and the dynamic world of marketing.

Growing up, Sonia thought that she wanted to be a lawyer. At the age of 18 this all changed. In this episode, Sonia opens up about the some of the challenges and pressures she’s faced growing up in an Indian/Asian community and how she’s worked through these to break into the world of comms. She shares some personal experiences of bias and how she’s worked hard, and how she feels she must continue to prove herself to progress her career as a woman of colour. In this episode be prepared to go on a true, personal journey of having to grow up very quickly and overcoming hurdles of bias.   

Our industry is unhealthily obsessed with two words: best practice. You see them regularly on internal comms blogs, you hear it at internal comms conferences, those words come up frequently on LinkedIn. But a best practice approach only works for simple, non-complex work. The work we do as internal communicators is highly unpredictable and and complex, charged with human emotion and full of complexity. Joanna proposes that we instead talk about “good practices” and think about innovation as an antidote to best practice.Joanna Parsons is the Founder and Director of The Curious Route, an internal communication consultancy practice. She helps organisations to create effective systems of internal communication.  Joanna is a content creator and thought leader in internal communication with a following of more than 16k on LinkedIn and a new YouTube channel just launched. She has worked in internal comms for more than a decade and was previously Head of Internal Comms with the Irish national police force. She’s a Fellow of the Institute of Internal Communication and has won multiple communication awards for her work over the years. Joanna is also a Lecturer in Strategic Internal Communication with the Public Relations Institute of Ireland.  She’s currently writing a book, “Innovative Internal Communication” which will be published by Kogan Page in the summer of 2024.