Do you dream of becoming an Account Director? Redactive Account Director, Joanna Marsh, shares her experiences and advice.
Q1: Hi Jo! So, what’s a typical day like for you?
There is no such thing as a typical day – each one is completely unique. I can say each day almost always starts with a good hour of wading through emails on my morning commute. Apologies to all recipients as I do get into my stride!
Q2: How did you become a Director?
I’m the only director who’s come up from the sales route. I started off on the recruitment team, just worked hard, took on more responsibility and generated stacks of revenue/launched new products over the years. I had a track record as competent, capable, incredibly passionate and hardly any credit notes – it made a good business case for a promotion.
Q3: What’s your favourite part of the job?
I love the variety of the work and the different clients we have, but I always feel proud of the talent that we have in the organisation and the excellent people who work here. Working with good people, seeing great work, pleasing the clients and delivering good news are my favourite parts.
Q4: What’s the most challenging part of the job?
The sheer volume of things to juggle/ remember/prioritise. I constantly wake up in the middle of the night and think ‘cripes, what about that…!’.
Q5: What expectations did you have of the job before you started and how have these changed?
I always say I am so busy and then the next year I seem to be even busier and I look back and think, ‘gosh, last year was easy in comparison’. I am hoping one day it will be just slightly more relaxing.
Q6: What advice would you give to someone looking to follow a similar career path?
Be passionate about performance and delivery, aim for the highest standards, attract the best talent you can find to your teams, be a team player, be humble, have a sense of humour and try and laugh a lot.