A little bit on me
I live in the beautiful and largely untouched region of Dumfries and Galloway. My husband and I share our home with our crazy labrador, who sometimes even lets us sit on our own sofa – when we behave. As with so many of my fellow creatives, I am currently editing the first draft of a novel and hope to have it finished before I retire!
My background
I love the vastness of scope that comes with working in the fields of engineering and manufacturing and, aside from my marketing role, I’ve been lucky enough to play a key part in business strategy, sales and ERP implementation at Martin’s Rubber. These roles and projects have taken me to all four corners of manufacturing – from the spotless, etherial workshops of Formula 1 teams through to hand-built aircraft interiors; from laser cutting technologies to the volume manufacturing of automotive production and the security-heavy nuclear power plants of the Cumbrian hills. British engineering and manufacturing is not dead – you’re just all too busy making stuff to write about it!
Fifteen years in sales and marketing roles at a rubber SME engineering business, and prior to that an account management role at a print production company, has been great grounding. My true love, though, lies in developing brands and messages to reach customers on their terms whilst providing a true taste of what your business brings to the party – most importantly, avioding that staid tone which seems to have pervaded so much of our exciting and innovative industry for so long.
In practical terms that means developing written marketing material – using a voice and style that suits your brand – such as website content, blogs, case studies and business documents. I still work part-time in industry – it’s a great way to keep my foot in the door – but have been freelancing as a copywriter for five years, combining my marketing experience with more recent training around the art of writing and proofing.
Professional Training:
Many years ago (more than I care to admit) I undertook a CIM Diploma in Marketing. Whilst the foundations of that are still valid, the world of marketing has changed almost beyond recognition since, and the key to remaining relevant and current is continued professional development, which I do through various means including the lovely Marketing Meetup community run by Joe Glover, as well as that of Watertight Marketing, a programme developed by the renowned Bryony Thomas.
In terms of the nitty gritty of the written word, I trained back in 2015 as a proofreader and copy editor with the Publishing Training Centre (PTC), and have since followed up with Digital Skills. I also keep my copywriting knowledge and approach current through workshops, networks and reading material.
Academic qualifications:
I have A-levels in English Literature and Language, Business Studies and French, and a BSc (Hons) Psychology degree.
