Stephanie Lawrence has accumulated a plethora of skills and experience within her 18-year marketing career that recently led her to become Head of Marketing at Advanced. She’s an ambitious individual who’s determined to keep progressing within her passion, and that’s what she hopes to achieve during her time with the business.
Read this blog to hear her thoughts, reflecting back on her first month as an Advanced employee:
Why Advanced?
I came to Advanced because I was attracted by the size of the company; I haven’t worked for a company this large before. The prospect of having opportunities to work across global markets was a very exciting prospect for me as I haven’t really done much outside of the UK before, so that was something that I wanted to get under my belt.
When I initially saw the role being advertised on LinkedIn, I couldn’t decide whether I should go for it or not, and by the time I’d made my mind up that I wanted to apply, the role disappeared, and I thought that it must have been filled by someone else. Fortunately for me though, the role happened to pop up again, so I made sure not to make the same mistake twice and applied through the Advanced careers website after getting a feel for the company culture and its values.
How would you describe your first month working for the business?
So far, I’ve been doing a mixture of remote and office working which has been great and has suited my lifestyle. I’m a huge advocate of hybrid working, I think it’s nice to have some days where you have more time to concentrate at home, whilst also having the flexibility to come into the office to make those connections which are vitally important – especially when you’re new to the business and want to get to know people and experience the company culture.
One of the things that stood out to me during my onboarding process was the induction day - it’s the first time I’ve experienced something like that at a company. It was nice to have the opportunity to meet and engage with other employees who were also new to the business; I think there were around 20 new starters in total.
Throughout the day we got to experience a very warm and welcoming introduction to Advanced, whilst having all of our equipment provided, and plenty of sessions designed to break the ice; including a scavenger hunt during the afternoon, which was a lot of fun, and meant that we were able to go out and explore a bit of Birmingham in the process.
The Mailbox is a great office that has a really friendly feel to it and has a vibrant atmosphere, so I’ve enjoyed being able to come in (when I’ve been able to) and get to know the team. During my first month, there have been rail strikes and heatwaves so that’s definitely restricted by office hours a little – but hopefully, from now on, there shouldn’t be as much disruption.
Why did you decide to pursue a career in marketing?
I feel like the reason I’ve decided to work and continue to pursue a career in marketing is that every day is different, and there tends to be a steep learning curve behind anything and everything that you do. The most enjoyable aspect for me has to be the continuous development and progression that I’ve been able to harness within my career, thus getting me into the position I now find myself in today. But I think the main reason I’ve stayed in marketing is because I feel like it’s impossible to get bored.
How would you describe the culture?
One word I would use to describe the culture at Advanced is friendly. Everyone that I’ve spoken to so far has been super nice and very helpful. Every employee that you come across is happy to help you, even if it’s not their specific area which really signifies the ‘One Advanced’ approach.
The business seems very fast-paced, which is again something that I quite like – I don’t like to get bored – so it’s very appealing to be in a fast-moving, dynamic organisation such as this, which is only going to get bigger and better in the future.
What are your future career aspirations?
For now, my sole focus is on the here and now in my brand-new role. I’ve got a lot to learn about the job, the market and the business so that’ll be what I’ll be focusing on to start with. Going forward, I want to be moving up to a marketing director level, possibly moving up to become a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) one day, so who knows? I’ve always been quite an ambitious person so, fingers crossed Advanced can help me attain those goals and they’ll help me to continue climbing up the career ladder.
