Ellie’s First Year at YCG

Digital Marketing Assistant, Ellie, has been with us for a whole year! We caught up with her to find out how her first year has been:

How would you describe your first year at YCG?

It’s been a whirlwind of a year for me – lots of learning and plenty of achievements along the way! It’s hard to believe I’ve worked at YCG for one year already, but I guess the phrase ‘time flies when you’re having fun’ is true.

What do you enjoy the most about working at YCG?

YCG is like nowhere that I’ve worked before; the culture of the company is what makes the job so rewarding. To work in an environment where everyone is pushing for the same goal, working as a team and having fun is really valuable for me. I knew I had a lot to learn when I joined YCG, so having such an inclusive team around me that provides ideas and support is amazing.

I also enjoy the variety of working with different brands, sectors and teams so that every day is different. I’m given a lot of room and flexibility to be creative too, which I love.

What was the hardest thing about moving into a marketing role?

The hardest thing was the unknown! Having worked as a teacher for four years prior, stepping into marketing took me out of my comfort zone and what I had grown to know professionally. Learning and developing my skills quickly became the norm, which initially was really scary, but also really thrilling.

What advice would you give to someone moving into a marketing role with no experience?

Do it! If you’re not happy in your career, take the leap and challenge yourself. Don’t be afraid to ask a lot of questions, try new ideas and learn.

What skills did you develop the most during the last twelve months?

Developing my commercial awareness is hands down the biggest development point since I joined YCG. Having worked predominantly in the public sector, I had never been exposed to commercial environments – after twelve months, I’m by no means an expert, but I have gained new knowledge about our industry specialisms such as Automotive, Technology, Hospitality and Construction that I wouldn’t have gained otherwise.

What are the three achievements you are most proud of since you joined?

Definitely one of them is website design! Josh threw me in at the deep end when I first joined, giving me responsibilities to redesign our YourCode website. Straightaway, I got involved in the full end to end lifecycle and that experience became invaluable when we decided to rebrand our AKA and DISH websites too.

Aside from the website redesigns, securing award nominations for our brands and increased ROI from marketing compared to previous years also demonstrated the big successes we have achieved and that’s something I’m really proud of.

Tell us a little bit about you outside of work!

I love to travel, try new food and socialise with friends and family. At the moment, two things I’m focused on is learning French and aiming to read more too – I’m currently reading ‘Stolen Focus’ at the moment, which highlights how the modern world of distractions is negatively impacting our ability to concentrate and the social factors exacerbating this. I find it fascinating to understand how the big tech companies are able to manipulate us to sell their advertising services, even more so because YourCode is heavily involved in the tech industry.

Fun Fact about Ellie?

I used to go to kickboxing classes with my sister for four years. It always surprises people when I tell them but it was really fun!