You are a marketing executive at 9 Gough Chambers - what are the biggest challenges facing you in these earlier stages of your career?

When I first started my journey in marketing and business development, it was an area I hadn’t explored - and I found it was changing all the time. This meant everything was (and still is!) extremely fast paced, and I had to keep up with trends all the time.

It also meant I was speaking with my colleagues and providing a certain amount of training on how to use platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter as well as producing articles and webinars along with other events to make sure they were, and remained, a cut above the rest. These are the main challenges I faced when starting - and still face now.

And although now I’m used to working in a legal environment, the recent swich from a firm to a barrister’s chambers has been huge. I have never worked with barristers before and to say they are different from solicitors is an understatement. There are a number of challenges, but they’ve enabled me to grow and improve. It seems like business development is an untapped resource for chambers and this allows me to tap into my creativity and build my confidence.

I know a lot of the time that lack of confidence is what holds young professionals back in the early stages of a career. What are some of the things that you do to build up confidence?

I would say jump straight in, feet first. It’s extremely hard to build up your confidence when working in a team when starting out. At times, you can struggle to be heard which can have a huge impact on you. The way I overcame this is meeting people with an idea or solution, that then leads you to create a better rapport with those you work with.

I know it’s scary and a lot of the time you question yourself and you do not want to knock on anyone’s door or bother anyone, but you must start somewhere. Building a good rapport with colleagues is vital and you can’t do that by sitting in their shadows.

Approaching people, asking for help, and socialising will build up that confidence. It takes time to become comfortable with putting yourself forward but dive straight in, that’s the only way to learn.

Has the pandemic made it hard for people to build relationships?

Absolutely. Working from home in my previous law firm, I felt very lonely and isolated, and I can see how the experience can affect one’s mental health. You end up almost regressing as a professional as I know I didn’t want to bother people too much and I was questioning myself more than ever.

Now at 9 Gough Chambers I work from the office three days a week and from home twice which means I have that social aspect back in my life. This does improve opportunities to meet people and build relationships - but it can still be a challenge.

Do your contemporaries discuss what the issues are and what you expect from employers?

I have found throughout my career so far there is a huge importance in speaking with contemporaries to bounce ideas around but also to have that support system as well. Having a good relationship with them means that you are then able to discuss expectations, how the company works as a whole and of course what is expected of you. Keeping the communication open is extremely important and can have a huge impact on the way you work.

I was quite fortunate as when I joined 9 Gough Chambers, I was left a very detailed handover list of absolutely everything I needed to know. I found that very useful, but I also got in touch with our directors to make sure I got it right. However, there is fun in figuring out the role, injecting life into it and tailoring it to me. For instance, since the start I have revived our social media presence and have achieved more than a 300% increase in our followers. I write weekly reports on this to be able to put myself and my work forward.

What are the three things that would most help the young BD and marketing professional?

Communication is key for any BD and marketing professional, especially those who are younger. Setting a good foundation with your colleagues is the best way to develop your voice and can, of course, make sure you’re comfortable discussing ideas. Be clear and articulate and get your voice heard.

Creativity is something else that also helps massively and needs to be encouraged more. It allows people to really venture out and show what they are like as people, but also what they can deliver for any company. It’s an extremely useful skill that can improve how people work as it can work as an outlet.

The final thing would have to be confidence. It can be extremely daunting starting your career. However, there are a number of ways you can improve your confidence including seminars, writing articles and of course, your colleagues. It’s always important to make sure you have the confidence to set up a meeting, go in and make sure you get your ideas across, as that will truly allow you to thrive.

You mentioned you have epilepsy and that you want to raise awareness about this. What are a few things that you do to ensure that you are on your A game and your mental health isn’t affecting your work? How do you reduce stress?

Dealing with epilepsy is very difficult especially when one of the main triggers is stress. I manage this by incorporating my creative side, something which relaxes me. It’s also something extremely important in my role so it’s a win-win!

If you associate stress with your job too much, you’re never going to enjoy it and you’re never going to reach your full potential. Most people have a stressful job so it’s about changing your mindset. Reset the way you think, which is hard to do but it makes a huge difference. Delve into the areas that you’re passionate about so that you don’t automatically associate your work with stress.

Do you think there is a link between working from home and productivity levels?

Yes absolutely. Although I feel more productive when working from home, I think that’s mainly down to my workplace introducing a “hybrid” scheme. I will, however, say it can be extremely lonely working remotely all the time and, that in itself, had a huge impact on my mental health. Having a healthy balance and communicating if something is affecting you is important.

Do you think young professionals have been affected by the pandemic in a different way to their more experienced peers?

I would say “yes”. The pandemic has had a huge impact on every sector however when it comes to business development and marketing - this is an area that has been affected massively.

Although there are positions available, and companies have noticed how important it is, business development is an extremely social area of work which hasn’t necessarily been able to thrive during the pandemic. Young professionals will learn to work with this, however, some of what we did previously will have changed, perhaps forever.

I also feel young professionals have missed out on face-to-face events which were a part of my job that I really enjoyed prior to the pandemic. I am conscious networking is a skill I need to perfect.

Do you think face-to-face interactions are vital for the business development and marketing world?

I cannot stress enough how important this is. Face-to-face interactions are the most important part of business development and marketing, and this applies to both external clients but also those you work with – your internal clients. It’s important to make sure you build a relationship with those you work with along with those external clients as well.

I look at physical events as my time to shine and as an opportunity to network and pick up on the small details about clients. I learned so much through that process and I hope that slowly we’ll be getting back to normal. At 9 Gough Chambers we’re planning a face-to-face event early next year. Hopefully young people will be able to cover the ground that they’ve missed.

What are some of things that you’re doing at 9 Gough Chambers to prepare for going back to normal?

We’re at the preparation stage of getting back to normal. I’m trying to introduce generating more articles and more virtual events and continue doing that going forward. Slowly, but surely, we’re taking small steps and communicating with our clients in ways now geared towards their worlds and the challenges they face post-Covid.

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