“From the moment I walked through the door, it was like I had worked here for five years. There was no ‘settling in period’ as such, no politics to be aware of, nothing that really made it challenging to start with that you often find in a new role, that you have to navigate and fit-in around. It meant I could get on with my job so much quicker. We’re a tight-knit team that’s open to letting new people in.”
Q: Tell us about your job and what you do?
A: My job is to oversee everything from a day-to-day perspective and ensure things are running smoothly from an account operational point-of-view and a strategic point-of-view. I have to make sure that all our activities are aligned with what we have decided with the client and what we want to promote going forward. I help to direct the client to ensure that’s how they want to be promoted and getting the messaging across that they need to be telling. So in a nutshell, it’s strategic consulting as well as implementation.
Q: What have you learned about yourself while working here?
A: Obviously for me, I wasn’t only changing jobs but changing countries – as I moved from London to New York to join Peregrine. Doing such a big move boosted my confidence. It wasn’t that I had low confidence before but taking on a new city as well as a new role and thriving in it gave me such a boost. It showed me that even if things are scary, you can do them. You shouldn’t worry about anything too much, because the more you worry, the more it builds up.
This is a great team and a company that shows you that you can do anything, and they help you to. I didn’t know what to expect moving to NYC. From a job perspective, I’ve done this my entire career and worked in specialist sectors before. The core principles of the job are the same; I haven’t had to relearn anything. But NYC is very different to London. I love everything about it, but it is a lot faster pace both professionally and personally. It’s all fun in the end and I’ve learned there’s really nothing daunting about it. I just go with the flow.
Q: What is the best part of your job?
A: I love that everything is fast-paced. There is no time for complacency. Everyone has to work together and know that we will get it over the line. In larger agencies, it can slow down and become boring, but the positive adrenaline here means I actually look forward to coming in in the morning. It sounds cliched, but it’s true.
Q: How would you describe the culture at Peregrine?
A: It’s very flat in structure. We all sit together with no senior people hiding in offices. Everyone mucks in, with seniors sometimes doing junior work and vice versa. It’s a very supportive, collaborative environment. That means there’s great career progression because everyone has to get involved.
When we’re working with the London team on transatlantic clients, it’s surprising and lovely to see we have the same culture across an ocean because everyone has to work in the same way. I think that’s quite unusual to have the same culture at such a distance, which means it’s very easy to get along even though we’re not in the same room.
Q: What are the activities that happen each year that you enjoy the most?
A: We all hang out outside of work and go for drinks on a Friday. We celebrate wins and have a great bonding experience. Also, we went to ‘axe-throwing’ last month and it was huge fun. In contrast to other workplaces, the only axe-throwing here is at a team bonding event!
Q: How do you think marketing is changing in the financial services sector?
A: I think everything is becoming more integrated. There isn’t that real separation of service anymore between marketing and PR. It must be linked and must be digital. Everything has to be working together in the marketing mix and that’s driving things forward for financial services – and particularly the sub-sector of investment – which has been lagging behind other sectors for a long time. As more smaller, challenger brands emerge, more established players will be left behind if they don’t move fast.
Q: Tell us about a challenging project you worked on and how you surmounted it?
A: We had a client launching a new strategy, where we had planned out how we were going to announce it with timelines and everything sorted. Then it leaked to the media a month in advance. Everything we prepared for was potentially out the window and we had 30 minutes to evaluate the strategy to ensure the client understood how we were going to move forward. We had to move very, very quickly, amend and pull up our plans.
In the end, everything was fine and the original strategy was largely solid, we just had to amend it very quickly. In hindsight it was fun, despite the time pressure.
Q: What has surprised you about working at Peregrine?
A: I think how easily it is to fit in. From the moment I walked through the door, it was like I had worked here for five years. There was no ‘settling in period’ as such, no politics to be aware of, nothing that really made it challenging to start with that you often find in a new role, that you have to navigate and fit-in around. It meant I could get on with my job so much quicker. We’re a tight-knit team that’s open to letting new people in.