International Women’s Day is all about celebrating the achievements of women and the progress made towards gender equality, and women from around the world will be celebrating this year’s theme – #choosetochallenge.
This International Women’s Day, Billion Dollar Boy is hosting our first-ever Clubhouse chat today at 1:30pm (GMT), where our Billion Dollar Women will be sharing their experiences of the advertising industry with us and raising awareness of gender bias.
We also highlight some of the 50+ Billion Dollar Women that make the creative agency for the influencer age what it is today and have asked them the following:
Permele Doyle – Founder & President
What career advice would you give to your younger self?
Put in the hard work early, it will pay off later but know your worth.
What have been some of the most rewarding achievements you’ve accomplished since joining BDB?
Growing the BDB US office from just myself to what it is today.
What advice would you give to women looking to advance their career?
Look to your network and don’t be afraid to ask them for help – people are much more willing to help you than you imagine. It brings many joys to pay it forward.
What does it mean to be a Billion Dollar Woman?
You can roll with the boys, but we all know who makes it rain 😉
Joele Forrester – Senior Marketing Manager, UK
What career advice would you give to your younger self?
To start building a network of great people as it is a great way to bounce ideas, ask advice, and expand your career opportunities. Also – don’t be afraid to ask questions or admit when you don’t know how to do something.
What are some future goals you’d love to hit over the next few years of your career?
I would like to continue to strengthen my network here in the UK as well as in the USA as it helps me to stay connected with the industry and understand what’s happening. I would like to complete two IPA Qualifications that help my role in marketing. At some point in the future, a brilliant goal would be to help grow the marketing team here at BDB.
Sarahjade Tyson – People & Operations Manager, UK
What advice would you give to women looking to advance their career?
Tell yourself you can do it and then find a way. I’ve been guilty of self-doubt in the past but when I switched my mindset and told myself ‘I can do this’, learning on the way came naturally.
What have been some of the most rewarding achievements you’ve accomplished since joining BDB?
Since I joined BDB as the People & Operations Manager, it has been non-stop growth on a personal level as well as the business. There have been so many achievements in terms of the people function but ultimately the most rewarding achievement would be enhancing an inclusive and supportive environment, especially during the transition of converting to remote working due to COVID-19.
Our teams have been incredibly flexible and adaptable to this huge change and as a people team have looked into multiple options to recreate as much of the office culture as possible. The types of initiatives we have rolled out are supporting home setups, a mental health support tool called spill and agency/team virtual socials that don’t always involve a zoom quiz!
Kinda Savarino – Designer, UK
What have been some of the most rewarding achievements you’ve accomplished since joining BDB?
Since joining BDB in May 2019 I’ve been amazed at how much we’ve grown as an agency and how much we can now offer from a design and production studio perspective. Growing our design offerings has definitely been a highlight for me – we’ve expanded our gifting capabilities and made some amazing leaps in digital and animation.
My most rewarding achievement has to be designing and developing Doritos’ (UK) first-ever AR Filter. We took the idea of a filter and gamified it in line with the campaign messaging and achieved an amazing 936K impressions.
Mathilde Olivier – Junior Graphic Designer, US
What advice would you give to women looking to advance their career?
Share your ideas, don’t be afraid to speak your mind, make your case, accept defeat and try again! Taking full advantage of the opportunities you create for yourself is key to advance in your career.
What does it mean to be a Billion Dollar Woman?
Being part of a team that supports, recognises, and encourages your growth daily.
Meredith Webber – Senior Account Executive, UK
What career advice would you give to your younger self?
The biggest advice I would give to my younger self, and to anyone yet to start their careers is not to worry or focus too much on what your job will be. We are no longer living in a time where you are in a fixed role or industry for 40+ years. As a 10-year-old, I had my life planned out from what job I would have (famous singer/actress obviously) to what I would wear to work, however, I wasn’t to know I would end up in a job that didn’t even exist at that point. The world of work is dynamic and therefore constantly evolving symbiotically with humans, so unless you are set on being a Doctor, Lawyer or Veterinarian, there is no need to panic about what you will be doing in five years time.
What have been some of the most rewarding achievements you’ve accomplished since joining BDB?
Since joining BDB, I feel I have absorbed 5 years of work into 1 and a half. It is incredible that due to the dynamic nature of BDB as a creative agency, we can develop and learn so much in short periods of time. One of the many great things about BDB is the training offered. I have completed x2 IPA Qualifications that not only look great on my CV but also helps my role in Account Management.
However, I would say the most rewarding achievement is the number, variety and quality of campaigns I have worked on in the last 15 months. When I joined BDB, the Account Management team was considerably smaller, therefore I was afforded a lot of independence and trust with regards to campaigns. This has helped my career development significantly due to the exposure I got on these accounts. Not only is it incredibly exciting to work with huge clients such as L’Oreal, PepsiCo and LVMH but it is incredibly rare to have such direct access to them so young in one’s career.
Could you be a Billion Dollar Woman? Check out our Careers page here.
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