What has your journey into Edelman looked like and how did you get into the communications industry?
I studied Politics at University and was considering going into the civil service or qualifying as a solicitor. After an internship at a PR agency, I realised that this profession allows me to use the skills from my degree – critical thinking, argumentation and communication – while working with some of the world’s biggest brands and corporations.
What prompted you to specialise in issues and crisis communications?
I love dealing with business-critical issues for clients and anticipating and responding to current affairs, cultural moments and politics.
What do you think makes a good specialist in this field?
Ultimately, we are a client-service driven business. As well as skills around understanding and advising on issues, as a consultant, you need to thrive in a fast-paced environment and be motivated by client satisfaction.
What do you find most rewarding about the job?
It’s very satisfying to take a complex reputational issue or business challenge and to interrogate it using data and risk-analysis to help clients move towards a resolution.
What’s one achievement you are most proud of during your time at Edelman?
It’s more an achievement of us as a global team but I’m proud to work with really smart and motivated colleagues from all corners of the globe who come together to provide globally relevant and locally-nuanced perspectives on client challenges.
What is a challenge you have overcome?
I’ve needed to develop flexibility and adaptability. The variety of issues we deal with is both challenging and rewarding. A typical day can involve developing new crisis communications protocols, delivering training on operational issues through crisis drills and helping prepare for challenging business announcements.
If you could offer one piece of advice to someone considering a role in the Issues & Crisis team, what would it be?
Be news-hungry and curious. It’s crucial to stay on top of news and current affairs to anticipate how the latest developments will affect clients and could lead to issues. But to get ahead of trends, it’s also important to be curious about the latest social and cultural conversation outside of mainstream media – for example through podcasts and following change-makers on social media.
