"Trust Your Gut and be Yourself" - Working in the World of Agency, Hannah Campbell

Hannah Campbell, Senior Account Director at Brazil Street, Women's Coach, & Bloom North Committee Member, gives us the run down on her career, how she's found the transition from large agency to independent, and advice for women looking to balance family life and work.

Hannah Campbell, Senior Account Director at Brazil Street,

Women's Coach, & Bloom North Committee Member

Hi Hannah! Thank you for chatting with us today. 

Firstly, how did you get started working in the world of agency?

I started working life at The Hut Group, doing their social media and SEO content. Whilst I got a lot of responsibility straight out of university (reporting from London Fashion Week anyone?!), I knew in my gut that culturally it wasn’t the right fit for me. I’d always been keen to go agency side and eventually got my break when Annette, the managing partner at Carat Leeds decided to give me a shot as a Media Executive.

How was your experience working for the big agencies?

Most of my career has been spent in the Leeds and Manchester offices of the bigger agencies – Dentsu and Havas. One thing I loved is working in the regional offices of these big global companies is that it often meant smaller teams. These smaller teams had a lot of responsibility and meant we could get stuck in with our clients in a very hands-on way. This ability to really shape the way we looked after clients, and take an active lead on big name clients like the BBC and Poundland was brilliant.

I also got to work alongside some brilliant minds at Havas – the strategy team taught me so much, and my fellow directors Holly and Paula became life long friends after years in the trenches!

I felt like it was time to explore something different when I started to get fed up with the various processes in place in big agency world. I often felt like a small cog in a big machine. I wanted to find something that offered more autonomy, and where I could influence more senior conversations about the direction of the agency. 

What differences have you noticed working at an independent agency?

I love the world of independents! Whilst the teams are smaller, there is a genuine sense of collaboration. Everyone, from the partners we work with, to the people we add to the team, have a genuine appetite for ‘graft’. No-one is too big or important to help take on a new project.

Change is so much quicker in independent agencies too, I find. With less hierarchy and heritage processes in place, it can be easy to see opportunities to grow or improve, and implement them immediately.

I also think working in an independent agency environment drives my sense of ambition – being able to make changes that can very quickly be felt or seen within the business is brilliant. It feels like you’re really making a difference and your voice is genuinely heard.

Are there any challenges you’ve faced throughout this experience that you’d like to touch upon?

When I was ready to leave Havas, I had also being trying to get pregnant for a year. Any move I made would mean leaving a hefty maternity package and a comfort blanket of a role behind. My gut told me it was time to explore new opportunities but I potentially could end up getting pregnant in the middle of moving.

I made the decision to be pretty vocal about this as I spoke to a few businesses about roles. The way I saw it, if someone had an issue or was off put by my family plans, then it probably wasn’t the right environment for me anyway. It lead to lots of frank conversations that very quickly helped me weed out the right opportunities from those that wouldn’t fit so well.

As it turned out, I ended up getting pregnant during my notice period and started my new role two months pregnant! Whilst not the right route for everyone, I felt confident in my choices and comfortable with my new employers knowing that my maternity leave had already been discussed and initial plans laid out.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Continue to trust your gut and be yourself! I probably spent a lot of years feeling like I needed to mould myself into a certain type of person to fit into businesses or be a person that people liked.

Whilst there’s always an element of emotional intelligence required – especially in client facing roles – I’d see the more bolder aspects of my personality as rocket fuel for success rather than aspects I needed to dull down or hide. 

Thank you Hannah!

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