Vic joined us three months ago in the midst of a global pandemic, and since then she's been focusing on developing our new brand proposition and customer strategy.
Before heading off on maternity leave, we sat down for a quick conversation to find out more about her, how her first few months have been and some advice for women in leadership.
You joined in the midst of a global pandemic - how have your first three months been?
My first three months have been fantastic. It's been great getting to know everyone and seeing just how enthusiastic and committed everyone is – there are so many great ideas around how we can improve things for our customers and passionate people ready to get on and make them happen.
What was it that attracted you to Vanquis?
Almost all of my previous roles have been in financial services and insurance, having joined the RBS graduate programme back in the early 2000's and then moved on to work for Virgin Money, Tesco Bank and Post Office – all within marketing. After a year in the travel and hospitality industry last year I decided I wanted to be back in financial services and when the role came up it was both the breadth of the role and also the ability to make a difference in a sector that is often ignored by mainstream lenders that was really compelling.
Can you tell us about your role as Marketing Director?
As Marketing Director for Vanquis, the role is really broad, covering everything from customer and brand proposition, to acquisition strategy and existing customer engagement. I get to work with lots of different stakeholders and the best thing is the impact that I believe we can make, and my role is to really bring that to life in the customer's mind.
What are your key priorities over the remainder of 2020 and into 2021?
There are so many exciting things happening and marketing will be one of the key drivers to ensure we hit our customer and commercial ambitions. Communicating our customer proposition and brand promise will be a key priority. There is so much work going into product and digital development and we need to communicate this to potential and existing customers in a way which really resonates with them so they understand who we are as a brand, what we stand for and how we can help them on their path to a better everyday life. And lots more.
Plus having Baby Heath somewhere in amongst all that!
As a woman in a leadership role, what kind of advice would you give to others who want to follow in your footsteps?
- Speak up and have an opinion – even if it's not a popular one!
- Take time to be curious and learn and don't worry about not knowing everything all the time.
- Be yourself and don't try to fit into a mould of what others think you should be.
Who inspires you?
I'm really inspired by people who put themselves out there and dare to be different – whether that's from an entrepreneurial, social or creative perspective, I think there's nothing more inspiring than someone finding their purpose and following it.
If you weren't in your current role, what would you be doing?
Definitely something to do with dogs – I'd love to have a doggy daycare but all the dogs would be spoiled rotten!
Thanks Vic - we look forward to another catch up soon. All the best on your maternity leave.
