Hi! My name is Annabelle, and I am currently studying History at the University of Exeter, about to head into my third year. 

I initially chose to study history because I had absolutely no clue about what I wanted to do in terms of my career. Alongside my degree, I am also a social media coordinator for a women’s safety group; The Urban Angels. Over the last year, I have learnt, through my role, how to build a brand and increase our audience. However, I was only really learning how to do this through a slow, and often painful, process of trial and error.

Over Christmas 2022, I began to look at different careers that both my degree and extracurricular interests could help me with. After looking at several jobs, I began to wonder whether marketing could be for me. 

After hounding David on LinkedIn, we arranged a call. Although I was only initially looking for career advice in the marketing industry, he asked whether a few weeks in the studio would help me understand what it is about and what they do in an agency day-to-day. Of course, I said yes. 

Fast-forward to April 2023, and I have completed two weeks at Ghost! Safe to say, I now have more of an idea about what I would like to do for a career. 

The team at Ghost has been incredibly friendly, and have given me the confidence to dive into work headfirst. Usually, I struggle with confidence in areas that I don’t know much about, but the team has been very patient with questions and has helped me to get a grasp on marketing. They have been so generous with the opportunities they have given me, whether that be sitting in on meetings with clients, going to London to set up events, or even putting on quizzes every lunchtime! There is a real, team-spirited feel here, which has made me look forward to coming into work every day. 

The areas that I have mainly been focusing on are meeting with clients and market research. Being at the starting point of a project is interesting and exciting. I had always thought that I would enjoy the creative side of marketing more, but after trying the strategic side out, I have learnt that unless you understand the start of a project, you will struggle to understand the result. I feel as though my research skills, from studying History, have enabled me to go in-depth on brands and clients that I had little-to-no prior knowledge about. 

One of the main projects I have been working on is creating a mood board for a food import and export company, who was looking to create their own line of frozen foods in the UK. I feel honoured that the team has put their trust in me to conduct this research independently, and it has made me feel like I’m actually contributing, rather than just shadowing different people each day. 

Another project that I worked on was for Tarquin’s Gin. I spent two, fun and very messy, days making props for a Coronation event in London. I’m still finding sand everywhere now! I then had the pleasure of accompanying David to both the Gherkin and Covent Garden to deliver the props and meet with clients. I understand that not many people have the opportunity to do all this after two weeks of work experience, so I’m really grateful!

In the future, I hope to continue working in the marketing industry with creatives in a fun and welcoming environment. I also hope to continue improving my strategic marketing research skills, and to carry on gaining confidence in this industry. I know that my time at Ghost has equipped me for more marketing in the future!

Thanks for having me!

Annabelle