I’ve been fortunate to work in some brilliant businesses, big, small and start-up, in varied roles where I learned from generous and clever people. It’s their distilled approach which informs the ethos of ‘Delicate Persuasion’: open, honest, progressive, people-centred
Technology, in some form or other, has followed me around. I started out as a computer programmer and, not being very good, quickly moved into client service, sales and sales management. I sold hardware, software and services as ‘turnkey’ IBM solutions to board-level customers for a number of years. The IBM sales training course has stayed with me to this day.
Seeing the potential of the internet, I founded an early digital agency within an agency, notably helping Ericsson globally launch the very first smartphone, the R380, amongst other innovative products. A brilliant device but maybe too early for even the earliest adopters…
Brands and full-on marketing came next, contributing to agency boards with responsibility for new business development, large clients, growing fees and multi-disciplined teams. I worked on a diverse range of clients looking at projects from pan-European launches to brand re-positioning and retail. And sometimes all 3 at the same time which was interesting, particularly in pigeon French.