LinkedIn Could Never

So I was laid in bed the other morning scrolling through my old blog posts. My blog is like a little life diary for me, (the PG version ofc) and it’s kinda cute to look back on all the things I’ve done and all the lives I’ve lived.

But it got me thinking, I regularly get asked what I do for work, and a lot of my work-related content is deep in the depths of my blog, and LinkedIn is so corporate, it makes me cringe. So I thought yeah let me explain what I do for work in my own words, filter removed, on my blog.

So if you know me you know I started out in Broadcast Journalism, that’s what I got my degree in. I’ve always been a storyteller at heart. To be fully honest I always wanted to be an actress and spent the majority of my life in performing arts school - can you tell? But my Mum gave me the tough love reality check that I can’t actually sing. I mean I try, but I can’t, and to go into that industry, you kinda need to be a triple threat and sadly my vocal cords let me down. So I went back to the drawing board, back to my storytelling roots and studied Broadcast Journalism. Then I went to work in TV and radio for a little bit. You know I was once a videographer for Sky News? Very briefly. I’m kinda like a cat, so many different lives and I always land on my feet.

Anywho, I figured Journalism wasn’t for me, and to be completely transparent, I got the impression pretty quickly that certain people were willing to blur some lines to progress in that industry. Me? I’m not Madonna, so I was out. A job came up as a PR exec at size? and PR was part of my course at Uni, so I went for it, I got it and I was catapulted into the world of fashion and ‘sneakers’.

I guess from there I worked my way up until I managed a number of brand accounts, Nike, PUMA, Reebok, Converse and Vans, just to name a few. I guess I was that little link between brand and retailer. During my time at size? I did it all. One thing I’m sure you’ve figured by now is if I’m doing something, there’s no halfway, there’s no half measures. Cup half full? Could never be me, mine’s overflowing.

So I did events, I did a little bit of social, I started influencer marketing before it was a thing, before they even had a team doing it. I was sourcing influencers for brand content when people were posting boomerangs on IG. I wrote blog posts and I developed campaigns from idea to activation, the full 360.

My journalism degree came in handy of course and it has throughout my career in fashion. I interviewed the likes of Miraa May, a whole heap of artists at Warehouse Project, Jay Rock. I went sneaker shopping with DJ Jazzy Jeff and his team, I went on tour with Skepta, Wu-Tang Clan, Public Enemy and De La Soul. Yeah, your girl has lived a few lives.

You know my first ever career interview, back in my journalist days was Prince Andrew.

Well, the whole Prince Andrew thing hasn't exactly aged well, after his extracurricular activities. Yeah.. awkward.

But yeah I’ve made connections and tbh friends with people all over the globe. I said it before and I’ll say it again. My key skill is networking. Someone once said the cliché line of ‘your network is your net worth’ and I was like ight, bet.

One thing about me is if I’m travelling somewhere, best believe I’m making at least 3 connections in that country before I even touch down in the airport… tracksuit and my Air Force. Remember that song? Banger.

So I curated campaigns for brands like Nike, Converse and PUMA. The brand would come to me with a product and a little idea of what they wanted and I’d make it come to life, with a team. I’d have at least 10+ campaigns running at the same time and people have the cheek to ask if I’m organised? Babe multitasking is part of my personal brand.

Working with brands like Nike and PUMA allowed me to travel - my favourite hobby. My first ever solo trip was to Milan with Converse and these were the days little Nic was kinda scared of flying. Funny story, the flight back was on a plane I can say was genuinely the size of a car - you know those planes with propellers you can actually see spinning and I knew from then it was going to be a bad flight. The turbulence was absolute hell, which has been a common theme throughout my life whenever I’ve flown to Italy.

Anyways, I sat down and the guy next to me had the same tote bag as me. I asked him if he’d been to the Converse event and funnily enough, he was the guy I’d been speaking to at the brand. He could tell I was absolutely petrified of turbulence so he pulled out his phone and we played games the entire flight. Completely forgot that we were bouncing around the sky like a tennis ball in a tumble dryer.

Another memorable trip was flying to New York with PUMA. Please refer back to my 72 hours in New York blog post. Now what I briefly mentioned but quickly moved past in that post was that I flew to New York when there were still COVID travel restrictions in place. You had to be vaxxed to travel, and if you know me, you know I don’t do random vaccines, I barely take paracetamol honey.

But if you know me, you know how delusional I am. Reality and me don’t go in the same sentence. My brother's girlfriend literally said to me the other day, ‘you know, you’re the most delusional person I’ve ever met’.

Damn straight, and look how far it’s got me.

So yeah I just knew I was going to New York and when you believe something is going to happen, it usually does. Even though my family were telling me not to risk it, I was not missing a trip to New York with PUMA. So I queued up to get my passport checked and guess what happened? They switched staff just as I handed my passport, and when the other woman sat down, she never asked for my vaccine letter. The universe loves me.

I was also fortunate enough to go to Paris for Fashion Week with PUMA. However the BTS of that trip is one for the memory books and the group chat. It’s still something we laugh about from time to time; but sorry guys, I’ll have to leave that one out.

I guess some of my career highlights were the Nike campaigns I did. Although I love PUMA, Nike has always been my favourite. One year, Nike had some leftover budget and asked me to pull together a campaign at the end of the year, you know like 2 weeks before Christmas?

Planning time? What’s that?

It was the year of the Nike AF1’s 40th anniversary and I hosted an event in London. I sourced sneaker collectors from all over the UK and Europe, and displayed some rare gems. I pulled in Crep Protect who I’d made good friends with, had a street artist create some live artwork and hosted a panel talk with some cool industry people. You can scroll back and read the full blog post so I’m not repeating myself, but yeah, definitely a good one from me. Good job Nicole.

Then before I decided it was time to move on in my career, I had the best opportunity handed to me - do a full 360 campaign for the relaunch of the Nike Cortez.

You bet ya.

If you know me, come on now, you know I’m the Queen of Cortez. My favourite ‘sneaker’, you can’t tell me otherwise. You can read my blog post about that one too, but do you want a little bit of BTS?

Go on then.

So I pulled off a full campaign that went live across stores in the UK and EU. Of course it went live across social and I hosted a workshop and event. I do love an event.

Now with me, I do put in the work, if I need to steam clothes, I will, if I need to pack boxes or set up, I also will. I’m happy to get my hands dirty, but I’ll be raging if I break a nail.

So I needed to drop some stuff at the store and collect some other bits before the event and time was ticking, we were opening in a couple of hours. Ubers in London are hell so I hopped on the tube. As I was walking or kinda jogging down the road in my cute skirt, I tripped, fell, face planted on the road and of course I had my hands full so I went down elbows and knees first…cute.

But I had shit to do, so I continued through London with blood literally pouring from my knees and elbows and a big rip in the front of my skirt. I did what I had to do, nobody questioned it, I’m pretty sure my face told the story. Afterwards, I decided to quickly pop to my hotel for some food and to clean up and change before the event. However, when I got in the lift, I turned around and my skirt had ripped all up the back and I’d been running through London with a ripped skirt and just a thong.. even cuter. Cheeky even.

And to make matters just that bit worse, when I ordered a chicken wrap in the hotel, the first meal I’d eaten all day, they served it in a lettuce leaf… a fucking lettuce leaf.

Ah, a day in the life of Nic.

So from there I continued my career in fashion and I’ve kinda done it all, without blowing my own trumpet. I’ve mainly worked in menswear but if I’ve not got the experience, I’ll make sure I get it. I like to make sure I’ve covered all bases. I worked agency-side which was probably the worst, I think the owner hated me, understandable, I’m like Marmite, you either love me, or hate me and usually if you hate me, you’re a bit weird, because I’m actually pretty cool.

When I moved to South Wales to support my ex’s career, I figured there wasn’t much going on down there, but I found Peacocks, the only fashion company based there, so I worked with them which was definitely one of the best. I got that womenswear experience and I headed up all their social, influencer and celebrity activity. Pretty fun.

These days I've somehow ended up sitting somewhere between social, marketing and creative. One minute I'm building a brand or social strategy, the next I'm planning a shoot, casting models, writing copy, briefing influencers or stood behind my phone making content. I create UGC and I guess I model a little bit too, when I’m feeling cute. Basically, if it involves figuring out how a brand should look, sound or show up in the world, I'm probably somewhere in the mix.

So yeah, I’ve lived a few lives and I’m sure there’s more to come. If you need someone to create a full 360 campaign across web, social and retail, I’m your girl. Need an event? I’m your girl. An influencer? Social strategy? BTS content? Brand or creative strategy? Content? A shoot? I got you.

I’ll even throw a little styling in there. The owner of a pretty big brand sometimes texts me asking which Bottega Veneta coat to buy and which colour looks best, so I guess I have an eye for it.

Basically, if you need your brand to look good, sound good or do something cool, there’s a good chance I can help.

Have you ever watched The Devil Wears Prada?

I always loved that movie as a kid, the journalism, writing, fashion? If I was a movie, I think that’d be me.

And alongside all this, I write a little blog too, you might have heard of it?

You know where I talk all things work, love, life and the things I overthink.

I guess I live life first and write about it later... with very little filter.

So, when people ask me, ‘what do you do for work Nic?’

I dunno, I guess I make brands look good?

And I have fun doing it.

Until next time x