From toastie shops to in-house PR at McDonald's, each of our team has had a unique journey before starting at Clearbox. I got chatting to everyone about the humble beginnings that brought them to our door, and the lessons learned that shape their work today. Lauren from our editorial team sat down with her colleagues to chat about their career pathways in the life before Clearbox. Here’s part one.
First off, we have John, our Company Director. We’ll let him tell his own story, because let’s be real – the man knows how to write.
“I left school with some bad exams results and got into Leeds Met Uni through clearing for a PR degree. For my placement, I joined the community team at Leeds United, where I worked as a volunteer helping local children with their English, Maths and Computer Studies at weekends. This role also allowed me to work on different community communications campaigns, which I loved.”
“During this role, I landed a job with the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) as a press office assistant, where I toured the UK, Ireland and the US to work in the press office of live TV tournaments. It was during this role that I learned how to write ridiculous amounts of copy at lightning pace, learned how the media worked and learned about hard work. Part of the deal of my job was I had to help the crew build the stage and the set before I could do my PR stuff. The PR stuff involved interviewing players, writing match reports and programmes and making sure the stats sheets from games got to the Sky truck during broadcast. The set building stuff was emptying a 40ft lorry at 3am and carrying everything in it into whatever venue we were in.”
“At the darts, one of the sponsors was Ladbrokes. They had a PR agency called the red consultancy, who I really enjoyed working with. More on them later.”
“For my third year placement, I applied for a job at McDonald’s in London. I didn’t think I’d even get an interview, but my darts experience landed me the job – I was now a sports sponsorship executive. I would take competition winners to England team training sessions, hang out with the players – that kind of thing. I loved that job and it taught me so much about working with global brands. McDonald’s PR agency was the red consultancy.”
“I went back to university to finish my degree, and I badly wanted to return to London to work for the red consultancy. Several months and many course work deadlines later, I went through the graduate recruitment programme with the red consultancy and was very lucky to land a job. I worked at red for more than four years, moving from junior account executive to account manager. Among the clients I worked on at red was, you guessed it, McDonald’s. A dream role with amazing people – I managed the company’s football sponsorship programmes and spent many happy years touring the UK with former ex professional footballers, who became a big part of my life. Especially Sir Kenny Dalglish.”
“I fancied a change and left red to join an agency called Fever, to work on a client called Amazon. I was hooked on the work we did for Amazon. I ran the company’s UK press office and my role centred on creating lots of press office stories based on sales data, company news, tapping into trends and more. One Direction being outsold in Christmas calendars by Cliff Richard and getting the Queen’s speech on Kindle were two real highlights. At Fever, just like at red, I worked on some incredible campaigns and made friends for life.”
“I first moved to London in 2003 and when 2011 came, it was time to go home. I moved back to Northern Ireland. After landing a job in an agency that I had to walk away from because they wouldn’t give me a contract (that agency owner told me I’d never work in Belfast again if I didn’t join their company…), I worked in a few PR agencies before being persuaded by my friend Anna Irwin to give Clearbox a go. We had a slow start but after building a statue of Mrs Brown for Universal Pictures and doing a project for Amazon, things took off and I’m happy and grateful to report that over 10 years later, we’re bigger and better than ever.”
“I’ve learned a lot in the last 20 years, from some of the best people who work in our industry. I’ve been very, very lucky. The top skills I’ve learned, in no particular order, are consistency, speed, accuracy, humility and perseverance. Obviously, I’ve learned how to do the things required for the roles that I’ve had, but I think these skills have been the most important for me.”
Account Executive Zoe joined Clearbox as an apprentice in 2022 – in fact, she is the reason the Absolute Beginners programme exists. She shared:
“Before I started at Clearbox, I had just left school after completing my A Levels and started working in a toastie shop. Uni wasn’t for me, so I decided to take a bit of time to figure out what I actually wanted to do in the future.”
“I started to take an interest in the world of PR and luckily enough a regular at work suggested Clearbox – shoutout to oat flat white person! I had a look at their work and thought I could really see myself in a company like Clearbox.”
Our team wants to jump in at this point and say some things Zoe would never say herself. Zoe approached us for a work placement. She sent an email and said that she didn’t want to go to uni, but she wanted to work in PR.
She joined us on a placement for about two days and we knew right there and then that we had a hell of a talent on our hands. We quickly told Zoe to leave her job in the toastie shop and join us. When she agreed, we worked with her to create an apprenticeship programme for people who didn’t or couldn’t go to university.
Zoe is one of the most naturally talented and gifted people we’ve ever worked with and we’re thankful that one day, a 19-year old Zoe decided to shoot her shot and send us an email.
Read more about our apprenticeship programme here.
Social Media Manager Hannah studied International Hospitality Management at Ulster, where she spent a year on placement as an events assistant at the Grand Central Hotel (hi neighbours). Throughout her university experience, Hannah worked as a waitress and bartender, as well as a barista in Hillsborough Castle visitors centre.
During the pandemic, Hannah was studying from home and had some spare time. She gained her qualifications to become a nail technician, and when the lockdown was eased, she did nails for a year instead of getting a part time job during final year.
After graduation, Hannah spent some time as a legal secretary before applying for Ulster University’s graduate leadership programme. She studied while working full time as a marketing assistant for LoyalBe, a rewards app, before joining Clearbox in 2022. She said,
“I have a pretty extensive background in hospitality, and I studied hospitality, so I really value the importance of customer service. I have developed my natural ability to build relationships with clients and team members well, and my time at university improved my confidence, presentation skills and attention to detail. My side hustle has given me the confidence to be independent and use my initiative to do what I want to do.”
Our team is jumping in again here! Hannah is a ray of light at Clearbox that has never dimmed. If you think the filming lights she lugs around the office are bright, they’re nothing compared to her personality. She’s a hugely talented social media content creator and we’re extremely lucky that she’s on our team!
Part two, coming soon…
