I think of my journey through school, university and beyond as a process of accumulation. Like a sort of self-actualization magpie, I’ve built up a treasure trove of ideas, storytelling skills, niche interests, good friends, hobbies, habits, artifacts and trinkets — an ever-growing collection of cool stuff.
The way I see it, the world of PR makes a good home for my collection, which includes passions, skills and idiosyncrasies that sit nicely in an agency: the ability to tell a good story, an interest in why narratives and ideas propagate themselves in news, marketing and discourse, and a genuine love for collaborating, contributing, learning and riffing.
After tilts in content writing, branding and marketing, I was thrilled when Hoffman invited me into the London office as a Spring intern.
Upon setting up shop, I would no longer be on the outside looking in, but on the inside looking in. Or looking around, I suppose.
I have a lot to learn. Hoffman’s clients are some of the biggest and most advanced tech companies in the world, life at Hoffman is fast paced and the work requires lots of thinking hats. Getting up to speed means accelerating quickly. It’s been said that Hoffman excels at simplifying complexity, and that line implies already being around the complex before reeling it back to the simple. So that’s my plan. Luckily, I’ve got the support I need.
Hoffman’s community of like-minded PR whizzes and tech enthusiasts are there for me to lean on as I learn the ropes — and not just those I share the London office with. Culture at Hoffman is truly international; my client accounts involve collaborating with teams in Europe, the U.S. and APAC. Part of my development program is also done alongside my counterpart interns in the U.S.
So, it’s good to be part of this organization, channel my energy into something much bigger than myself and find my place.
My time since graduating from the University of Bristol has been busy. I spent a year in Canada’s Coast Mountains skiing, climbing and hiking, I went backpacking in South America and I spent a summer surfing in Cornwall, all whilst working as a content writer for a cycling website. Although I’m extremely grateful for these experiences, it’s nice to begin to set my roots down, at work and outside of it.
While you’ll rarely catch me saying no to an after-work mixer at the pub, you’re just as likely to find me at the climbing gym, one of my favorite ways to decompress and share time with my friends. I’m also a major cinephile, and I’ll rarely go a week without an after-work screening of something from my watchlist.
At home, I like to fill my downtime with genre paperbacks and esoteric board games, those parts of my collection that would probably take up too much space in the office …
It’s great to be here, and I’m excited to check out the new pieces I’ll pick up during my time at Hoffman.
