Mentoring for aspiring marketers in Newcastle
If you want to break into marketing, or advance your career, I can show you what it’s actually like.
Now that I’m running my own freelance business, I am offering free mentoring to those in Newcastle and the North East who want to further their marketing careers.
Who can benefit
I’m keen to help people not make the same mistakes I did, or just to give people honest advice. Particularly:
- You don’t have the connections to help you land a job (I’ve been there)
- You’re first generation at uni (or not going at all)
- You want a blend of the practical route, as well as some of the theory
- You want someone to tell you what it’s REALLY like (no it’s not like Emily in Paris)
- You’ve “fallen into” marketing and don’t know where to start (that was me, too)
- Taken a job you didn’t want to just for the money (it’s not worth it)
- Stayed in a job for the people (it’s not worth it)
- One of the many other things we could talk about re: the marketing industry
❓ The types of questions I hear (and some quick answers)
Should I get into marketing as a career?
It depends. It can be rewarding seeing the fruits of your labour drive actual results, and that’s enough motivation for some. It’s infamously, not a career with the highest earning potential, so make sure your ‘why’ is strong. Do you actually want to work in this industry?
How can I make more money / get a promotion?
It depends. This is a lot more nuanced, so this is one for discussion based on your current circumstance, and long-term goals. Let’s chat.
What’s it actually like in a marketing job / agency?
It depends. Have you ever been to a zoo? Only kidding. Imagine being asked to do more and more each day, with less and less resources, while someone senior asks why it isn’t working yet. But then you can work with some interesting brands, and obvs, there’s table football. But l can give you a useful and honest assessment, based on what your goals are.
How do I / do I need to choose a speciality from all the different aspects within marketing?
It depends. Do you like Excel? Or Photoshop Canva? What do you mean, neither? In short, ‘FAFO’. In reality, the answer depends on your personality type, your ambitions, and what you like to do with 40 hours of your week, and 40 hours of your life.
What skills are useful to have?
It depends. Marketing is all about communication, so that’s a good start. There’s the interesting psychological aspect of it, there’s the quantitative and data analysis side of things, there’s creativity, and a whole lot more in between.
Which is best, an agency role or an in-house one?
It depends. Like everything in life, there are pros and cons to both. I’d distill it down to something like — are you passionate enough about this business that you could work on it every day? And maybe even get bored of it, if you do love it? Or would you rather do forty hours work in thirty hours, but have a more varied workload?
💭 What I can give you
This is sort of new to me and a bit of a test, so it isn’t formal at all, it’s as flexible as you need. Some things I can do to help:
One-on-one sessions
With a proper agenda and objectives (online or IRL)
My opinion
Food for thought on anything you’re going through
Informal chats
If Newcastle NE1 is convenient, let’s say hello
Async feedback
Send me your thoughts and I’l get back to you via email
The end goal is to get you into a job and career path that will suit you best, and make you the most money, or what you are worth.
💸 Why would I do this for free?
Honestly, I wish I had it when I was starting out.
I’m from Newcastle. I fell into the industry right after a redundancy. I had no connections in the marketing world, no real experience, no professional qualifications in it. I made it work, but I wasted a lot of time in jobs that weren’t serving me, thinking it was the only way.
Now I run my own marketing business, and I want to give back. The North East is overlooked. People in marketing jobs are especially overlooked. And salaries are… well, y’know.
This isn’t charity. I’d just like to help level the playing field. No courses, no upsells, no strings. Just experience shared.
❌ What this isn’t
Let’s be clear about expectations:
- I’m not going to sugarcoat it
- I’m not a professional careers adviser
- I’m not a YouTuber trying to flog you a course into a SMMA
- I’m not going to do your work for you
- I certainly don’t have all the answers, but I might know someone that has the one to your question
📩 How to get started
Tell me what you’d like to achieve, and any useful context.
- Fill out the form below
- We’ll have a quick chat or just over email if preferred, and I’ll tell you how much I can actually help
- We figure out what works for you – monthly check-ins, project feedback, ad-hoc questions, whatever works
No commitment beyond that first chat. If it’s useful, we keep going. If not, no hard feelings. My inbox is open.
🙋🏻♂️ About Me
I’ve spent 15 years working in digital marketing since I fell into it in around 2011. I’ve worked for two-thirds of that time in agencies, with the remainder in-house, both at large businesses, and a startup at the opposite end of the scale.
I’ve had hundreds of clients and projects in that time, for B2B businesses, B2C, D2C, built websites, drove sales, managed teams, and finally this year launched my own marketing business.
I strongly believe in being a T-shaped marketer, and I’ve had exposure to most channels, with distinct focus in content led-strategies, which is where my content writing business exists.
I’m from Newcastle, I’m proud of that. I’m working class and the first in my family to go to university. I didn’t get here through nepotism, by kissing anyone’s arse along the way, or by burning myself out. I’m very proud of that.
