NZ Marketing

Up-&-comer

A C ONVERSATION W ITH A Y OUNG M ARKETER

When young marketer Kelly Walsh took a chance on the marketing world, she discovered a whole new passion.

Be innovative, be a trailblazer and stand out from the crowd. Young marketer KELLY WALSH says taking a leap is what got her where she is today.

When asked why she wanted to head into the marketing industry, Waikato-based 23-year-old Kelly Walsh, says it was something she aspired to get into but never thought she would be good at.

As the Digital Marketing Coordinator at Globox, Kelly has free reign over the company’s social media and is brainstorming content ideas daily which she says is her favourite part of the job.

But marketing wasn’t what Kelly had originally planned out for herself. Heading into university, her passion for sports and exercise had led her to study a Bachelor of Health, Sport and Human Performance degree.

It wasn’t until she needed to choose an elective paper that she picked up a marketing introduction paper.

“Within the first few classes I knew I had made the right decision. Everything clicked and all I could think was ‘why didn’t I do this sooner?’” she says.

Heading into her third year, Walsh decided to turn the elective paper into something more and graduated with a double major in

Marketing and Human Performance Science.

“Looking back, taking this leap has been the best decision I have made in my life so far,” she adds.

After graduating in 2019, Kelly struggled to find a marketing job out of university. “Finding a job can be difficult at the best of times, but finding a job straight out of university with no experience is another story,” she says.

Covid-19 made it even trickier to find a job she says, adding that she never even made it to the interview stage for many of the places she applied to.

“It became very discouraging. I had a degree and worked so incredibly hard to get the amazing grades I did. I was also a Golden Key Member [a collegial honour society] and I had general work experience, so I started to wonder why I wasn’t getting anywhere.”

But that didn’t stop her. After approaching Everest, a recruitment agency, she landed her current role.

“I would encourage anyone struggling to find a job to approach a recruitment agency.”

Initially starting off doing admin tasks and scheduling billboard campaigns, Kelly has moved into a more focused role where she can concentrate on elements she enjoys.

Now, 11 months into her role, Kelly has found that social media management and brainstorming content ideas are the best part of her job. Managing the Globox social media platforms such as Tiktok is her favourite project so far.

But every job comes with challenges and for Kelly that would be coming up with new and innovative ideas in the social media landscape.

“With social media and the digital space gaining popularity, it has become so easy to look at what other businesses are doing online and create similar content, but I know that in order to stand out you have to be different, so my brain constantly has to be in brainstorm mode,” she says.

Networking is key Kelly adds. Whether it be engaging with the community, participating in events or following big companies on social media, it’s all about connecting and gaining inspiration.

Looking back at her journey, Kelly says one tip she wishes she knew when she started was to “voice every single crazy idea”.

“The best part about marketing is there is never a right or wrong answer, so no idea is a silly idea and it’s likely someone else will be thinking the same thing,” she says.

Looking ahead, Kelly would love to manage a marketing team and she can’t wait for the day where she can pass on her knowledge.

“It excites me knowing I will eventually have the experience to teach graduates who are in the position I am currently in.”

Contents

en-nz

2022-06-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-06-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://nzmarketing.pressreader.com/article/282303913801722

SCG Media