To celebrate International women’s Day, we wanted to talk to our Digital Marketing Specialist Becky Gilpin about how her career has progressed over the years, what her favourite part of her job is and what advice she would give to other women who are wanting to excel at their career.
I am a Forces child as my Dad was in the RAF so I have moved around a lot during my lifetime. I was born in Germany, have lived in several different counties in the UK, lived in Oman for three years and then settled in Lincoln. Moving around a lot has been extremely beneficial as it made me experience different cultures and made me have a passion for travelling and seeing new things. I went on to study at the University of Nottingham where I did a Business Management degree and it was there that I discovered my love for marketing. After University I worked for a jewellery company as a Marketing Campaign Coordinator before becoming part of the DBS team.
Tell us a bit about your job at DBS
As a Digital Marketing Specialist, I work with our clients on their digital marketing strategies, specialising in Content Marketing and paid and organic Social Media. As we are a relatively small team, it allows us all to develop a range of skills and there are always opportunities to learn more and develop which is one of the reasons I love working here. Working for DBS brings new challenges that can be tough but being challenged is great and the range of projects we get to work on means that I am never bored of my role.
What is your favourite part of your job?
I love working with the clients directly, learning more about their business and knowing that we can help them reach their goals. There is nothing more satisfying that seeing the results of our marketing at work and seeing it have a positive impact on our clients’ sales and leads. It is great to watch businesses grow and know that you are a part of helping that happen.
As a shareholder to the company as part of the EOT (employee ownership trust) I feel a lot more involved in the company and means we all try that much harder to work as a team and help the business grow. It is good to know that our hard work will pay off.
Do you have any women that you look up to and find inspirational?
There are so many inspirational women out there that it is hard to pick. I would definitely say that I find Taylor Swift inspirational. She may not be to everyone’s taste but I have loved her music since I was a young teenager and I think what she has achieved in the industry for women is amazing. Historians Lucy Worsely and Kate Williams are also inspirational to me as they have really stoked my interest in history. Most importantly, I think it is the women in my day to day life like my family and friends that I found most inspirational.
What advice would you give other women who would like to excel in their career?
I think success all comes down to the individual and how determined they are. I used to not speak up as much and be shy to talk to managers about career progression. However, as I’ve got older, I stopped worrying about this and have learnt to embrace talking about how you want to progress.
The only person that can determine your future and the future of your career is you. If you know exactly what you want and where you want to be, then it is down to you to make the plan, stick to it and you can achieve the goals.
I would also say to people to learn as much as you can about your field as possible. If there are courses available to boost your career, don’t hesitate to do it. Knowledge is power and if you work hard at becoming a specialist in your field, you will be able to reap the rewards and have a successful, rewarding career.