Gravitywho? #6 Laura
In this series I interview the award-winning team of creative geeks, thinkers and grafters, one by one.
Hi Laura, great to meet you. Where are you from and how long have you been at Gravitywell?
I'm a born and bred West Country girl and I've been at Gravitywell for 3 and a half years.
*Alexa, play 'West Country Girl' by Nick Cave*. What's great about working here?
My team. Whilst it means I'm excited to go to work every morning, I've also learnt and continue to learn so much from everyone I work with.
Such as the dry shampoo I told you about? That must be a highlight. Who would be your dream client and what would you like to work on for them?
I don’t think I have a dream client as such - I just like the opportunity to work with people who are collaborative with us as a company, and give us the chance to add value wherever we can. Dream clients tend to be startups or companies that are rebranding, as I love the involvement of building something up from scratch and getting to really understand the business you’re doing it for. It makes for lovely working relationships.
Strong answer. So how did you get into your role?
I started as a freelancer at a small agency in London, where some lovely people gave me my first job out of uni so I had a route in to our industry. It was another smaller agency and I was working as a Social Media Manager / Account Executive on any projects that I could be of use on. I wrote a lot of bad copy but that role gave me a brilliant opportunity to get a really good general overview of client relations and content generation in a short space of time.
After almost a year there, my partner and I decided that London wasn’t really for us and we relocated to Bristol. My roots are in the South West, and we love that we have the benefits of being in a city and yet the countryside is on our doorstep.
Simon and Jack gave me the chance to create and develop my role here as it is 3 and half years on!
What's your advice for someone wanting to get into the Digital industry? A one-way ticket from Paddington aside...
Be a literal sponge (okay, maybe figuratively) - soak up any and all knowledge that you can. Also, never undervalue concept work! Make sure you’re showing it to potential employers. It doesn’t matter if you’ve not had the opportunity to do something for a client, R&D projects can get your foot in the door and show what you’re capable of.
That's great advice. What's the worst thing about your role?
In a client facing role it can be difficult not to take things to heart. Over time I’ve learnt to be more flexible and try and take things on the chin, but it can be gutting when something doesn’t go to plan.
What's your favourite piece of tech and why?
As I use it everyday and I can’t imagine going back to anything else, my mechanical keyboard (Pok3r with cherry MX reds for anyone interested!) It’s fab to be able to customise my set up (currently sporting Tai-Hao Miami keycaps and a matching custom PexonPC cable), ergonomically it’s great too and there’s nothing more satisfying than hammering out an email on it.
They’re like Marmite at Gravitywell though - not everyone is convinced.
Not your iPad? The Gravitywell Christmas animation was flipping amazing! Your Hackathon dream destination would be..?
I’m pretty chuffed with anything coastal, although perhaps an Italian villa by the lakes would be a excellent change of scene.
Very nice - we could also stalk George Clooney for a week. Finally, what's the best kept secret in Bristol?
I hoard illustrations, prints and cigarette cards that always need framing so The Little Framing Company in The Island on Nelson Street. They have a brilliant selection of frames in their workshop and they do the most beautiful bespoke jobs.
