What is your Name?
Lauren Gill
What do you do?
Global PR Manager at Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Solutions in Falmouth.
Can you tell us a bit more about yourself?
I grew up in Lancashire but went on to live, study and work in Italy, Switzerland and London before making the move to Cornwall in 2016. I live here with my husband and two young children and it is such a special place to raise a family. Career wise I have spent two decades working in PR and communications, predominantly with companies or focused on products and services in the tech and engineering space.I have worked for some amazing engineering companies like Dyson and for Discovery, including working with the MythBusters team.
What was your favourite subject at school?
My favourite subjects at school were French and German, I loved studying languages from an early age. People tried to dissuade me from taking both at GCSE but I went ahead anyway, and then took German at A-level. I enjoyed it so much I decided to introduce a third language and take Italian at university. My year of study in Italy was one of the best experiences of my life. In many ways it made me the person I am today and paved the way for my career, opening many doors professionally thanks to the skills and experiences I gained.
What do you do in your role at the moment? What does your day to day work look like?
I manage the PR and content team within Watson-Marlow's global marketing department. This involves driving the PR and content strategy around our global product launches in the Life Sciences and Process Industries sectors, securing press coverage in key media outlets and creating content to share with our customers through a variety of marketing channels. I work with a number of agency partners, including a language services provider so we can tailor and localise our activity according to the target market and audience.
What is your favourite thing about your job?
I love working with colleagues from all over the world. It is fascinating to hear of the different applications for our technology and solutions depending on the country, and it means we are never short of interesting stories to tell!
How did you get into the job your are doing now? What did you do to get started?
After university I decided I wanted to find a job that would give me the opportunity to work work my languages and write, something else I love to do. I landed a role with a consumer lifestyle PR agency which was a great place to learn the ropes initially. From there I took a position at a B2B PR agency where I worked on a client newsletter which involved translation into five languages. I loved the project and knew I wanted to specialise in international communications. I landed a position in Dyson's global press team managing their PR in European markets and really enjoyed finding ways to make the science, technology and engineering behind the products accessible and exciting for people. Next up I moved to Discovery Channel and spent seven amazing years as a publicist promoting science, engineering and tech entertainment formats across their global channel portfolio. I also spent a couple of years working for consumer tech company Logitech in Switzerland. These fantastic opportunities enabled me to work across all aspects of communications and develop professionally along the way. My current role draws on everything I've learned along the way so far but also provides lots of room to grow and so in many ways it is my dream position!
Have you faced any challenges along the way and how did you overcome them?
Navigating highly matrixed organisations can be tricky, especially when you are operating across time zones! I think building strong relationships with stakeholders is key and something which I really make a priority to overcome some of the more complex projects.
What advice would you give to young girls?
You can do ANYTHING you put your mind to!