March is a fantastic month for women. With International Women’s Day on Sunday 8th March and the whole month celebrating Women’s History, we wanted to place a spotlight on all the inspiring, talented and accomplished women that we have in our senior leadership team at The PHA Group.
For our second female spotlight we spoke to Hayley Coleby, The PHA Group’s Head of Social. Find out more about her journey below.
What brought you to the PR/social media world?
At the time, social media was a relatively new profession, and this excited and intrigued me. I loved the idea of working in an industry that didn’t exist when my parents started their careers. I soon found out that I wasn’t bad at creating content that spoke to a social media specific audience – and I thrived on seeing this interaction.
What would you say is your biggest achievement?
I’m very proud of the growth that the social media department at The PHA Group has seen in recent years, and the campaigns that we deliver. One notable campaign to mention was the launch of NOMO Chocolate to the UK market. From winning the very competitive pitch, to helping the brand become the number one free-from brand in the UK, it’s a great highlight for me.
For any person you interview, what do you look for?
I look for an individual that can work as a team, as that’s such an important skill to have in a collaborative agency such as The PHA Group. Being able to recognise the strengths and sometimes weaknesses of other team members is vital, and I really do stand by the saying, ‘you’re only as good as your team’. It’s equally important for me to ensure that each member of my team feels supported, nurtured and empowered to grow and develop in their role.
If you could go back and give your 20-year-old self any advice, what would it be?
To take client losses less personally. It’s part and parcel of agency life, regardless of how hard you have worked. Every client will play its part in your personal development and it’s about learning from each experience and taking that learning onto the next client. More often than not, you end up crossing paths again anyway.
