Christmas is all about giving – and what better gift could you receive this festive season than three wonderful new members of the StrategiQ family? That’s right: we’ve been drawing in Suffolk’s greatest again, and this time we’re welcoming senior marketing manager Nicola White (left), office manager Kate Kydd (right) and workflow manager Paulina Cage (centre).
Let’s learn a little more about our newest recruits…
Nicola’s ‘past life’ saw her trained as a nurse, so she’s used to getting her hands dirty and thinking on her feet. Her career in marketing started when she switched it up a bit and took on a job at a communications agency in Coggeshall, where she discovered a love for agency life. Over 13 years with the agency, she spent several years training and progressing from account executive to account manager, account director, associate director and finally executive director.
Nicola then moved on to a small agency in Ipswich, where her role was to introduce PR to a solely advertising agency. Then finally onto her most glamorous job yet – Operations Director for a domestic drainage company – so she knows a lot about unblocking toilets, drain surveys and repairs! Nicola was responsible for the introduction and implementation of procedures and processes alongside strategic planning, development and management of the company brand, marketing activities, customer service and business development. And breathe!
StrategiQ then became a target for Nicola, but the timing was wrong due to her young family. In the meantime, she took a role at a property marketing company to assist in the development of a client services team. After that, her next role was with a boutique agency in Earls Colne, working with start-ups and entrepreneurs, CEOs, directors and fast-track growth companies; assisting them with increasing brand establishment, awareness, profiling and general consultancy. This saw her working with some interesting clients, most notably a winner of The Apprentice!
What does Nicola do for fun?
With young children, Nicola doesn’t have much free time around caring for her family. However, with what time she does have, she works as a charity ambassador for Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital – something that is close to her heart as her son received life-saving treatment at the hospital from birth until the age of four. Alongside giving something back to those who helped her family, Nicola spends most of her time seeing other members of her enormous family and taking her kids swimming and to karate lessons. Nicola is also a home baker when she can fit it in – she especially loves to make cakes and decorate them for her kids. This one’s my favourite…
But why did you choose us?
Nicola had her eyes on the prize for a while…
“Both my children were finally at school age, so I took time to consider what exactly I wanted and needed out of my career, and it was then that I got in touch, met Nick and Gemma to discuss the opportunity to join the agency, and to my delight was offered the position. StrategiQ is fresh, dynamic and successful; the agency is exactly the place I want to be, working with clients in an open and transparent way, and really striving to achieve the absolute best – for clients, the agency and myself. I’m still as keen to continue to develop and grow my career as I was 20 years ago, my passion and hunger are echoed throughout StrategiQ, and I’m excited about the opportunities this agency has to offer.”
Let’s move on to new face number two, office manager Kate Kydd!
Kate’s marketing agency career started when she graduated with a first-class BA honours degree in media practices. Her job roles included studio manager, account manager, project manager and now, of course, office manager!
Thanks to her eagerness to get things just right, Kate’s earned herself the nickname of ‘little miss perfect’ over the years, which makes her perfect for her new role of organising all of us! Kate’s friendly face is who you’ll be seeing when you come to visit us, and when you pick up the phone to us it’ll usually be Kate that greets you.
So what gets Kate out of bed at the weekend?
When she’s not taking care of all of us, Kate is a bit of a maniac because she loves to ride horses (I can say that, I’m ‘one of those’ too) and used to do a lot of showing and competing in her younger years. She even competed in 2019’s Man vs Horse marathon, where riders and runners compete to do 22 miles in the quickest time. Here’s a lovely picture of Kate with one of her beloved equine friends!
Kate’s also a huge fan of waterskiing, off-road cycling and walks in the rain (natural progressions from horse riding, I know). A countryside bobbin, Kate also loves a riverside pub (she lives next to one) and spending time outdoors. Her favourite drink is that pub-garden classic: blue WKD. In a wine glass. Need I say more?
What was it about StrategiQ?
“Why did I choose StrategiQ? Simple – who wouldn’t want to join a company with such ambitious business plans yet with a genuine care for every individual within the team?”
Too right, Kate!
And last but by no means least, we meet workflow manager Paulina Cage!
Paulina brings a wealth of knowledge but also some exciting culture to StrategiQ. Having moved to England from Poland in 2013 whilst halfway through a Communication Design degree in Wroclaw, Paulina is used to life going at full speed. She found herself flying back and forth between her degree in Poland and full-time job in England every two or three weeks. Lots of flights and sleepless nights were worth it, as she came out of it with a great work ethic, a Bachelor of Arts diploma and happy family and friends in Poland! Somehow, amongst all that, she’s also got an OCR / Oxford Cambridge and RSA Certificate in Digital Graphics Editing.
Paulina began her career in production in the screen printing, embroidery and textile industry, where she worked to get herself up the ranks over the years to an account manager position. Paulina is used to big contracts worth thousands of pounds, so she’s never afraid of the numbers and describes herself as committed to giving 100% customer satisfaction.
Paulina’s strengths lie in her organisational skills (which is ideal when you’re a workflow manager). She also prides herself on her communication skills, her high level of attention to detail, and her ability to connect with people, whether they’re colleagues, clients or peers. Her organisational skills really shone through when she got married in the summer in Poland. She planned the entire thing herself from England, including flights, stays, food and even entertainment – while working full time! According to Paulina, a Polish wedding goes a bit like this…
“Polish weddings are traditionally more intense than English ones and last 48 hours! Agenda: eat, drink, dance, then eat and drink again and again. Then dance, snack a bit more, then sleep, then repeat!”
Anybody else think we’ve got a secret party animal on our hands?
What does Paulina do when she’s not organising literally everything?
Paulina is a foodie – she loves a good snack and you’ll never find her without some chocolate and salted popcorn. A woman after my own heart, Paulina also loves to accessorize – you’ll never find her in a mismatching outfit, with lippy to match!
Her other hobbies include crafty stuff like making collages out of Vogue magazines (of course) and buying, making and wrapping presents (my favourite too), watching films, especially psychological thrillers (you lost me there), and hanging out with her and her husband Paul’s cat, Special Agent Jack Bauer, also known as:
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Mr Bauer
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Billy
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Biluś – Polish version
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Squiggles – Paul’s favourite
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Billy Biblington (my favourite)
If that wasn’t enough to do in her spare time, Paulina is also an at-home consultant for The Body Shop, so she always smells great too!
Why did you choose StrategiQ, Paulina?
“When I found out about StrategiQ, I was amazed at how much this company has achieved in such a short period of time, and I love how it cares about the individual success of its employees. You can see things moving forward everyday, and that’s why I knew I wanted to be a part of it.”
We’re so excited to take all three of you on board and welcome you into the warm and wonderful world of StrategiQ!
Fancy having the next blog written about you? Get in touch with us or check out our careers page to find out more about opportunities to join us.
