Wonderful Women Interview with Senior PR Manager Lucy Hird

Lucy is a 30-year-old Senior PR Manager living in London who works for the Red Consultancy across a variety of health, beauty, food and lifestyle brands including Boots and Johnson & Johnson.

As a nutrition and fitness nut, she’s recently started a blog and Instagram account inspiring others to go out and try classes and recipes on www.msmotivator.me, with daily Instagram memes from her global travels aimed at motivating and making people smile @msmotivatorme.

Lucy is a great friend of mine and it’s a pleasure to share this powerhouse of a woman on my blog! 

 

Describe a typical day for you?

As you might imagine, working in a PR agency is full on. On a good day I’ll get up around 5.30am, run into work (I only live 6 miles away) and be at my desk ploughing through work from around 7.30/8am. I am an early bird and find I can get so much done before everyone descends and the email traffic takes hold of the day. In an agency you can be working with anything from three to nine or ten clients at once. A juggling act full of brainstorms, pitches, journalist briefings, client meetings, photoshoots, logistics, budgets, writing, emails, admin and of course sometimes there are lovely events with plenty of Prosecco darrrrling (this is PR after all). I try to finish at a good time, and love coming home to cook, it’s a real meditative time for me rustling up something healthy (and doing my best not to reach for a glass of wine). I’ve really enjoyed the addition of creating a daily Instagram meme to try and inspire others – finding a gorgeous picture from my travels and adding on a powerful message is so satisfying and I’ve had really positive feedback so far.

 

What do you feel are your biggest achievements?

It’s a really interesting question because turning 30 has been a real transition for me. I still think I am somehow going to change the world, but at the same time I thought that I would have done it by now. It’s funny because I would have bitten my own arm off at 21 to have the job and life I do now. But I think in today’s society, you want a career that earns enough for you to live an enjoyable life, as well as something that is going to have a positive impact on the world (and most of us want to be a mum on top of this!). So in a lot of ways I think my achievements are still to come, and hopefully this blog will help me get to where I want to be. I started my career late and have quickly made up for it – which I am proud of – but I am a great believer that hard work pays off. Outside of work, I cannot deny that winning actual Come Dine With Me was one of the best moments of my life!

 

What’s in your handbag/ satchel?

A lot of make-up (No7 of course), my half smashed phone (holding out for that upgrade), so much change (I like to be prepared to help the homeless in my area, even if it’s a few pounds – I have a theory that we should all get to know someone who is homeless in our area and understand their story – then we could help them in the right way, provide the right food or nourishment and encouragement but I digress), and my headphones are always at hand as music is a massive part of my life, and also a great excuse to block out London on the commute.

 

What are your ambitions in life?

Like so many people I really want to make a difference, I have a deep passion for nutrition and a lot of energy for it (just ask my poor family who call me the food police). It’s not about demonisation, it’s about education – and I think it’s scary how little people think, care or know about what they put into their bodies. Don’t get me wrong I love wine, chocolate, cheese, and the rest – but you need a balance. There needs to be a whole re-shuffle in terms of how we view food – not as calories but as nutrition (I do have a whole plan as to how this could work, but that’s for another day ;-)). So my ambition would be to make some kind of difference in this area.

 

What do you wish you’d known at the start of your career you now know?

It is really not as glamorous as people think, and it is much more strategic than I had ever imagined. I think we all go into things only thinking of the positives and not the late nights and tears. I watched two of my best friends go from strength to strength opening a specialist restaurant and now seeing their Yorkshire in shops across the country it is just incredible, but nothing is handed to you on a plate!

 

Where do you see yourself in 5 years’ time?

Tough question… I hope I will be in a happy place, surrounded by good people, in a fulfilling role. That’s the fundamentals – the actual colour around it I can’t see yet, but I believe that if you put yourself out there and listen to the world, then you’ll get on the right path.

 

What advice would you give a budding PR?

Be prepared to learn more than you ever thought possible, about the most random things… in fact I wrote an article a year into working in PR here that anyone starting in the industry might find useful! Re-reading in four years later, it is still all true!

 

Finally, happiness is…

It might sound obvious, but spending time with people you genuinely care about. Not people you feel obliged to, or people you have to make too much effort with, or people that don’t care. It’s sitting back with a glass of wine, discussing the world, travel, politics, human behaviour, love and life and doing it all whilst laughing and not taking it all too seriously. Those are my treasured moments.