WRENmedia’s much valued office manager Rachel looks back on her first 2 years on the job as well as what it is like working in rural Suffolk, and what lies ahead for the company at the start of this new decade.
You’ve now been with WRENmedia for 2 years – congratulations! Charlotte, your predecessor, worked with WRENmedia for around 20 years – was it at all daunting stepping into her role?
Maybe a little bit, but I think the fact that Charlotte had been here for 20 years and left because she was retiring showed that it was obviously a nice place to work, otherwise she wouldn’t have stayed so long! I felt happy that I was joining a nice team. Also, the role is very similar to my previous positions, so there wasn’t anything I was too worried about. It was a good move for me.
As office manager, you are often asked to undertake quite a multitude of tasks and to support the team in a number of different ways – is there anything particularly surprising that you didn’t expect to be doing?
I didn’t expect to be regularly updating the WRENmedia website with blogs and photos, but it’s something I like doing. I also didn’t expect to be interviewed for website articles! I am hoping that this year, I will be helping more with the running of WREN’s social media accounts, particularly Instagram, to upload updates about the team’s projects and work trips. Working on social media is another thing I didn’t expect to be doing, but would like to get more involved in.
We are only a small team and working in a very rural area which is not for everyone, what are the best things about working in the Suffolk countryside?
At lunchtime, I really enjoy the fact that, as a team, we go for lovely walks over our lunch hour, especially in the summer time, and I like that we can sit outside to eat in the warm weather. My commute is also much more relaxing than when I was living and working in London - I now get to see lots of interesting wildlife including barn owls, stoats, pheasants, horses and kestrels. So there are lots of things, it’s just lovely! We also get to enjoy seeing the wildlife out of the office windows although I have to say the wasps in the late summer when we are eating outside are not so pleasant…
How have things changed or stayed the same over the last two years? What do you think lies ahead for WRENmedia in 2020?
We have had quite a few changes with the team over the past few years. New members have joined as interns and then moved on to new positions after gaining a year or so’s experience with us. Last year we also started working with some new clients, including AWARD and ICARDA; looking ahead, there are more exciting writing and editing opportunities coming up with ACED-Benin and ATNI.
What has stayed the same is that the team still provides on-going comms support to our long-term clients, including APRA, CTA and KIT. We are also continuing with our eco mission to be more environmentally friendly, making small changes where possible, and we are getting better at it.
Sophie Reeve