​BY LAURA MARIA HENRY

One week ago, if you had asked me what my values were as a marketer – and a person – I wouldn’t have been able to answer.

The Whole Marketer event, set amongst a tranquil natural backdrop in Hertfordshire, brought together a group of wonderful people and helped give me the answers to these questions and more.

​Hosted by Abby Dixon, the event was a day where we were brought together to pause and take time to focus on ourselves, our goals and ambitions, and our personal development.

As a marketer, I’ve never focused on myself – I’ve managed digital campaigns, created strategies, upskilled in areas including brand strategy and digital marketing, but I never saw the connection between who I am and how that impacts my work.

The Whole Marketer event has changed my outlook completely. Through various workshops during the day, we explored what makes us tick and how that translates into our roles at work. And I realised that when these align, our work will benefit immensely.

Ahead of the day, I wasn’t sure what my expectations were. I was looking forward to networking with like-minded people and gaining an insight into what Abby Dixon believed was important in the marketing world. I bought the Whole Marketer book last year, which was what inspired me to come along to the event.

​A quick summary of what the day entailed:

• I started the day meeting everyone, grabbing a coffee and a pastry and getting settled.
• Abby took to the stage to welcome us all and give us insight into what the day was going to look like. She was so personable and genuine – it got me really excited.
• The first session was focused on reflecting and assessing. It was here I took the time to understand what my values were. There was a group of lovely coaches on the day who came and had one on one conversations with us. Through these fascinating discussions I learned that one of my values is authenticity – and this made a lot of sense to me. As a marketer, I don’t like it when the right thing isn’t done or when I’m expected to act in a certain way to achieve an outcome – I believe in being myself and striving to do things right, no matter how long that may take.
• We then moved on to vision setting and goal setting. I’ve always enjoyed goal setting – I think all marketers will!
• As a group we then explored what our ideal role looked like. The key was to make sure our jobs aligned with our values and our life as a whole. I realised that time with my loved ones and personal time is really important to me, so work-life balance is essential in my ideal role. I also thrive in creative backgrounds – again, not surprising that I went into marketing.
• The next activity – and one of my favourite parts of the day – was when we went into breakout sessions to delve further into a particular area. I chose the ‘Making it happen’ session, where we looked at the goals we had set earlier, and created an action plan to help achieve them, to turn our individual planning into tangible progress. I found it collaborative and the coach supported us throughout.
• Finally, we were honoured to watch the Whole Marketer podcast live with none other than Daryl Fielding! Hearing her tell some of the best campaigns and projects she had worked on, and her advice for developing our career was truly great to witness.

My highlights of the day were networking, meeting Daryl Fielding, and my coaching session because it helped me push through some of the areas I was finding difficult. I was inspired by everyone’s commitment to improving their careers and lives, and Abby’s enthusiasm was so infectious.

I’ve already started to apply what I learned on the day. One of Daryl Fielding’s pieces of advice was we as marketers must strive to develop more young people coming through in the marketing industry. As a manager of an apprentice and a Social Media Officer, I was inspired to commit myself to helping them learn as much as they can. We’ve agreed monthly personal development sessions tailored to what they want to learn. I’ve also committed myself to continue learning and developing myself too.