From apprentice to Rising Star
We started the Making of a Marketer series to celebrate amazing marketing careers. We also want to inspire and help people to understand that you don’t just pop out into the industry as a fully-fledged award-winning Marketer. It takes a lot of hard work.
There are, however, many routes into the industry. It doesn’t always have to be the conventional route of academia and graduating from university. Some other choices can pan out well (or even really well)! In fact, some choices with a lot of hard work can even fast-track a journey to an exceptional level.
And so what better person’s career to celebrate for this very reason than the 2022 winner of the Rising Star Award by UK’s Search Awards, Ellie Morgan!
Ellie is a Digital PR Consultant at Evolved Search with just 3.5 years in SEO, two of those at Evolved (give or take a few days). To have won the Rising Star Award at age 21 is a huge achievement, something she should be extremely proud of! It highlights the huge potential Ellie brings to the industry and she’s definitely one to watch from our side. You can follow Ellie on Twitter as she’s always sharing DigitalPR bits and pieces! Something we wanted to showcase was that despite the offers, Ellie chose not to go to university. Instead, she chose to undertake an apprenticeship. Check out some of Ellie’s story below.
Over to you, Ellie …
What did you want to be when you grew up?
I started dancing when I wasn’t even able to walk. My auntie had a dance school and my cousin and I attended from 18 months. Up until I was about 16 I wanted to be some type of performer: dancer, singer and or actor.
What subjects were you best at in school?
Going off grades it would be Science, History, EPA (performing arts), Maths & Media Studies
What was your very first job?
Saturday girl at a local beautician
How did you first discover digital marketing / your specific industry sector?
I took on a completely new subject for my A Levels: Media. It was a subject that naturally I grew to love and spent a lot of time researching. I ended up getting an “A” in the subject and received the ‘Pirimal Prize For Excellence In Media Studies’ from my school when I left. After creating my own (very basic Wix) website, and researching and analysing a range of texts from the press, broadcast news and radio, I started to dig deep at potential jobs that looked at some of this. This is when I discovered digital marketing. It was at this time I made the brave decision to decline my offers for University to take the route of an apprenticeship. I started full-time work the week after my last A’level exam
Share a mistake you made or an event you regret from your career.
Because a lot of my career has been lived in the same four walls of my house due to COVID I haven’t been able to attend that many in-person events yet. However, one fail I regret and would advise others to avoid is not reading the BrightonSEO emails properly this April. I thought I was ignoring reminder emails letting me know the schedule for the days, which I had already screenshot. Nope! They were in fact emails to sign up to the after-parties that I inevitably missed. Learn from my mistake and sign up (I have heard they were good).
Jumping in a time machine, what advice would you give your 18-year-old self?
Do it! I am so pleased I made the decision I did when I was 18 to start working straight away. I pressured myself for so long to go to University as this was what many of my teachers were expecting me because I enjoyed studying. I took the Apprenticeship route instead, and this has never held me back in my personal experience.
What industry skill do you wish you’d learned sooner and why?
Spreadsheet skills. I underestimated how valuable learning how to create formulas in a spreadsheet was for my job. A couple of examples of its benefits to me are they allow me to analyse client results more efficiently and arrange large datasets that are gathered for a Digital PR campaign. This is something I am still no expert in but I wish I had started learning sooner as the benefits are starting to show.
Who are you inspired by in the digital marketing industry?
There are so many amazing people in the industry it is so hard to pick one person. The most truthful answer would be my colleague Bekki Ramsay. I have always been passionate in my work, but it was only when I joined Evolved and met Bekki that I realised my potential. She is so efficient, enthusiastic, and constantly looking to grow both in herself and her role. She is someone I always feel inspired by.
If you were to publish an autobiography in 20 years time, what would it be titled?
Skip to the end for the point.
What’s the one thing you want to be remembered for from your career, and why?
Something I am a huge advocate of is good work culture. This is something that is huge at my workplace. Evolved was set up with a focus on how it treats its staff and it is so enjoyable to work here. Everyone has a deep respect for one another and it makes the work we produce so much better because our working relationships are so strong. Over my working life I hope to continue to share the importance of this and how it can improve the well-being of so many workers.
Thank you, Ellie for taking part in this series and proving it’s not necessary to have gone to University to be an award winning Marketer like yourself! Keep up the great work and we expect to see many more accolades added to your 2022 Rising Star Award!
For everyone else, do keep an eye out for more of the MOAM series as I regularly celebrate careers of inspiring Digital Marketers!
Could your career story inspire others to further their digital marketing careers? Or, do you know someone whose story needs to be told? Feel free to get in touch with me directly via digital@clockworktalent.com. Alternatively, if you’re looking to explore your career options in digital marketing, visit our job board, upload your CV, or follow us on social platforms, for tips and tricks to further your digital marketing career!
Did you enjoy reading about Ellie’s DigitalPR career journey? If so, you’ll find these MOAMs interesting too!
💡Olivia Smith – The Making of a Marketer
