They say it takes years to build a reputation – but only one episode to break.

Kicking off Reputation Wrecked is our first and very brave guest Emma Smith FCIM CIIC

Emma’s had an incredible career, working in PR and Marketing for 28 years.

After working her way up to and eagerly anticipated Account Director role – Emma was thrown a curve ball…

It led her to making a seismic life changing decision while driving home on the M42.

Now Emma owns her own Marketing and PR business called Future PR and works with some incredible brands.

She also volunteers her time as a mentor through The Chartered Institute of Marketing mentorship programme, which is why Emma’s on the podcast because she mentors our MD, Chelsea.

It’s a great episode filled with honesty, laughter and a lot of wisdom.

Listen here:

Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eRaa66fM

Apple: https://lnkd.in/e2p7gysE

Chelsea’s take on behind the scenes recording Reputation Wrecked:

It was great to hear Emma’s story. From how she came to create her business, Future PR, to mentoring young marketers and her dedication to the CIM.

When curating the list of guests, I wanted Emma for my opening episode. Not only is she interesting and great at her job – she’s hilarious, wise and incredibly forthcoming.

I learnt a lot from this chat – but that wasn’t a surprise given the impact Emma’s had on my life in the past 6 months…

I briefly met Emma about 3 years ago tendering for one of her clients websites. We didn’t win the site but I won a job offer although I didn’t take it up.

Fast forward to starting Big Rep and feeling pretty scarred after a bad experience – my friends convinced me to find a mentor who had actually achieved what I want to achieve. Immediately my brain went to “the lady with a nice car and watch who replied ‘🤣’ instead of ‘F off’ after I tried to sell to her despite turning down her job…”

Being honest I didn’t expect much – I was emotionally checked out and quite distant at first. I only wanted to learn how to run a business that was great at what it offered and successful enough to provide a decent life with the occasional splurge on nice things. In our first meeting when Emma told me about the ‘lady with a Chanel Bag’ who inspired her early career choices, I knew I’d come to the right place!

What came next was the shocker…

Emma helped me realise all of the traits that got me in trouble and made me “unemployable” are actually the ones that make me incredible at what I do. In marketing you have to be challenging to break boundaries. It needs to be fun.

We cover this in the podcast but Emma’s advice on not changing who you are to achieve a goal is so important. She tells us how it’s taken her a while to grow into who she is today and finally come to like herself.

But when you assess the traits Emma has – it’s easy to see what’s so likeable and why she’s built such a great career. Emotionally intelligent and conscientious, she’s one of the most caring people I’ve ever met with incredibly open communication skills – there’s never a hidden agenda! Most importantly, if she says she’ll do something she bloody does it.

While I was hoping to learn how to bag a nice watch – Emma’s taught me much more… Like how to lead with warmth and humour, handling difficult situations with grace and openly sharing how I feel. Seeing this modelled in such a healthy way is rare in the professional world.

Having a mentor who builds you up, treats you as an equal, shows up consistently and leads with positivity can massively impact your life. She’s done wonders for my confidence and helped me grow into my new role in a much healthier way than I set out.

I’m forever grateful to Emma for her support and thankful to have found a friendship that’s accrued in value better than a Rolex ever could.