Tell us about your professional background.

I have a degree in chemistry from the University of Glasgow, and whilst I was at university, I was part of the Sports Development team. I organised local, countrywide, and even European sports events and competitions – that’s where my passion for events began!

I moved from Glasgow to Southampton for my first job and worked for a membership Association where I ran all their training events. I moved back to Cambridge and worked for a medical communications agency for six years then a Clinical Pharmacy publisher both of which helped build the foundation for my current relationships within the medical and pharmaceutical industries.

How did hear about CloserStill Media?

I met, at the time, CloserStill’s Healthcare Director at a Christmas party run by one of the media buyers in the pharmaceutical industry. My publication was approached to run a clinical stream at the Pharmacy Show, which I took lead on and I worked closely with CloserStill to produce the content.

Matthew Butler was the Event Director at the time, and I invited him to a partner’s conference where we took a tabletop stand. And basically, at the same time, I asked if they had any jobs, and he asked if I was looking for a job. And the rest is history - I started at CloserStill as a Sales Manager and helped launch Clinical Pharmacy Congress.

What have been your CloserStill proudest achievements?

I won the Chairman's Award in 2016, that was a highlight for me. I've have not worked in a company that rewards its staff in the way CloserStill does. Your clients will say, if they have had a good or bad show and they will tell you that they love you or hate you. But to have recognition from your colleague’s – is just as important to me.

What are you most excited about your future at CloserStill?

One of the things that my academic background offers me is the ability to do research and understand and analyse that research to take a top line view of it - that is how both Respiratory Professional Care and Oncology Professional Care shows have been created. Personally, I find that exciting by creating a new product that is going to help the healthcare industry and healthcare professionals with their training and education needs.

I am excited about the future of CloserStill, as we are actively looking for new people, new talent, new ideas, from not just from the exhibition industry. I can’t wait to see what they can achieve and offer us from the experiences they had and how we channel that new knowledge to grow our business further.

In 3 words, how would you sum up your 10 years at CloserStill?

Empowering, Educational and Exciting.

What advice would you give an employee starting their career at CloserStill?

Look, listen and learn from everyone around you and take it all in. Don’t be afraid to speak-up and share your ideas and you will be a success.