What's your job about?
I work at one of the worlds largest spirit producers Diageo, my responsibility is to support the National Account Managers for the largest independent retails in Australia (Cellarbration, The bottle O, IGA and Bottlemart) with promotional programs, right through to how our reps are best set up to sell when in stores.
I support the National Account Managers by running the end to end promotional program across CBN TBO IGA, including building the programs internally and selling them in with the customers and communicating to our field team. I also have responsibility for my own accounts such where I manage their P&L such as Harry’s and Porters.
My role is varied no day is the same, there is a lot that is encompassed within my role and many different colleagues from around the business eg in marketing and finance, as well as many contact at my customers. Seeing a promotion come to life in store through catalogue after building and selling it in from the ground up is a very rewarding experience and seeing first had the impact your work has. I have autonomy to plan my week and have stretch in my role with elements I am working on to develop for future roles too.
What's your background?
I grew up in Canberra ACT
I grew up working in the hospitality industry, I began working in restaurants at 15 whilst finishing College, I continued in hospitality whilst studying and made the move to full time hospitality bar managing at 22 and continued my way up to Venue Management in Canberra. In 2016 I began working for Diageo as a BDM on an off premise in Canberra!
I have been in role for 1 year now as National Account Executive. I was selected to be a part of the field team high performance program as a BDM for Diageo which opened my eyes to the varied roles across the business within the head office, and was really passionate about wanting to join the retail sales team. When I saw the National Account Executive role advertised I applied, went through the interview process and was accepted. I moved to Sydney in March last year.
I think its important to take chances in your career, the move from Canberra to Sydney was something I had never done but honestly the best move I made. I have an amazing role that was well worth the move and I have been supported by my colleagues during the learning process and moving. I also took a chance in applying for the BDM role after years of hospitality experience, with the right mindset and drive you can excel in any new role! I like getting out of my comfort zone.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Yes of course, I came from a BDM role however as the job description asked I had the experience in field in account management, I upskilled through my diploma and have had experience in field that helped me to prioritise, build relationships etc.
Ability to adapt and prioritise effectively have definitely helped me in my role, relationship building and managing multiple stakeholders also have been a key to my role. A growth Mindset has also been one of the most important skills for me, I have learnt a new role as well as encouraging myself to be the best I can be in role all comes down to your mindset. It’s also been good to learn its ok to not know every answer and put my hand up for help when I need it.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
As I said above seeing your promotional plans come to life is very rewarding, there is quite a bit of work that goes into executing a promotion from both an internal and external view and seeing the promotion in press etc is a very rewarding feeling and first hand seeing the impact you are having.
What are the limitations of your job?
Again my role is very diverse each day is different and priorities may change across the day. Prioritisation and agility are crucial in my role as well as attention to detail. Often the work I do is quite detailed and the care needs to be taken to ensure everything is correct. I like a challenge and am held accountable for my deliverables.
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