What's your job about?
I work in marketing at Diageo, the world’s largest Spirits company, managing some of the coolest and biggest brands in the drinks industry. I work on a team that manages the Johnnie Walker Scotch Whisky brand. It’s the #1 Scotch brand in the world and takes multiple people to manage all the work that makes this 200-year-old icon successful!
My areas of responsibility include our consumer experiences like festivals and events, our programs in bars and restaurants, and managing the performance of our premixed drinks portfolio. At the moment, I’m building a Johnnie Walker Food Truck for our new festival and events strategy while also planning our bar programs for the year and managing the launch of the first premix in the world to use our premium Black Label whisky. There’s always a lot happening on this brand, but I love how every day on the job is different!
What's your background?
I was born in the United States, but I grew up all over the place because my dad’s job required us to move every few years. By the time I finished high school I had lived in 6 countries, and I loved constantly going to new places and having new experiences because of it. I think that moving helped me become a more adaptable and open person, both of which are traits that have been factors in my success at Diageo.
I started at Diageo straight out of university on the graduate program. At that time, it consisted of 3 one-year rotations. I started out in marketing as an Assistant Brand Manager working across Johnnie Walker and our Drinks Culture team. Next, I went into commercial as a Business Development Manager and spent a year driving around the Northern Beaches of Sydney, managing 120+ accounts across bars, bottle shops, and hotels. For my final rotation, I moved into our Strategic Partnerships business, where I helped manage our portfolios in New Zealand and South Pacific Islands. After the graduate program, I moved back into Marketing, managing the Captain Morgan Spiced Rum brand for 18 months before taking on my current role. It’s been a whirlwind for 6 years, but I’ve had amazing opportunities to get experience in different parts of the business, grow myself, and bring that experience to my next role. I’ve managed to have a lot of fun along the way too!
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Yes, it is possible. The great thing about being a brand manager is that you’re effectively managing that brand as its own business, which means that there’s an opportunity to bring expertise from many different areas to have an impact. I have a background based on marketing and commercial experience, but I also know brilliant brand managers that have come from straight from a creative agency and purely commercial backgrounds. Every brand has different needs and a huge number of ways it can be grown – if you can bring something to the table that helps the brand achieve its potential then you’re the right person for the job regardless of your background.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
I love getting to manage an iconic 200-year-old brand in Johnnie Walker; It’s incredible getting to see the history of it and the personal connections that so many people have to it. I love that I get to have an impact on that legacy and create a new set of experiences for existing drinkers to enjoy, and new drinkers to discover the brand, like our delicious new highball serve strategy and food truck experiences!
What are the limitations of your job?
Diageo is a big company and Johnnie Walker is the #1 priority brand both globally and in Australia. This means that there are a lot of stakeholders to manage and big expectations in terms of the work you put out, so you really feel the pressure sometimes! That being said, I know that I wouldn’t have been put in this role if I wasn’t ready, so I rely on my experience and the awesome team around me which has worked so far!
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