Natasha McDonough is the CEO and founder of MMC Research, a research and behavioural insights agency based in Sunderland.
With a strategic marketing and insights career spanning 25 years across three different continents, McDonough spent four years working within the early dot.com space in Los Angeles and spent time working in Sydney on global accounts including Sony, Australia.
Now based in the North East, alongside her role at MMC Research she is also a Vice President for the North East Chamber of Commerce, and Board Member of a UK Football Charity, The Foundation of Light.
From lucky breaks to failures, she shares all the lessons she’s learnt.
Which single daily habit or practice could you not do without?
On a working day, I always make sure I’m aware of everything in my inbox that needs action from me and make responding a priority. I started out my career as an assistant and I’d get yelled at if things weren’t answered immediately! They say old habits die hard, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
What’s been your luckiest break?
Joining a fast-paced, wild publishing house in London in 1996. I said yes to every opportunity and learnt marketing and print production ‘on the job’, having not had the chance in life of further or higher education prior to that.
What’s your best failure?
When I was made redundant from a senior in-house marketing role just over 10 years ago, I felt like a failure. It really shattered my confidence. I remember my husband saying that it could be the best thing that ever happened (aside from meeting him of course!) and looking back it actually was. It turned out to be the making of MMC as an agency, brilliant for me and my work-life balance, and just the jolt I needed to really shape my future business.
What is the best investment you’ve ever made, either financial or time?
A £350 laptop from Curry’s and a £90 solid oak desk from Gumtree when starting MMC nearly 10 years ago, and working some 10-12 hour days to get it going! Things have moved up quite a bit since then, but I actually fondly remember those early days.
In terms of time, I invest time in business and community endeavours here in the North East, working as the Vice President of the North East Chamber of Commerce, as well as being part of the Board at the Foundation of Light. This work is really rewarding, helps me continually build connections, and also allows me to shout about the great things happening in our region with other leaders from across the UK.
Which podcast or book would you recommend others to read/listen to, and why?
‘Dare to Lead’ by Brené Brown, which helped me embrace vulnerability as a leader rather than viewing it as a weakness. I am passionate about MMC always being an open and psychologically-safe space for our team, and embracing vulnerability – and encouraging our team to embrace theirs – is certainly part of this culture.
What one piece of advice would you give your 21-year-old self?
To stand up for what I believed in, learn how to set healthy boundaries at work, and speak my mind more.
Back then, I was so thankful that I’d been given a break in life, I became a people pleaser at work. If I didn’t agree with something, or couldn’t do something on time, I worked round the clock and I kept my thoughts to myself. It was only really once I was in my mid 30s that I started to gently push back and realise that setting boundaries usually means a better outcome!
Who or what has had the single biggest influence on your working life?
Probably the entrepreneur who first believed in me and put me on a flight out to America to go make them money! I had no experience but showed them that I was a hard worker and really cared about doing a good job.
From that moment I was hellbent on shaping a career for myself in marketing and learnt everything I could from them.
Tell us something about you that would surprise people.
When I was working in Los Angeles, the company I worked for went into Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, so I became a celebrity nanny and used to whizz around on private planes and babysit the kids whilst the parents were skiing in Aspen! I loved it and totally fell in love with the little ones, and I still keep in touch with them now that they’re adults!
If there was one thing you could change about your career, what would it be and why?
Now that I’m over 50 I’ve stopped wondering whether a degree would have made a difference in my life. I realised I’d wasted 30 years worrying about it.
I do sometimes get curious about what it would entail and what I’d learn, and the difference it would have made, but I’m having so much fun and gaining so much knowledge and inspiration from the brilliant team around me, the projects we deliver, and the business we’re building at MMC, so I wouldn’t want to use my brain for anything else.
What does success look like to you?
Personally, it would be laughing and chatting at the table with my teenagers and husband without my greedy Rhodesian Ridgeback stealing from plates.
Professionally, it’s having a good runway of booked projects and a team that laughs together and volunteers to help each other out, but which gives me the time and space to make a difference in the North East Business Community through my work with the North East Chamber of Commerce and local charities.
