Jemma Robertson is managing director at GRA, a Glasgow-based full-service digital marketing agency.
The company was founded by the late Guy Robertson in 2011 and is now owned and run by his daughter Jemma, who took over as MD in 2020.
Here, she shares a recent week in her life…
Monday
I’m up early and in the office by 7.30am most days as I like to clear my desk and get my to do list in order before the madness begins. Sitting at my desk with my two screens, the best team in the world and a Nescafe Dulce Gusto Mocha, I feel like I can conquer the world!
I’m just back from a week in Ibiza where, because of a pressing project that needed to get over the line, I continued to check in on my emails to make sure everything was running smoothly, which it was! I don’t tend to work weekends and although it sounds cliché, I do like to adopt a work hard, play hard mentality.
On Monday morning we have our big team meeting where we review all of the campaigns and projects we have been working on. This lets us set the agenda and get our heads in place for the week.
Tuesday
I have a slight phobia about being away from my desk for too long because if I am, I start to feel I’m behind in my work rate. Having said that, there are some trips that have to be made and last week I attended a really useful conference in Edinburgh ran by Meta which was full of other agencies and freelancers and we heard from some great guest speakers so it was well worth it!
We have four US-based customers whom I’d like to go visit but for now Teams meetings make things work perfectly well without the horrors of air travel, so we have to liaise with them across time zones.
The team are able to WFH if they choose on Tuesdays and Fridays, but I’m in the office every day – we’ve just moved in somewhere bigger and spent quite a lot of effort getting it done up so it’s a nice place to work.
Wednesday
One day a month, sometimes a Wednesday, we have a pay day lunch as a team where we go to a restaurant in Glasgow which one of the team has nominated. That way we get to find out about brilliant new places– and there are hundreds of them in Glasgow opening and closing all the time – to support them while bonding as a team.
Every Wednesday night I see my personal trainer at her own unit in the West End of the city. I do it with my friend so it’s a great opportunity to catch up and stay active at the same time.
Thursday
Thursdays I might be out at a shoot with a client getting some new content for a new website or social media so I always enjoy these days out of the office and letting my creativity run wild. We have some brilliant freelance photographers and videographers we work with so it’s always a pleasure working with them.
Thursday afternoon in the office is always a good atmosphere – everyone is a bit hyper and frantically trying to clear their desk before the weekend so there is a great buzz about the place. The radio seems to get a bit louder around this time too…
If we aren’t heading to our local for a few after work aperitifs, I usually have a nail appointment to be attending which I take very seriously!
Friday
I like a long Friday night so I finish around 5pm after I’ve cleared my desk. We have a 4pm finish on a Friday as I think it’s important everyone gets to properly wind down after what was probably a busy week and enjoy their weekend.
