Rebecca Flitton-O’Brien heads up the client services team at Hull-based creative communications agency Pace.
Rebecca has worked at Pace for the past five years, rising through the ranks from account manager to her current role as head of client services.
Pace, which recently formed following a merger with marketing firm Blab, ranked 17th in Prolific North’s Top 50 PR Agencies ranking for 2022. Last week the agency was also crowned the fifth fastest growing PR agency in the North.
Rebecca shared how a recent week in her life went…
Monday
Mondays are always quite a meeting-heavy day for me, after the morning huddle where the whole agency gathers to share key priorities and any potential newsjacking opportunities for clients, I catch up with my MD Anita – who has also been on a well-deserved break.
After a veggie lunch (we do meat free Mondays in the office) I’m briefing the team on a potential pitch opportunity we’ve got for a brand in the health space. It’s an exciting opportunity and we’re already bouncing ideas off each other in the meeting for PR and social.
Mondays end with a trip to the gym. I find the gym essential for decluttering my brain after a busy day – it’s often mid-workout I come up with the solution to something that’s been bugging me or a new, creative idea pops in my head; the notes app on my phone is well used!
Tuesday
Today is one of my favourite types of days and why I love my role – me and senior PR manager Jo are going on a client visit. Following a rainy trip up the A1, we spend the morning chatting through their PR goals before enjoying a tasty lunch and some chat about how on the fence we are with veggie meat substitutes.
On the way back our heads are buzzing with ideas and Jo makes notes as I drive, ready to pull together into our PR strategy. I then call the office to go through a couple of other bits that have cropped up during the day. I catch up on a few emails when I get back before logging off and taking the dog out for a walk – I need to get a few steps in after sitting the car for a couple of hours – before me and my husband cook up our Gousto tea.
Wednesday
After a long wait – I’ve got a new starter in my team! Kathryn, our new client manager, was on a three-month notice period at her old role so it has felt like a long time coming! I spend my morning with her, giving her a tour of the office and going through the clients she’ll be working on before the rest of my team take over her onboarding schedule.
All our new starters take part in ‘speed dating’ where the newbie meets everyone from across the agency in quick 15 minute chats to find out more about their role, what they do and, very importantly, how they take their brew on the tea round!
The afternoon is spent catching up on a few emails before supporting two different ideation sessions – the first is on Christmas content planning and in the second we hash out a clients new messaging hierarchy for an upcoming campaign on their new sustainability credentials. Wednesday is another gym night for me – I go three times a week straight from work so there’s no chance of sitting down on the sofa in-between.
Thursday
After our morning huddle, I’m working on a tender proposal for a client in the public sector before a weekly work in progress call with eco-cleaning company Bio-D. I’m joined by Hannah from the PR team as we share progress on our activities including new product launches, award entries and their email newsletter.
I catch up with the social media team after lunch to discuss learnings from this month’s reporting. It’s important for me to have a holistic view of how we’re performing across various clients on different channels; helping to spot opportunities for improvement or change.
Lunch today is a short stroll over to Trinity Market in Hull. There’s plenty of options to tickle the lunchtime tastebuds but today’s choice is a falafel wrap. I get in a walk in the sunshine before coming back to the office – it’s really important to take time away from your desk at lunch, not just physically but also to mentally re-charge for the afternoon ahead.
Back at the office, I’m finishing up the tender from earlier on this morning and then I check in with the studio on their progress with another pitch. I love this part – seeing the initial creative output that follows the briefing. The creative is heading in a great direction as we discuss some refinement, I’m already feeling excited about seeing the next iteration!
Friday
There’s a few deadlines to hit today so I’m in the office before everyone else, it’s nice to enjoy the quiet time. Ticking things off my to-do list, I spend the morning in a super quick ideation with members from the design and social teams as we work on our ‘one minute brief’’.
Every month three people come together to work on a creative idea that we present in our monthly team meeting and we enter the best one into the Drum’s Chip Shop Awards. We were really thrilled to win an award recently for our Hello Girls idea that merged Wonderbra’s infamous ‘Hello Boys’ advert with an important message around breast cancer.
The day ends with our Friday drinks – a nice opportunity for us to enjoy a cold beer and catch up on a social level; our culture is one of my favourite things about Pace and something I remember not to take for granted.
