Holly Bonelle is a key account director at First Event, a corporate events agency headquartered in Leeds.
The employee-owned agency secured a spot on the prestigious Sunday Times 100 Best Places to Work list in 2024 for a second year running.
Bonelle joined First Event in 2019 and following a series of promotions, landed her current role in 2023.
From lucky breaks to best failures, she shares all the lessons she’s learnt across her life and career so far…
Which single daily habit or practice could you not do without?
My morning walk. Taking the dog out first thing in the morning just helps me wake up, clear my head, and sets me up perfectly for the day. I am also a sucker for a nice sunrise so if I get that its a bonus!
What’s been your luckiest break?
When a member of our team left there was an opportunity to manage one of our key accounts. As soon as I found out about the gap, I instinctively put my hand up and offered to take on the extra responsibility. I knew that this was such a valuable opportunity, and I was confident that I had the right experience to smash the role.
Looking back, taking this opportunity has massively boosted my career. I’ve been able to expand my skill-set and my confidence, working closely with this client to develop their strategy and support wider change across their business. It’s all been thanks to that moment where I believed in myself, put myself forward, and made it happen.
What’s your best failure?
In one of my very first roles, I had no boundaries when it came to work-life balance. I was achieving great results at work, but I completely neglected my wellbeing. I let work take over, and by the time I left the role, I was utterly burnt out. At the time, given the environment I was in, I thought this was just a normal part of working life. Now, while I still give my all to my work, I would never let myself fall into that same trap again. I’ve built much stronger boundaries around my work-life balance, but I wouldn’t have learned to do so if I hadn’t got it so wrong early on in my career.
What is the best investment you’ve ever made, either financial or time?
I’ll always be grateful for the time I’ve invested in developing my client relationships. As well as getting to know them in their day-to-day role, spending additional social time with them and taking the time to get to truly understand them, their challenges, and their goals has been invaluable. I now feel like my clients see me as someone they can really lean on when they need something to a high standard.
Because of this investment, we’re at the stage where they can be completely honest with me about what they want and don’t want with their event strategies, which just makes our work together so much more impactful. I just don’t think we’d have reached this stage in our relationships if I hadn’t been intentional about investing that kind of time at the start.
Which podcast or book would you recommend others to read/listen to, and why?
I listen to podcasts as a way to wind down and relax, so I love listening to stuff that has nothing to do with my job. I love So Wrong It’s Right with Olivia Atwood, the Wednesdays Podcast with Sophie Haboo & Melissa Tattam, and I’m hooked on crime podcasts like My Favourite Murder. I have to admit, I do enjoy a good episode of Diary of a CEO too.
What one piece of advice would you give your 21-year-old self?
Graft. Don’t get me wrong, I think life is totally about having fun, and when you work hard, you have to play hard to avoid burning out. But if you want to enjoy incredible experiences, both in work and out of work, you have to work for it, because you don’t get anything handed to you.
Who or what has had the single biggest influence on your working life?
There are two things for me. First of all, my mum. I know it’s cliche, but she’s just always been this incredible powerhouse in my life. She’s had a great career that I know she worked really, really hard for, and I’ve always looked up to her for that.
Secondly, and for slightly less expected reasons, the environment of one of my first jobs has without a doubt shaped how I operate in my career. It showed me how I didn’t want to feel in a work environment, and what to avoid when managing people myself. But for all the things I learnt to not do from that job, I know I also took away so many positives from that role. Particularly on the luxury and creative side of events. I had some great experiences coordinating incredible dinners, weddings and private parties, and designing really creative event concepts. Those skills have really helped me elevate my events since that role. I think I really learnt what good looks like.
Tell us something about you that would surprise people.
I can make an owl noise with my tongue!
If there was one thing you could change about your career, what would it be and why?
Part of me wishes I hadn’t gone to university and jumped straight into the world of events because that’s where my passion has always been, however I had a great time and don’t regret going! Secondly, I wish I had made moves earlier in my career and stepped out of my old role sooner. I think I’ve been good at what I do for a long time, but I didn’t take the plunge to move on and progress when I probably should have done. Since I moved to First Event, I’ve always pushed on and received the support I needed to move through the ranks quickly which I will always be super grateful for!
What does success look like to you?
I would say that success is achieving your goals, whatever that might look like to you. Whether you’re striving for financial security, or if you simply want to be the best in your industry, if you know what you want to achieve, success is just setting out and making that happen. For me, success is being great at what I do, enjoying my life in all of its experiences and helping the people around me to be great at what they do too.
