Media Matters

In a new series of features Northern Insight talks to leading figures in the region’s media industry. This month we meet Antonia Brindle, Founder of PR, social media, marketing and crisis management agency, Get Brindled.

Did you always envisage a career in the Media industry?

When I was younger, I did the usual little girl thing, swinging from wanting to be a vet to a hairdresser to a police woman. As I moved through school, I realised I had a love for writing. A family influence swayed me away from journalism and throughout university I enjoyed a number of work placements at agencies. At the time I worked for a building society, and sat in the department next to the marketing team. Watching them work gave me my interest in PR which developed into my current offering of PR, social media, digital marketing, websites, creative design, marketing and crisis management. I do still wonder if I would have been a good police woman though!

What has been your career path so far?

I started my career repossessing houses whilst I studied. Lots of fun changing in the car in the Uni car park from my work clothes to my jeans! I then followed a path through a number of local agencies and in house positions including PR manager for Whitbread. 15 years ago I set up my own successful agency with a business partner, and five years ago I became a consultant when I set up Get Brindled. This is still going very strong, and I feel blessed to have a fantastic portfolio. I have recently also branched out into co-owning City Ladies, which is a women’s networking and support organisation. I set this up with two other amazing women, Natalie Turner and Sophie Milliken. I am also the Vice-Chair of the Board and head of the charitable sub committee for Age UK Northumberland.

What have been the biggest challenges you have faced so far?

Being self-employed (or a director of a owner managed SME) is hard as your annual salary is essentially what you invoice less costs to run the business, so it is a great challenge to make sure you work with people that value you, your service and respect payment agreements. It’s important to build reserves in the business and luckily I am quite focused in that way! Another challenge is that the industry has moved on massively in my 27 year career and I have had to make sure I undertake lots of development and learn digital skills such as building and populating websites, blogs and social media. I actually really love it! Working alone can be a challenge too, but I have a great group of business friends, that we call the BB’s, and their love and support get me through many barriers.

Who do you most respect in your industry ?

I respect every single peer in the same industry who are doing what I do and doing it well. Juggling the work that we do, the changing landscape, client expectations and being driven by ROI means that we have to work incredibly hard to thrive. There’s some awesome small agencies and freelance consultants out there at the moment, and I’d like to give them some kudos for that. I also respect my client base who are weathering the covid-19 storm – I am so lucky that I get to work with some really outstanding business people, who are also fabulous people.

Which fictional media character can you most relate to?

I have no idea. Media characters in the movies and films generally don’t come out of it very well. Edina from Ab Fab, Jerry McGuire, Samantha from Sex in the City…I’m much more grounded, family orientated and although I love to celebrate with a glass of fizz, I certainly couldn’t sustain any of their lifestyles!

How have you adapted your business during the coronavirus crisis and supported clients?

This whole experience has very much been a two way street with my clients. I have a great portfolio of driven, dynamic clients who have seen the bigger picture and really value their marketing to sustain their own business future. 95% of my client base has been determined to carry on, look to the future and they have been very reassuring that I am very much on that journey as part of their team. We have worked closely together to look for the right positioning, opportunities, and of course increased activity to drive their digital and social media presence and offerings. A number of new clients have joined my portfolio in the last month too, focussed on launching new companies that are much needed in the current environment. It’s great to feel the resilience of the SME market in the North East and work with these exciting entrepreneurs! City Ladies had to stop all face to face meetings after our February meetings, of course, but we decided very early to take it online and for nine weeks in a row we held a zoom with a guest speaker. Again, it is heartening to see women working through everything and being resilient – we have members from all across the UK and I’m so proud of every one of them.

What is your greatest strength?

Loving what I do and being dedicated. My passion comes through to my clients and they know that I care about their results, their businesses and what I do for them. It’s not just a job to me. Luckily my family, my fiancé and my daughter are so supportive, it allows me to focus and deliver to my clients.

What is your biggest weakness?

Saying yes. And caring too much. It means I allow things to hurt, and it makes it hard to switch off.

What has been your proudest achievement ?

Being a mum. Whatever I achieve in business is all to provide for and to set an example to my daughter – I want her to believe that she can do and be anything.

What are your remaining career aspirations?

I tend to base my career aspirations on what my clients want to achieve. If I do my job well as part of their team that achieves what they are aiming for, then it’s rewarding. For my own portfolio, I would like to expand my Non Exec Director clients within companies needing guidance on growth and next steps, as I do love that strategic part of my working day.

How do you see your industry evolving in the next 10 years?

If I look back 10 years, the progress in marketing, digital capacity and publications has drastically changed. I see more of the same, meaning we have to stay on our toes, learn more, and adapt to even more advanced digital options. Conversely, I also see the glossy magazine growing in popularity again and being very much in vogue – so many people say they miss the feel of a high end magazine in their hands.