Marketing Consultant Auckland, NZ
Please introduce yourself and describe your career. What do you do for a living?
Kia ora! I’m Nikki, from the beautiful Waitākere Ranges in the western part of Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. It’s quite an arty place with lots of nature and great beaches.
I work as a Marketing Consultant in the business I created called Impact Digital, which means I help businesses and other organisations to understand, attract and communicate with their ideal customers. Some marketing consultants choose to focus on just providing advice to their clients, but since I’m really creative I like to be hands-on and so enjoy writing or making digital content, etc - when I’m allowed!
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I never knew the answer to this question growing up which now makes sense how I’ve ended up where I am - as an entrepreneur of sorts. I do distinctly remember wanting to make websites on an old programme called Microsoft Publisher (I don’t think this exists anymore), having lemonade stands at our front gate and putting on as many shows as my friends and family would agree to participate in! But as for a job title as such, I had no idea. I didn’t know the above things could be a job!
What did you study? How much schooling do you think is required to get into your role? What could you have skipped?
I studied a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Marketing and Management. A university degree is definitely not necessary, you can work your way up and learn while you work, but that’s not to say it’s a waste. I do think you benefit from the critical thinking and written assignments that you don’t really have as much time to dedicate to once you get into the working world. I also often refer back to the marketing theory I learnt in my third year group assignment.
So I think of university more as an extended development period, especially since I didn’t really know what I wanted to do for a career even then, I just picked marketing because it seemed like a mix of arts and business. If I was to do it again, perhaps I’d choose something more like art history, or just take a gap year and go traveling! If you’re going to skip uni, I’d say a decent short course in marketing strategy theory would be beneficial.
Was your path hard or smooth getting to where you are in your career? (Can you briefly describe what it was like on your journey so far?)
On graduating I was really uninspired by the companies I saw to apply to for marketing roles, feeling like they didn’t align with my values, so instead I took work in purpose-driven organisations for project administration etc and continued that to pay my way travelling overseas. It wasn’t until I came home that I really decided to return to marketing and began my career.
The biggest challenge for me was knowing where to start looking to find people or organisations that I would want to work for. I wasn’t having any luck with the traditional job applications. So for that, I highly recommend joining some local community or volunteering groups that you’re interested in, and that way you can meet people that share your values and can help you figure it out.
Walk us through your typical work day—when do you start, end, and do all day? (Where do you work from?)
I aim to have my first coffee around 8 or 8:30 each day, that’s when I open my email and check anything that’s come in and start thinking about what I’m going to do that day. Then I’ll go set up my computer and start working on the first thing on my to do list, which (ideally) I’ve written the night before. I try to chunk work into three big things to do each day to keep myself focussed.
Typical things I work on are websites, events, social media posts, digital advertising, lots of collaborative meetings, plus auditing the overall setup of marketing for a business against their goals and guiding them on how to make improvements. Basically it’s lots of words, design / systems and relationships.
I like moving around a lot. So I use co-working spaces, cafes, the library and work from home sometimes too. It’s great when I get to have meetings in person and go to client work places.
What are some questions someone should really ask themselves if they want to get into your industry / career path?
It really depends how far and which way you want to go with marketing I think because if you are more the arty type you can specialise in brand or creative and if you’re the wordy type you can do copy and documents, then there’s also digital if you like bringing it all together and making it work, and research, but then if you want to go further more into a leadership position you need to get to know the business environment and requirements.
The creative aspect is fun, but you also have to remember that it’s in a business context so you need to be willing to work with numbers, spreadsheets, stakeholders, etc. Working with people, collaboration is more important the further you go. It’s less about the outputs you produce, and more about people. Do you like understanding people? Do you like working with people? I guess would be good questions!
What do you enjoy most about your career? (What do you enjoy least?)
I really enjoy the creativity and freedom I have, and also working with people (in bite-sized chunks). Like I get to design everything from my brand to my services and business model. My least favourite part would be worrying about where your next client will come from, that can be quite stressful, and sometimes it’s lonely working by yourself.
What is something you do when things get difficult? How do you handle stress/ challenges?
I meditate, journal, join women’s circles, try to check in with a peer, dance, and generally get active or out into nature, away from the work.
What advice would you give to someone who is trying to figure out what they want to do (for work) in general?
Try different things, join some volunteer groups, and just generally get involved in your local community. Just do some stuff, the action is what’s important, and the figuring it out comes later. Also look to where you find enjoyment, what things did you like doing growing up that could relate to a career path?
Do you have any mentors or key pieces of career advice that helped you get to where you are today?
No one person in particular comes to mind, but it’s more just being in the company of women, and those who share similar values and purpose. It’s all about being in the right room with the right people.
What excites you about the future OR what's up next for you in the near future? (Could be career-related, life-related, or even a future career pivot / path)
I’m excited about really nailing my offerings this year and going all in with confidence in myself and what I have to share. I’ve also been thinking about a couple of new side projects, one artsy and one for international inspiration so watch this space!
Where can readers find/connect with you if they have questions? OR How can we support you?
Connect with me via Impact Digital on Instagram, LinkedIn and Youtube x