\nPlease see the interview with\u00a0Tamara Edgar<\/span> \u2013 Senior Marketing Manager at Situ.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
First of all, please tell us about your success story, what stages you went through, what difficulties you faced and what stage you are at now?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I would like to start by thanking you for this wonderful initiative and for ICC Georgia bringing extra focus on women in business. I felt very privileged to be included in this group of smart and talented businesswomen you interviewed.<\/p>\n
As for my story, it started not dissimilar to most – graduated from TSU majoring English language and literature and started working straight away as an audio-visual translator at Rustavi 2. However, my journey ended up being full of twists and turns and trials. I changed professions many times and challenged myself. I always loved the television and broadcasting industry in general. That\u2019s where I felt at home, felt that I belonged. So while in Georgia I was fortunate enough to have worked in a number of different positions in different broadcasters with the main focus on international license acquisitions, international co-production and format licensing. By the time I left Georgia and moved to the UK I was Head of Programming at GDS TV and worked on a number of exiting and unique projects.<\/p>\n
What was the biggest challenge on your career path, an obstacle that seemed insurmountable at first, but you were able to overcome?<\/strong><\/p>\n
A few examples come to mind but moving to a foreign country while 6 months pregnant, having a baby and then having to completely reinvent myself and find a new career probably trumps the rest. I always throw myself outside of my comfort zone, but this one was far beyond the boundaries. I live in the wonderful city of Exeter, but as there\u2019s no broadcasting industry here, I decided to change my profession and move into marketing. Being in a foreign environment, mastering new skills, learning a new profession at the job was indeed challenging. There were many moments of self-doubt, regret and fear, moments of fighting back the imposter syndrome, moments of confusion. But every single time you trip over you find yet another way how to stay on your feet and keep on going and so I kept telling myself that failure was not an option and kept going one step at a time, obstacle by obstacle. No challenge is insurmountable as long as you know your own strengths and weaknesses and how to manage them.<\/p>\n
What is your main motivation to keep moving forward?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Since she was born, my daughter is my biggest motivation. I want to show her that if you work hard and refuse to give up you can achieve things that seemed unattainable at first. I want her to look back at my story and have a set example of success. My own mother was a huge role model to me and her professional achievements were always something to aspire to. And my dad always told me never to give up. He used to say a lot of people would tell me I cannot do certain things because I am a girl and that I would prove them all wrong.<\/p>\n
Tell us about your current activities.\u00a0As we know you are Senior Marketing Manager at Situ, how long have you been working there and tell us a few words about your future plans.<\/strong><\/p>\n
As I mentioned I had a 360 degree change of career after my move to the UK. But I was very fortunate to get my first entry level marketing executive job at Situ. This is an amazing company to work for, with a great culture and an exciting brand! We are a B2B business providing corporate accommodation for business travellers. My professional journey at Situ allowed me to grow with the company. When I joined the marketing was fully outsourced and now I run a strong in-house team that won The Best Branding and Marketing award by Serviced Apartments Awards in 2022 and we were just nominated for the Most Creative Marketing in the USA by CHPA. I take huge pride in my team and the work we do.<\/p>\n
As we know, you moved to England a few years ago. Please, share your experience with us about moving to a completely new country and achieving so much success?<\/strong><\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t easy. It took a lot of willpower and determination. There were moments when it felt like a loosing battle, but I think the key is to keep on fighting. I constantly teach myself new skills. I love how self education is widely available in the modern world. Between professional books, podcasts, online training and research the gate is open and it only takes to have the will to learn new things. In the last 5 years I have honed more skills than ever before – From the nitty-grittiest of the everchanging digital marketing world to a sector specific B2B techniques.<\/p>\n
Finally, limiting ourselves to the traditional question, what would you advise aspiring professionals and young people who are now taking their first career steps?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Based on my own experience here\u2019s what I can say:<\/p>\n
First, don\u2019t be afraid to fail. Don\u2019t let your fear hold you back. Failing is not bad, we all fail sometimes, but it teaches us where our weak spots are and it helps us get stronger. We often envisage success as this one straight line up, but in reality it will zigzag up and down. At the end of the day your career path will be curved by how you handle the lows, how you navigate when making wrong decisions or when things don\u2019t go as planned. Do you give up or do you regroup and change your tactics?<\/p>\n
Second, I would say don\u2019t put yourself in a box. What I mean is that we tend set limits to ourselves. I\u2019ve spent half of my professional life in Georgia thinking my strength was in creative and copy rather than technical. Had I not moved to the UK and was forced outside of my comfort zone I would never find out that I am good at programming, I enjoy working with numbers and analytics and enjoy the technical side of marketing equally to the creative process!<\/p>\n
And lastly, I would say find your passion in whatever you do. I love production and television and parting way with the industry wasn\u2019t easy, but I love my job now, I love my team, my brand and I love Situ and I think it is crucial for staying motivated to find your passion no matter where you are and what you are doing.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>