ABOUT

Tell us who you are!

Ayesha Gardiner, I’m 25 and the Strategy Lead at Shape History.

So what do you actually do?

I create and develop the strategy behind communications campaign for social justice. I work with clients to help tell their story, and create a campaign/external communication moment to amplify their cause.

What has your career path been?

I fell into the communications industry by chance after applying for varying entry level roles - I started off in PR and really had no idea what I would be doing day to day.

In my previous jobs, I very quickly learnt what I liked and what I didn’t like in terms of the role, industry area and workplace culture. This has then been central to my search for the next job.

I decided I wanted to move to social change after working in lifestyle PR. This change in area meant I was searching/interviewing for over six months before I secured an entry level position. It was a really disheartening time with a lot of rejection, and the move was not easy. I’d say it took about a year to adjust to the new position.

Looking back, the friends I have made in my jobs have been really important - not managers or mentors, but those at a similar level to me. We would talk honestly, discuss salary and experiences in the different parts of the industry that we’ve come from. This really helped me to learn what else might be out there for me and also connected me to their friends/networks. Those friendships led me to getting involved in campaigns and additional projects outside of my day job, ultimately taking me to the agency and role I am now in.

What is the best part of your job?

Creating the strategy involves a lot of thinking and planning before you see the results - the best part is when all that comes to life after weeks of work.

What inspired you to do your job?

I want my work to be meaningful. Communications and creativity is a powerful tool- when used correctly, it has a huge impact.

One piece of advice for someone starting in your role?

You have knowledge and expertise that others don’t. I’ve only recently learnt that my personal passions, experiences and opinions are unique and invaluable - far more than x years of experience or education qualifications or anything else we’re led to believe. Always share your thoughts because it will aid the development of the campaign.

Check out Ayesha’s Instagram below!

DAY IN THE LIFE

Really no day is the same.

I start my day with a very strong coffee. I’m not the morning person I used to be now that we are working from home. I usually spent the first hour of my day looking through my google alerts, the news and social media to see if the world is saying anything about the issues we are working on (and also spending a lot of time distracted by other twitter threads and conversations). If there is anything interesting or relevant then we might plan and create some social media content for my client in response.

I’ll then check through the emails that came through overnight (usually not many) and order the list of things I need to do 1-5 - I don’t know why this makes me more productive but it does. I’m not sure if anyone else still uses a written planner but I just find it satisfying to strike a line through my completed tasks.

The rest of my day is spent planning and developing content. At the moment, my time is mostly spent on one client and I am creating their 2021 comms strategy to encourage the general public to interrogate the stigmas we put on women’s bodies. It will take weeks to develop the ideas in full, so to split my time, I prefer to spend a few hours each day working on it.

Included in the strategy is research and analysis of the women's sector, creating storylines and themes for the year, developing digital moments to execute the ideas and working closely with our creatives to turn them into reality.

My brain isn’t the most productive in the afternoon, so I usually prefer to spend the rest of my day in meetings with clients, proofing, emails and admin after lunch before the day ends.