2013 has been a quite a roller-coaster ride for me personally and professionally. There have been some major changes and learning experiences during the year. The journey has been somewhat interesting, from facing redundancy to getting a job in a marketing company as an Account Manager. When I joined Appletree, there was a learning curve that I had to go through. In the past 4 months, I have learnt quite valuable lessons and worked with amazing clients. Each month I have gained more insight into how we operate at Appletree and work with the wonderful clients.

Hiring and Relocation: Joining Appletree was a different experience. Once I got the job, the daunting task of relocation from Bradford to Newbury began. Moving from the noisy roads of Bradford to the exquisite English countryside in Berkshire was an experience I would never forget. In the first week, it was the silence that was very daunting; will I be able to survive here?

Book Publishing and Launch: My background is in publishing books. One in Ten became one of the first projects I worked on as soon joined Appletree. Typesetting the script, liaising with the designer to finalise the artwork and dealing with Inprint+Design to get this book printed. The book was launched on Friday 13th September when we celebrated 13 years of being in business with our suppliers and clients.

Growth though Blogging: One of the objectives set for my personal development as soon as I joined the company was to explore the realm of blogging. I have always wanted to do it, but never quite took the plunge. My love of social media sparked an idea and I have blogged on topics like LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Twitter. Getting the hang of writing was a tricky part, but I do love it. It does have some challenges, but the rewards are truly inspiring.

Talent Dynamics: When I joined Appletree, Chantal wanted all of us to learn more about ourselves and explore how we can work better together as a team in harmony. Everyone in the team took an online Talent Dynamics Assessment. I learned how I work, and what areas I should take care of. We spent a day with Rachel Goddard as a team, learned more about each other, improved the dynamics of the team and got to spend a day understanding our team as a whole. I highly recommend this experience especially if you are a small team.

Content Writers: As a part of our Managed Marketing service, we provide written content for our clients, for use on their website, blogs and monthly newsletter. Managing projects for our clients, reading though drafts, taking notes, relaying information to the writers, getting the content approved and publishing it is all part of the deal. I learned how to manage time, deal with multiple contributors and deliver content on time. Project managing the life-cycle of content is a new experience and I am enjoying it.

Accountability Assessment: When you work in a small team, sometimes the roles interchange a lot and the accountability of roles are mixed up. One of the outcomes from the Talent Dynamics Assessment was to spend time, as a team and work out our roles and responsibilities. We had the lovely Kate Mercer from LeadersLab, spend a day with the whole team earlier this month and work out our individual and team responsibilities. As an Account Manager at Appletree I am accountable for providing exceptional client service, managing good quality content from the writers, managing ad-hoc projects and effectively running the team.

In the short span of time I have spent at Appletree, the journey has been really interesting and I look forward to working with exciting clients and projects in 2014. I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Wonderful 2014 ahead.