Feb 2021 – Present
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
GREY LONDON
After joining Grey London as Head of Voice, it quickly became clear I had more than just language to offer. My role morphed to become Creative Director, still leaning more towards writing (while partnering with a brilliant art director, Claire Summerlin).
I'm known for bringing my clients ideas that push their briefs further than they'd considered, nurturing my teams and bringing everyone along for the journey. With a particular emphasis on diversity, equity & inclusion, I unlock the unexplored angles.
Together with my creative partner Claire, we create beautiful work born from unexpected ideas.
Jul 2018 – January 2021
HEAD OF VOICE
DRAGON ROUGE
Dragon Rouge brought me in to set up their voice offering for the London office.
As Head of Voice, I helped clients find the right voice to fit their brand identity. A voice that worked with their strategy and with their visuals.
I got to know my clients and their brands, helping them use language to solve the problems they were facing. Sometimes articulating new products on packaging and online. Sometimes creating names for brands and products, or driving a brand story through a strong narrative. Sometimes training teams all over the world to feel more confident living and breathing the brands they work for. Or running workshops to help clients get to the most creative ideas.
I also ran seminars and wrote articles to raise the profile of the agency. And trained the internal teams too, so everyone could feel confident in writing and champion the power of language.
My clients included Coca-Cola, Save The Children, GenesisCare, B&CE, LVMH Group and Rio Tinto.
Oct 2016 – Jul 2018
COPY LEAD
RUFUS LEONARD
As part of the copy team at Rufus Leonard, I led on some of our biggest accounts – British Gas, BBC, Lloyd’s (previously Lloyd’s of London), Aviva and Lloyd’s Banking Group. I specialised in branding and rebranding projects; creating the tones of voice that worked best for my clients, and which complemented the visual identity and strategy underpinning their brand.
As part of my role, I actively looked for opportunities to help my clients through language. I found avenues to further the agency’s relationship with those clients, and partner with them to solve the problems they were having – at both a team and business level. Through those relationships, I increased the revenue for the agency.
I ran workshops and training sessions, as well as collaborative sessions to write with my clients. I helped clients define and tell the story of their brand, set up an in-house writing team for a client, and run training sessions across the country. For one client in particular, I created a tone of voice and steered it through guidelines and activation into an approach and guidelines for voice user interface (VUI) platforms – like Alexa or Google Home. The client valued my input so much, they asked me to steer on key decisions for their entire VUI presence.
I worked closely with designers, UX architects, strategists, developers and a very talented client services team. I also managed both permanent and freelance writers.
Nov 2015 – Oct 2016
SENIOR WRITER
ABIGAIL WRITES
I was a freelance writer – and Abigail Writes was my limited company. I worked for brands and organisations, as well as for creative agencies. The jobs I worked on spanned from simple writing to complex conceptual work. I created tones of voice, came up with campaign ideas, and helped tell brand stories. I also ran workshops and named a variety of things.
Conran Design Group, Heavenly, Futerra and Lambie-Nairn were just a few of the agencies I worked with. I also helped O2 with their futuristic stores and their campaign with NSPCC. I partnered with both a lemonade company and a primary school to explain just what made them so special. (Separately, not together.) I worked with an international bank to communicate hundreds of emails and notifications to their employees. As well as helping a training company talk about their philosophy. And that was just for starters.
Although I often worked alone, I also worked with designers, other writers, planners and creative directors. I became particularly good at managing my time, my admin and my clients. I nurtured my client relationships, and had a set of strong clients who kept coming back to me for my expertise. One of the things my clients appreciated about me was my ability to push a brief, to question and challenge it in order to create the strongest work possible.
On my LinkedIn profile, you’ll see plenty of recommendations from clients I worked with.
Oct 2012 – Oct 2015
WRITER
THE WRITER
At The Writer, I grew my skill set from simply writing to editing, naming, creative thinking and facilitating. From naming systems for telecoms companies, to finding the right tone of voice for a 5* hotel. I also helped companies communicate and define their culture through the language they used. To help grow The Writer, I also wrote proposals, pitches and went to new business meetings.
As their creative lead, I formed part of O2’s brand guardianship team. I worked with their designers, legal and brand teams. I fed back to other agencies and writers to help make their work on-brand. I ran a yearly health-check on O2’s language, and from that, suggested which parts of the business needed more help.
My other main client was Unilever, particularly their personal care brands. The challenges spanned from writing for audiences in three different continents, to articulating concepts, to explaining complex technology. I wrote everything from shampoo bottles to tea manifestos.
Oct 2011 – Sept 2012
JUNIOR WRITER
THE WRITER
I learned on the job at The Writer, and used the feedback from my colleagues to become better. I helped the more senior writers in tone of voice projects: batting around ideas, pulling together audits and helping spot opportunities for language.
I worked in-house as part of the brand team at BT’s head office for seven months. I learned what a big corporation is like on the inside, and used all that knowledge to make me a stronger, more empathetic writer — and to change the way we do things at The Writer. I managed my own time and work load, as well as the expectations of the people sending me work.
Current
VOLUNTEERING
Wapping Helpers
In the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, I came together with a handful of other Wapping residents to create the Wapping Helpers group. We have more than 300 local volunteers who support each – picking up prescriptions and groceries for our neighbours, offering friendly phone calls for isolated residents and walking each other's dogs. The group has become a community forum, sharing local news and other volunteering opportunities. I'm really proud of it.
First Love Foundation/Tower Hamlets Food Bank
The Tower Hamlets Food Bank has seen a 900% increase in service-user requests as a result of Covid-19. I volunteer in the warehouse putting together food parcels for my neighbours in the borough.
Street Kind
At Street Kind, we help our homeless friends in London with food, toiletries, haircuts, hot drinks and good conversation. We're on the Strand every month, come rain or shine.
Cleaner Thames Wapping
This is a small group of local volunteers. We head down to the beach at low tide and clear rubbish – from bicycle tyres to plastic sweet wrappers. I'm always amazed what you find down there.
Graduated 2011
DEGREE:
CREATIVE WRITING
(BA HONS)
I studied Creative Writing at the University of Greenwich, graduating with a high 2:1.
My course covered poetry, writing for the stage and screen, and prose – both short stories and novel-writing. We were graded on our ability to give and take feedback, alongside our creative work.
I used the three years as a chance to try my hand at as many different writing opportunities as I could find. I did some music journalism, interviewing bands and reviewing gigs. Some copywriting for a not-for-profit organisation. Volunteering for Ministry of Stories, helping kids use their imagination. And wrote scripts for the BBC.