Genuine Humans

Michelle Goodall didn’t take a conventional route into marketing, but over the years, she has worked in B2B marketing, PR agencies, as an independent contractor and is now the CMO of Guild, an app purpose-built for professional groups.

In this episode of Genuine Humans, we hear how Michelle’s childhood experiences led her to become an empathetic and kind leader who places great value on her team. We also hear how some of Michelle’s biggest influences have been the clients that have pushed her to go above and beyond.

Marketing needs to do a better job of, well, marketing itself. It needs to demonstrate what it is and how it contributes to achieving business goals. This is just one of the subjects that Mark Evans (MD of Marketing and Digital at Direct Line) discusses with Tamara and Wendy in this episode of Genuine Humans.

Mark also talks us through his passion for rugby and how his experience in the sport has helped shape his leadership style.

As well as his role at Direct Line, Mark created the charity running event, Sprintathon, and co-hosts marketing podcast The Places We’ll Go.

Jane Michell, founder of Jane Plan, joins Tamara and Wendy in this week’s episode of Genuine Humans.

Jane talks to us about her love of cooking, her experience of getting Jane Plan off the ground (despite having no previous business experience), the people who’ve inspired her, and her desire to create something different – a diet plan that focuses on health, not on appearance. 

She is candid about the struggles of a founder / leader, and tells us how she takes inspiration from Cheryl Giovannoni, CEO of Girls’ Day School Trust, and aspires to incorporate a bit of Cheryl’s fearlessness into her leadership style.

Elliot Moss is a partner and the chief brand officer at law firm Mishcon de Reya. He’s also been a presenter on Jazz FM for the past ten years.

Elliot talks to us about his extensive and varied experience – from running his own DJ business as a teenager (he messed up an A-Level by DJing the night before the exam) to his roles at Leo Burnett and Leagas Delaney, and how he manages to fit in a presenting job alongside everything else he does. His energy is infectious, and his drive to achieve is inspiring. 

Arlene Wszalek has had a hugely successful and varied career. She helped launch AOL in the UK, managed Curt Smith (co-founder of Tears for Fears) and is now SVP of client solutions and strategic consulting for Allied Global Marketing.

Her career has thrived on her love of music, tech and the kind of thoughtful, empathetic networking that forms strong and lasting relationships. 

While there are many factors to success, Arlene emphasises how important great mentorship is when it comes to career development and mentions how Kelly Estrella and Adam Cunningham at Allied have helped her grow and thrive in her time at the agency

Eve Sleep’s CEO, Cheryl Calverley, is the final guest in series 3 of Genuine Humans. Cheryl talks to Tamara and Wendy about her passion for psychology leading her to pursue a career in marketing.

Cheryl counts Matt Burgess (now CEO of Kharisma), Margaret Jobling (now CMO of NatWest) and Mike Lloyd (now CEO of McCarthy Stone and Chairman of Eve Sleep) among her friends and mentors.

Cheryl’s competitive nature has driven her to live life to the fullest and she’s keen on encouraging others to find opportunities in the challenges they face, and always strive to have fun.

In this episode of Genuine Humans, Tamara and Wendy are joined by Virgin RED’s marketing director, Linn Frost. 

At nine years old, Linn knew she wanted to work in advertising. Growing up, Linn realised that she didn’t come from the typical background of many in the industry, but determined to achieve her dream, she went to university part-time and secured a part-time PA job at Ogilvy and eventually moved on to be an account executive. 

Linn has made great connections throughout her career with genuine humans who’ve helped her on her way – like her former boss, founder of Truant, Simon Labbett.

For Linn, leadership means being a genuine human. It means giving people opportunities to grow and the flexibility to thrive.

In this episode of Genuine Humans, Tamara and Wendy are joined by Gemma Greaves, founder of networking group, Cabal and co-founder of Nurture & Partners. 

Ambitious and driven from childhood, Gemma knew that she wanted to set up her own business one day. 

First at Cabal and now with Nurture, Gemma’s work revolves around celebrating and amplifying the power of genuine human connections

People who’ve influenced her include leadership thought leader, Steve Radcliffe, and Syl Saller CBE.

In this episode of Genuine Humans, Tamara and Wendy are joined by Nam Nguyen, founder of creative agency, Supervillain.

Nam started off by volunteering to help his community as a teen and went on to work for some of the biggest brands in a variety of roles. These experiences helped shape his leadership style, which is led by empathy and inclusion.

Nam’s ultimate goal is to create the change he wants to see in the world.  If that meant being disruptive and going against the received wisdom of the advertising and marketing industry, so be it. For Nam, it’s all about the stories we leave behind, and he’s determined that his stories will be great ones.