Women at SMARTY: International Women's Day 2023

Today marks this year’s edition of International Women’s Day, an annual event seeking to celebrate the achievements of women around the world and to drive towards a more gender equal society. To mark the occasion, we wanted to give the limelight to some of the amazing women who help to make SMARTY the company it is, as well as giving them the opportunity to share what a day to day role in the Telco industry may look like and share the career paths taken to get to where they are today.

Elin – General Manager

Q: What was your route to SMARTY/your current role?

A: Before taking on the challenge of creating a new sub brand, I worked in a number of roles at Three. These varied from programme management, to managing large contact centre teams, and running multiple business areas. Having lots of very varied roles helped me broaden my business understanding and also learn the importance of relationships and understanding people in my working life.

My journey with SMARTY over the last five and a half years has been an interesting and ever-changing one, starting with building the business ready for launch and then growing with the business as we have scaled across the years.

Q: What does a typical day in your role look like?

A: No two days are the same in my role, which is why I enjoy it so much! Each day will be very varied in content. I could be signing off creatives for a marketing campaign, having skip level sessions with my team to make sure I’m keeping connected with people right through the organization, dealing with a live customer or system issue, or looking at trading numbers and financial performance.

People often talk about “context shifting” during their working day, and it’s something I really enjoy doing! I think it helps me quickly cut through complexity and provide guidance and direction to my team, who are the real experts on what’s going on in the business.

Q: For you, what’s the best thing about SMARTY?

A: Without a doubt the people. Everyone who works at SMARTY is full of energy and enthusiasm and really cares about SMARTY and our customers. I feel so lucky to work with such a highly engaged and awesome team, I think it's the people that make this business special and we're lucky to have such brilliant people at SMARTY. I’m proud to say that for me, SMARTY is a great place to work.

Q: What would be your best piece of advice for other women aspiring to work in a leadership position like yours?

A: Turn up every day and do your very best, assume those around you are also doing their best, and treat them as you’d like them to treat you. Realise that work is important, but never important enough to lose sleep over.

Marketing: Kate – Senior Marketing Manager

Q: What was your route to SMARTY/your current role?

A: I’ve worked in various Marketing roles at Three since 2004. When I started, we didn’t have Three Retail shops or a Three website, so we needed to promote our brand and products through our Indirect Partners. I was a Channel Marketing Manager responsible for developing marketing activities including Press, In-store Point of Sale, In-store leaflets, Packaging and Events within PC World, Currys, Dixons, The Link, Tesco, Argos, etc! I’ve also worked within Three’s Customer Marketing team to launch Three’s first loyalty App (Wuntu) to surprise and delight our existing customers.

I moved to SMARTY five years ago, as part of the small Marketing team of three people!

Q: What does a typical day in your role look like?

A: It’s exciting to join a challenger and start-up brand. We’re a small team, wholly responsible for all things Marketing to grow our brand awareness and attract new customers to join SMARTY. I often have multiple hats on - from shaping our media strategy and channel plans, to shooting our Brand TV and Radio campaigns. I could also be developing DR trading creative for Press, Digital and Indirect advertising, initiating PR stunts and Press Office activity, or managing the budgets.

Q: For you, what’s the best thing about SMARTY?

A: The people. I know everyone says that, but it’s true. We don’t work in isolation. When shaping and developing our Marketing activities, it’s important to work cross-functionally with Commercial, Digital, Propositions, Operations, Legal and Customer Support teams, to ensure we are focusing on promoting the right products, as well as being simple and honest in our messaging. So, you need a great bunch of people to work together.

Q: What would be your best piece of advice for other women aspiring to work in marketing?

A: Don’t be afraid to take opportunities, I’ve moved around in various marketing roles in Three, which has given me a good and rounded view of the end to end customer journey. Customer insight is golden, get a good understanding of your target audience and what makes consumers tick, so you know where to find them and what to say. This makes decision making not subjective, so you can be more knowledgeable and impactful in your role.

Check out the Crypto Farmer and White Paint ads from our Less Malarkey, more SMARTY campaign, which Kate played a leading role in bringing to life!

Commercial: Maggie – Indirect Partner Manager

Q: What was your route to SMARTY/your current role?

A: I studied marketing but always loved sales, so started my career working in integrated marketing agencies, selling marketing and digital services. Three was a client and they asked if I would join directly. Starting as a contractor, I worked in different areas like CRM Comms Planning, Online Digital, Customer Strategy and Network. When the opportunity arose to manage third party consumer sales, I knew this would be a natural fit. When a similar role was offered with SMARTY two years ago, I knew I could hit the ground running and also loved the idea of it being more of a start up.

Q: What does a typical day in your role look like?

A: Besides listening to some of the guys in the team talking about Sport... A typical day is being aware of how many new SMARTY customers we have acquired that day and how many have left the network, then assessing if we have the right marketing and trading promotions in place to help deliver the desired outcomes.

Q: For you, what’s the best thing about SMARTY?

A: Going from start up and seeing it growing so transparently - from how many consumers are now choosing SMARTY, to over doubling in size of employees in just a year and having more subject matter experts in roles. Also, being able to have the freedom to be creative with ideas that could be implemented, rather than just blue sky thinking.

Q: What would be your best piece of advice for other women aspiring to work in the telecoms industry?

A: It is changing and we are definitely on a mission here at Three and SMARTY to make all feel inclusive. It is sometimes challenging when the male to female ratio isn’t as even in the technology sector, however it’s really all about having the right attitude, relevant experience and right fit.

Indirect refers to the sale of SMARTY products via retailers such as Amazon

Digital: Nea – Lead Product Owner

Q: What was your route to SMARTY/your current role?

A: I was working at Three as a Product Owner for Accessories sales Online and before that I was a Product Owner for a company that sold handbags. Very different kinds of products but there are surprisingly many similarities in digital experiences.

Q: What does a typical day in your role look like?

A: Days usually start with stand ups with the delivery teams followed up by a myriad of other meetings related either to the product discovery or delivery. There is a lot of content switching happening throughout the day but no day is exactly the same as the one before and that keeps the work thrilling.

Q: For you, what’s the best thing about SMARTY?

A: Working in a scale up. It’s a fast-paced environment with rapid growth targets, however we’re still small enough that you get to own your products end-to-end and have your voice heard.

Q: What would be your best piece of advice for other women aspiring to work in a digital role?

A: Always be curious and think how you could make something better (ideally backed up with data to prove so). Share your ideas and try to get your foot in the door by starting to take ownership of smaller initiatives.

Key focus areas for the Digital team include the SMARTY website and app

Legal: Leona – Senior Legal Counsel

Q: What was your route to SMARTY/your current role?

A: I started out as a solicitor in an international law firm in London and quickly realised my passion was working in-house directly with the business where I can be involved from the outset of projects and help to shape them. I’ve since worked for a number of interesting and varied companies from McDonald’s to Disney to Activision Blizzard where my roles were mostly focused on intellectual property, commercial and marketing law. And now I’m in Telco! I joined SMARTY in April 2022 as their first dedicated lawyer and part of the Leadership Team and I’m really enjoying the variety and working across the different business units. This is a change for SMARTY, as previously they relied on the Three legal team, who I still work closely with.

Q: What does a typical day in your role look like?

A: Varied! No day is the same. We have moved from start-up to scale up and the work is fast-paced and ever changing. It is amazing the variety of different work that comes across my desk which keeps things interesting and challenging – from marketing and advertising clearance, Ofcom regulation advice, contract negotiation, data protection, customer journey reviews, customer enquiries and so much more.

Q: For you, what’s the best thing about SMARTY?

A: Undoubtedly the people. The SMARTY team is amazing! Everyone is so passionate and dedicated to the brand and really believe in it. We work well together cross-functionally, and everyone has a voice and is listened to and valued.

Q: What would be your best piece of advice for other women aspiring to work in a legal career?

A: Turn up, work hard, do your best and challenge yourself. Don’t be afraid to put your hand up and step out of your comfort zone. It is difficult juggling your career and a family, but companies are getting much better at flexible working so don’t be afraid to ask. If you can show the value you can give to a company, then they will be more willing to make flexibility work.

These women are just a few of those that do fantastic work for SMARTY and have helped the company to grow the way it has. We value everybody for who they are and what they bring to the table, with staff from all walks of life making up the SMARTY team. If you’re interested in advancing your career in Telco, check our careers page to find out more about the roles available at SMARTY.