A day in the life of a Communications Director

I’ve been working at Big Cat for over 8 years and in that time my role has evolved massively. Starting off as a Senior Account Manager and a few title changes later, I am now a Communications Director (you can read my previous blog on the power of storytelling here!). Not to mention my personal life has had some major changes to it too, when I became a mum to my little girl Sylvie, in 2019.

I have learnt a lot throughout my career to date and have been mentored by some incredible people and talent, but the working-mum balance is something I still continue to build on and learn from, thankfully I have been very fortunate to have been well supported by my colleagues at Big Cat.

My role as Communications Director involves juggling several tasks and projects at once. Something I am oh too familiar with as a mum.  In fact, I think being a mum has enabled me to do this even more efficiently. I’ve learnt there’s no time to ponder over the little things. It’s about making smart decisions in the quickest time.

Anyhow, allow me to take you through a typical day as a Comms Director and working mum at Big Cat…

6:30am – My household is up and getting ready for the day. I work from home two days a week and luckily those days do give me a little more time to get the day started but on an office day it can be a tad more chaotic. Up we get and straight downstairs for breakfast – Cheerios and fruit for Sylvie, porridge and a large coffee for me!

7:00am – I have a quick whizz through my emails on my phone while Sylvie is happily eating and then its straight back upstairs to get dressed for the day! Gone are the days of considering my outfit. Now it’s all about my little diva and getting her dressed into her pre-school uniform (thank goodness for uniform, its shaved at least 20 minutes off my morning removing the battle I once had with my daughter as she demanded to wear what she wanted – usually massively uncoordinated or totally not appropriate for the season or attending nursery!

7:45am – Take one final swig of coffee and gather ALL the things we need to get us out the house – laptop, handbag, lunch, keys, phone, Sylvie’s nursery bag, her change of clothes oh and not forgetting Sylvie! It always takes way longer than anticipated but tell me one parent who can get their child out the door quickly!

8:00am (ish) – I’m out the door and off to the train station! Today, I am heading into the office and my husband is doing nursery drop off.

8:15am – I am on the train and this is my time to sit and clear my mind from ‘mom mode’ ready to start my working day. I opt to listen to a podcast for inspiration and not least to keep me from scrolling through Instagram and finding ways that I don’t need to spend my salary.

9:00am – Arrive at work. Colleagues stop to ask me how Sylvie is and likewise I ask about their children – there are a few fellow parents at Big Cat. We share mutual stories of sleep deprivation, ha-ha! By the way, how is this post so long already and I’m only at 9am!!!

9:30am – Having ploughed through any new emails, reviewed my diary for the day and prioritised my to do list, I head to my first client meeting of the day.

10:30am – Meeting is complete and some exciting next steps to start planning for. A new business proposal is added to my to-do list as the client would like some thoughts on an approach to a current business challenge he has. I love having the opportunity to grow our client accounts and expand the scope of works we are contracted to do. Really demonstrates client satisfaction, something we are charged with prioritising at Big Cat.

10:45am - Multiple creative projects are underway for this particular client, so we have a quick internal meeting with the team to work out who, is doing what, over the next couple of weeks and if deadlines are on or off track.

11:00am – I am also part of the leadership team at Big Cat so my next task of the day is attending our weekly management meeting with the fellow directors. I love these meetings as we get a real opportunity to contribute to the growth and success of the agency. At Big Cat, we’re huge advocates of EOS – entrepreneurial operating system, so we have some great processes in place to review the key numbers of the business, input out targets and bring forward any issues which we need to discuss as a management team – things potentially detrimental to us meeting our target and fulfilling the aims we set out at the start of the year. 

11:30am – As we’re full swing into the meeting, I present back the last quarter operational figures of the business. I am responsible for leading on several of the opps of the business meaning I keep a close eye on staff utilisation, recovery of our projects and profitability of client work.

12:30pm – That’s a wrap on the meeting for the week and I head back to my desk to see what’s been happening while I’ve been offline. Inevitably ten million emails have come through!

1:00pm – Head out for some fresh air and to grab some lunch. How any parent has time to prep their lunch for work the next day, I really don’t know so I try to find something healthy but usually end up with a Tesco meal deal! It’s too easy!

2:00pm – Time to jump into a new biz brainstorm. We’ve had a really exciting opportunity come through – one that requires multiple creative minds to come up with some exciting ideas. A team brainstorm is a great opportunity to bounce ideas off my colleagues. We always get massively carried away and start thinking about bringing in jumbo jets and circus animals but its fun to play with creativity…. even if all the ideas don’t make the final pot!

3:00pm – Following the brainstorm, I need to review some copy that my colleague has developed for a client’s blog while also making a start on another client’s communication plan for an event they are delivering. I really need to get my head down for this as it involves considering what the event plan and post event activities will be. It consists of everything from overviews of resources available, utilisation of those resources, deadlines, channels to promote the event, cooperation activities, sponsors and heaps more!

5:00pm – As my working day starts to draw to a close, I start to tie up any loose ends, send last emails with queries, action points from the day and consider what my day will look like tomorrow – most likely very different from today. No two days are ever the same if I’m honest but that’s what I love about it. My job enables me to be a team player while also being a leader. It’s non-stop juggling action but that’s life when I’m in mom mode too, so perhaps both my job and being a mom compliment one another very well.

6:00pm – Make my way home where my first job (being a mom) starts again. Dinner, bed and bath routine gets into full swing before Sylvie settles down for bed around 7:30pm.

7:30pm - I love finishing my day with Sylvie but once her bed time is here, I am well and truly ready to lay back on the sofa and sink into whichever Netflix series we are hooked on. Admittedly, I do have a sneaky look at my work emails on my phone but nine times out of ten, anything that has come through can be dealt with the next day. Aaaand relax! I think its important to then switch off and feel fresh for tomorrow. Fingers crossed Sylvie will sleep through the night but who knows – a dinosaur may well have invaded her dreams (a reoccurring pattern of late) so midnight cuddles it is! 😊