Introducing our new Marketing Assistant
We’re delighted to welcome to the Gray Dawes Group young Callum Winterford, who joins our multi-award winning Marketing Team.
Usually the creative men and women behind the curtain of all things brand, blogs, thought leadership and promotion, we’re putting our newest marketeer in the spotlight to learn a little more about him, why he joined Gray Dawes and the kind of things he’ll be up to across the company.
Over to you, Callum…
Hello there…
My name is Callum Winterford, the new Marketing Assistant at Gray Dawes. I arrived fresh-faced and full of vim at the beginning of November, my bag packed with a new notebook and a fountain pen locked and loaded with ink. Now, as I successfully reach the end of my probation period, I still have yet to make any handwritten notes, my excitement at joining the Gray Dawes team momentarily blinding me to the existence of digital clouds and note-taking software. And, of course, our paper-free office policy!
Following my first fews weeks of comprehensive induction, introducing me to all the different brand and departments of Gray Dawes Group, I’ve been handed the keys to the Gray Dawes Travel blog. Whether or not that was a wise decision is yet to be determined – so far I haven’t broken anything (at least which hasn’t been swiftly fixed by my team mates!) nor made any spelling mistakes. Only time will tell.
But while I still have the power to post, let me tell you a little more about me and my story so far at Gray Dawes…
Vital Statistics
Who am I?
That’s a question for you, the reader. I’m pretty sure I know who I am. What I’ve done is pose a question as a convenient segue into the paragraph I’m about to write. Here are a few key statistics about me that you can use if you ever want to design your own Callum Top Trump card.
- Age (in days): 11,018
- Height: 5ft 10in
- Eye colour: Hazel
- Hair colour: Brown
- Ghosts encountered: 1
- Olives eaten (lifetime): 357
- Blogs broken: 0
Career Background
My first love was writing stories.
When I was a kid, I spent a lot of my time scribbling down tales about pirates and spaceships and medieval knights. They were, of course, all terrible and derivative; characters from TV shows and films would occasionally appear for no reason at all. But my parents would pat me on the head and stick the pages (which I usually illustrated) to the kitchen fridge anyway.
When I got a bit older I figured that becoming a novellist probably wasn’t a sensible career choice. My bespectacled school careers advisor suggested I look into journalism instead. So that’s exactly what I did.
I secured a place at City University in London to study Journalism. My enthusiasm lasted one, whole year, at which point I realised I never actually wanted to be a journalist in the first place. Two years of microwave dinners later, I graduated from university with zero clue of what I was to do next.
Then I got a message from a friend of a friend who asked whether I’d be interested in joining the team of a new marketing agency. Even though I had no prior experience, he had seen some of the articles I’d written as part of my university course and reckoned I’d be a good fit for the job. I jumped at the chance.
During my time at the agency, I wrote blog posts for different clients, designed social media imagery, drafted web content, and dipped my toes into all sorts of creative projects. I had no idea what I was doing half of the time, but I LOVED it.
Marketing was my calling all along. I’m now super excited to join the amazing Gray Dawes Marketing Team to continue my education. Their focus on marketing diagnosis and strategy, data segmentation and value proposition is fascinating. I’m already learning so much about what it takes to plan and implement a campaign, before we even start to think about the shiny stuff! And, with the exciting development of our new Gray Dawes Sports business, I’m getting my hands dirty with competitor analysis and research to ensure that our unique offerings really stands out from the crowd!
Five Interesting Facts About Callum
The most interesting thing about me is that I wouldn’t consider myself very interesting. But in the interest of being interesting, here are a few facts about me.
- I once hosted a local radio talkshow where I would interview players from Colchester United football club and take calls from fans.
- I have lots of family from Finland. My grandma is a Finnish national and talks at an incredible 15 words per second.
- I am not vegetarian or vegan, but I strongly prefer non-dairy milk. Non-dairy cheese, on the other hand, is one of mankind’s worst inventions.
- My toxic trait is buying new notebooks and never writing in them.
- My alcoholic drink of choice is smoked rum and diet coke, no ice or citrus fruits.
Hobbies
My brain is like a pinball machine…
I’m not very good at resting or sitting still. If I’m not doing something (sleeping notwithstanding) I break out into a cold sweat and have to find a task or trinket to keep my hands or mind occupied. It’s both a blessing and a curse.
One of the main benefits of my nagging mind is that I have picked up a number of hobbies over the years:
- Cooking and baking. I enjoy experimenting with recipes and cooking for friends. My signature dish is tikka masala and homemade naan breads.
- Going to the gym. There’s no better way to de-stress after a long day at the coalface (laptop screen) than lifting weights. I like feeling stronger and it’s also good for the old brainbox.
- Playing board games. Some of the best nights I’ve spent with friends have been playing Dungeons and Dragons or Pictionary while arguing over archaic rules.
- Writing stuff. There’s still a tiny part of my mind that believes I will be a published author one day. In the meantime, I’m happy just writing down some of the bizarre stories that occasionally haunt my dreams.
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