This International Women’s Day is all about accelerating action – so let’s talk about what it really takes to thrive in the industry.

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Ride Shotgun Account Director Laura Richards takes over the podcast couch with three inspiring female Riders – Jo Thatcher, Fiona Barber, and Vanessa Wells – to dive into career progression, industry challenges, and building confidence.

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We Discuss:

🚀 Career Progression: The wiggly paths, bold moves, and lessons learned along the way.

💡 Overcoming Imposter Syndrome: How to silence self-doubt and own your expertise.

🤝 Building Confidence & Supporting Women: Why lifting each other up is the ultimate power move.

📢 Selling Your Ideas & Finding Your Voice: How to present with confidence and get the recognition you deserve.

This episode is packed with real stories, because success isn’t always linear, but the lessons are universal.

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Laura Richards, Account Director at Ride Shotgun

Laura kick-started her career working for a local newspaper in her hometown of Birmingham, then transitioned into the agency world, taking on various client service roles. Since landing at Ride Shotgun, she’s been making big things happen with clients and creative teams ever since.

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Fiona Barber Content Copywriter at Ride Shotgun

Fiona started out as a feature writer for local lifestyle magazines before making the switch to marketing. She has since worked in agency client services, in-house marketing, and, now as a content writer at Ride Shotgun, she thrives on crafting SEO-driven content and expertly wrangling words to tell compelling stories.

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Vanessa Wells, Editor at Ride Shotgun

Vanessa studied Media Production at university with aspirations of becoming a full-time editor. However, her career took a winding path, leading her through roles as a teacher, projectionist, graphic designer, and audiovisual technician before returning to editing and motion graphics with an abundance of extra skills. Vanessa has love for films and dips her toe into both creating and engaging with visual arts at every opportunity.

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Jo Thatcher, Head of Styling and Art Direction at Ride Shotgun

With a degree in interior design, Jo began her career in retail and visual merchandising while pursuing her dream job. Though she didn’t realise it at the time, this experience helped her develop valuable skills that later shaped her career. She worked her way up from junior stylist to head of styling, eventually transitioning into art direction. Jo is an all-round style queen and lover of leopard print.

If you haven’t had at least one conversation about AI this year, are you even in marketing? From automation, to rules of engagement, to creative capability, it’s a hot topic in the advertising world.

So, of course we had to include it in our latest podcast.

We got our Technology Director, Danny Austin, in a room with some super experienced guests to chat about AI in marketing.

Including where it can add value and what to watch out for, complete with flash cards not written by Chat GPT - we promise.

Join them in this cut-down version of our webcast as they chat through it all - part of our Challenges of a CMO series.

This podcast is for you if you want to learn about…

HARNESSING THE POWER OF AI IN MARKETING

How AI is transforming marketing, from practical applications to enhancing efficiency and innovation in your strategies.

With - Helen Jeremiah, former CMO of Boots UK & Ireland - Tina Fegent, Global Marketing Procurement Consultant - Stephen Kenwright, Strategy Director, Ride Shotgun - Danny Austin, Technology Director, Ride Shotgun

PANEL SPEAKERS:

HELEN JEREMIAH, former CMO of Boots UK & Ireland

Helen is an experienced CMO, having worked across many disciplines including marketing, customer strategy, global brand marketing, product development and insight. She loves working in both large organisations, where change is needed, or small start-ups where everyone rolls their sleeves up and gets stuck in. An innovative leader who drives global business and brand growth, with expertise in data-driven marketing and creating world-class campaigns. She has led successful business change and transformation and has a passion for developing and nurturing strong teams. She is a mum to two gorgeous girls and is currently renovating an old farm.

TINA FEGENT, Global Marketing Procurement Consultant

Tina Fegent is a leading marketing procurement expert with over 30 years of experience. She founded her consultancy in 2006, helping brands optimise their marketing budgets. She works for clients such as Primark, Ferrero, SSE, Ralph Lauren and AG Barr. Tina is recognised for pioneering marketing procurement in the marketing industry and is a frequent speaker and advisor on marketing procurement strategies and best practices.

ANDY WEIR, Chief Client Officer, Ride Shotgun

Andy has 25 years’ experience in the industry working with organisations such as HSBC, Unilever and PlayStation. He set up his own agency in 2010 and created one of the regions most respected agencies, winning international awards and regularly featuring in ‘Best Companies’ lists. In 2022 Andy was one of the founding members of Ride Shotgun and has been integral in building the business internationally to over 200 people and £15m turnover in under three years.

STEPHEN KENWRIGHT, Strategy Director, Ride Shotgun

Stephen is Strategy Director at brand activation and creative content agency, Ride Shotgun. He’s a keynote speaker - giving more than 100 talks in ten countries, and has judged multiple awards. Before joining Ride Shotgun he founded #SearchLeeds. It became the north's largest digital marketing conference, attracting 2,000+ people yearly. He also founded search-first creative agency, Rise at Seven which over three years grew revenues to more than £7m, hired 110 people and opened offices across the UK and America. Previously Head of Digital Pendragon PLC and strategy director at performance marketing agency Branded3.

About Ride Shotgun

Ready for an agency made different? We’re Ride Shotgun. Big strategic thinking, impactful creative, content production and activation at scale. All in one place. So you can achieve more for your brand than ever before.

⁠⁠⁠ https://rideshotgun.co.uk/⁠⁠⁠

Your agency partners are great at what they do, it’s why you hired them, but sometimes things can get lost in those giant email chains. And what you end up with creatively isn’t quite what you thought it would be.

So, how do you manage creative expectation with reality? It’s a common issue for CMOs and the topic of the latest cut-down of our webcast - part of our Challenges of a CMO content series.

Join us as our super experienced guests chat all about how they find their balance when producing creative content in partnership with agencies.

With: - Helen Jeremiah, former CMO of Boots UK & Ireland - Tina Fegent, Global Marketing Procurement Consultant - Andy Weir, Chief Client Officer, Ride Shotgun - Stephen Kenwright, Strategy Director, Ride Shotgun

This podcast is for you if you want to learn about…
BALANCING INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL RESOURCE

Optimising content creation by finding the right balance between in-house teams and external agencies.

ALIGNING CREATIVE VISION WITH OUTPUT

The common pitfalls in the creative process and aligning output with initial expectations to achieve marketing goals.

PANEL SPEAKERS:

HELEN JEREMIAH, former CMO of Boots UK & Ireland

Helen is an experienced CMO, having worked across many disciplines including marketing, customer strategy, global brand marketing, product development and insight. She loves working in both large organisations, where change is needed, or small start-ups where everyone rolls their sleeves up and gets stuck in. An innovative leader who drives global business and brand growth, with expertise in data-driven marketing and creating world-class campaigns. She has led successful business change and transformation and has a passion for developing and nurturing strong teams. She is a mum to two gorgeous girls and is currently renovating an old farm.

TINA FEGENT, Global Marketing Procurement Consultant

Tina Fegent is a leading marketing procurement expert with over 30 years of experience. She founded her consultancy in 2006, helping brands optimise their marketing budgets. She works for clients such as Primark, Ferrero, SSE, Ralph Lauren and AG Barr. Tina is recognised for pioneering marketing procurement in the marketing industry and is a frequent speaker and advisor on marketing procurement strategies and best practices.

ANDY WEIR, Chief Client Officer, Ride Shotgun

Andy has 25 years’ experience in the industry working with organisations such as HSBC, Unilever and PlayStation. He set up his own agency in 2010 and created one of the regions most respected agencies, winning international awards and regularly featuring in ‘Best Companies’ lists. In 2022 Andy was one of the founding members of Ride Shotgun and has been integral in building the business internationally to over 200 people and £15m turnover in under three years.

STEPHEN KENWRIGHT, Strategy Director, Ride Shotgun

Stephen is strategy director at brand activation and creative content agency, Ride Shotgun. He’s a keynote speaker - giving more than 100 talks in ten countries, and has judged multiple awards. Before joining Ride Shotgun he founded #SearchLeeds. It became the north's largest digital marketing conference, attracting 2,000+ people yearly. He also founded search-first creative agency, Rise at Seven which over three years grew revenues to more than £7m, hired 110 people and opened offices across the UK and America. Previously Head of Digital Pendragon PLC and strategy director at performance marketing agency Branded3.

About Ride Shotgun

Ready for an agency made different? We’re Ride Shotgun. Big strategic thinking, impactful creative, content production and activation at scale. All in one place. So you can achieve more for your brand than ever before.

⁠⁠⁠ https://rideshotgun.co.uk/⁠⁠⁠

It’s one of the most common marketing dilemmas for CMOs: you want more knock-out content for your brand, but you’re being assigned less budget. It’s a classic catch-22, but your brand has to be on it 24/7. So, finding your balance on this see-saw of priorities is crucial.

We get it. It’s why we’ve launched our latest content series, Challenges of a CMO. And why we’ve recorded our latest webcast with some super experienced guests.

With
- Helen Jeremiah, former CMO of Boots UK & Ireland - Tina Fegent, Global Marketing Procurement Consultant - Andy Weir, Chief Client Officer, Ride Shotgun - Stephen Kenwright, Strategy Director, Ride Shotgun - Danny Austin, Technology Director, Ride Shotgun

Join them in this cut-down version of our webcast as they chat about all things content, budgets and how they’ve achieved results.

This podcast is for you if you want to learn about…

MAXIMISING CONTENT PRODUCTION ON A BUDGET

Strategies they’ve used to produce high-quality content - even with limited resources and shrinking marketing budgets.

MASTERING MULTI-CHANNEL CONTENT MANAGEMENT

Approaches they’ve found effective for managing content across diverse channels and regions, all while maintaining brand consistency.

PANEL SPEAKERS:

HELEN JEREMIAH, former CMO of Boots UK & Ireland

Helen is an experienced CMO, having worked across many disciplines including marketing, customer strategy, global brand marketing, product development and insight. She loves working in both large organisations, where change is needed, or small start-ups where everyone rolls their sleeves up and gets stuck in. An innovative leader who drives global business and brand growth, with expertise in data-driven marketing and creating world-class campaigns. She has led successful business change and transformation and has a passion for developing and nurturing strong teams. She is a mum to two gorgeous girls and is currently renovating an old farm.

TINA FEGENT, Global Marketing Procurement Consultant

Tina Fegent is a leading marketing procurement expert with over 30 years of experience. She founded her consultancy in 2006, helping brands optimise their marketing budgets. She works for clients such as Primark, Ferrero, SSE, Ralph Lauren and AG Barr. Tina is recognised for pioneering marketing procurement in the marketing industry and is a frequent speaker and advisor on marketing procurement strategies and best practices.

ANDY WEIR, Chief Client Officer, Ride Shotgun

Andy has 25 years’ experience in the industry working with organisations such as HSBC, Unilever and PlayStation. He set up his own agency in 2010 and created one of the regions most respected agencies, winning international awards and regularly featuring in ‘Best Companies’ lists. In 2022 Andy was one of the founding members of Ride Shotgun and has been integral in building the business internationally to over 200 people and £15m turnover in under three years.

STEPHEN KENWRIGHT, Strategy Director, Ride Shotgun

Stephen is strategy director at brand activation and creative content agency, Ride Shotgun. He’s a keynote speaker - giving more than 100 talks in ten countries, and has judged multiple awards. Before joining Ride Shotgun he founded #SearchLeeds. It became the north's largest digital marketing conference, attracting 2,000+ people yearly. He also founded search-first creative agency, Rise at Seven which over three years grew revenues to more than £7m, hired 110 people and opened offices across the UK and America. Previously Head of Digital Pendragon PLC and strategy director at performance marketing agency Branded3.

About Ride Shotgun

Ready for an agency made different? We’re Ride Shotgun. Big strategic thinking, impactful creative, content production and activation at scale. All in one place. So you can achieve more for your brand than ever before.

⁠⁠ https://rideshotgun.co.uk/⁠⁠

We’re thrilled to announce that Rise at Seven Co-Founder Stephen Kenwright has joined Ride Shotgun to lead our Strategy and Digital divisions!

In this episode, he chats to Andy Weir, Chief Client Officer at Ride Shotgun. They discuss:

• Learnings leading rapid growth agencies
• The secret to award-winning campaign work
• The key to success and the pitfalls to watch out for

Stephen Kenwright has an impressive journey founding Rise at Seven in 2019 and growing it to over £7m in revenue with a team of 110 across Sheffield, Manchester, London, and New York.

Under his leadership, the agency earned more than 70 industry awards and collaborated with high-profile clients such as GAME, Parkdean Resorts, PrettyLittleThing, Xbox, and PlayStation.

About Ride Shotgun

Ready for an agency made different? We’re Ride Shotgun. Big strategic thinking, impactful creative, content production and activation at scale. All in one place. So you
can achieve more for your brand than ever before. https://rideshotgun.co.uk/

We’re thrilled to announce that Stephen Kenwright, co-founder of Rise at Seven, has joined Ride Shotgun to lead our Strategy and Digital divisions! 🚀Stephen's impressive journey includes founding Rise at Seven in 2019 and growing it to over £7m in revenue with a team of 110 across Sheffield, Manchester, London, and New York.

Under his leadership, the agency earned more than 70 industry awards and collaborated with high-profile clients such as GAME, Parkdean Resorts, PrettyLittleThing, Xbox, and PlayStation.

Curious about Stephen's experience, background and vision for Ride Shotgun? Keep watching!

In this episode we’re here to talk about everything to do with “joined up brand journeys…” And to help us do precisely that, we’re joined by our very own Andy Weir, Chief Client Officer at Ride Shotgun and Lee Morton, Head of Brand and Proposition Development at Arco, the UK’s leading PPE suppliers and safety experts and a longstanding client of Ride Shotgun.

Lee has very kindly agreed to talk us through Arco’s brand experience in practice. Including how they’ve gone about creating a joined-up brand journey for Arco - what are the pitfalls and the challenges and also the ways in which they’ve seen it work wonders for their marketing – not to mention, their wider business too.

Get ready for a lively chat filled with insights, laughs, and maybe a surprise or two. Let's roll!

Short on time?

Jump to the section of interest:

• The Importance of Joined up Brand Journeys (0:00-11:30)
• The Arco Story and The Evolving Needs of the Customer (11:30-16:14)
• What are the Downfalls are of NOT having a Joined-Up Brand Journey? (16:14-20:42)
• Who Really Owns the Brand? (20:42-23:24)
• SEO & Authenticity (23:24-24:14)
• Arco x Ride Shotgun Partnership (24:14-36:00)
• What tactics have been successful? (36:00-38:00)
• "Challenging Thinking" & The Role of the Agency (38:00-42:00)
• Quickfire questions! (42:00-46:00)

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About Arco

Wherever you live and wherever you work, Arco's vision is to keep you, your people and your business safe.

https://www.arco.co.uk/

About Ride Shotgun

Ready for an agency made different? We’re Ride Shotgun. Big strategic thinking, impactful creative, content production and activation at scale. All in one place. So you can achieve more for your brand than ever before. ⁠https://rideshotgun.co.uk/⁠