Power 50 Publication - Flipbook - Page 28
Page 28
teacher for 13 years.
“Matt and I talked about my transferable skills. As a teacher, you learn such a wealth of skills. You learn how to present, how to storytell, how
to inspire, and how to deal with such a range of challenging scenarios every day. Just dealing with those 30 different personality types and
all those different needs alone is such good preparation for running a business and managing a team,” she says.
As Matt had worked in events since university on the production side, they decided to go into an events business together. “We
approached Broadsword because they were old friends and Matt had worked with them in the past. As we got talking to the owners, we
talked about buying in and reimagining that business into the agency that we had planned rather than setting up from scratch. When I
joined, I felt a bit of an add-on to Matt. I had the vision of the culture, knew how I wanted to lead the company, and how I wanted to
communicate that message to the world, but it took some time.”
She says that while she knew she wanted to work towards the MD role, it was not something she announced from the outset. “I was on that
pathway to leadership within education, so I don’t think I would ever have been content to not be a leader in this new world. I never really
doubted it would end up being me, I just didn’t know how long it would take. I had to be patient and earn the trust and respect of our
partners first. I had a few years of demonstrating my value and really threw myself into all the gaps that Broadsword had. There wasn’t a
defined culture or a HR function within the business. We had some amazing clients and people, but there wasn’t a strategy or focus for the
business. These were all the things I focused on, and then we made the decision at the end of 2018 that I would become MD.”
Like Laura, Anna says that making changes within an existing business was hard. “Our partners were open minded to the change. They
suggested us buying in because they wanted to change and move the business forward. I did an insights profiling exercise with the other
four partners right at the start so we could all understand how best to communicate with each other. I knew I needed to work with each of
those individual characters to get them on the same page as me and take them all on the journey together but on their own terms and in
a way that they felt comfortable with.
“That people-first approach to leadership is something I truly believe in. I’m not your typical leader, but I think it's powerful to have different
types of leaders that have come from different places and bring different perspectives.”
