Verity Craft, from uncertain beginnings to amplifying thought leadership
I’ve often said one of the challenges in being fairly competent in lots of things is that you don’t see an obvious way to go. That was how I felt leaving school. With no idea what I wanted to do, I took a couple of gap years, after which I still had no idea. I ended up going to uni and studied French and Spanish, which I don’t use at all now (except on the odd trip, back when we could travel)! I loved it but still had no direction. It was time to try some things and see what felt right.
I temped for a bit, trying a few things, before I was introduced to my now partner-in-crime Christina of Intelligent Ink through my older sister. At the time it was just her and one other person working out of her home, doing mostly copy writing and a bit of PR. While I wasn't sure if the work was for me, I loved the team and saw that the work was creative. After experiencing zero creativity (and a lot of boredom) in my previous temping role, I desperately needed that.
Over the years the business has morphed. Several years back we had a few people leave which gave us an opportunity to review our direction. We realised PR wasn’t our passion; we preferred developing the content and working closely with clients rather than outside media. So we focussed on that and then we realised what we REALLY loved was the thinking that goes into the content. Yes, the content is the deliverable in the end but the thing we’re exceptional at is extracting the expertise from our clients and then helping them evolve their thinking. Taking that further has led us into thought leadership. We still do content but our focus is supporting our clients to progress the thinking of their industry
I suppose the business has changed a lot because we’ve changed a lot. I got hired initially for my writing but interestingly enough, the longer I’ve been in my career, the less I’ve enjoyed it. I’ve realised what I really love is the people side of our business – building relationships and working with clients. We get to meet interesting, smart people all of the time who actually care about making a positive difference. It’s inspiring. I also get to perform. Outside of work you'll find me on stage doing musical theatre; getting to speak, present and be in front of people as part of my work fills me with the same energy!
It’s been a great lesson because I really believe in finding what brings us joy in our work. Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean it’s going to fill your cup. For anyone starting out, don't worry about following a specific path; you can try lots of different things until you find what brings you joy. We spend so much time working, it’s a crime not to.
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