Q&A With Olivia Murphy

Date: 12 October 2021

This week, we talk with our Marketing Executive, Olivia Murphy, and find out a bit about her and why she does what she does.

How did you get into doing your job?

When you ask kids what they want to do when they grow up, they might say footballer, actress or even prime minister. From a young and impressionable age, I had 2 aspirations; to work in the city and in the media - you can thank Capitalism for that. This also may have been influenced by my childhood obsession with Ugly Betty, although I don’t think I’ll go as far as New York, I reckon Leeds is just fine.

At school, the only subjects I thrived in were I.T and art, so I clung to that like a fly on sh*t. I’ve always been an incredibly creative person, and, like every Gen Z, grew up surrounded by media. As I started to learn more about how the digital age works, I realised it was sort of like a big conspiracy: products don’t just sell by themselves and people don’t just form opinions out of thin air. I knew pretty early on that this was one conspiracy I wanted a part of.

I think I always wanted to work in marketing, but I didn’t really know what it was, so I stuck to what I enjoyed and studied Media, Communication, Cultures at uni. I’d always associated marketing with boring, middle-aged men in suits who hate their job, and I think that’s what it might have been like before the age of social media. Now marketing is full of weird, young people in jeans who won’t stop talking about their job - much better!

What did you do before working for The Wonder Agency?

I’ve always had a part time job alongside my studies working in some form of hospitality, and didn’t have time to undertake any internships or placements. So you can imagine my panic when I finished uni in the middle of a global pandemic with a national job shortage, having to compete against thousands of other (far more qualified!) grads. Sorry, Liv, your measly 1st class degree can’t save you now!!

I decided that the only way I was going to get a job with no experience was to create my own experience. I started my own blog and professional Instagram account to see if I could use my knowledge and skills to market… well, myself! When applying for this role, Amy & Steve were able to use this to see my social, copy and content writing abilities, which I guess they liked, as that’s what I do for our clients now!

What do you do for The Wonder Agency?

My day-to-day usually consists of all things SEO, but if I'm not copywriting or content writing, you’ll also find me dipping into social media management, ads and data analytics. I’ve also just got started with email marketing and I’m excited to develop my skills further as I explore this branch.

What are the most challenging and rewarding parts of your role?

I’m young and I’m still learning, but I’m also a huuuge people pleaser, so if I make a mistake, you know I’ll be thinking about it for the next 5-7 business days!

Everyone loves seeing results from their hard work, but it’s so rewarding to see something that was once a fleeting thought be turned into a concept, which is turned into a piece of content, which is then received by audiences. I guess I just enjoy feeding my brain nuggets to the internet.

What advice would you give someone starting out?

Imposter syndrome is way more common than you think, stay curious and try to keep up with industry news!

If you’re looking to kick-off a digital project then get in touch with Steve and Amy at hello@wonderagency.co.uk