Q&A With Roberta Beattie, Nova Leah’s Marketing Lead
Roberta Beattie (a.k.a. Bertie!) is Nova Leah’s new Marketing Lead. Bertie joined the team earlier this year and brings a huge amount of experience to the role. This includes founding her own web agency in 2002, Click Creations, which she operated successfully for over fifteen years helping hundreds of clients to adapt to the online world. Bertie was a mentor for Bloomberg Philanthropies and has also been digital marketing manager, creative director and multimedia specialist for a host of companies across the UK.
At Nova Leah, our team is delighted to welcome Bertie aboard and lean on her wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise. She has joined the team at a hugely exciting time as we prepare to expand our product range as well as enter into new territories. To mark the occasion, we decided to sit down with Bertie to discuss her career to date, her proudest moments and her passions outside of work. We also asked her to share something about herself that people are always surprised to learn…needless to say, her answer was suitably astounding!
You’ve had an incredible career, including running your own web agency for over 15 years. What are some of the highlights?
I have some great stories from my career. Being able to learn and grow as an industry like this is emerging, means I got to see and be involved in a lot of great projects. But if I had to choose one, it would be back when we were running our web agency. We built our own content management system to make it easier for small businesses to get an online presence. This was before things like WordPress existed as they do today.
What are you most proud of in your career to date?
I’ve been really lucky to have worked with some amazing people from an enormous number of organisations and companies over the years (around 2,000 different companies if I had to make a guess!). This has given me a diverse and interesting set of insights and experiences to draw from. This diverse range of experiences is something that I take immense pride in.
What are your favourite productivity apps? Or work-related apps that you couldn’t live without?
As I’m a big fan of Bullet Journaling, Trello (the project management/ultimate list-making application) is a bit of a life saver for me! I do love a good list. I’m also a fan of tools like Figma, where you can really flesh out an idea before you start to build it.
Outside of work, what are you most passionate about?
I really enjoy melting glass. I have a little studio here where I melt glass in the flame and create beads. The process is really absorbing because you’re working with an open flame at extremely high temperatures, so focus is key. It’s a lot of fun!
What book (or books) have most shaped your way of thinking?
Business books: There are lots of great business books that I’ve read, but the EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) was the one that gave me loads of lightbulb moments. It has some brilliant insights into creating frameworks to shape a team, and a business, to be successful, productive and effective.
Kids books: Having spent many a night reading with the kids, the ones we found hardest to put down were by Philip Pullman.
What is something that people are always surprised to learn about you?
I used to be a circus performer… there may be a video or two floating around the interwebs of me breathing a bit of fire!
What is something you’ve changed your opinion on in the last five years?
Economics. The more I learn about it the more I realise it’s not really about money, it’s more about sentiment, emotions and the way the world is so very interconnected. Fascinating stuff.
What makes you most excited about joining Nova Leah?
Aside from the brilliant people that I get to work with every day, it’s not often in life that you get the chance to be part of something as amazing as Nova Leah. This company is solving massive problems, making the connected world safer for everyone.
The future for Nova Leah is bright, and I’m excited to be part of the journey. I’m really looking forward to raising awareness around the amazing products we are developing.
Thanks very much to Bertie.
We are incredibly grateful to have her on the team and are beyond excited to see what the future holds with her on board!
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