Name: Caitlyn Ward
Age: 23
Job title: Digital marketing & admin executive
Company & location: Creative Nature, West Molesey, Surrey
Education: Rydens Enterprise School (now the Three Rivers Academy) and degree in Creative & Professional Writing at University of Winchester
Why did you decide to go for a career in food? I have a bit of a complicated relationship with food due to having Crohn’s disease, and I wanted to be able to help people who may have issues like mine find food that agrees with them and is tasty.
Explain your job to us in a sentence (or two): I help with both our marketing and sales teams, so I’ll be messaging customers or organising orders one day and then proofreading or making content the next. It’s varied!
What does a typical day look like for you? A typical day for me is filled with research, admin and orders, but also content creation and upkeep like proofreading or organisation. It changes every day depending on what we need to get done or where I can help out best, but I like that as it means there’s no chance of getting bored.
“I wanted to help people who may have issues like mine find food that agrees with them and is tasty”
Tell us how you went about applying for your job. I actually got this job via the Kickstarter programme. My work coach called me to ask if it was okay for him to book in an interview with Creative Nature and I jumped at the chance. I was offered the job not too long after the interview. There weren’t any particularly tough questions but I was very clear about the limitations I have at the minute due to my health – they were super understanding and even shifted some of the work hours to fit us both better, which meant a lot to me. Our CEO Julianne Ponan has severe and life-threatening allergies so she understands what it’s like to have a condition which is unpredictable.
What’s the best part about working for a food company? Our brand focuses heavily on allergens and creating snacks which are tasty, nutritious and safe – and that’s something I need in my everyday life. I believe in making our products accessible to everyone and the best part for me has been learning about it all. As I mentioned, I have an odd relationship with food so it’s been really interesting hearing from customers about how we’ve made their week by having products they can enjoy without any consequences or worries. Hearing that always makes my day, and I’ve even had friends asking which of Creative Nature’s products I could recommend for them to give to family or friends with allergies or intolerances.
And what’s the biggest misconception people have about working in food & drink? When working in the food and drink industry, I feel like people assume the companies behind the products are only focused on selling said products and nothing else. I’ve found that’s not the case here. As a challenger brand, we really care about making sure our customers have the best experience with our products and can be as creative with them as they want (we have so many recipes that we share on our social media that are a part of this). We try to show our customers that we value them.
What advice would you give to other young people looking to get into the food & drink industry? Keep trying and try to find the brands which align with you and your interests as this makes a huge difference. If you like the brand, you’ll love your work.
What’s your ultimate career dream? My ultimate career dream is to push this role as far as I can. I want to keep learning and I want to keep growing personally and I know that will help the company grow as well.
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