- Tell us a bit about yourself?
I started off my career by participating in various events as a volunteer, then I got my first break as a client services intern for Grey Group when I was still doing my Bachelors in Business Administration. I always have been very valiant and audacious about my career choices as I chose to work permanently for a sexual and reproductive health services organization which made me the only female in Pakistan who has not only advertised and promoted female but male contraceptives as well. Then I moved on in my career and joined Mövenpick Hotel Karachi in 2016.
- How is your experience working in Mövenpick Hotel Karachi as a Marketing & Communications Manager?
I had agencies for each aspect of marketing working for me in my previous organization, but when I came to Mövenpick Hotel Karachi, I got to know that the hotels do not hire marketing agencies rather all the aspects are handled directly by the MarCom Manager him or herself. I have a very lean team of two associates where one handles the creatives and other handles the administrative work. Through Mövenpick, I learned various creative software, photography etc. My job as a MarCom Manager is quite demanding where I have to work as various agencies for the hotel which did give me a lot of exposure and experience.
- In your experience, what is the key to developing a good team?
My leadership style is very much inclined towards a collaborative approach, I believe in being real and open with my associates so that they can talk to me freely about their ideas, opinions and problems. I believe that the more you value and connect with your team, the more they will take ownership of their work and try to make you proud because of the respect you make in their eyes through genuine empathy.
- Share an experience you had in dealing with a difficult person and how you handled the situation.
Service industry is all about dealing with people in different capacities so yes there are a lot of people we meet each day of varying personalities and attitudes. But a service sector professional has to have a diverse nature which can absorb and understand various characters to create a good business relationship. My challenge started when I started handling a team, you have to be responsible for team members’ failures and success and you have to own it in front of management. Every member has a different temperament and you have to tweak your leadership style according to each member. People management definitely comes with age and experience so I will say I am in the process of learning.
- Tell us how you organize, plan, and prioritize your work.
I am very old school when it comes to organizing and planning my work, I have a diary for my to-do list where I manually write about the projects at hand and their follow-ups. I start my day with a morning briefing with my team where we discuss the work for the day then we close the day discussing what we managed to get done and what do we need to do for the following day.
- What is the best and the worst thing about your job?
The best part about my job is that I have all decisions to myself, I am empowered to take initiatives and have been given a whole department to lead. But with great power comes great responsibility so there are a lot of things I am accountable and answerable for. Also, the immense work which I handle does give me a lot of command on different aspects of marketing but gets very challenging at times.
- What is your daily routine?
I wake up an hour before, get ready, have breakfast, and check my social media (important in today’s age!) then come to work listening some uplifting music. Arrange my desk first thing as I like everything organized at its place, setup my laptop to get on with the day!
- What are your future plans?
I see myself as a marketing director of a company in a different industry in a few years. I am very interested in taking new challenges and explore how marketing works in different industries, I would like to be a marketing expert having knowledge and command of its implications in different industries rather than a specific industry professional.
- What message you want to send to our readers who want to pursue their career in Marketing?
I would wish all the youngsters all the best in their future endeavors. I urge you all to be clear of what you want to be and achieve in your life, having a direction would make it easier for you to achieve your goals. Always define your values and boundaries so that you have an outline on how flexible you can be and to what extent you should go. Be open to learning, always put an extra effort and go an extra mile to learn and highlight yourself.
