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My name is Denise.

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I work in West London at a company called Suntory Beverage.

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I’m an internal communication executive, so I work in the HR department.

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I would just say we are a global company that produces really popular drinks,

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so Lucozade,

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Orangina, Schweppes.

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My day-to-day includes creating content

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for my company, which includes

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making posters or newsletters, putting it on

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the TVs in our office and sending

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emails to everyone, including the CEO, which is pretty cool.

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I can also work with the PAs,

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which is personal assistants for like parties for employees,

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and I also contribute to the wider

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European region with those tasks.

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Strengths would be writing, for sure,

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creativity, being agile as well

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is very important. Being a people person, so speaking to different people,

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people who are higher up as well, communicating

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with them or their personal assistants.

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And I think also being able to take criticism.

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I think that’s very important.

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I really enjoyed the creative side of school.

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So like PE, drama – best in the business.

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English and maths, I was very bad at, but I didn’t know

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I was bad at it until I found out I had dyslexia

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and that’s why I struggled so much and I just thought that I wouldn’t need it.

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So I didn’t really pay attention

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until I started working and I realised how important it is.

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GCSEs I really did not like it and I think it’s because I struggled

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with reading and writing, so I just made up excuses.

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I just said, ‘I do want to do it,’ or I just felt very overwhelmed.

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And I think that’s what made it very hard for me to get the grades that I thought

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I was going to get – that I prayed for, that I didn’t get.

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But I wish that I was more vocal about me struggling in school as well.

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I chose drama, I chose business, I chose

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Spanish and I had to do science, maths and English.

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I didn’t think Spanish would be useful, but it really is.

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So I work in a European team and I translate English into Spanish

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and French, and I wish I paid attention more in Spanish

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because now I’m learning Spanish with my team

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so it makes like work a lot easier.

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I studied BTEC business level three extended diploma,

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which is worth three A-levels,

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and then after that I went to a digital marketing apprenticeship.

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I got help when I became an apprentice and my apprenticeship done

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an exam for everyone

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and you found out how you can learn what are your strengths, what your weaknesses are.

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And that’s how I found out that my weaknesses were in writing and reading.

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I’m a very visual learner, so colours big text and pictures.

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And then I found out that I was dyslexic, so it made sense.

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Only when I’m 21, but it still made sense.

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When I finished college, I was so excited –

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I got offered an apprenticeship at digital marketing with Mindshare,

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and Covid came and I got into retail because it got postponed for six months,

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and after the six months was done, I went to be an apprentice –

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digital marketing at a media agency

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and that was really, that was really good.

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And then through my apprenticeship, I met another company

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called Asperination, and then I met Lucozade.

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So jump, jump, jump.

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My advice to young people would be to network

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because that’s how I got all my opportunities

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and don’t be disheartened if you don’t always get your first option.

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I feel like

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we’re so set on – this is my A-plan,

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this is my Z-plan – that

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you can miss opportunities by just focusing on one set plan all the time.