Press and PR Manager
The Globe Theatre (Shakespeare's Globe)

Francesca E

00:00:03 My name’s Francesca E, I’m Press and PR Manager for Shakespeare’s Globe. It’s basically – basically looking after the press profile for the whole organisation. It’s running campaigns during the theatre season, it’s making sure that we’ve got critics coming along to review the shows. For the kind of job that I do, it’s effectively sales, in a way, you know, I’m communicating to the media, who are then going to communicate to the public out there who might actually go out and buy a ticket.

00:00:31 I think when I was younger, when I was at school, I was always interested in the theatre. I used to join the theatre clubs, I used to do productions at school. When I got to A level I went and did Theatre Studies at A level. But even before that, I had a sort of strange obsession with the theatre, and I could never really quite articulate it, just that I loved it, it just got me so excited. And I never really thought about how it might actually become anything, but it was just an interest, that was just what I loved.

00:01:00 Thank goodness I had, you know, great parents who sort of trusted the fact that I wanted to do Theatre Studies at University, even though it wasn’t actually going to give me a trade at the end of it. But it was something that – that was all I wanted to do. When I finished University, I have to say I was actually quite sick of it, after having done three years studying really intensely, and Theatre Studies was quite a practical course. So I was – I was just quite exhausted really. So – so I ended up, you know, just going with a temping agency just to get some work. And I think I was an Administrator for about nine months.

00:01:37 I think the turning point for me, in the career, was after having done a couple of years, straight out of University, with a couple of organisations who didn’t – it just didn’t inspire me personally. And I just realised that I really needed to go and find a job, an industry really, that – that I was excited about. My first break into the Arts really was I got a job up in Liverpool, for a couple of theatres up there. And I mean it was an amazing break really, because the Marketing Director up there just completely took a chance on me actually. I’d never worked in a Press Office before, it was amazing that, you know, that she gave me that – that chance to do it.

00:02:19 For me personally I’ve learnt a sense of confidence actually, that was quite a big issue for me. It’s actually taken me quite a while to – to work on actually, but it is something – definitely the last year has been a bit of a turning point for me. Just believing in myself a little bit, and not getting too worried about what other people think.

00:02:39 I’ve come across a number of people in my career, particularly in my last job. I worked for a dance company, and my Marketing Director at the time was an amazing woman and she was just – she was very confident, she was very experienced, she stood up for what she believed, she was an excellent manager, she really looked after her staff, and hopefully has given me a sense of how I’d like to be as a manager. Because I now look after staff, so having had her – her guidance – has really made an impact on me.

00:03:12 I’m still trying to work out where my career will be going next. I mean I hope I will be here for a good few more years. I’ve sort of reached the point in my career where I’ve reached quite a good level. I’m now a manager, I manage three members of staff, I’m responsible for the whole of the Press Office here. I’ve achieved a lot already but I’ve still got much more that I can do, so I would like to be around here for a while. Further than that, I’m really not sure. I’m still sort of mulling it over. I’m wondering about whether freelance might be an option, down the line, and perhaps working outside of London with a couple of clients. Who knows?

00:03:48 ENDS