Trailblazers and leaders: Charlotte Mair
Charlotte Mair | Founder & Managing Director | The Fitting Room
How did you get into marketing/comms?
Honestly, I watched far too many episodes of Sex and The City and consumed A LOT of pop culture. I started my career in events and moved through to PR and marketing and then into brand, culture, and strategy. I read a book by Richard Branson, that focused me to make the move from events to PR. I started the agency with £17.22, a book in hand and an unwavering love for pop culture.
What does an average day look like?
Full transparency, after running the agency for a few years now, I’m trying to get my life in check, so it’s meant lots of new habits coming to the forefront over the last 6months. Pink Himalayan sea salt in cold water or lemon in hot water to kick start the day. I get to the gym at 6am, I love lifting heavy shit in the morning. After a 45 minute workout, I swim for 30 minutes (I’m Pisces). I get in the ice plunge pool most days and I LOVE it. I then drive into the office; I normally listen to a podcast. Favourites include ‘The Diary of a CEO’ and ‘CMO Moves’.
My mornings are normally with the team, running through sales, ops, and marketing. I fast for 14- 16hrs a day now, so at midday I break my fast with a green juice, quickly followed by an apple and peanut butter. Afternoons are normally focused on client time, new business, catching up with the finance team and looking at all things people and culture.
In the evenings I’m normally out with clients, networking or at home on the laptop planning and strategising.
What advice would you give yourself knowing there was going to be a pandemic?
Cash is king.
What is the one thing you wish you’d known when you started working?
Sorry, I have a few here:
F*ck the fear, it always works out.
You can tie yourself in knots looking for perfection. I’m a total perfectionist, but as we grow, on some things, I’m getting comfortable with them just being OK (shudders)
I also would have started to hire a senior team earlier than I did.
What’s your greatest achievement to date?
Making the AdAge top Women in Marketing, Advertising and Media in Europe list, building a team of strong women, past and present and our growing global client base.
Is there a particular comms campaign that you’ve seen in your career that you didn’t work on but wish you had?
I LIVE for a good rollout. Hip hop artists are the greatest at campaign rollouts. Look at Kanye West, he didn’t even speak about his album, one tweet from Justin Laboy and the internet broke. DJ Khaled - show me a person that does hype better than him. I love all campaigns by Beats.
What’s the key skill you think a successful comms/marketeer requires?
Resilience. The ability to get repeatedly knocked down and come back swinging every time.
Charlotte will be running a ‘Perfect Your Pitch’ Masterclass. Get your tickets here
