Trailblazers and Leaders: Sasha Mattus

Sasha Mattus | Account Director | Hope and Glory PR

How did you get into comms?

I used to believe it happened by accident. I later evaluated my journey into this industry as a destiny for me. Almost as if everything I had experienced in my life up to the point where I decided I would pursue a career in PR was pre-ordained. I fell into it really.

When I was younger I had no clue what PR actually was or what it entailed as a career. I had taken an education break after college as I wanted to make some money, buy my first car and go on my first girls holiday. I was able to achieve all of these things during that time. As I was coming up to the end of my year in employment, I still wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do. I was 21 and I was obsessed with Victoria Beckham’s style and imagined myself as a stylist. I looked into where I could study this and was overjoyed when I was offered an interview to attend Central St Martin’s. I prepared by pulling together my best essays from college, where I studied media studies, English Language / Literature and Sociology, I also memorised the names and motifs of all the upcoming designers. I put on my most stylish outfit and highest heels and was really excited about what potentially lay ahead for me.

However, when I arrived for the interview, there were students with large portfolios that included sketches, fabric swabs, magazine cut outs and my bravado wilted. I had my interview and I actually did really well, they wanted me to attend the London College of Fashion to study fashion to enable me to build a portfolio; I also had a letter of recommendation from the dean which included a guaranteed offer of a place.

At that time I really didn’t consider the magnitude of the opportunity, as I thought I’d just be wasting more time because I believed I’d already be starting a year later than most of my university peers due to my deferred  year (I sometimes wonder where that opportunity would have taken me now). I started to panic slightly about what I wanted to do and started researching vocations which might be the closest approximation to fashion. I remained passionate about fashion and wished to maintain it as a component of my working life. Lo and behold, I discovered PR. The only university at that time that was offering a PR course was in Bristol and I didn’t want to move away from home, so I settled for a Marketing and Advertising degree at the London College of Printing in Elephant & Castle. However, during my first year I became pregnant with my daughter and then when I went back they had split the marketing mix into modules that required you focus on either PR, Advertising or Marketing, so I chose PR to finalise my degree. 

What does an average day look like? 

“No two days are ever the same in PR. This is the aspect of it that often makes it so exciting! I don’t think you can distil what an average day looks like, as it varies so much depending on the client/ brand you are working with at any given time. However, during the pandemic we’ve moved to working from home. Most days are now filled with back-to-back Zoom and Teams calls, so some of the social and interactive part of our job which previously made our industry such a joy to work in has vanished, for the time being." 

What advice would you give your 21 year old self? 

It would be to never give up on myself, no matter how hard things may get or seem at any one moment in time. Every set back or missed opportunity isn’t a loss if one accepts it as a part of an ongoing learning curve. Remain resilient and receptive to change and you will persevere if it’s something you really want. I actually feel as if I’m re-telling my 21 year old self this now, as my daughter has just turned 18.   

What is the one thing you wish you’d known when you started working? 

Stay true to yourself. We have to supress so much of ourselves within the working environment, particularly those of us who are women and doubly so as a person of colour and it eventually exhausts you. I’ve had to bite my tongue on myriads of occasions over the years, but have always kept my responsibilities in the front of mind; I have a mortgage to pay and a child to look after. It sometimes left me in situations at work where I’ve felt undervalued or overlooked or just not supported but my obligations and my awareness of what I was able to achieve and secure at home kept me pragmatic and meant so much more to me than the ego rush that might have been characterised as a lack of professionalism rather than activism, so I persevered. If your colleagues can’t accept who you are when they meet you and refuse to appreciate what you can contribute to the team effort, you may have to consider whether the firm deserves you or has provided the best working environment for you to be in. Work dominates a lot of time in your life, so make sure you enjoy what you do and the people you have to do it with.

What’s your greatest achievement to date? 

My daughter. I couldn’t be prouder of the young woman she is becoming, especially in a time which is so confusing for this upcoming generation.

Is there a particular comms campaign that you’ve seen in your career that you didn’t work on but wish you had? 

There are several campaigns that I wish I had worked on for so many different reasons but the one that really stands out to me was the spectacle of Chantelle Houghton hoisted on top of a Christmas tree at Lakeside, I remember the impact the campaign had at the time and how it evolved the paradigm of  brand partnerships with reality stars. To this day that marketing manoeuvre is regularly cited amongst the top ten PR campaigns of all time. The genius in the strategy lay in its simplicity. I can only imagine the conversations which took place at the agency before it was pitched to the client and then to Chantelle’s agent. The health and safety logistics around the endeavour must have been immense. I do love a simple idea that not only captivates the public but is simultaneously easily comprehensible to all who view it. The campaign also captured some stunning images.

What’s the key skill you think a successful comms person/comms business owner requires?

Adaptability. You need to be able to adapt to so many situations on an ongoing basis, whether it be jumping from one meeting to another with different clients who each pursue completely different agendas, hold vastly different work ethics or project totally variant personality traits. There may also be wide chasms of diversity between various team members. The methods you employ to manage one team may be completely different to the strategies you use to motivate the members of another team. You have to connect with them collectively and also assess how you may best support each individual within your units.  Also, situations may arise at a moment's notice which might derail timings for when a press release may go out or how smoothly an event may run. You need to be able to adapt to whichever circumstance challenges your objective and ensure you still get the best results.

Sasha is one quarter of our Innovation and Influence panel event which takes place on Thursday 4th February at 6.30pm. Get your ticket here