Cosmopolitan UK — June 2017

COSMOPOLITAN · 85

2 Be a

lone wolf

“I go to the Just

For Laughs comedy

festival in Montreal

on my own every year.

There are so many

networking events, and

going alone results in

great opportunities,

as you have to talk to

people. I’ve always

found it’s best not

to be shark-eyed and

constantly on the

lookout for the

most important

person in the room.

Instead, focus on

being friendly, rather

than talking shop

straight away.”

Kitty Laing, head

of comedy at

United Agents

3 Own the pen
“Learning how to
get my point across
in a large conference
meeting has been
vital to my career.
Over the years I’ve
found it’s best to
occupy the position
in the middle or at
the head of the table
to stop your voice
getting lost. If there’s
a flipchart or whiteboard, try to get
control of the pen – people will
talk to you, because they want to
get their idea on paper.”
Nikki Yates, senior vice president
at GSK, a science-led global
healthcare company

4 Network somewhere

a little bit weird
“My college reunion was the last
place I expected to further my career.
But then I got chatting to my
now-business partner Jessica Herrin.

Her background was very different

to mine – I had always worked in

retail, while she was tech-minded.

Now I always say to people to attend

events where you will encounter

people outside your normal circles.

Often the best ideas come from

combining two seemingly disparate

ideas and visions into one.”

Blythe Harris, chief creative officer

at Stella & Dot

5 Work with someone

you find difficult

“I was once tasked with leading

the PR efforts on an account that

had a CEO who was

notoriously hard

to please. I had so

many ideas rejected.

I remember lying

on the floor of my

office one night

completely out of

inspiration. And

then I realised

none of my

methods were

crazy enough. So

I tried something

completely out

of the box and it

worked – a couple

of months later, an

article came out in

[business magazine]

Fortune, and soon

after, the company

sold for tens of

millions of dollars.

The CEO told me

it was a direct result

of great PR. You

sometimes need

a difficult situation

to be pushed out of

your comfort zone.”

Rosette

Pambakian, vice

president, global

communications

and branding

at Tinder

“Back in 2002, the red carpet at

the BAFTA film awards began

to foam as a result of torrential

rain mixing with a fire-retardant

treatment in the carpet. Instead

of panicking, I made light of a bad

situation by telling all the attendees

that at least their shoes would be

fireproof for life. It is all too easy

to get caught up in looking at why,

when it’s much better to deal with

finding a solution to the issue at

hand. There will always be time later

to look back at the problem, learn

from it and make

sure there’s no

way it can ever

happen again.”

Amanda Berry,

chief executive

of BAFTA

Seriously, no good can

come from these, apart

from learning to never,

ever do them again

CAREER STRIDES

YOU CAN SKIP

GOING BACK TO THE

OFFICE POST-WINE

You went for your forgotten

make-up bag. You ended up

locked in the stationery cupboard

trying to steal a stapler you’re

allowed to take for free anyway.

SHUTTING YOUR EYES

TO ‘LISTEN’

It seemed sensible at the time

• five seconds of shut-eye would
  wake you up during the most
  boring meeting of all time...
  We all know how it ends.

DOING YOUR SIGNATURE

MOVE AT OFFICE DRINKS

Your friends find your ‘worm’

hilarious. All your colleagues see

is a woman in a white shirt rolling

around a sticky floor desperately

searching for her dignity.

ATTEMPTING TO USE THE

PHONETIC ALPHABET

You’re on the phone, having to

spell something out, and your

boss is behind you. Cue mind

blank. “C for... condom? V for...

vagina?” I for inappropriate.

WORDS STEVIE MARTIN AND CATRIONA INNES. PHOTOGRAPHS NICK ONKEN. MODEL MALGO MALGOZAT AT MC2. MALGO WEARS: TOP, SASS & BIDE. CUFFS, ALBERTA FERRETTI

6 Make light

of a crisis

7 Do a job

you actually

kind of hate

“I used to sell

health drinks to

bars and restaurants.

It was a completely

thankless job. No

one took my calls

or my drink. Ever.

If 10 is a jump-in-

the-air great day

and one is an

I-want-to-go-back-

to-bed-and-never-

get-up-again day,

then most of my

days were about

a three. Now, I try

to hold onto how

doing that job

made me feel, so

I can differentiate

a bad day from

a bad job.”

Farrah Storr,

editor-in-chief

of Cosmopolitan