I’ve experienced a whole new level of dramatic weather conditions, from tropical heat and humid evenings right through to freak dust storms and torrential rain (which cut my first camping trip mercifully short!) I’ve swapped my smoggy Birmingham morning commute for a leisurely boat trip across the Brisbane River.
And I’ve gone from being a night owl to getting up at the crack of dawn (or, more specifically, being woken up by the birds screeching outside my window).
One of the biggest changes, of course, has been coming to work at Red PR. Having spent the last five years of my seven year career at the same agency in the UK, steadily building up my media contacts and industry knowledge along the way, starting a new job in a new country was really stepping outside my comfort zone. But, luckily, I’ve learned that when it comes to PR there are actually more similarities between the UK and Australia than I first thought.
Crafting and pitching a good story, building strong working relationships with clients, understanding what makes the media tick (as well as what ticks them off) – these are all key elements of the job which have stayed constant.
That’s not to say there aren’t gaps in my knowledge – I could probably do with a crash course in Australian slang and pop culture – but it’s reassuring to know that the same essential principles I learned in the UK also apply here too.
So, while I spend time getting to know ‘who’s who in the zoo’ (to quote Red PR’s general manager Kate Brody), I’ll also have plenty of opportunities to put my UK theory into Australian practice. Fingers crossed, I might even find a substitute for Topshop too.
From Birmingham to Brisbane
After months and months of planning, stressing and downright panicking (was I really going to be able to just pick up my life in the UK and plonk it down 16,000 km away? How would I survive without Topshop in my life? etc) I’ve just completed my first month as a Brisbanite. And what a month it’s been.
I’ve experienced a whole new level of dramatic weather conditions, from tropical heat and humid evenings right through to freak dust storms and torrential rain (which cut my first camping trip mercifully short!) I’ve swapped my smoggy Birmingham morning commute for a leisurely boat trip across the Brisbane River. And I’ve gone from being a night owl to getting up at the crack of dawn (or, more specifically, being woken up by the birds screeching outside my window).
One of the biggest changes, of course, has been coming to work at Red PR. Having spent the last five years of my seven year career at the same agency in the UK, steadily building up my media contacts and industry knowledge along the way, starting a new job in a new country was really stepping outside my comfort zone. But, luckily, I’ve learned that when it comes to PR there are actually more similarities between the UK and Australia than I first thought.
Crafting and pitching a good story, building strong working relationships with clients, understanding what makes the media tick (as well as what ticks them off) – these are all key elements of the job which have stayed constant. That’s not to say there aren’t gaps in my knowledge – I could probably do with a crash course in Australian slang and pop culture – but it’s reassuring to know that the same essential principles I learned in the UK also apply here too.
So, while I spend time getting to know ‘who’s who in the zoo’ (to quote Red PR’s GM Kate Brody), I’ll also have plenty of opportunities to put my UK theory into Australian practice. Fingers crossed, I might even find a substitute for Topshop too.
Welcome to Brisbane, Laura. Hope you are settling in