Wow, I can’t believe I’m saying this but that's my 12th month at Purple completed! A year ago I walked through the door and was introduced to the wonderful bunch of Purple people who I’ve come to know so well over the past twelve months. The last few months have been filled to the brim with lots of fun projects, laughter and plenty of natters out on our daily walks around the estate alongside plenty of creative work including copywriting, graphic design and content creation. 🤩

It really does feel like yesterday that I joined, I know people told me it would fly by but I wasn't prepared for just how fast it all was in the end! I joined Purple after a long recruitment process following the pandemic when I had done previous roles remotely, but it has been so fantastic to be in an office enabling us all to bounce ideas off each other as well as support each other. I’m so glad I joined the Purple team as I feel I’ve grown so much as a result and had so many opportunities to thrive here.

This month has been another packed with client meetings as enquiries keep coming in thick and fast. I was also trusted to take care of a colleague's clients when they went away on holiday, which meant placing their trust in me and giving me a boost and it was great to be able to keep everything in order for when they returned. ✨

I also passed my mock professional discussion with what my development coach called ‘flying colours’, and with some absolutely fantastic feedback, I am now ready for the real thing! 

Finally, we had a lot of fun taking part in the Zetland World Cup Table Football Tournament last month and whilst my team didn’t win, The Wonder Dogs, another of our fantastic Purple teams that entered did manage to lift the trophy and we raised a few extra pennies for St Teresa's Hospice too. ⚽🦶

Looking back on the last 12 months

Despite being suuuuper busy working with a range of fantastic clients, I’ve managed to keep on top of my Apprenticeship studies and I am pleased to say that I have completed just about everything with only my EPA assessments to complete! This means I’ve hit my target and managed to pass through gateway at bang on a year since I started with a huge portfolio of work to show just how much I have progressed in the last 12 months.

Looking back on my portfolio it's incredible to see just how much I've squeezed in during my year here, and the scope of my work - it was actually quite hard to jam it all into one portfolio as I couldn't fit everything in there!  It’s also nice to see my journalistic skills have carried over as part of working in this role as a Junior Content Producer with regular client blogs, press releases and content writing. 

My graphic skills have also gone from strength to strength and it has been fantastic to get creative with industry tools like Canva and dabble in some video work with Adobe Premiere. Learning the intricacies of Mailchimp has been a game changer too and I can now confidently recommend the platform to clients and show the ways it can be used to help businesses and drive further success. 

A snapshot of my standout moments has to include my first client meetings as well as the amazing feedback I have received on several research projects for my apprenticeship which I tied in with my client work from my development coach. Its also been amazing to get lots of press releases written and turned around quickly, with several being published online and in print. Having the opportunity to work with some big clients who have continued to grow enormously over the last few months has also been so amazing and I’m so proud to have played a part in that success, something I wouldn't have had the opportunity to do if I hadn't joined Purple.

Purple also isn't a conventional office, we work in an open plan setting, with the music on (you can always guarantee there will be some singing and whistling during the day 😅) and have regular table football games, challenge each other to hangman and love to play ‘I'm a celebrity, who am I?’ on Friday afternoons. This just adds to the fun working environment at Purple and can keep you smiling during even the most hectic of days. As a result, we all have such a close relationship with lots of fabulous events including a superb Christmas party post covid, crazy golf in Newcastle and charity fundraisers. These events have been hilarious and so so fun with everyone being able to let their hair down thanks to our fantastic managing directors Phil and Allan. 💃

Hopes for the future

Next up, I’ll be taking part in my Path to Mastery with Apprentify learning all about Facebook ads! I’ve always wanted to learn a bit more about paid social advertising and how it could help our clients to grow their social media presence, so it’s so exciting to take part in this online workshop to enhance my skills.

I've just got to complete my three workplace assessments now to finish my apprenticeship, then I can crack on with more client-based work. I am awaiting the dates for my assessment which includes a workplace observation, live brief and professional discussion. I am a little apprehensive as I do find assessments a bit nerve-wracking but I’m also excited and looking forward to signing it all off!

I really wanted to work with Purple and the backdrop of Aske Estate makes it a workplace like no other. Being able to further my education in a live setting and gaining hands-on experience as part of the process has been so eye-opening and the skills I have gained as a result are invaluable. 🙌

I feel incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to work with such an amazingly talented group of colleagues who have taught me so much and helped me to expand those skills within this industry which was relatively new to me when I first started here. My background from my degree is in Journalism but that's actually put me in good stead for all the writing I do as part of my role, so it's felt like a great transition from university and into a full-time role.

Hopefully, my monthly updates have entertained you all each month and have given you some insight into the apprenticeship journey as well as a taste of what it's like to work at Purple. I look forward to my final update with you all soon when I have completed my assessments and can reveal how I got on…eek!