2021 has been a busy year for us already, welcoming both new clients and new team members. And, we’re thrilled to say that a lot of these new hires have been female! We’re proud to support women in Search and Marketing, and we’ve always been committed to creating a diverse team at Honchō HQ.
In celebration of this year’s International Women’s Day, we got all the Honchō girls together for a bit of a Q&A about life, goals and success.
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What are you most proud of?
Laura: Hands down, my children. For a million reasons but it was only about an hour ago that I had a conversation with someone concerning one of my sons. During that conversation, I suddenly realised that I had never, ever heard him say anything remotely negative or horrible about somebody else and he is 10. Not even once! All my children have big hearts and are extremely kind, I couldn’t be more proud if I tried.
Cristi: Self-teaching my way into digital marketing and doing dry 2020.
Eva: Always pushing myself outside my comfort zone – stand out so far being moving to Madrid at 20 to study in a Spanish Business School not knowing anyone there or the language yet adapting to a new culture and meeting friends for life, also moving to London for a job I love in a growing agency after graduating in a pandemic.
Jess: Getting my degree in fashion journalism was definitely a proud moment! When I was younger I did ballet semi-professionally and dancing for the Royal Ballet School and English National Ballet was also a very proud feeling.
Sophie: Buying and renovating our first home.
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What are your goals for the next 6 months?
Eva: To continue to grow the Paid Social team and be a solid part of that growth consolidating my knowledge and attaining the next step in my career.
Cristi: Put my health first, start painting again, study more Astrology, go to all the festivals possible and obviously smash it at Honchō.
Sophie: Finally getting to see friends and family after many months! And start running (although I have been saying this since lockdown 1…)
Jess: Carry on saving up to move out (even when the pubs re-open) and progress in my career. Would also love to get a holiday booked in.
Mellisa: To be happy and healthy! I don’t think there is anything more important than that.
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What motivates you? How do you get yourself feeling motivated?
Chrissie: Being around people, sharing ideas and goals and getting creative.
Laura: Even though these questions relate to International Women’s day, I have to be honest, it’s my husband. He motivates me because I see him work so hard every single day of the year.
Mellisa: That’s a really good question! I’m one of those people that always has to be doing something and can’t sit still for more than five minutes, so I haven’t really had to think about this until the pandemic hit. For me, it’s probably the thought that life is way too short and I have a list as big as the universe of things that I want to do. It’s times like these that really remind us to not take a second for granted.
Jess: My mum! She really is the most incredible woman. I am also very competitive so having someone to compete with helps me a lot.
Eva: Responsibility motivates me, seeing growth and being part of that growth
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What does success look like to you?
Robyn: Success is an answer to the hard work and perseverance that I give to perform a task at hand. It is to remind myself once again that I too have the power within. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment”.
Chrissie: Feeling fulfilled and happy with where I am in life. It’s not necessarily to do with money or job title, to me it’s looking at what you’ve done and feeling like you’ve really achieved something.
Laura: Success to me is feeling contentment within your life. If you are content, then you have succeeded. It doesn’t matter what other people perceive as successful, being content is taken for granted and it isn’t something you can find through money, power or social status. If you manage to find contentment in your life, treasure it!
Sophie: Having a successful career that I enjoy, and happy and healthy family and friends.
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If you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?
Mellisa: Your happiness is the only thing that matters in life. There’s no point in measuring success in how much you think you should have achieved in five or even ten years. Life happens, so live in the moment and just enjoy every second of it. And yes, there will be times when you think that you can’t cope, but you are much stronger than you give yourself credit for. You’ve got this.
Chrissie: Stop wasting time saying no to things you actually want to do. Be confident and put yourself out there – it’s actually not that scary!
Robyn: Follow your dreams, never give up or settle.
Jess: Be more assertive and don’t let people walk all over you. Know your worth.
Laura: Don’t be afraid to say ‘No’. You’re worth more than just saying ‘Yes’ to please other people.
Sophie: Be more confident!
Cristi: Not to see everything as so final – it’s fine to not end up where I once thought I would.
Eva: To stop overthinking, everything will work out how it’s meant to!
We hope you have a great International Women’s Day, whatever you’re doing! Keep up with more of our IWD celebrations and general Honchō activities over on our socials – LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.
Jade Halstead
