Championing our leading minds
Lisa Elliott - Strategic Marketing Director, Energy
Lisa brings over 20 years’ experience in developing market positioning, execution and communications strategies - capitalising on business’ strengths to deliver better value to clients and improved commercial performance. She has held several senior strategic marketing roles in multinational, listed and privately held companies. She is passionate about the talented people of RPS and what they deliver for their clients.
QWhat’s your role at RPS?
I'm a strategic marketer in planning, managing & executing integrated brand, client & communications programs.
Quick Q&A
Which woman or women inspire you?
Those that stand up and speak up for others.
What job did you want when you were growing up?
A vet!
What are you most proud of outside of work?
I learned to embrace change. That was a big step for me, and once I took the first one I never looked back.
What do you do in your spare time?
I enjoy photography, spending time with my husband and my family - it's the simple things.
QHow did you get into your industry?
I started in consulting as a field technician collecting water and soil samples to assess contaminated sites. My first manager took a chance on me, even after I arrived late for my interview! I never looked back.
When I wasn’t out in the field, I started doing the drawings to support the technical reports and in time this evolved into a full-time role. Then, 10 years later I thought it was time for a change, so I applied for a vacancy in the marketing team. The same manager took a second, or perhaps third chance on me – and here I am nearly 30 years later.
He once described me as a chameleon, it's a pretty apt description!
QWhat are some of your career highlights?
I’d have to say the lasting impression I have of the last 30+ years of my career is the people I’ve worked with, most of whom I’m still connected with in some way – even if we don’t see each other often.
Each of them has had an incredible impact on my career, and life really. In the early days I worked mostly with men – and they were all an amazing support, I literally grew up in this business. These gentlemen would patiently explain the ins out outs of their profession and their projects, they taught me everything I know about this industry and our clients. I consider myself very fortunate to have met and learned from them.
Then I met my current manager, Chantalle Meijer, and that’s when my career in marketing accelerated. She is a brilliant, intelligent woman who builds teams around her who are consistently the most incredible people. They are not all women, but the women are strong and truly talented. Each of us usually brings a different, but complimentary skill set, so we are always learning from and stretching each other. One of my closest friends, Glenys Fogarty, to this day is one such lady - we still support each other, and always will.
And today I live in England, working with some of the amazing talent at RPS. I’ve worked with Chantalle Meijer for close to nearly 15 years now in three different organisations – and one day I’ll probably follow her into the next adventure.
QWhy is this kind of work important? And what does it mean to you personally?
Professional services marketing is all about profiling your people, their smarts and experience. And so every day it’s exciting to learn more about what our people are working on so I can develop a marketing campaign that supports them to tell their story. It’s a joy really.
QWhat advice would you give to your younger self?
Always go with and trust your instincts, and your talent! Never be afraid to take a leap of faith.
QWhat was the best/most useful thing you did to further your career?
I listened and learned from the professionals around me - I soaked up every bit of wisdom they had to offer. And while it didn't come naturally at first, I moved around for my work. I moved around Australia with various roles and companies, and when the opportunity came to work and live in the UK, I jumped at it. Every step has added depth to my experience – my dad always said you never stop learning, he was right of course.
Oh, and I had loads of fun along the way.
QThis year’s International Women’s Day theme is ‘Break the bias’, how will you support this?
I believe its important to step up and speak up - if we're too afraid to do this because we think it will impact our career progression then nothing changes. Women should empower each other - as Madeleine Albright says, "there is a special place in hell for women who don't support each other."