Chrissie Plunkett co-founded Twist with business partner Richard Shell. It is an audience-led communications agency based in Newcastle and specialising in communications campaigns across PR, digital and social.
What was your first job (and how much did it pay)? HR admin assistant where I spent my time referencing financial consultants for £12,000 a year.
What is the best advice or support you’ve been given in business? Have the confidence to put value on your ideas and connections, not just on what you can deliver, and to delegate! Delegation gives you the time to focus on what you’re good at doing whilst trusting others with their specialities to fill in the gaps.
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What are the main changes you’ve seen in your business/sector, and what are the challenges you’re facing? The last three years have dramatically changed the way our clients assign budgets to marketing agencies. We have seen less demand for retained activity and an increase in project-based work, in line with challenges faced within the hospitality industry and rising cost of living. It became clear to us that we had to evolve our offering to reflect the buying habits of our clients and improve how we demonstrated added value.
We’ve faced this challenge by changing our focus towards delivering project-based solutions and this has proven to be a welcome approach that supports what our clients need. Twist has restructured our teams to focus on two core areas - digital and PR, with the teams crossing over to support each other when workload is out of balance. It also provides us with a greater focus on driving new business in each core area.
What would your dream job be? The job I’ve created by setting up Twist is my dream job, but if I hadn’t created this opportunity, then my dream job would involve adventure and following in the footsteps of Phoebe Smith, who is an adventurer and multi-award-winning travel writer (most recently Sustainable Travel Article of the Year: Travel Media Awards) specialising in sustainable travel. She is incredible.
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What advice would you give to someone starting out a career in your sector? Our industry is very competitive and at an agency like Twist, we would like to see someone demonstrate how they can capture attention in using their creativity, whilst being culturally relevant. If you’re looking to start out in a career in communications, make your application stand out.
Everyone has a CV, so why not elevate your chances of being noticed? Years ago someone applied to work for Richard Branson and sent a lifesize cut-out of himself. He didn’t get the job he was applying for, but was appointed a role in Branson’s creative team. I’m not suggesting everyone sends lifesize cut outs of themselves to potential recruiters, but don’t be afraid to do something that lets your creativity shine. The training and ‘experience’ can be built upon if you have the right mindset to begin with.
What makes the North East a good place to do business? The North East has a close-knit, supportive business community, where people genuinely want you to do well. I’ve not come across many signs of cut-throat competition or non-inclusive pockets within the community, and this is really positive, especially for those starting out in business.
How important is it for business to play a role in society? Businesses do play a role in society. Every business has a purpose to serve their customer and in turn provide employment, drive income and innovation. In terms of Twist’s role in society, we invest in mentoring junior creative talent – and it pays off with the responsibilities these creatives earn early on in their careers and the recognition they’ve won as Rising Stars in our industry, at the North East Marketing Awards.
Within society, our role is to provide further educational and career development opportunities via local universities and high schools, giving students hands-on experience to develop professional skills whilst completing their studies. We are also in a position where we can help introduce positive social impact by developing a culture of ‘giving back’ and building a sense of community. We do this by working collaboratively with a wide variety of local businesses and supporting charities.
Outside of work, what are you really good at? Handling difficult horses and having the confidence to ride them even when the owner won’t go near them – it sounds crazy, but I get a kick out of a horse who will give me a bumpy ride!
Who would play you in a film about your life? Jennifer Aniston – slightly whimsical, likeable, relatable and has a girl next door attitude who adds wit to drama.
Which three people would you invite to a dinner party, and why? Jurgen Klopp, James Corden and John Grant. I would just love to be in a room with Klopp and listen to him talking all night. I find him captivating and would love to know more about his life outside of football. James Corden appears so down to earth and his personality is right up my street, so I think we’d get along well, and I’d love to see him do carpool karaoke with my other guests. Having dinner with John Grant would give him the opportunity to sing a duet with me! Besides having a love for his music, he’s known to be painfully honest and brutally funny, so I would love to see how the conversation around the dinner table evolves!