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30 Under 30

The Drum 30 under 30 #25: Fiona Gandy, international account director, 7thingsmedia

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

October 5, 2013 | 4 min read

The Drum 30 under 30 women in digital 2013 highlights the top 30 women under the age of 30 making an impact in digital. Here, we catch up with Fiona Gandy, international account director, 7thingsmedia.

The Drum 30 under 30 women in digital is an annual platform recognising the next generation of digital talent. Over the course of 30 days we will be running interviews with each of the women profiled, to give more insight into their careers so far, professional achievements, and what they see as the next big game changers in digital.Today's profiled individual is 7thingsmedia international account director Fiona Gandy.What is your biggest professional achievement so far? Contributing towards both agency and individual account award successes in the past three years. Winning Emerging Marketer of the Year at the MiAwards and helping to build a team of highly passionate, creative and intelligent people. What is the biggest challenge you've overcome in your career?Not many people know this, but I actually studied City and Regional Planning at university. Although an odd choice, it has put me in good stead for my current role as I was able to practice public speaking, forecasting, budgeting, law and I had to be creative – all aspects I now use. After leaving university I realised that what I really wanted to do was to work in fashion, but particularly PR and marketing. From there I then moved to London and got a role in-house at a brand and then got a job at a fashion PR agency. I worked in fashion PR for over a year, but realised that I found it hard to work in an industry that was held so unaccountable for the activity they did. It was at this point I met the team at 7thingsmedia and quickly realised that I could apply my PR skills and relationships. It also provided me the opportunity to still work in fashion and better yet, everything I did was accountable. What's the next game changer in digital? I don't think any of us can honestly say what will be the next game changer as the industry is constantly developing with new technologies popping up every week. I do however think that the biggest change within the industry as a whole will be the wider adoption and understanding of customer attribution and true omnichannel marketing. What would you like to be remembered for?I would like to be remembered for teaching and inspiring others, but also for being knowledgeable and most of all personable. I think people still forget sometimes in this industry that you can get a long way with the relationships you have and you should not hide behind emails. Who inspires you most professionally or personally?I know it sounds cheesy, but I would have to say the people I get to work with everyday. 7thingsmedia is a company I am immensely proud to be a part of. I would not be where I am without the support and lessons I have learnt from the team and the individuals that make the agency. What would you be doing if you weren't doing this? I always wanted to be either a TV presenter or an air hostess, quite a way off my career now! However I like to think that if I was not doing my current role within digital now, I would still be working within some form of marketing. How do you relax? By walking home from work everyday! I also love to travel as growing up in Dubai means I'm only truly relaxed when it is sunny outside. Describe your career to date in five words.Exciting, challenging, fun and always developingThis series profiling The Drum 30 under 30 women in digital will run for the duration of October. Yesterday's featured individual was Rachael Pettit, marketing director, YPlan.
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