International Women’s Day 2021 marks the end of a year of lockdown restrictions and a hope that life might start to return to normal soon. Here at The Talent Manager we champion change and encourage inclusion in the workplace, an attitude mirrored not just in the hashtag of IWD, but also through the events we have all experienced over the past year.
My name is Becs and I am the newest addition the small (but perfectly formed!) Talent Manager team, brought on as their Social Media Manager. The pandemic has not been without it’s challenges for me – as a business owner of a media company that I’d run for ten years, my company sadly had to close as a result of the impact of the virus and I was left unemployed for six months, uncertain times as a single mother with two young kids.
However, the pandemic has also meant new opportunities opened for me that might not have been possible pre COVID-19 as I am based outside of London, but having adapted to ‘zoom life’ and knowing that WFH worked, Sarah was able to offer me the job as Social Media Manager with confidence! In addition to this, Sarah has created a freelancing recruitment company that holds diversity and inclusion at their core, so the fact I have parenting responsibilities and childcare challenges did not phase her (or me!) – and the flexibility of my role and the way the team works has made the balance between work life and home life much easier to manage.
We are so excited to be extending this ethos out to the creation of our TM Hub, launching soon, providing a networking feed at The Talent Manager to sit alongside and compliment our ‘free for freelancers’ jobs feed. Community is core to the ideals behind this launch and we are thrilled to offer our TM-ers a place they can discuss all things TV that matter to them, showcase their work, learn about new courses and events that will compliment their CVs and connect with other freelancers and companies.
And although we would not be able to operate so successfully without ALL our team members, male and female, I felt a little introduction on International Women’s Day to the other TM ladies would be apt as a little reminder of how success is about listening and supporting those women around you and cheering each other on.
Sarah, Creative Director
Since leaving production to launch the TM, I've worked to build a platform that is progressive - from developing the first free-for-freelancers jobs' site to building our real-time RateChecker (which monitors freelancer's pay) launching our suite of diversity tools (to ensure behind the scenes talent becomes more representative of the audiences we serve) and now our TM Hub (which helps freelancers connect & network on a platform that doesn't sell your data).
DV Talent is 21 years old this year. In fact, I was setting DV Talent up when our eldest was just three months old. I remember it like it was yesterday. Sitting with her on my lap and thinking how the hell I was going to manage. Despite starting DV Talent, I did then have to return to production but the series I was making involved filming in Manchester and these weekdays apart from my daughter, Maya, was such a killer that I knew I couldn’t really continue. Things have improved for working mums since then, I think, but not by much. It’s important to me to run a company that is as progressive in the way it recruits it’s team as the Talent Manager platform we have built to represent our TV freelancers.
Jemma, Events and Marketing Coordinator
I started working with The Talent Manager and DV Talent in September 2019 as the Events and Marketing Coordinator. Moving to London only a short while before the pandemic hit was a challenge. Hearing stories from friends losing their jobs and not being able to get home to Australia worried me, especially as I have no family here to rely on for support. However, I was reassured from the start that I would be supported by the Talent Manager. I felt like one of the lucky ones that was able to stay in London and keep my job.
I have thoroughly enjoyed working with The Talent Manager especially because it is a small team of people with diverse backgrounds. For me, having a diverse workplace is important as it enables an exchange of unique perspectives and sparks fresh ideas. Working on projects at The Talent Manager such as the TM hub has been a highly collaborative and refreshing experience. We need to show that women are represented in the tech and media industry and The Talent Manager is doing this.
Working with this team has presented a wide range of insights to the needs and motivations of its future users, which I believe reflects TTMs diversity and inclusion. This has resulted in a strong sense of community on the hub. With hundreds of people from a diverse network being able to share their projects on the site, the hub will be a great source of inspiration for creativity.
Shabnam, Digital & Support Admin
I've been working for TTM as a Digital & Support Admin for the last two years and it’s been lovely to grow in this small team and to see and be part of all the new exciting tools and improvements that have been made to this platform. Working for TM has been exciting and eventful - even if we haven’t been in the office for the past year due to current situation – it has worked effectively, and I have even managed to work and get support from TM all the way from Sweden without any issues.
It’s been great guiding and helping freelancers and companies around the service we're providing, and I trust our new TM Hub will make the user-experience even better.
I do believe in diversity and inclusion as I've seen how this brings a variety of voices and viewpoints to the table that enable good decisions and creates a strong and successful business and I'm glad that the company I work for share the same values.
Thanks ladies! Onwards and upwards.