LAUNCHING:
BECCA BRITTAIN
Company:
Just B Social
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THE BIG QUESTIONS
WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSIONAL TITLE?
Creative Marketing business owner who can sing at your wedding and give you a Reiki treatment.
WHAT DO YOU DO ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS?
I travel the world with my boyfriend Luke and when there’s Wifi I manage creative marketing campaigns via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for clients based in Lincolnshire. It turns out there is Wifi everywhere! Most days are spent trying to balance discovering a new city & running my business which is a dilemma I strive to be grateful for everyday.
WHAT DID YOU WANT TO DO WHEN YOU WERE A CHILD AND WHAT CHANGED?
At 12 or 13 I wanted to be a hairdresser, (a year spent washing and sweeping up hair put an end to that dream,) a lawyer and then a journalist.
WHAT ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS DO YOU HAVE?
I have a 2:1 BA degree in Journalism from Lincoln Uni, 1 C in Maths at GCSE, 7 B’s and 2 A’s in English! I have A levels in Business Studies, Media Studies & English, General studies and an AS level in Psychology. My alternative dream career is a psychotherapist.
WHAT’S THE BEST CAREER ADVICE YOU’VE EVER BEEN GIVEN?
No-one will think any better of you if you work through lunch.
WHO IS YOUR ROLE MODEL AND WHY?
Frida Kahlo the Mexican Artist, she painted her truth and didn’t care for anyone’s opinion, she was courageous enough to paint herself with facial hair, including the iconic mono-brow. She reminds me to be my authentic self.
WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT YOUR CURRENT WORKING ENVIRONMENT?
The best thing about my current working environment is that it changes almost daily! We stay in AirBnBs or we visit people we know around the world. I’ve worked from a laundry room in an RV park in Vegas, a hammock in a Costa Rican yoga/eco retreat forest and now I’m in Cuzco an a lovely little kitchen cooking some black corn on the cob!! I have a second hand Macbook I bought for £400 and it comes with me everywhere, last month I went caving and my office came down a 57ft ladder with me!
WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE ABOUT YOUR DAILY WORK ROUTINE IF YOU COULD?
As we’re travelling as a couple we’re constantly balancing our time between work, adventure, exercise (Luke’s a health trainer), shopping for healthy food and planning our next move. If I had my way I’d probably stay in bed in my PJ’s all day online and then go out for sushi when it got dark but Luke makes sure that there’s a time for everything, I am grateful for this as we explore all the cities we’re visiting rather than just working all day long - which is what I did in an office for 10 years before we left.
WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF PROFESSIONALLY IN FIVE YEARS’ TIME?
In 5 years I’ll be 36, I will probably still be travelling but I’ll have enough clients to be able to employ more staff to enable others to work from anywhere too.
DO YOU FEEL YOU CAN BE THE SAME PERSON AT WORK AND IN PRIVATE?
I am trying, I have found myself playing down the experiences I’m having as I don’t want my clients to think I’m having too much fun and don’t have the time to work! This kind of negative thinking is keeping me small (I learnt this in the Costa Rican forest retreat!) I want to shine my light (so the other weirdos know where to find me) but I find it hard sometimes to really publicise my life, I hide it on my blog and Instagram rather than posting on Facebook! Makes no sense I know.
WHERE AND IN WHAT ROLES ARE WOMEN IN THE LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE AT YOUR COMPANY?
I own my own company but Luke likes to think he’s in charge. I’ve offered him a non-executive silent partner role!
DOES DIVERSITY MATTER TO YOU?
We travel to learn about different cultures and ways of life. We’ve taught English and social media skills to Mayan young adults and women in a small village in Guatemala. I run a page on Facebook called Round the World in Reiki days, the aim is for me to give Reiki to people in return for an interview so my friends, family and Reiki clients back in the UK can meet a diverse group of people via that Facebook page. I haven’t done as many Reiki sessions and interviews as I’d like, turns out you need plenty of energy to practise energy healing!
HOW GOOD IS YOUR WORK LIFE BALANCE?
My work life balance is excellent, it’s my freedom / guilt balance I’m working on.
WHAT QUALITIES DOES BEING IN YOUR ROLE NECESSITATE?
You would need to be OK with constant change, have flexibility around working hours/conditions, a strong self-belief and have faith that the universe has your back.
ANY FINAL COMMENTS?
Despite being terrified of giving up my stable career in advertising and for a long time thinking that I wouldn’t be able to travel the world (because that’s everyone’s dream right?) I realised I could start my own business and that other people are happy where they are so it was up to me to live my dream. We left the UK August 1st 2017 and have visited all the places on our wish list and more! My advice to anyone thinking of doing something similar would be just to go for it! Worry about the details afterwards!