Phew! That was our busiest deadline week since the Christmas one two years ago! From our point of view, business is now back to how it was before the Pandemic, demand-wise at least.
I always wait until the very last minute to start to pen the Editors’ letter, much to the chagrin of Mary and Ali who are always waiting for me to send my missives, features and clients adverts anyway. But, in my defence, the Ed’s letter needs to be as up to date on topic and message as is possible, so it is usually the last thing I do before sending the mag off for final formatting with Ali Poole, our graphic designer. And another clause in my defence argument is that I need to have a clear and un- interrupted hour or so to get my mind into gear to write it—and that’s not possible with phones ringing, emails pinging and ‘slow to respond’ feature providers needing a ‘gentle kick’… all has to be settled and at peace.
This week started by welcoming our new team member, Sharon Blockley, to our fold. Sharon takes up the reins as our Advertising Sales and Marketing professional, taking care, eventually, of all our advertisers, new and old, as we become busier on all fronts.
Sharon’s CV landed in our in-tray just a few days after the advert hit the streets in the September magazine. We know that advertising in Soar Valley Life works – we are telling businesses every day about that – but this call for attention was a bit different to the norm and we didn’t know that it would work so quickly. But, Sharon’s experience and situation is perfect for us, as is the role we have to offer being perfect for Sharon.
She’d taken a year off to help with family matters after leaving her position as a medical secretary for a local group of GPs surgeries. Before that she’d worked as an advertising sales manager for the Nottingham Evening Post.
I met Sharon for an initial chat at Baxter’s Tea Rooms in Loughborough prior to the interview proper, to see if we could work together and David, Baxter’s owner, eventually had to throw us out as we had been talking past his closing time.
The following week Peter, Mary and I met with Sharon and we all got along like a house on fire! Well you know what I mean.
One of the questions I asked her was, “Why did you decide to go back to work again now after having a year off?” Her answer was, “I didn’t, actually. I wanted to do something, but we’re moving house soon to our dream home as our two boys are growing up—one off to Uni and the other buying a place with his girlfriend; once we were settled in our new place I was going to find something then. Living in East Leake, I receive Soar Valley Life magazine through our door every two months and by reading the advert for this role, you could say that you found me. It was the perfect fit for me at this time in my life and I knew I had to go for it now or be forever disappointed.”
Sharon is a perfect fit for us too, as we embark on the post Pandemic era, with a new marketing plan from Steve Thomason of Agora, who created our last one in 2016, and all that we expect from our immediate and longer term future.
I have often noticed that if you act in a positive way by taking action to move forwards, especially in life and business enhancing ways, all sorts of opportunities reveal themselves. They were no doubt there all the while, but in the hum-drum of everyday, by marking time and not reaching outside your comfort zone, you don’t see them. It is a magical thing!
I’m reminded of an editors’ letter I penned a few years ago about the legendary TV Mystic from the 1960’s Evadne Price whose catchphrase was, “Think lucky and you’ll be lucky!”
Since Sharon started on Monday, this week has gone like a blur with new advertisers, returners from a while ago and other renewals needing attention. Sharon’s presence is already having an amazing effect.
So, watch this space, be positive out there and, “Think lucky and you’ll be lucky!”
Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy, lucky 2022 to all our readers, advertisers and suppliers.
Steve , Mary, Peter, Sharon, Ali, and our 50 strong team of door to door deliverers.
