Why I’ve stayed at Bright Network for over five years
As our Digital Delivery Director, Hanna Persson and her team are responsible for the success of the digital campaigns we run for our commercial partners.
Hanna recently celebrated five fantastic years at Bright Network. In that time, she’s seen our business grow exponentially in our mission to build the workforce of tomorrow by connecting our 700,000+ members to our employer partners.
We caught up with Hanna to hear first hand how she’s grown over the past five years and what has kept her at Bright Network all of this time!
Congratulations on your five year anniversary, Hanna! I imagine Bright Network has changed quite a bit since you first joined us!
Certainly! I moved over from Sweden to London in 2017 and joined Bright Network shortly after. It’s fair to say that over the past five years I’ve had quite the journey here! When I first joined, the company was much smaller than today and there were only two of us in the Digital team. When I started there wasn’t a process for pretty much anything, we made it all up as we went along - trying new things and learning and growing from our mistakes.
Five years later, our operations are much smoother. We’re a well-oiled machine although we still have lots to learn and we’re constantly eager to change to get even better. My team is much bigger too. Now, I’m the head of a team of nine that is responsible for the largest operational revenue stream in the whole business! It’s incredible to see the growth we’ve had since I first began here.
That’s amazing! What are some of your key highlights from the past five years?
When I first started at Bright Network, we would spend hours after work on the rooftop terrace of our office. I’d recently arrived in London and didn’t really know anyone, so that time having pints with colleagues and getting to know them was so valuable from a social perspective. I really felt a sense of belonging and quickly made friends with the people I worked with. Bright Network is a place we do great things together and celebrate wins together.
I’ve also had the chance to work on some really innovative products, such as our Talent Tracker and our Digital Advertising Platform, both built in-house by our tech. team. When I first started, we were just using whiteboards, but now we can collaborate with people across the business to actually create and build unique products that bring direct value to our commercial partners. In big corporations there’s usually so much red tape to cross to get stuff like that done, but at Bright Network we can just make it happen! We really have a chance to make an impact here.
"My main goal is to empower people any way I can"
I’m sure it’s not all been plain sailing, though?
Definitely not! The first couple of years were rewarding, but also tough at times. Because we were a small business that was changing rapidly, we had to wear many hats and adapt our processes all the time. I learnt so much during those first years in particular and wouldn’t be where I am today if it hadn’t been for the amazing people/friends/colleagues around me.
In my current role, my job is essentially my team. What that means is that my main goal is to create a secure environment and empower the people on my team any way I can. I’ve never wanted to be a micro-manager, so the challenge here is to sometimes take a step back and allow people to make mistakes and grow from them, whilst continuing to support and shape that growth in any way I can. One of our core values is ‘trusted to deliver’ and it really is essential to trust your team to deliver!
"I’m in awe of everything people here do"
What drives you every day at work?
I’m a people person, through and through - what keeps me going is the people I work with. When I first started at Bright Network, my goal was essentially to build a team, as it was something I’d always wanted to do, I always wanted to manage and empower people.
People inspire me and building a team from scratch in particular has been so satisfying. Every time we bring someone new into the team, it’s so rewarding to support them and give them the tools they need to succeed in their role.
We’ve hired so many great people that have stayed on for many years - I’m in awe of everything people here do.
Finally - we’re continually growing the team at Bright Network, so do you have any tips for anyone looking to join us in the near future?
If you’ve already made an application, please know that we really want you to do well in our recruitment process! We want brilliant people and we want to grow the team. As such, we’ll always do our best to give you the chance to show us what you can do at the interview stage.
Once you’ve joined us, the key thing is always be willing to learn and to ask questions. There really is no such thing as a stupid question, so trust your colleagues and we’ll help you out any way we can!
Bright Network is a fast-growing business and we are rapidly expanding our teams. Whether you’re interested in a role in Marketing, Tech, Events or something else - click below to see what opportunities we currently have open! Who knows, in the future you might be celebrating your five-year anniversary with Bright Network!