So, this is it, my time at Money Marketing has come to an end.
You may still see a couple of pieces from me before the year is out, but I have officially handed over the editorship to Tom Browne.
I’m sure the publication will do great things under his leadership. I wish him and the team all the best.
What a journey it has been for me. From being offered the news editor job after a chat in the pub with my predecessor – the greatly named Justin Cash – to stepping up to take over from him as editor when he left, and everything in between and since then.
It’s amazing to think how much my life has changed since the summer of 2019 – how much all our lives have changed since then really. Not purely because of my time at the brand but what has happened and been happening in the world around us.
On a personal note, I’ve experienced the circle of life in that time. I’ve lost my dad and welcomed my son. I wish the two of them could have met. His cheekiness definitely comes from my dad. We’ve already got a little joker on our hands.
Being editor of a well-known trade publication certainly comes with its challenges but the hardest thing I found about it was not being able to tell my dad when I got offered the job.
I’m not sure he would have believed me about hosting Money Marketing’s conferences or opening the brand’s awards in front of hundreds of people.
I don’t always believe it myself. If there’s ever a way to push yourself outside of your comfort zone, it’s standing up in front of a room full of people far more knowledgeable than you about financial advice and other complex matters and trying to sound vaguely like you know what you’re talking about.
I’m sure many of you will have seen right through me. But whether others have just been exceptionally kind, I have been very grateful for all the encouragement and lovely messages I have received.
I’ve also welcomed being challenged by Money Marketing’s readers and audience at times. It’s only fair as I’ve done the same to the advice profession. I think we can all strive to do better and learn from others. Every day is a learning day.
In my earlier career as a journalist, I was happy to hide behind the written word. Of course, I would interview people and ask questions and I loved doing it. I just didn’t want to do any kind of presenting or broadcast as I didn’t feel it was my strong suit.
I still don’t but I have to admit I’ve ended up enjoying it a bit more than I thought I would.
Don’t get me wrong, I still breathe a massive sigh of relief when it’s over. But sometimes that’s also because of the amount of work it has taken to get to that point.
Even though I’ve often been the one standing on stage as the face of Money Marketing (you poor people) I’ve never been doing these things entirely alone.
I’m incredibly lucky to have worked with a fantastic and talented bunch. From the editorial team who come up with ideas and produce all the great content to the production team who do so much more than put the mag together. Then there’s the events, marketing and commercial teams – there’d be no brand, conferences or prestigious award dos without them. It’s a real team effort.
That’s not forgetting all the various other support areas a business needs to function.
You’re only ever as good as your team. I’ve no doubt about it. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to be part of a brilliant one. I’d like to thank all the colleagues I have worked with at Money Marketing – past and present.
But I’m also indebted to those in the advice profession and wider financial services industry who have willingly given up their time to make things clearer for me.
For making the complex more meaningful and supporting the brand – whether by explaining something to me privately, contributing to articles online or in the mag or speaking at Money Marketing’s events. You all help make it the great brand it is. Thank you.
Back to the day in the pub. I’d made my way to Money Marketing’s old office in London (it was the current office at the time – in case you thought I’d messed up) and was sat in the reception area desperately flicking through a copy of the magazine on the coffee table as it was the first time, I had seen the print title.
I immediately thought ‘I know nothing about this subject matter – why am I here?’ Saying that, I wasn’t an expert in utilities or hospitality either, but I had worked in publications aimed at those audiences. The readers are the experts, I simply try to write for them. I was hoping the journalism skills could carry me through.
Mr Cash comes bounding down the stairs and provides a warm welcome but quickly gives the impression he is keen to usher me out of the building.
“Coffee or pub?” he asks. Turns out that was more of a difficult opening question than I had anticipated.
‘Does it all ride on how I answer this?’, I thought. ‘Will he judge me if I say the opposite to what he has in mind? Is it a trick question… I’m taking far too long to answer this – say something’.
“How has your day been?” I reply with my best impression of a politician avoiding answering the question. But also showing a typical journalist trait by questioning everything.
“Awards judging all day,” comes Justin’s reply.
“Sounds like the pub then,” I offer.
Now don’t get me wrong, we genuinely do like recognising and celebrating the achievements of the advice profession, but being in judging sessions for an entire day can be exhausting.
That’s another group I’m grateful to – the MM Awards judges. Thank you for the time and attention you give to each submission which comes your way to whittle the entries down to the shortlists and ultimately decide the winners.
Anyway, we go to the pub. I try not to let on how little I know about financial advice. We talk about other things too. We briefly discuss my career to this point. A rather nice conversation all round. It was the most relaxed interview I’d ever had. I approved.
The pub seemed the right choice. Imagine I chose coffee. You probably could have avoided all this waffling on. Sorry.
It wasn’t too long after this that I got offered the news editor job. Admittedly, I was a bit suspicious to not have seen any more of the office but turns out the company was about to relocate.
Luckily, I got to tell my dad about this role. He was very proud of me and joked that I’d be running the show in no time.
Then imposter syndrome reared its ugly head. I was worried a couple of people in the team may have felt overlooked, while this person with no prior experience covering financial matters had swanned into the news editor role.
But everyone was very welcoming both inside and outside Money Marketing. One of the reporters called me out on the imposter syndrome. I hadn’t realised it was quite that obvious. She gave me a bit of a talking to and told me I shouldn’t feel that way.
I was very touched when she told me the team was lucky to have me and how much she was learning from me.
It felt like there was so much to learn. It still does. But that’s ok. I have always reminded the team there is no such thing as a stupid question. Keep asking away.
When Justin gave me the shock news he was leaving, he said I should go for the editor role and that he would put me forward to the MD. I laughed. Then when the wider team also heard the news I started to get a flurry of messages and calls asking if I was going to take over.
I wondered if something had happened to this intelligent bunch. They’d all gone a bit mad.
And the rest as they say is history.
Of course, I kept doubting myself. I had only lost my dad in October 2020 and took over the editor role in April 2021. I was still very fragile. I still am.
We also decided to relaunch the mag, all while still working remotely. Yes, they had all gone mad.
But what a mag it is. I love it. I’ve been so proud of it and everyone who has worked on it. And it was great to receive recognition for the hard work we put in when we were named B2B Title of the Year at the 2022 Headlinemoney Awards. Told you it’s a team effort.
I didn’t get to attend the ceremony as I’d not long had my little one at that point, but I loved getting the photos come through of the team celebrating and the very excited phone calls telling me: “We’ve won”. They’ve always been winners in my eyes. And will continue to be.
I need to end this essay, so I’ll leave you with a couple of quotes about my journalism.
Recently someone told me I should be proud of what I have achieved at Money Marketing. Describing my work as “fair, challenging and accurate”. I’ll take that.
And in the interest of balance, I’ve also had a leader described as a “rather snotty petulant piece of journalism”. The person who left the comment did later follow up that they forgot to add they love snotty and petulant. I’ll take their word for it.
Either way, I’ll take that too.
Over and out.
