Welcome Aboard Lucy Crayton

Fresh graduate Lucy Crayton joins the TBB team as our junior account manager. Navigating her final years of university during a global pandemic, she’s certainly shown resilience through chaotic times. Get to know Lucy, how Beyoncé inspired her business degree, and what she’s been up to since joining the crew.

Ahoy! Mirfield born and bred, The Bigger Boat couldn’t feel more like home for me – in more ways than one. So how did I end up here? It all began with a love of performing and music in my school years, to studying science in college in order to qualify for a medicine degree. With such a drastic change, I soon found myself in choppy waters. Nevertheless, I persevered, taking a gap year to remap my career course and re-evaluate my options.

I set sail on my gap year by securing a part time job in Nandos, reaping the rewards of free PERi-PERi chicken and using the rest of my time to volunteer in industry. I had the opportunity to work in a glass packaging business – a truly fascinating process, where I found myself working on projects supporting huge international clients and attending conferences overseas. All very overwhelming for a hospitality worker never having studied business before! But this is where my interest in both B2B and B2C marketing was born.

I soon realised I wanted to become the businesswoman of my dreams, climbing the corporate gangway to (hopefully) find success. I’ve always felt empowered by strong women who rock the boat – Beyoncé (absolute idol), and characters such as Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, Erin Brockovich, Ashley Graham, and the women in my own life – I see them all as complete gangsters. So, I set my sights on a business career, in the hope of one day becoming just as inspiring as my role models are to me to other young girls like myself.

But, all of a sudden, a tidal wave – COVID. The whole world had to trim its sails. I was furloughed from my part-time job, so I spent lockdown cooking for my family (and cultivating my love of it – it’s something I’ve been obsessed with from a young age).

Despite the pandemic, I applied for a business and marketing degree and went to study in Liverpool not knowing whether I’d sink or swim. However, I made waves – completing the ‘Young Enterprise’ competition as part of my business degree. Here I became managing director of a startup company, and ended up leading my team to success – winning first place in the university awards. Despite finding my feet, something about studying away from home still felt a bit weird after the effects of COVID and a fast-approaching cost-of-living crisis. So, I abandoned ship in Liverpool and transferred to Leeds Beckett to do my final year of university while living at home.

I completed a summer internship, working in sales on two separate client accounts and gaining experience in direct sales and marketing. I completed my degree and worked freelance while looking for a full-time marketing job to start post-graduation. Only for me to hear through word-of-mouth that a super-cool marketing agency had moored up right on my doorstep. I immediately contacted The Bigger Boat, and after a few interviews (and an anticipating wait) I landed my role as a junior account manager. Everything’s ship-shape!

My role at TBB is everything I could have wished for in a graduate role. I’m so excited about the diverse range of clients, capabilities, and knowledge within the business. And the company culture is hunky-dory. I’m excited to learn as much as physically possible across all departments and look forward to discovering my own strengths and weaknesses in marketing in order to explore my own progression opportunities for the future.