Jade is the Head of the award-winning Customer Service team at the Bristan Group. During her career progression, she has found the flexibility of the business has enabled her to study as well as take on new roles.
Before starting her new role as Head of Customer Service and Support, Jade was a returns administrator within the Credit Control team for 11 years.
She credits her manager for spotting her potential and encouraging her to do more after coming back from Maternity Leave. “April was my manager and has been at the Bristan Group for 30 years. She was a great role model. When I returned from my first maternity leave there was a chance to do an NVQ in Business Improvement Techniques and the course started the day I returned from maternity leave.”
“At the time I felt overwhelmed having just returned with a 9-month baby. April encouraged me to just go for it and I think she knew I was capable and that I wanted more out of my career, so she encouraged me strongly to give it a go.”
Continuing to grow her family wasn’t an issue when developing her career “I had my second child when I had just finished my Level 3 course, so I was pregnant whilst studying.”
After studying and gaining her new qualifications, Jade was offered her current role, despite the support of her team, she still had to overcome an element of imposter syndrome. “It took me several weeks to decide if the position was for me due to my own self-confidence. It meant going from managing 3 people to being responsible for a department of 50.”
“After some thought and encouragement, I realised that I wouldn’t have been asked if the business and senior team didn’t think I was capable. This was coupled with having a female mentor and role model in the business who was successful, who gave me the confidence to push myself.”
Thanks to the inclusive environment Bristan Group has been working to create, her gender didn’t set her back, “I have never really felt like a woman in a male-dominated industry – at Bristan Group this is not something we have an issue with.”
“We have a lot of successful, strong women in the Bristan Group, and I think that helps to give confidence to new people joining the business or the industry.”
One piece of advice Jade would have given herself at the start of her career is “Don’t sit in your comfort zone for too long, accept challenges as a way to grow. My motto in life is to regret what you have done rather than what you haven’t – don’t leave anything on the table.”
