This is Eddie Golby, he’s a Principal Solution Consultant at Edit. Eddie tells us what he likes about his job, what frustrates him and what gives him the fear!
So let’s just start off with the basics. What you do at Edit?
I am a Principal Solution Consultant. That means I work with our wonderful clients to unlock the potential of the marketing technology they use. I’m accredited in Salesforce Marketing Cloud – that’s my primary tech – but over the years I’ve used countless others.
A common theme is that clients don’t fully know how best to utilise the tools they have, so we work with them make the most of what they’ve got and help them to make the best customer experiences possible. For example, Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a really powerful tool with a lot of different components. For us, it’s all about understanding what our clients want to achieve, then unlocking the steps required to make that happen.
Do you ever find that there’s a client that wants something that can’t be done with the tech they’re using, is that common?
A lot of times clients aren’t fully sure what they want, so we work with Edit’s strategy team to figure it out together, with us typically doing a technology audit. We look at how they’re using their tech, what they’re doing well, what they’re not doing well and what the risks and opportunities are. Then we work out what they want and how the tech can help them get there. Sometimes it may be that the tech they use isn’t suitable to achieve their goals.
Do you enjoy it?
I love my job. No two days are the same. Every client presents different challenges, with a different outlook and environment: you can’t just propose the same thing to everyone. You can go in with the same initial approach – which is the audit element; let’s have a good look at what you’re doing, what you want to do and fill in the blanks. But every client is different.
There are constantly new challenges and pressures – but the people I work with are brilliant. If I’m ever in a stressful situation, it’s diminished because the people I work with are really encouraging and supportive – as well as great fun. So yeah, I love my job.
There must be stressful or annoying moments though
It can get frustrating when I’m blocked on projects due to internal or external factors. For instance if I’m waiting to be given access to something. There’s a lot of moving parts from the start to the completion of a project and sometimes I really want to get my teeth stuck in and I can’t. That’s frustrating.
Is there anything that’s particularly exciting or interesting to you within your line of work right now?
AI is really continuing to poke its head up and it’s fascinating and a bit scary. Does ChatGPT mean we might not need content writers anymore?
How did you get into this kind of work, and is it something you always wanted to do?
Before I started in this industry, I didn’t comprehend the nature of this line of work! In my early-20s, after doing a master’s degree in European politics, I moved to London to try and ‘make it’. I was on minimum wage internships in agencies trying to get my foot in the door in public affairs. I realise I didn’t want to live in a big city such as London, especially on minimum wage, so moved home to Bath.
My half-sister worked at a software company, I talked to her and she thought I’d be a good fit for this line of work. So she put me in touch with one of her industry friends, and I joined that company in a junior role.
I realised I loved it. I love analytical problem solving. And I like the kind of nerdy techy bit of it as well.
This can’t have been what you dreamed of doing because you couldn’t even imagine this job would exist when you were a child!
When I was little I wanted to be a footballer or a rockstar and it’s probably too late for both of them, but you never know.
What are you really into outside of work?
I love music. I’m in a band with some of my best friends and we gig when we can. We play a rock/punk kind of thing – loud, fun and noisy. I need to give a shout-out to Bath City FC as well, as I can often be seen at the home of football: Twerton Park.
I also love reading. But I don’t have that much time to do those things because I am lucky enough to have identical twin girls, who are 2 ½ and absolutely wonderful. They’ve got a great sense of humour and have definitely got their own personalities. It is a joy to watch them grow (though often it is an exhausting experience). I also have a cat called Iggy, who is wonderful as well.
What sort of books do you like reading?
Well mostly it’s non-fiction, books about music and football, because I don’t really have much of an imagination! But I do like fiction as well, more and more actually. One of my favourite authors is John Niven. He’s really great.
What gives you the fear at work?
Luckily I don’t have to do this so often anymore, but when I had to deploy campaigns for clients – pressing send on a customer email campaign – I’d have to check everything was ok about 20 times to make sure everything was correct. Sometimes if we were doing a big deployment, two of us would get together to go through and do our final checks. Then as soon as I’d press send, they’d shout “WOAH!” as if we’d sent too soon. It’d get me every time.
What’s your best advice for the workplace?
Be yourself. For years I thought I had to put on an ultra-robotic professional front, especially in this line of work where you’re meeting clients. I was trying to be someone I wasn’t, and then a penny dropped and I realised that I was popular and people actually liked me as I am.
It’s really nice because I’ve got actual, genuine, friends here like Gwyn, my boss. He’s a godfather to one of my girls. We’re so close and that’s the best thing about my job for me.
When you’re able to work with people you can truly be yourself with, it’s amazing. Great stuff happens when you can relax. Plus problem solving is much better if you can do it on a personal level.
