A Day in the Life of Calli Sharpe

What advice would you give to other rising stars? ‘Treat people like you expect to be treated yourself and work hard! Also, dont take things personally.’

Company
DLKW

Job Title
Account director

What keeps you busy all day?
Meetings and currently, building a great microsite for a client.

What keeps you awake at night?
Money – I can’t help but worry!

Describe your working day?
I come in, check my e-mails/voicemails, eat my cereal and have a peppermint tea. I have catch up chats with my team to check all is running smoothly and everyone is happy. The rest of the day involves a mixture of meetings, running up and down the stairs to the creative department and then generally making sure things happen when they are supposed to happen.

What is your busiest time of day?
This varies but normally first thing in the morning or last thing at night. It is always busy when you are planning on leaving, especially at the moment!

Best day at work?
Being promoted to account director. It meant I could stop nagging about being promoted for at least five minutes. I was on a train at the time when I received the call and managed to hear ‘we’ve promoted you’ before getting stuck in a tunnel for 20 minutes! I spent the rest of the time trying to work out whether I had been dreaming or not.

Worst day at work?
Things always get resolved however bad they are so I would like to say that I haven’t really had one.

What brands/accounts have you worked on?
D&A, COI Department for Education and Skills (teenage pregnancy, student finance/foundation degrees), COI Department of Health (sexual health), AA, Burger King, WHSmith, Campbell’s (Batchelor’s Cup A Soup and Batchelor’s Supernoodles), Vauxhall Motors (Meriva, Corsa, Agila), HBOS Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Clerical Medical, Capital FM, COI DWP and FTMarketwatch.com

Name one thing you have achieved that made your bosses sit up and take notice?
I’m never one to be quiet in these situations so they tend to hear a lot from me! In my first job as an account director though, I delivered over 140 TV ads and 200 press ads in the space of three months. That was a rather steep learning curve!

What are your ambitions?
To have an influential role in developing and shaping the future of an agency.

What advice would you give to other rising stars?
Treat people like you expect to be treated yourself and work hard! Also, don’t take things personally.

Quote from boss?
‘Calli’s the kind of account director you can feel absolutely confident in to get the job done and to do it intelligently and thoroughly. In the manic paced world of advertising to have someone with her ability is invaluable. I know that the accounts are under control when she’s around. Speaking of which, where did I put that holiday form…?’

Tara Howell, Managing Partner of DLKW