Giffgaff’s CMO on returning to work after a career break
After taking a hiatus from work to look after her children, Giffgaff’s CMO Sophie Wheater is candid about the difficult decision to go back to work and how businesses and parents can make the balance work.
Sophie Wheater was driving one of her children to soft play at the end of the summer in 2018 when she received a surprising phone call. It was from a former colleague of hers at Tesco Mobile, Ash Schofield, who was then CMO at Giffgaff.
He had just been made interim CEO and needed someone to fill in the CMO role, also on an interim basis. Was Wheater interested?
Wheater candidly admits to being “terrified” at the prospect. This might seem like a strange reaction for some who had worked at Tesco Mobile for seven years, latterly as head of brand and communications, as well as at O2 in brand management roles. But a year earlier, Wheater had made the decision to take some time off to look after her children.