How joining Harrods at 16 turbocharged one marketer’s career
Michelle D’Vaz Plant began her career by tackling barriers head-on from her first job application to Harrods aged just 16, to getting to grips with airport retail and working for Dragon’s Den entrepreneur Peter Jones.
Michelle D’vaz-Plant turbocharged her early career by winning a coveted place on a graduate apprenticeship scheme at Harrods. The much sought-after role saw her move department every three months after passing a tough assignment. D’vaz-Plant was not put off from applying for the scheme, despite being just 16.
“I went to a proper working class school where the only job you were told you could do was pretty much hairdressing or driving a bus,” she recalls. “There was never any idea that you could do anything else. There was never an indication that anyone went to university and I don’t think anyone in my year did.”
Having completed part of her education in the Middle East, D’vaz-Plant returned to school in the UK to discover herself ahead of her peers. However, she was required to stay on at school – because at 15 she was too young to leave – and so took a sixth form course on tourism that featured modules on marketing.