When I joined the lovely Brew team, I soon realised I was continuing a trend formed by some of the team’s youngest members. We all graduated from the same university – lucky Brew!
The question is, which university is it? Well, it had to be a Brum one.
Beatrice, Jim, and I are all Birmingham City University (BCU) alumni, which has also recently become our neighbour this year as Brew set up its base at the STEAMhouse (Grade A listed 19th-century former factory).
So, we sat down for a chat to see how the three of us have made such similar journeys, from the lecture halls of BCU to the fast-paced agency life at Brew.
What course did you do at Birmingham City University?
Beatrice: I did a BA (Hons) degree in Marketing.
Jim: My degree was a BA (Hons) in Visual Communications (Graphic Communication).
Natalie: Mine was BA (Hons) Marketing (Digital) degree.
How did you connect with Brew?
Beatrice: I first came across Brew while I was still studying at university. I received an email from one of my lecturers about an opportunity with a local agency that needed some support with an upcoming event. I applied straight away and had an interview with Client Service Director Matt, that week.
I was lucky enough to get the role and began working as a digital marketing intern shortly after. My first task was assisting with a Christmas influencer event for Miller and Carter, which I was super excited about as I’d never worked with a high-profile brand before. What about you, Jim?
Jim: When I graduated, I decided to continue working in my hospitality job, but after a few months I decided that it wasn’t for me, and I wanted to get back into the creative design industry. I contacted the careers office at the university and started to receive weekly job advertisements.
Through those job ads, I noticed an opportunity for a ‘Junior Digital Designer’ which was a new role at Brew. I applied, had an interview, and got the job! I’ve now been here for three years.
How’d you find your way to Brew, Natalie?
Natalie: I first connected with Brew in 2018 when it was still called Connecting Element. I volunteered to be part of the university’s marketing agency called ‘The Link’, a BCU initiative placing marketing students on live projects for businesses around the Midlands.
My team was tasked with thinking of innovative ideas to help Connecting Element promote itself as it became Brew. It was great to work with the Brew team, especially as we had the opportunity to present ideas back to the team that were later used in a published campaign.
What do you do at Brew?
Beatrice: After helping to run the Miller and Carter Christmas event, I assisted with various tasks over the next two years. I received a text from Matt asking if I had any plans after university. We set up a Teams chat, and that was that… I was officially a full-time Account Executive at Brew.
Now, 18 months on, I’m a Senior Account Executive working primarily within social media across various clients but looking forward to spreading my wings on other digital marketing projects at Brew.
You started a while before me, Jim – wasn’t it just before the pandemic?
Jim: Yes! After I joined, it was just three months until the UK plunged into national lockdown. Still, I continued working for Brew throughout much of that time, helping to keep the lights on for our hospitality clients’ social media channels.
Now that we’re out of lockdown and things are busier than ever, I’ve been promoted to ‘Designer’. I work on anything design-related from social media assets to web design projects.
And now Natalie’s here, too – one more BCU student for the pack! How did you finally land at Brew?
Natalie: After completing the project for Brew, I continued my studies at university with a year’s placement at a national train company before graduating in 2021. After a bit of a bumpy road out of university, I’m happy to say I’ve found my place here at Brew as an Account Executive.
My role involves supporting our Account Directors on several different clients. Whether setting up a paid ad campaign or writing social media content, I enjoy learning all that agency life has to offer!
That’s not all we’ve done with BCU
We have a close relationship with several other local universities, including University of Birmingham and Wolverhampton University.
We also created a social media guidebook for BCU, helping their team create consistent, engaging digital content (with over 60 stakeholders involved!)
With the talents of our team, whether freshly graduated or filled with years of experience and wisdom, we make sure our clients get the results they’re looking for.
Get in touch and you could be next.