It Takes a Village: Insights into the varied career paths within a successful agency

Join us for It Takes a Village in partnership with Design Bridge and Partners, where we spotlight the essential, yet occasionally overlooked, roles within creative agencies and explore how their contributions are critical to successful work. We’re excited to showcase voices from an inspiring lineup of guests representing different agencies and disciplines.

Expect honest conversations, career insights, and a glimpse into the varied (and often unexpected) paths within the creative industry. This is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to get a behind the scenes sneak peek at the inner workings of creative agencies, hear from brilliant women, and ask your burning questions. Check them out below:

Michelle Bower
Associate Strategy & Transformation Director at Dalziel & Pow
Michelle Bower is Associate Strategy and Transformation Director at global design and strategy studio Dalziel & Pow, working with clients to define their next chapter of business growth through insights, strategy and commercial ideas. Michelle has worked with a vast range of global clients including Boots, Nationwide, John Lewis, Knight Frank, Molton Brown, Hugo Boss, Asteri Beauty and Dermalogica.

Nicola Kirk
Head Of Production at Pearlfisher
Nikki brings 12 years of production expertise to the table, with a track record spanning powerhouse agencies like JKR, Bloom Design, and now Pearlfisher, where she leads as Senior Production Manager. She’s the force that transforms bold creative visions into reality, taking ideas off the page and into the world. Obsessed with process and precision, Nikki thrives on the details that make the impossible possible. Ask her about CMYK vs. RGB, and you’re in for a masterclass.

Ellie Hammond Hunt
Client Director at Design Bridge and Partners
Ellie is a Client Director with seven years’ experience managing client relationships at Design Bridge & Partners. Her experience is largely in packaging and brand design with a focus on the drinks and luxury sectors. With a background in scientific research prior to joining Design Bridge, she’s a huge advocate for hearing about other people’s not-so-conventional career journeys.

Poppy Scoffings
Mid Weight Designer at Design Bridge and Partners
Poppy is a Mid Weight Designer working at Design Bridge and Partners, with experience working at multiple creative agencies after graduating from Northumbria University. She is all about ideas, energy and creativity and wants to help make the industry more accessible and inclusive, seeing great value in mentorship and being part of a welcoming community.

Laura Ford
Strategy Director at PB Creative
Laura found her way into strategy via degrees in Industrial and Spatial Design in New Zealand. With over 15 years of brand strategy and design industry experience; her approach to creativity is a blend of curiosity for the future and problem solving for today. As well as championing new talent in the creative industries – via leading the charge on Design Bridge & Partners’ graduate program. And more recently with Brixton Finishing School, as a first round online judge, for their 2024 intake.

Simren Degun
Senior Designer at Design Bridge & Partners
Simren Degun, Senior Designer at Design Bridge & Partners, blends cultural and historical influences to shape authentic brands. As a D&AD Masterclass Trainer and industry speaker, she shares insights on creative feedback. A passionate advocate for diversity, she champions equal opportunities across the creative industry.

Ruby Gurdon
Strategy and Sustainability Director at Design Bridge and Partners
Ruby is Strategy and Sustainability Director at Design Bridge and Partners. Her focus is on helping brands bridge the gap between their brand strategy and their business sustainability strategy, capitalising on the creative potential of sustainability as a means to tell a compelling brand story.
Her experience spans multiple sectors from pharma to financial services to fried chicken, united by a singular vision: to help brands find and activate their unique sustainability point of view.
Ruby has received the Business Sustainability Management accreditation from the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership.

Pamm Hong
Creative Strategist and Founder of Random Artefacts
Pamm Hong is an interdisciplinary artist and sound-maker whose work lives between tenderness and technology. Under the moniker Suki Quasimodo, her debut EP DATURA 01 merges ambient textures, sub-frequencies, and AI visuals — offering meditations on identity, hybridity, and speculative futures. Her studio, Random Artefacts, functions as a research-based creative entity and independent label.

Saskia Piper
Mid-Weight Creative at Uncovered
Saskia is a Mid-Weight Creative at Uncovered, working across social-first campaigns for brands including Tesco, Disney and Tiffany. With a background in brand-side marketing and copy, she brings a sharp eye for culture, a love of storytelling, and a strong instinct for what cuts through on platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. Whether scripting short-form video or concepting campaign ideas, Saskia’s creative work helps shape content that delivers both cultural resonance and measurable impact. She’s especially passionate about impactful storytelling and exploring the use of VFX.

Claudia Boyce Cam
Client Director at Design Bridge and Partners
Claudia is a Client Director with a decade of experience navigating the fast-paced world of FMCG, from retailer brands to dairy delights and even the vibrant flavours of Eastern European condiments and spices! With an obsession for detail, she thrives on driving client growth, with a bold ambition to champion every Unilever Homecare brand. Claudia believes in the power of positive management and loves to train and mentor more junior members of the team. Outside of work, Claudia loves to run and loves a wine or 2.

Lucy Kenyon
Mid-Weight Brand Strategist at Design Bridge and Partners
Lucy Kenyon is a Mid-Weight Brand Strategist at Design Bridge and Partners. With over 4 years of experience in branding, she's worked on brand strategy projects across a range of sectors including financial, technology, beauty, household products and more. She enjoys working collaboratively with creative teams to help brands find what they truly stand for and how they can stand out!

Tess McCarthy
Senior Client Director at Design Bridge and Partners
Tess McCarthy is a Senior Client Director at Design Bridge & Partners in London. Working with both B2B & B2C clients in the the tech and FMCG sectors with a particular focus on global drinks brands. She comes from an integrated background across brand strategy, design, communications, and brand experience. Tess is passionate about delivering brand strategy through the full funnel to drive engagement and growth, with AI as a key lever for this.

Ginny Gegg
Mid-Weight Graphic Designer at Design Bridge & Partners
Ginny is a multi-disciplinary Mid-Weight Graphic Designer. Born in the UK, raised in France, and with a degree in Spanish & Mandarin, her language skills morphed into a love of the wonderful ways of words, leading her initially into the realm of Marketing and Comms for environmental organisations and brands. Ginny now applies her visual mind and copywriting talents to graphic design at Design Bridge and Partners, where she uses words and visual concepts to craft captivating brand designs, always with strong stories at the core. From established global corporates like O2, to non-profit charities like Generation-All, Ginny has worked across a broad and compelling range of clients. Ginny is also passionate about empowering creative talent from all backgrounds, supporting social action programmes like Sisterhood Summer, and mentoring with D&AD Shift.

Natasha Dowdall
Motion Designer at Design Bridge and Partners
Natasha is a highly creative and entrepreneurial motion designer with 13+ years of experience bringing brand stories to life through animation, live action, and strategic storytelling. She has led teams of motion designers and editors across everything from charity campaigns to luxury product launches, start-ups to global FMCG giants. A confident storyteller and hands-on creative, Natasha thrives on shaping narratives that connect emotionally and make brands memorable.

Emily Wisdom
Group Business Director at JKR
Emily is a Group Business Director with over 12 years of experience in the design industry with a focus on branding - 9 of those years have been at Jones Knowles Ritchie. She has a belief in the power of strong client relationships to unlock bold, impactful design.
Emily has led global visual identity and packaging redesigns across a range of brands, partnering with icons including The Coca-Cola Company, Kraft Heinz, Mars, Danone, Absolut, Intuit, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever to name a few.
Emily is proud to represent the vital role of account management in driving great design. She’s excited to share her journey and champion the power of collaboration, strategy, and creativity with the Ladies, Wine & Design London community.

Amy Birkinshaw
Senior Client Director at Design Bridge & Partners
With almost 20 years of experience in the design industry, Amy has led client relationships across a wide range of FMCG brands, combining strategic insights with a deep understanding of creative delivery.
As a Senior Client Director at Design Bridge & Partners, she is currently part of the team managing the Lipton Ice Tea account, delivering integrated work across brand world, communications, and packaging design, ensuring client needs and expectations are not just met but exceeded, trusted partnerships are nurtured, and the creative teams are inspired and supported in order to consistently deliver exceptional work.

Lucy Jones
Client Director at Design Bridge & Partners
Lucy is a Client Director with over 10 years of experience in client relationship management, and joined Design Bridge & Partners in 2021.Having worked with clients across a wide range of sectors, including automotive, law, entertainment, construction, and government, Lucy is passionate about immersing herself in her clients' organisations. She enjoys being a truly collaborative partner, helping clients strategically and creatively tackle their biggest challenges.

Olly Cockroft
Client management at Pearlfisher
Olly doesn’t miss a trick. With over 3 years in program management, she’s earned a reputation for being all over the detail and leaving nothing to chance. Sharp, straight-talking, and unflappable, she brings a can-do attitude that keeps projects moving with momentum. Whether it’s one big initiative or a dozen at once, Olly cuts through the noise, brings clarity, and makes the tough stuff look easy which is exactly why clients keep coming back.

Daisy Shirley-Beavan
Executive Business Director at JKR
Daisy has built her career at JKR, growing from the Account Management Graduate Scheme to Managing Partner. With experience leading complex global projects for household-name brands, she is passionate about how every discipline within a creative agency contributes to building powerful, distinctive work — and is excited to share her perspective on the value of collaboration in the industry.

Join us on Tuesday, 23 September at 7pm at Design Bridge and Partners offices.

Tickets will be released here on Monday 15th September at 10am so keep a lookout for our email newsletter or for the link on our social channels.

Non-alcoholic drinks and snacks will be provided, with optional pub visit after the event.

Places are limited so be sure to be quick.

We look forward to seeing you there!

The Ladies Wine & Design London team x