I discovered Laura on instagram. How’s about that for a modern method of recruitment? I really liked her aesthetic, sunny “can do” outlook and from various snippets here and there, concluded she may indeed have the credentials and experience required for a position we had available at Rock My HQ.

I got in touch, asked Laura to send her CV, subsequently Adam and I arranged to interview her and we were both so uber impressed with her positivity, knowledge and ambition that we basically offered her the opportunity on the spot. And the rest they say is….well, Laura has been with us for a few months now and it already doing a thoroughly marvellous job. Those of you that read (or still do read) Rock My Wedding, may have used our hand-picked supplier guide The Love Lust List. It is a super easy-to-use directory of amazing vendors covering a wide range of budgets that is growing at the speed of light. And to cut a long behind-the-scenes story short, it had got to the stage where the site was such a beast, and there was so much potential, we decided it required someone to manage it as their full time role. Someone who was SUPER organised, and who had the creativity and forward thinking to really evolve the platform and The Love Lust List brand.

I’ll hand you over to Laura to explain all about her career history thus far, please do offer her a welcoming “Hello” in the comments section and feel free to ask any questions!

Laura: My career history started somewhat by accident 11 years ago at Topshop, and the career bug very quickly bit me. If there was a dream to be chased I was doing the chasing, and I found out what motivated me quite early on. People were always quick to assume my job was just working in a shop, and I made it my mission to prove them otherwise.

By the time I went on maternity leave some 9 years later I was well established in the much-coveted Brand Manager role and saying goodbye to that, and my wonderful team, was tough! I was and still am super proud of what I achieved and without a doubt working for such an established brand gave me skills that I use on an almost daily basis, even when not working.

My days were extremely varied, and challenging, which I thrive off of. My inner creativity was kept fed and watered, whilst my geeky side, which loves organisation and commercialism, was in its element. One day could be spent deciding on store layouts and creative treatments to implement, whilst the next involved some serious number crunching and pouring over spreadsheets and sales figures. I loved going to work. I adored driving the service vision. I’m a little bit (ok a lot) competitive so wanted our brand to be the best, and was known to spend long nights wide awake coming up with ideas to keep us ahead of the competition.

Then along came Bertie Button. Actually, no… let’s rewind a bit! I think we should probably mention that in 2011 I got married, and the process of planning our entire DIY wedding meant I became completely obsessed with a world of weddings. What’s not to love?! Our big day was everything we wanted it to be but I really missed the planning once it was all over. I lost count of the amount of people who told me I should try and pursue a career in the wedding industry, but leaving the security and contentment of a job I loved wasn’t something I was quite brave enough to do at the time, plus there was always the worry that people were just being polite!

Then along came Bertie Button (that’s right, a girl named Bertie, and no, it’s not short for anything)! It’s amazing how having children turns your world upside down in the best possible way! The career girl in me didn’t stay quiet for long, but I had a newfound confidence to pursue my dreams. I was hopefully those dreams would allow me to achieve a work-life balance, something that often felt like an unobtainable dream whilst in retail (my poor husband never saw me). Being a mummy is easily the best job I’ve ever had, but I’m happy to admit that work-work makes me feel like me, and I wasn’t ready to give that up, no matter how much I adore being a parent.

As a long time follower of Rock My Wedding I’ve seen Charlotte lead the UK wedding blog world to what it is today. I was there as an avid reader from the very first posts of Rock My Wedding through to the launch of Rock My Family. One thing didn’t ever change, and that was being completely in awe, so you can imagine how I felt when the opportunity arose to be a part of such an inspirational brand. Excited doesn’t even come close, there was definitely some ugly-happy-crying.

It’s the inspirational part that I feel really gets me fired up! I always felt proud to be part of the most influential brand on the high street, and now I’m even more proud to be a part of the most influential brand in the UK wedding industry. I’m surrounded by an incredible team, all of whom are completely dedicated to ensuring Rock My Ltd continues to take the world by storm, yet are readily available to make you smile on a bad day. Not to mention that I get to see beautiful wedding after beautiful wedding every day and believe me, I fall in love every time. I’m secretly hoping for a vow renewal, just don’t tell Dan!

So what exactly am I going to be doing?! Well, The Love Lust List is my baby now, and I’m fully embracing motherhood! I’m already fiercely protective of our lovely handpicked wedding suppliers, and ready to champion them at every opportunity. I can also completely empathise with our couples planning their weddings and looking for amazing suppliers, and love that I may be able to help with that. As I mentioned, our big day was pretty unconventional. Our venue wasn’t a “venue”. We had no electricity, no toilets, no lights… the list goes on, so I’m always here if you need some advice in tackling that sort of situation!!!

All seriousness aside, I thought I should finish off with some random facts about me:

  • I can’t escape my visual merchandising past. Our lounge shelves are regularly rearranged with a new colour story.
  • I’m obsessed with flowers. I don’t know their names. I sometimes know their seasons, but I always know the pretty ones.
  • I’m a cocktail girl. Wine, nah. Champagne, hmm. Cocktails? YES!
  • OCD should be my middle name. Yes I’m that person that rearranges the dishwasher if someone else has loaded it. Don’t hate me.
  • Breton stripes are my thing, much to my husband’s dismay. “Haven’t you already got one like that?”
  • The amazing wedding videos always make me cry. Always.