Hiring our first employee was something I thought about since day one of Research Retold.
After 1 year and five months, it happened.
In this post, Isabel shares her experience of becoming our first employee.

Isabel’s journey to Research Retold

Isabel shares: “My journey with Research Retold began in September 2018, a few days after arriving in the UK to pursue my Masters degree at Leeds University Business School (LUBS). My course is Corporate Communications, Marketing and Public Relations.
I heard about the internship opportunity before the official induction week at University.
When I learned about the role, I jumped at the opportunity of gaining work experience in a completely new environment.
I recall being nervous when I sent my application. A few days later, I received an invite for a phone interview with Mihaela, which worked out well. Our conversation flowed naturally – I asked her a few questions, particularly curious about Research Retold’s values and the nature of the brand. It was a conversation that led to a face-to-face interview at the Natwest Accelerator Hub in the centre of Leeds.
As fate would have it, I missed my interview with Mihaela due to a medical emergency. As a result, I worried this would cost me the internship. Thankfully, a sceptical Mihaela still took a chance on me.
During the interview, we filled up an entire whiteboard wall with ideas for Research Retold in terms of Content Marketing and activating the brand. Together with two other amazing interns, Anca and Stephen, we were determined to help grow Research Retold’s brand and reach. This was a really exciting time for the Research Retold team.
Read about Mihaela’s experience hiring interns for the very first time.

The journey to hiring our first employee

I was the Engagement and Content Executive from October 2018 to February 2019.
In this role, I was involved in content development and brand activation.
Moreover, I introduced the concept of a ‘content calendar’ to the team and helped implement a habit of creating varied content for our social media platforms.
In addition, I wrote several blogs, created visual content and produced vlogs.
Watch our anniversary vlog!
During my internship, I was most proud to help organise Research Retold’s first anniversary celebration.
Looking back at the past five months, I realise that the internship was a huge learning experience for me.
I was trying to find my feet in the UK and Research Retold helped me with that.
Aside from having a place to exercise my creativity within a team, the most important highlight was finding a mentor in Mihaela.
I have a huge amount of respect for Mihaela and the way she values each person in her team.
Mihaela sees each individual for what they bring to the table and never misses an opportunity to learn something new.
She always makes herself available for feedback, is open to new ideas, encourages collaboration, and cares about each individual’s well-being and development.
Fast forward to today, I’m proud to be Research Retold’s first employee! My new role is part-time Business Development and Operations Assistant.

Over the next few months, I’ll experiment with several go-to-market strategies and engagement activities to expand and grow our community.
Moreover, I’ll work closely with Mihaela to record our organisational processes in the company’s ‘Playbook’.
This is an exciting time for Research Retold, especially as we welcome our second batch of interns.
I look forward to another season of learning and making things happen at Research Retold!”

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