GIRLBOSS: It pays to be bold at work

Gabriella Troutbeck from Bayleys Eves Realty. Photo / George Novak

Name: Gabriella Troutbeck
Job title: Group marketing manager
Company: Realty Services Ltd

What does your job involve?
My job is marketing manager across both the EVES and Bayleys real estate brands throughout the BOP, Waikato, Taranaki. In this role I develop all strategic marketing plans, grow awareness and engagement with our brands, create inbound marketing campaigns, ensure the business is equipped with best-in-class collateral and marketing offerings for promoting our vendors' properties, as well as our agents, and ensure we have profile and success across search, content, social, radio, print, web and video.

Why did you get involved in marketing?
I was always interested in getting in to marketing or advertising. I liked the idea of having a creative aspect to my career. Initially I was interested in agency side advertising but I quickly saw that I would find it a lot more interesting and varied to work in in-house marketing.

What do you like about your job the most?
I love how varied my job is. There is never a dull moment and I enjoy the challenge of finding new and innovative ways to promote property and stay ahead of the competition. Marketing is constantly changing too and I find it interesting learning about new marketing tools and technologies.

What's the most challenging aspect of your role?
I think the most challenging part of this job is understanding all of our business units and their unique differences and requirements across the different geographic locations and property asset classes. It means a lot of multi-tasking and juggling.

What's your proudest work moment?
There are so many - any time a new idea or initiative has come to fruition. When you put so much time and energy in to strategy, planning and production - it's always a proud moment to see a new piece of collateral or campaign come to life and be launched to the market. The most recent was a new brand video for EVES, which I produced from initial brief, through to concept, script, film direction, content edits and launch. Then rolling it through to print, digital and social advertising.

What training have you had to prepare for your role?
I attended Victoria University of Wellington where I did a BA in media studies, and a BCA in marketing and commercial law. My first role out of university was at Bayleys in Hamilton as a sales and marketing co-ordinator so it was my first taste of marketing. After various roles at companies in Auckland and London I then went back to Bayleys in the national commercial marketing team for five years before making the move to Realty Group in Tauranga.

What's the best piece of career advice you've had?
If something is not working, don't be afraid to stop it and do something new. Always try and innovate.

What's the most important thing your current role has taught you?
I have only been in my current role for a short time, but I have learnt that the same approach doesn't work for everyone or everywhere, especially in real estate - you need to ensure that you can adapt quickly. Also to be bold.

Would you recommend your career to other women and why?
Definitely! Marketing is a strong draw for aspiring businesswomen. I think it's one of the few professions that aren't male dominated. I think part of the reason is that women excel with creativity and vision. To be successful you will need to be dual minded: creative and a good writer - but also process-driven, able to think scale and use data to make analytical decisions.

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