Welcome back to My Print Story, our series in which we look at people in print and their stories. We believe everyone has a great story to tell and we are providing the platform to share and be heard.
From those just starting their first jobs in print, to others who have now finished their careers, let’s hear from the past, present and future of our industry.
Next up we have…
Victoria Blackwell, our newly appointed Senior Marketing Executive at Nutshell.
What are your previous company/companies, previous position/s held?
I started my career in print when I was 16. I applied for a job at Advantage Media in my hometown of Great Yarmouth. It wasn’t until I arrived for the interview with my mum that I learnt of a long-ago family connection. Advantage Media was in fact a side arm of the business owned by Blackwell Print. Just before going into my interview, my mum filled me in that her father and his brothers were the original founders of Blackwell Print before selling the business once they retired in the 80s – no pressure!
I was fortunate enough to get the job and continued to work there for over 7 years. During that time, I ended up working in a multi-faceted role covering all tasks from content creation, operating a digital press, graphic design and prepress. Although I never met my grandad, I felt like every day I worked there I was making him proud.
When the time came to move on, I joined a printing company in Norwich called Page Bros where I started as a Prepress technician. However, because of my previous creative skills and experience, it wasn’t long until I took on all their internal graphic design and managed their social media accounts alongside my role in the Prepress. After doing this split role for nearly four years I moved into a full-time Marketing Executive role.
As Page Bros had not previously employed a marketing role within the business, I could really hit the ground running. During my time in the role, I was able to work on their brand development, grow an engaged following on social media, build them a new website and run multiple direct mail campaigns.
How many years/what kind of experience are you bringing to the role?
In total, I’m proud to bring over 13 years of experience in the print, technical, and creative world to my role at Nutshell Creative.
What sort of work will you do/are you doing in this role?
I have a fantastic mix of in-house marketing as well as a few client accounts too! My role is quite generalised marketing role including responsibilities such as managing social media, copywriting, and SEO.
Do you have any significant certifications, awards, training, notable accomplishments, recognition etc. that makes your company lucky to have you?
During my academic education, I studied design, photography, and media studies – these courses set the stage for my creative career. Since then, I have continued my professional development with a few marketing courses.
During lockdown, I completed an IDM Level 6 Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing. This course helped me learn the skills and gain the knowledge I needed to transition from my prepress studio role into marketing.
In 2022 I won a Rising Star Award from The Printing Charity. This award granted me funding to take on an Advanced Certificate in Digital Copywriting with the IDM. My industry judge on the day was, Lucy Swanston – who little did I know would later become my employer at Nutshell!
I then met Lucy again in 2023 as I was asked to be an industry judge for the Rising Star Awards. We ended up judging on the same day and celebrated at the awards ceremony together. Since then, we kept in contact as I applied for the new position of Senior Marketing Executive at Nutshell Creative, as well as the Bright Futures Award from the Strategic Mailing Partnership (SMP).
I was lucky to be shortlisted for the SMP Bright Futures award in September and even luckier to join the Nutshell team in November. 2023 was quite a year!
What attracted you to the Senior Marketing Executive position?
What attracted me to the role was not only that it was a step up in my career progression but also its affiliation with print. As my family ties, experience, and passion lie with print it just made sense to me.
I was also really excited about the prospect of working with Lucy. I saw in her a role model and she saw in me potential – It was absolutely an opportunity I’d be foolish to miss out on.
What are your hopes/aspirations for your new role?
My aspirations for this role are to grow as a marketer and develop my skills even further. I’m also hoping to learn a lot from the wonderful people around me and become a valuable part of the team.
Working for the Nutshell brand is one I really believe in, I’m excited to play my part in its future growth and development.
“I’m so excited to have joined the Nutshell team! Although it feels like a huge leap out of my comfort zone, It also feels like I’ve landed in a really good place.”
Victoria Blackwell
Want to feature in our next “My Print Story” feature? Email victoria@nutshellcreative.co.uk
