Thursday 4th February
Lucy in Florida – Day 12
The time has come…it is officially my last day at Victory Marketing. On a Friday the team hold a company meeting to run through the past weeks event and any announcements that they have. Vinny also took this time as an opportunity to thank me for my time in the office and said that he and the team had learnt a lot from my visit which was so lovely to hear!
Today we are having ‘Pot Luck Lunches’ hosted by moi! On a monthly basis everyone in the team brings in a contribution to lunch and they all sit down together in their huge family style kitchen in the office. Sometimes they pick a theme and this time they asked me what I would like to do. After a few beverages the Friday before I said we should have a ‘Bunga Bunga’ style brunch like the restaurant in Battersea, not exactly a true representation of the UK culture but it still went down really well! We had a huge spread of flatbreads, meatballs, salad, pizza and a Mimosa or two which was such a nice way to end my final week here.
At the end of the day I met with Vinny, Dana and Casey for a debrief and highlighted what I had learnt for my time at Victory. Both agencies had never been part of an exchange programme before but both agreed what expectations we had were exceeded! I wanted to fully immerse myself in another agency culture and learn from an additional group of professionals who are in their prime. I also wanted to gain an alternative perspective of the industry State side along with their best practices and this is exactly what I have achieved.
Overall the past two weeks has been an incredible experience and I am genuinely so sad it is over already! I have learnt so much from working at Victory HQ and there are certainly processes I would like to implement in some way back at Kru Live. The Staffing Collective is fast developing and I am proud to say that I have direct experience working with one of our trusted partners. I have also made great friends and I am planning my trip back to Fort Myers for as soon as I can. Thank you Victory for such a memorable experience and for really looking after me; I will miss you all!
OK so almost goodbye as I still have an action packed weekend in Fort Myers too which involves a Segway tour and a Medieval Fair…
Frankie in London – Day 12
So, this is it. The last post from my unbelievable trip to London. Friday of my last week was bitter sweet. I missed Florida but at the same time, wanted to stay and learn more about the amazing new friends I had made at KruLive (…and Talent)! Needless to say, I’ll be keeping in touch with everyone!
During the day I worked on recruitment and then made the final presentation for the entire team. I went over the rest of our processes again, spoke a little on the unveiling of our new CRM system and showed the remainder of the team our workflow as well as training schedule for new internal hires. I ended the presentation by telling them I’ll be back next month; half kidding, half not. We’ll see if that comes to fruition! At the end of the monologue, they surprised me with some lemon cake and chocolate cake which is obviously the way to my heart. Some of the girls had said they expected me to be similar to Joey from Friends and I’m 100% certain that he and I share the same love for food – so that assumption was spot on.
After thanking everyone and finishing the day strong with a Fun Friday, we then headed out to the pubs for a little bit of a send-off. At this point, I had accepted my office-proclaimed persona of Frankie Florida and embraced it wholeheartedly, even if it made me sound like an early 2000’s hip-hop artist. It was most certainly my alter-ego when hopping around the pubs.
We started at Eight Bells with about 8 or 9 of the KruLive team members. Tom and SJ stayed for bit and I got to thank them for all they’ve done to make this program a success, both in and out of the office.
Upon ordering my first beer, this kind gentleman next to me at the bar (clearly oblivious to his surroundings) was sleepily serenading Sophie and I with his own rendition of David Bowie’s Dancing In The Streets (RIP). What a troubadour… Anyway, after putting in some work at Eight Bells, and learning about the infamous chips (french fries) dipped in mayonnaise thanks to none other than Miss Jodie Porter, we then moved to my all-time favourite spot, Tequila Mockingbird; followed by Lost and Co. After a few adult beverages at each place, and a little bit of dancing (I think), Jodie, Kelly, Kat and I ended the night at a shish kabob joint which had one of the best chicken shish kabobs I had ever tasted. In my life. Ever. We said our goodbyes and as I trekked back to the flat, got one last look at the Thames River from Putney Bridge. What a beautiful sight. The next morning, Siobhan took me to the airport and I thanked her for being a solid tour guide and good friend (like many of the team was) throughout my entire time across the pond.
My experience, although only two weeks long, was incredibly rewarding – from the food, to the office life, to the overall atmosphere of London, to all of the new friends I have made over here. To appease the millennial masses, I’ll end this entry with a nice little #frankiegoestolondon. Check it out on my Instagram – and I’ll see you all when you visit Florida! CHEERS!
