Spark Off – Episode 4 – Lauren

PRELUDE
If you told anyone that for work you’ve got to go sit in a field for a couple of days with your colleagues and good pals from the comms world, they’d probably tell you that that was madness. But it happens and we love it.

INTRO
Hello and welcome to Spark Off. Get ready to supercharge your creativity with our new podcast where we have chilled out conversations with the awesome team who bring you alive with ideas.
I’m Zoe Hansen, the podcast lady, here to spark off the stories they share and who doesn’t love a good story? And I honestly, I can promise you that this episode will be full of great stories from Lauren.

Let’s start with the first question, which is, what is this episode of Sparkoff sponsored by? I think this episode should be sponsored by that feeling when you finish a book,
a really good book. If you could bottle that feeling where your book is creased and the pages have been turned and you get to the end of it and you’re deciding, who should I give this book to next? That’s why I think this should be sponsored by.
And you’re, you get to the end of that book and you’re thinking, oh no, no, no, no, don’t be over. Don’t be finished. Yeah, it’s bittersweet. Yeah. It’s a great feeling,
but also a little bit sad. And, but, you know, the complexities there. That’s a wonderful one. So this episode is sponsored by finishing a book.
Yeah. Sparkoff is all about creativity. You work for Alive with Ideas, which is just full of amazing creative people.
What is it you do there? Introduce yourself a little bit for us. Yeah, so I’m Lauren Castle and I’ve been at Live with Ideas for nearly three years now and I’m a communications consultant.
Okay. So there’s lots of layers to that which I love. Being a communications consultant means that I get to sort of build relationship. And it also means I get to write a lot of the copy that we do.
So I get to write scripts for the animations and videos that the wonderful creative team do, sort of strap lines and campaign hooks for various things.
And then also it’s kind of longer form copywriting. So managers guides and tool kits and things that kind of help build the campaign, whatever it might be. So yeah,
it’s very varied, which I love. I love that you do all of those things. Just tell us. I wonder if you can. What makes a good strap line? Oh, good question.
I think a good strap line is simple, clear, but has something about it that’s still a little bit clever, whether that be a double entendre or a rhyme or a play on words or there’s one word that really paints a vivid picture in your mind.
Just like one thing that’s clever. Too many clever things and it just becomes overboard. But just something, even if it’s like a really subtle thing that only you take pleasure in and no one else notices.
I think, yeah, I think that’s a good strap line. And you’re great at communication. I’m not surprised this is what you do for a living. So come on then. what fuels your creativity?
What do you think drives you? I think a lot of different things fuel my creativity. I’m a very sociable people person. So I think getting the opportunity to talk to others,
see what inspires them, learn about their lives. That really sparks my creativity because everyone has a story, right? And that kind of fuels what I do. I also love reading.
I think that unlocks creativity in me. You kind of get a chance to be in different worlds, in different places, different characters. And I think that’s a huge part of my life and where I get my creativity from.
And also music. I have a musical background back in the day. I was a bit of a singer -songwriter. Oh, wow. Yeah, it went all right for a while, to be fair. But Yeah,
it definitely sort of from the kind of songwriting side of things, poetry, doing things with words, that was definitely something that fueled my creativity and still does,
you know, through the scripts that we write for some of our clients, I love the kind of musicality to a lot of that sort of work. Is that something that you would like to get back into or you think,
okay, I did that and now I’m on to something else? I think it’s a I did that and now I’m on to something else. It would always be a part of who I am and my sort of life and hobbies.
Like I still enjoy playing the piano and the guitar and jotting down thoughts and notes. It helps me kind of compartmentalize different things that I’ve been learning about or feeling or thinking about.
But it’s definitely, I don’t think I’m back on the stage anytime soon, but it definitely gave me some skills that I carry through into my job now. Because that actually, performing can fuel your creativity.
When I’ve hosted award ceremonies or something on stage, you feed off of what fuels my creativity on stage is the audience and the energy coming from the audience.
Did you find that when you were singing? Oh yeah, absolutely. I think being able to tailor your approach and your set list to who’s in the room and how many people are in the room and what sort of vibe they have,
what kind of venue it was, what people were expecting versus what you do. I think that was definitely something that was a good learning experience for me,
kind of adapting to the moment and giving the people what they want, but also being true to who you are at the same time and using your skill set in the best way that you can. But yeah, it was a good time to be fair.
Have you always found this creativity? Has it always been part of everything you do? You know, the music, the reading, the people.
Has that always been part of life for you, Lauren? Yeah, I think it has, you know, I think as a kid, I was definitely a storyteller. I was definitely a performer.
I was always writing stories, getting my mum to bound them at work, so they looked all professional. Oh, lovely. Legit. She worked in a doctor’s surgery.
She was definitely always there kind of cheering me on, as was my dad. What kind of stories would you write, though? Were they bulk standard princess in a castle,
that kind of thing? Or would you always change the narrative? Oh, gosh, no princesses in castles. I was a feminist from day one. I definitely wrote stories about friendships.
Yeah. And definitely stories about people wanting to be musicians. Okay. And sometimes if I just sort of saw people on the street or sitting on a park bench,
I would just kind of make a life for them. You know, you can kind of make up stories for people. That was always really fun. You studied English literature as well. Have you ever written a book and had it published?
I have not ever written a book and had it published. I’ve written articles and had those published and I love writing for the Life with Ideas blog.
It’s a great space for me to kind of share my knowledge and learnings, a great space for me to kind of share the latest trends in the industry or things that we’re talking to our clients about.
So, yeah, I love being able to contribute to that. And what ignites your passion at work? What is it alive with ideas that really sort of, you think, oh,
yeah, I can’t wait to get stuck into that one? I think definitely projects that are driven by having a positive social impact of some sort, whether that be internally,
you know, about creating a sort of safer, more inclusive environment for employees or externally, you know, someone’s trying to change something that needs changing. So give us some examples of those.
So businesses or charities or organisations that you’ve worked with where you’ve thought, yeah, I loved working on that. Definitely British Red Cross comes to mind.
We’re working with them at the moment. They’re a fantastic organisation for many reasons, but they were very committed to anything. awareness of what microaggressions were,
how we could sort of stop them, how to call them out in a sort of safe and inclusive way. And that project for me really felt like, yes, I’m really applying what I’ve been learning in my master’s degree in global cultures,
which is in the ED &I space. And it really felt like we were going to be having a positive impact, which is all you can ask for in any job really, that you know that you’re making some sort of difference.
Yeah. We also are lucky that we get to work with NHS trusts. We’ve worked with dogs trust before. I mean, who doesn’t love dogs trust? Because dogs. And what did you enjoy especially working with them?
I think, from just dogs. Yeah, just dogs all the time. I think I just enjoyed that they were always thinking about how do we have an impact? How do we make this stick?
So, you know, some campaigns, they start and they end, right? But others, you want them to kind of have a bit of momentum and have a long -lasting impact. So for them, it was all about their strategy and,
you know, these things, you know, they can last for years. And they really are about getting people on board and getting people bought into the idea of happier employees makes a better organisation.
It’s quite simple, but not many organisations have learnt it yet. So, and look, we see this everywhere you go. You know, look, you, if you create a great atmosphere and your employees are happy,
they stay for longer. It’s a two -way street, isn’t it? And do you see anybody or anything going on in the industry that sets off a bit of a spark in you?
I know you said you wrote the Alive with Ideas blog. You must be sort of quite an industry expert knowing what’s going on. I think more and more organisations are investing in EDI and I as a thing.
You know, it’s not, it’s no longer enough to have EDI and I as a bolt on or something that we say is seeped into our organisation and our cultures.
We have to have experts and advocates and champions who are dedicated and valued to drive that forward and to measure it to speak to employees to gather their thoughts and their opinions and their insights to really shape something that’s suitable.
So I do love the fact that I’m seeing more and more organisations bring in either external night experts or employing them in -house to really drive to drive that forward.
I often talk about this gap between saying and doing. It’s something Sarah Ahmed said. And she talks a lot about how as communicators,
we can say all the right things, right? It’s our jobs to craft beautiful copy that’s communicated really well on the right channels at the right times for the right audiences,
but that sort of castle will start to crumble if you aren’t then backing it up with action and by doing the things that you say you’re doing. So I’m just really excited to see more and more organisations be held accountable for that and sort of commit to driving EDNI forward.
And let’s delve here a little bit deeper into you, Lauren. what are the layers that you think translate into your work?
So you’re the onion. Ogres have layers. Of course, layer. That’s a really bad Scottish accent. So if we peel back from the surface,
what are the things that are in you that you think, oh yeah, yeah, well, I use that in my work all the time? There are sort of layers to me and like my background in music that I think have definitely sort of translated into who I am and what I do now,
being able to sort of stand up on a stage and talk to people or present something that you’re really passionate about or do you like doing that? It’s always a strange feeling because hand there’s the nerves but during and after there’s the high and i then you kind of get addicted to that right so i actually do really enjoy presenting and pitching you know and talking to people because a it’s the people bit i love
being able to kind of talk to people and b if i’m passionate about it nine times out of ten that will hopefully shine through and sort of bring people on board um so i i do really and seeped into the work I do now.
We worked with universities across the UK to help their societies sort of like raise money, run campaigns. So we sort of created tool kits and things like that.
And a lot of that skill and that knowledge definitely probably helped me get the job alive to be fair. And sort of helps me when I talk to people about these sorts of ED &I topics as well.
So what was the campaign that was going on then? I got to work on a couple of great campaigns. We worked on the Heafshe campaign, which was definitely about mobilising men to support gender equity,
and the draw -a -line campaign, which was about end in violence against women. And I absolutely loved it, and the people that I got to meet, and the people that I got to talk to were really inspiring,
and I still sort of follow the work that they’re doing now. How do you think gender equality is now? I think we’ve made progress but I think that there’s definitely a lot more to be done.
I know that my experiences and the challenges that I’ve faced are very much intertwined with my identity as a young woman.
I think I’ve already spoken a bit about how passionate I am about gender equity and the progress that we’re making in sort of cultivating a more inclusive society, more inclusive workplaces.
But, you know, there are definitely times when I’ve been in rooms or in virtual spaces where I’m going to pitch to a client and it’s assumed that I’m not the one that’s about to open her mouth because I’m the youngest female in the,
in that space. And actually, there’s definitely been moments where it’s, you know, been assumed that maybe my male counterparts are the ones that are going to pitch or present. And then they soon find out because I,
I just go for it and crack on. But there are definitely a lot of assumptions and stereotypes tied in with being young and being a woman.
But I’m also very aware that I’m also a woman who is white. And with that comes privileges and you know in my master’s that I’m studying at the moment in the edin i space we talk a lot about intersectionality so that’s sort of around making sure that we consider there are multiple layers to someone’s identity and what you know while i could experience you know oppression or be ostracized in one room because um a
young woman i could be absolutely privileged and, you know, disproportionately advantaged because I’m white. So I think there’s a lot there that’s around two things can be true at once.
And I definitely try my best to kind of reflect on that as much as possible when I’m thinking about the different challenging settings or circumstances that I’m in and sort of collaborating with people on how to bring their stories to life in the moments where they might experience challenge as well.
And what comes through for me is you care. You care about these things and about these people. It comes across that you’re very passionate about these issues,
but that you just care about what’s going on. I do. I do care a lot. And I think more people should care too.
Yeah. And there are a lot of amazing people doing great things in this space but i think it’s important for us to kind of reflect on the role we can play in that whether that’s sort of loudly and vocally and front front and center or whether it’s you know behind the scenes calling out subtleties calling out problematic moments with your with your friends not talking over the women in the room you know all these
things i think we can all take small small breaths to change things we’re talking about passion and we’re talking about caring what are your passions away from work so you’ve said you’re doing a master’s I am doing a master’s yeah studying at the same time as working wouldn’t recommend it so you don’t have any time anyway so we might as well just forget that question right there’s always time there’s always time for a
mojito um i definitely enjoy still music you know i i love playing the piano i love writing uh i love listening to music i love traveling um i love anywhere with a mountain um i lived in canada for a bit actually and it that started the obsession obsession with mountains and I just enjoy kind of being away exploring new places,
swimming in the lakes and the seas. Wow. So you’re you’re quite adventurous then. You’re not going to go to Miyorka for a beach holiday. I don’t think I’m there yet.
I’m like hiking it on yeah. Pack my nuts and my cranberries and my dried mango in my backpack, come back and spend the rest of the evening in the bar.
But, you know, a sunbed holiday with a good book, now you could convince me of that, to be fair. Maybe you could do one week at each. Yeah, absolutely. I love food,
and I guess that’s related to travel as well, just kind of eating it, by the way, not cooking it at all. Oh, really? I hate cooking. So does that make you a bad cook, though? Some would say I’m a bad cook.
As in who you live with. Others would say that it’s not my passion or my area of interest and therefore I shouldn’t put much effort into it. My daughter used to run down the stairs when the smoke alarm went off because she knew it was dinner time.
I mean, it’s efficient. Dead is hard. Saves your voice. Save it saves your voice for podcasting. Yes, exactly. I love exercise in general. That wasn’t a thing before COVID,
by the way. Oh. COVID was when I hit my stride, literally, and figuratively. I got super into like hit and like home workouts and that has sort of carried on through to now.
But my obsession at the moment is boxing. I go to boxing every week. And it’s amazing. Punching the hell out of something is really good for the soul. Isn’t it? Isn’t it? My theory is that actors on soap operas like Janine or EastEnders,
if they’re really evil and horrible, they must have the most lovely life at home. Because they go to work and Their job is to be awful.
So they get rid of all of that. And they’ve only got like their quota of happiness left when they get home. I like your theory. Yeah. It’s like the boxing thing,
right? You’ve just got to get rid of it. That’s all it is, right? Yeah. And then I come back. I put my sunshine earrings in and my yellow top. And everyone’s like, oh, Lauren’s in a great mood today. I said you should see me two hours ago.
Now, Lauren, a little Now, Lauren, a little birdie has told me that you and other industry people get together in a field probably once a year. I mean, I hope it’s sunny.
But what goes on? What’s this all about? Tell us all about it. It’s absolutely true. It’s called Coms Unplugged and it’s where industry professionals from up and down the country come together in a field in Dorset and sort of…
It sounds like a pulp song. Cue the music. And we talk about our challenges, the work that we’re doing. There’s amazing guest speakers.
Alive sometimes gets to run a little workshop. There’s great food. There’s rum. It’s amazing. And if you told anyone that for work,
you’ve got to go sit in a field for a couple of days with your colleagues and good pals from the comms world, they’d probably tell you that that was madness. But it happens and we love it.
And do you, is it, you know, that part of the industry, is it really quite a small little group of people? Everybody knows everybody in comms.
I think when I first joined Alive with Ideas, I didn’t know that. I didn’t think that. But actually, as I’ve worked there for a few years now, actually,
I think people are really connected and tight -knit and everyone knows everyone. And it’s kind of lovely because it means you get to know people in a professional capacity,
but also they’re just a good laugh as well. There’s always some sort of story that comes out from Coms Unplugged. I don’t know if Alan will mind me mentioning this, but a couple years ago, he drank quite a lot of rum and woke up the next day feeling quite sore -headed.
Yeah. Had a little morning nap with his bacon roll. Woke up with it, a squish to his face. So there’s always some sort of story that comes out of Coms Unplugged.
If you were going to do a TED talk, what would you do it on and why? That’s a good question. And can we hear it? It’s tough to pick,
actually. I think, you know, as I’ve spoken about my passions in gender equity and equity, diversity and inclusion more broadly,
is definitely my jam. So perhaps I would speak to something like that, sort of advocacy and ways people can play a role in that,
big or small. But I could also just use my 45 minutes on stage just to like ramble on quick fire bust as many myths as possible.
Just quick fire, one after the other, bang, bang, bang. Here’s all the things that we have been told are true or that we think are true and that are actually not so you know maybe stuff around sexual health sexual pleasure relationships gender norms um all the stuff that people kind of get like uncomfortable talking about i would just stand there and just reel it off one by one oh my gosh now that is it that is it
that’s my TED talk and i and i love that like And everybody would learn so much and would start off uncomfortable, but would just start to be,
okay, we’re cool with this, we’re fine, we’re fine. Yeah, we’d sit in the discomfort together. Maybe I’d hand out snacks just to like make it look like you’re having a nice time even if you’re not. Chocolate penises. I mean, we could get creative. Jelly boobies. I think you can get edible nipple tassels. Lauren, you’ve got to do it now.
That’s Lauren’s creativity. Where it comes from and where it goes.

OUTRO
Now, for all things, strategy, content, creativity and workshops. Alive with Ideas is in your corner. So check out the website and follow Alive with Ideas on LinkedIn to find out more. And make sure you subscribe to this, the Sparkoff podcast. Thanks for listening.