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NATALIE O’LEARY
Interview & Words Phadria Prendergast
Usually found behind the PrettyLittleThing podcast mic, Natalie O’Leary took to the WOTC hotseat to talk about how she began working for one of the most sought after fashion brands.
Phadria: Talk to us about your journey to working at PrettyLittleThing?
Natalie: I basically started off as a social media assistant. Maybe four years ago so my career has really developed in those four years. Originally when I was younger, I actually went to university to study drama. I had no idea what I wanted to do other than performing and being involved in media. I was 16 and I think back then, the only thing I had on my mind was to become an actress.
So I went to university in Liverpool to study drama, I did a three year degree there, and after that I was trying to pursue acting for quite a while, for maybe two years or so and I had agents in London. That sounds impressive, but it definitely wasn't what it sounds. It was very much, you know, lots of casting, lots of auditions, and unfortunately, lots of knock backs. I continued and got the odd job within short films, adverts. Kind of nothing - nothing that was going to really get me into a career. I think at the time I wouldn't have really admitted it to myself, but definitely looking back at that part of my life, I wasn't committed enough to be an actress. I was working at a pub to support myself, and I wasn't willing to continue to do that. I was like, ‘I need to refocus’ and I said to myself, 'you're not going to make it as an actress, so what's next?' It was a really pinnacle point in my life, where I remember sitting down and literally doing the most basic thing; drawing out a spider diagram of what I was good at.
I really wanted something that I loved and I enjoyed and I think acting was something that I did love. So, then it was again sitting down and going, ‘OK, what else do I love, what am I good at? What am I naturally strong at? There was the drama, the acting, the presenting, the performance side of me on one side of a piece of paper, and then there was social media.
When I was that age, I think Instagram probably had just started. It was at the time when social media jobs weren't that big. They were really far and few between and I remember Googling ‘how do I get into a social media job’. I remember being at work one day and scrolling through LinkedIn and I saw a post for an assistant job at PLT and I just applied for it. I had no experience in fashion other than liking it. I didn't really believe in myself, but then I looked at the job role and was like, there's no reason why I can't get this job, because I can do everything they want me to do. I just needed to get into the interview room.
Long story short, I got an interview and I got the job.
Phadria: Wow! That’s incredible and being that you are a social media princess [she laughs], what advice would you give to brands and businesses on their social media?
Natalia: I think staying relevant - and that's being reactive to everything that's going on in the world; good and bad sometimes. Make sure you have a voice on those things, obviously ensuring that they reflect your brand message, but just making sure that you are doing something and doing something proactive. Also, try to create a community within your followers. Now more than ever, people want to know the people behind the businesses. They don't just want to see a brand with no identity, no personality, no opinion. I think for a brand, it's important to think, ‘OK, what do we believe in and what message do we want to push?’
Phadria: Absolutely. I love that. That is very special and especially what you said about community. I think a lot of brands are now clocking onto that. That is absolutely about community and people. They are the most important part.
Natalia: Hmm, and I think with that community comes inclusivity and comes diversity, because if you're building a community with one type of face, then how can people relate to that? I think you should be able to go to a brand and be able to see someone that you can identify in yourself. That’s really important and goes hand-in-hand.
Phadria: Definitely! And of course, you present and you host on top of what you do with social, how do you find the balance between the two?
Natalia: Well, to be honest, in the beginning, it's hard. I won't lie. It is hard because it is such a high pressure role in the sense that I'm busy a lot of the time. We started in 2019 and for the first year, we released an episode every week for the whole year. It's been a roller coaster, I feel like we've finessed it now. It's not without a lot of hard work and it's a lot of out of hours work. The podcast kind of has to be my night time work. We record on a Wednesday, so Monday, Tuesday, my boyfriend knows not to bother me or he'll be helping me with my script [she laughs].
Phadria: And what would you say to your 16-year-old self?
Natalia: One hundred percent just believe in yourself, whatever that takes. Don't be afraid of what your peers think, because in a few years time your peers' opinions really won't matter. I think unfortunately, as teenagers, we are too affected and impacted by what other people think, and I'm not saying that goes away, I'm saying it becomes a lot less important as you get older.
Phadria: I love that. Actually, it's just made me remember two things. I loved the fact that you said that on Mondays and Tuesdays, your boyfriend knows not to bother you or he's joining in and he's helping you with that work [she laughs]. I think so many girls are already changing their life around to suit their partner, but you're saying no.
Natalia: Oh, my God, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'll be perfectly honest with you, this is probably something no one knows about me actually. When I was sixteen, I was in a relationship with a guy until I was twenty one. I did everything around that relationship to suit that relationship, and that held me back because I wasn't fully committed to my degree and I didn't put 100 percent in. Then in my third year, I got clever and wise to what was going on, and realised ‘this relationship was toxic. I'm so young, why am I letting this guy control my life?’
The relationship I'm in now, he knows and it sounds really selfish, but my life and my career and what I want goes first. Obviously he's still up there as high importance.
When I got the interview, I said to him, ‘this job is going to change my life and I'm going to let it. I want to put one hundred and ten percent into this job.’ And he said, OK, and he never, ever complained about late nights.
Phadria: Incredible story! And what is your team like? What is your leadership style?
Natalia: Oh, my God, the team's incredible. What I love about our team at PLT and the social team is every single person has got their own little creative flair. Everyone's got something that they're really good at. They're all brilliant at social, they're all experts in social, but they've all got their own little passions like me. But we've all got that mutual respect for each other. So although we're close friends and family, we all have that mutual professional respect where we get shit done. [I laugh].
In terms of my leadership, I think I've always tried to lead by example, in terms of I would never ask anyone to do something that I don't feel comfortable doing myself or that I haven't done. It took me a long time when I first stepped into my senior role, to be able to delegate, because I didn't want to put extra work on people. But what I've realised over time and the further I've gotten in my career is, it's actually developing them. To release more work from myself and to include more people in these bigger conversations and projects is developing them and bringing them forward in their career.