Strands of Genius: Philippa Dunjay + 3 Trends Shaping the Dining Industry
featuring: an interview with our guest editor and a research report
Welcome to the Bonus edition of Strands of Genius! On Fridays, we’ll be publishing interviews from our guest editors, and sharing a research report. Thanks for being along for the ride. Oh and by the way, you look great today :)
:: STEAL THIS THINKING | RESEARCH REPORT ::
The dining industry showcased its agility over the past couple of years as it rapidly adapted to shifts in consumer preference brought on by COVID and rising prices. And with a new year around the corner, the pace of change shows no signs of slowing down. Do you know which dining segments are likely to pull ahead of the pack? How chains are responding to changes in visitor behavior? And where brands are driving dining foot traffic by taking advantage of a new advertising possibility? Keep reading to find out!
:: DIVE IN | THE INTERVIEW ::
PHILIPPA DUNJAY, FREELANCE TIKTOK CONSULTANT (EX HEAD OF STRATEGY AT TIKTOK)
>> Philippa Dunjay guest curated Strands on November 30th 2023. Read it here.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and what keeps you busy. How did you end up doing what you’re doing today?
I've never had a five year plan - TikTok wasn't on anyone's radar even a year before I got my job there. I found out about strategy as an advertising job by reading about it online and broke my way into the industry through a series of bizarre short term internships for minimum wage.
I learnt the job by reading blogs of strategists and studying their presentations without proper training for so long - and that's why I'm keen on helping young strategists learn.
And then I was enamoured by the internet, by tech, by these products changing how people communicate and knew I wanted to get out of the busy machine of the advertising industry and move into the tech world. We spent three years building Creative Lab across Europe and then it all ended in June - now I'm freelancing, doing training, and plotting my next move.
What excites you most about what you do?
I love hunting down a juicy insight or feeling the spark of a totally fresh creative idea. I'm an endless optimist and find joy in people, as Jeremy Deller says.
What beliefs define your approach to work? How would you define your leadership style?
Hire really good people then get out of their way. Inspire them to make the best possible work. Give them feedback and teach them what you know. And have an eye on the wider prize - what is the company really driving towards and what does your boss really need out of you?
What has been the most rewarding project you’ve worked on and why?
Anything where you feel the whole team pulling together and working smoothly feels wonderful - advertising is a group project, perhaps for the worse.
We are big believers in diversity -- Not only because we believe in equality, but because we also think it’s better for business. How do you frame these kinds of conversations, both internally and with clients? Is there an emphasis on action, or are the conversations really more about communication?
We hired a really diverse team at TikTok and it just shows up the failure of ad agencies to do so. Hiring is key. So is allowing those people to do a great job and giving them space and support to speak up. If they can tell you an idea has a racial cliche or a gender stereotype, they'll save your brand so much bad PR and money.
Switching gears a bit, how do you find time to balance personal interests with your career? Do you believe work/life balance is possible? Anything you’ve implemented that you recommend that others try?
If your work/life balance is bad, remember you still have agency.
Quit any job that routinely makes you work late from their mismanagement or lack of hiring.
Also (in the UK) you can get sick leave from stress with a doctor's note - use this as a fire break.
If you're being bullied, complain to HR, take notes, and leave a paper trail.
In TikTok, I had great work-life balance and ensured my team did too. You need to model good practices - I never sent holiday or after 6pm emails, I told my team off if they did and checked to see if their workload was too heavy.
I'm also efficient - work expands to fill the time you have, so box it into slots (including emails) and then go to the gym at lunch and you'll feel twice as accomplished. I once read the 'one touch email rule' which is to read + answer the email at once rather than reading and coming back to it later and I did try to implement it.
Freelance technically has incredible work/life balance but I find being under-occupied worse than being overly busy.
What’s your media diet? Where do you find inspiration?
Impoverished by my over reliance on Twitter (x?) which is becomingly increasingly deserted and tech bro-y. And of course on TikTok. I flick through the New York Times and The Guardian often, scan my Pocket articles, read beautiful books from the library. I also go out a lot in London - the theatre almost weekly, dance shows, cabaret, talks, creative parties - all are pockets of inspiration.
What’s the best piece of advice/knowledge you’ve stolen, and who/where’d you steal it from?
A classic from Steve Jobs that is a great entrepreneurial call to action - "Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use." Moving into startup and freelance mode it's been really helpful to knock down some internal barriers about what I can and can't do.
Otherwise, my entire career changed once I realised how to 'manage up' - which I learnt from a colleague. Go past your boss' desk / drop them an email, ask them how you can lighten their load, tell them what you're up to today and check back in at the end. A manager should never have to chase you for an update - you should be managing them.
You can keep in touch with Philippa on LinkedIn.
If we can ever be of help to you, even outside of a formal engagement, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
rockON,
faris & rosie & ashley | your friends over at geniussteals.co
@faris is always tweeting
@rosieyakob hangs out on instagram
@ashley also writes for deaf, tattooed & employed