Y10 pupils in Bolton School Girls’ Division enjoyed a Form period with a difference when they were paid a virtual visit by former pupil Stella Pickford (Class of 1999) of Procter & Gamble, an American multinational consumer goods corporation. Her talk was part of the ongoing Women of Work series that girls have been enjoying.
Stella spoke to the Form groups from Weybridge in Surrey, telling pupils that she wanted to talk to them about things that she wishes somebody had told her at their age. She explained how Procter & Gamble ask that you change roles every 2 or 3 years and that she had recently moved down south to take up her latest role as Director Northern Europe Business Planning which involves working with customer teams to understand what P&G will sell and when as well as working with supply planning to make sure there are enough provisions.
Stella told how she had been with P&G for 12 years and, during that time, had undertaken a number of different roles, including work in operations, quality control and on the technical side of things and how she had previously been Director for Northern Europe Warehousing based in Skelmersdale. Each position, she said, allowed her to develop new skills and insights, which was something that she liked about the company. She also appreciated the positive and friendly atmosphere in P&G and its strong sense of purpose, values and principles. She particularly enjoyed the company’s diversity and inclusion, sustainability and community impact work – although she also admitted that a competitive benefits package was an important factor!
Stella told how, in her current role, every day is different but often involved meetings – both in person and virtual – results reviews, process improvement, spending time with people offering guidance and dealing with urgent issues that arise. As well as her day-to-day role, she told how she was a mental health first aider, corporate trainer in coaching and leadership, recruiter and interviewer, and leader for Europe on an Inventory Taskforce. For Stella, the important things in life were enjoying what you do, giving your best and doing a great job and feeling like you are adding value, whilst supporting her family and attending school events. She told girls that they should not feel too guilty about being everything to everyone though and that it is important to spend time on yourself too, recharging.
She had particularly fond memories of Bolton School and recalled joining the Infant School, Beech House, at four years of age. She told how she studied Maths and Sciences A levels as her dream had always been to do veterinary medicine at university. She went to Bristol but a few years in had to leave due to personal circumstances and found herself at a crossroads. She said she had participated in Young Enterprise at school and found she had a real passion and flair for business, so decided to do a degree in Business Management at Manchester before accepting a role as a Graduate Manager at P&G.
She left her audience with these top tips: know how you like to work and what gives you energy, know what is important to you, have a plan but don’t be afraid to change it, challenge yourself, do things that set you apart and, if you are not happy, try to do something about it.
In a questions and answers session, Stella advised girls to set themselves apart from others by showing themselves willing to learn more about their subject or chosen career, perhaps by doing something in the summer holidays. She also suggested joining sports teams, raising money, volunteering, caring for people and developing leadership and communication skills. Asked what her biggest hardship had been, she said the last two years had been stretching with Covid – she had to manage 200 people in the warehouse whilst most of the country was in lockdown - and Brexit with its accompanying rule changes.
