Congratulations to Marketing Manager David Caldwell
Congratulations to Marketing Manager David Caldwell for reaching 10 years working with Servisource. His commitment and dedication to his job are admired by all of his colleagues and we are all so proud of David (known as Davey among his work colleagues). We decided to interview him on his big day and ask him some questions about his time working with Servisource and his many achievements.
It has been a very eventful 10 years. I honestly do not know where the time has gone. I really believe that saying is true that time flies when you are having fun.
I was working for Microsoft before I joined Servisource as a sales agent for Azure, their cloud-based servers, my job involved cold calling people and I hated every single day of it so was always keeping an eye out for something more local in Dundalk. One day I spied a job ad for a marketing assistant for Servisource and I knew at that moment that there was nothing going to stop me from getting that job.
I secured my interview and spent a full week pulling apart and critiquing everything they were doing online, created a 6-month plan, and presented it to both the marketing manager and the CEO. I’ve never looked back since.
When I joined the marketing team it only consisted of one person, Sinead Kieran, our previous marketing manager, and I joined as an online marketing assistant. At the time we only had one website and one Facebook page. As part of my first 6 months plan, I wanted to open the company up to the public through social media channels, to create an open window for the people of Servisource.
I passionately believed that by doing this we could create a loyal follower base of fans and remove the stigma of a “big bad recruitment agency that takes money from your wages.” This very quickly happened and allowed us the platform to bring the culture and people of Servisource to the public while aligning with the growth goals of the company.
I laugh now thinking back to it but about 2 months after I joined, Sinead finished on maternity leave leaving me to run the marketing function in her absence, our offices were getting a makeover and somehow I managed to get placed in the same small room as the senior leadership team at the time. I will never forget the absolute fear of sitting there each day praying to God that I was performing to a high enough standard. The learning experience within those first few months helped shape me and instill confidence.
One of the first things that struck me was the family-friendly atmosphere within the company, Declan and Marguerite’s kids were in and out of the office along with so many of my colleagues’ kids and family members.
At the time, my eldest was only 4 and my youngest was 6 months old I knew I had found a home with a culture that was very welcoming and understanding of family values. As the years went on, I do not think there was a desk in the Dundalk office that did not have a hand-drawn picture of my Sophie or Daisy, the girls felt just as much at home as I did.
At college my passion was always for website design, I cut my teeth in the days when we had to hardcode every site and had to deal with dodgy browsers and awful website design trends. Due to various turns in life, I left the web industry behind for a while to earn more money and start some businesses of my own. By the time I was 22 I owned a house, had a video shop business, a coffee and deli shop, B and B, a pub, and off-licence but always on the side, I kept designing websites for friends and random people who I was recommended to. This kept my skills in date and allowed me to keep up with industry trends.
At 25 I sold the house I owned and all the businesses and went to work in a local concrete company in Kingscourt during the boom of the Celtic tiger. I loved the crazy money we were making but hated the work. I had my first wee baby girl when I was 30 and then our second girl 4 years later so I went back to Maynooth and secured my Train the Trainer Level 7 degree and began teaching night classes in the local FAS centre in Dundalk while still working during the day in the concrete factory
As I had always kept involved in the web industry, I became aware of just how large an opportunity social media and digital advertising were going to be and knew I needed to keep a competitive edge, so I kept educating myself with small courses and self-learning as much as possible. I began in Servisource as an online marketing assistant and quickly established myself as a digital marketing and web design expert.
In 2017, with the assistance of the company, I was able to secure my postgraduate in Digital Marketing, scoring in the top 8% of my class. When I was growing up in my professional life digital marketing courses simply were not there so everything was self-taught, it was a major highlight for me to achieve this result, the support and funding were provided by Servisource and for this, I will forever be grateful. Soon after I assumed the role of Digital Marketing Manager.
After steering the marketing team through Covid and losing some team members along the way to other companies and personal circumstances I was then faced with the challenge of designing a marketing function and team structure capable of operating to world-class standards and meeting all needs of the business across multiple countries.
12 months after I began this rebuild, I am so happy and proud to say that I now lead a team of 7 high-performing marketers that are just so much fun to work with. They are responsible, kind, funny, thoughtful, supportive, and mindful of each other, we are a family within the marketing team and this culture is by design and not by chance, which I am immensely proud of. I now lead this team and support them daily to enable them to achieve their career goals and ambitions while operating as our digital marketing manager.
Professionally, the night we won the ERF award for Best Agency Online. I was actually in Dundalk the night it was on doing a Santy Fun Run with other colleagues raising money for charity. The news came through as I was going home, and I was so proud of what we had achieved.
I have so many fun memories. Chest waxing is my least favourite but still such a great bit of craic and a way to raise funds for charity, abseiling off the top of Croke park, wedding dress Wednesday, all the office Halloween parties, Christmas parties, winning awards and of course the now infamous bathtub incident. So many favourites that I could not pick just one.
A fun memory to look back on!
Whether being wrapped in bubble wrap to a pillar, getting his chest or legs waxed, wearing his wife’s wedding dress to work, or abseiling down Croke Park to raise funds for cancer, Davey is always up for some fun and adventure!
Easily, my favourite part is working with my team every day and my colleagues across the organisation. My personal WHY is very people centred and contributing to the growth and development of others. Watching the development of the people within my own team is one of my favourite parts of this job. I also love the challenge of constantly improving and innovating. It keeps me on my toes and consistently evolving. One of my favourite conversations to have begins with the words “I have an idea….” and I have so many of these conversations each day that contributes to my work enjoyment. I could not finish this paragraph without mentioning the opportunities the company has provided to me professionally and personally. Another favourite part of working for this company is that they are supportive at all times.
A positive, fun, supportive, and vibrant culture with family and friends at its core. I honestly am blessed to have worked with so many wonderful people over the years that have contributed to this culture.
Yes, never underestimate the importance of self-learning and constantly upskilling. The industry changes at such a fast speed that, as marketers, we need to always be on point and ready to respond to these changes. Be bold, be brave, press all the buttons and see what happens, experiment every day, learn, adapt, and improve and never shy away from the challenge, it is how we grow. You only get stronger when you face problems in life.
Embrace the fight.
This is a good one. So many years ago, Declan was on a trip to some far-off exotic country, and he brought me home a lovely cigar. I remember saying to him at the time that I’ll keep that for a special occasion. Being a Liverpool fan, I was tempted to crack this open when we finally won the league after 30 years of patiently waiting but knowing that my double digits were on the horizon, I put it back in my desk. The evening of my 10 years I took some time out to reflect on the journey so far and knew this was the moment to grab a beer and the cigar and have a silent toast. I am really looking forward to our Christmas party this year where I hope to have the opportunity to celebrate again with my close friends within the company that have shared the time with me.
What Davey’s Colleagues Have to Say:
“He is a valued member of the management team. He would have been a Director by now if it wasn’t for the fact that he is a staunch Liverpool fan!”
“There is a joke in the office that Davey is my work, Husband!!! We once entered a competition with CPL for the most famous couple and we entered as Johnny Cash and June Carter. They say June was a calming presence in the wilder period of Cash’s life, playing the angel to his internal demons… in our case Davey is the June to my Cash, always helping to cheer me up on bad days.”
“As someone who has just started their journey with Servisource, Davey has been so welcoming and supportive. I can see the joy he brings to the team and how lucky I am to have him as my manager.”
“It is rare to find such a long-lasting, special friendship like mine and Davey’s. We have known each other for 10 years and spend time outside of work together with our families. I know if I’m in need I can call Davey no matter what time and vice versa.”
“Fancy dress one year for Halloween, Davey dressed up as an inflatable bathtub (we still don’t know why) and on his way downstairs he fell about 3 steps! The best part of it was it was all caught on video by Oxygen, and we have shared it around the office year after year… never gets old!”
“When I first joined Servisource last year, Davey couldn’t have been more welcoming. He is always there if I need anything at all and the marketing team are very lucky to have him!”
It’s obvious Davey is loved by a lot of people within Servisource and he has certainly created a workplace full of joy and support.
We wish you the best and here’s to many more fun, adventure-filled years working with Servisource and CPL.
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