My first week in Team Teal

A new chapter began for All Things IC this week as Communication Consultants Caroline Cubbon King and Dan Holden joined us.

I rarely share what we work on, mainly because we work confidentially with internal communicators and companies around the globe.

If you’ve seen my Instagram feed @rachelallthingsic you’ll sometimes see behind the scenes glimpses.

However, what I can tell you is this week we’ve had a couple of team meetings, including our monthly informal catch up, started work with a new Swiss client ahead of advising them on their IC strategy, Caroline and I mentored comms pros 1-2-1 and I taught a bespoke team development day at a client’s headquarters on Wednesday.

We are a remote team, spread throughout the UK. Dan and Caroline joined me online earlier this week as I taught a bespoke remote Measurement Masterclass for an IC team. It was wonderful to hear them sharing their advice and experience.

Dan wrote about his journey from in-house to consultancy on Monday.

As we come to the end of this week, Caroline is here to share her thoughts. The images in this article are from her home office.

I’ll hand you over…

My first week in Team Teal

When Rachel Miller kindly sent a coaster to me printed with the message, ‘drinking tea & doing tremendous things,’ I knew we were destined to work very happily alongside each other.  

Rachel initially invited me to support her at the end of 2020, using an independent perspective to cast a new lens over her wonderful business.  

I was struck immediately by Rachel’s values and approach. She is a go to person because of her extensive knowledge and expertise. However, the reason people gravitate towards All Things IC is just as much about the how as the what.  

I love the fact that when you work in comms, no two days are ever the same.

Last year Rachel encouraged me to start speaking to her prospective clients and to deliver client facing consultancy services for All Things IC. Since then, I have revelled in supporting scores of comms professionals to unravel their problems and to piece their comms jigsaws back together.  

Solutions I’ve delivered so far include creating an IC strategy for a Swiss client, mentoring a range of comms pros at different stages of their career, helping comms teams in my old sector, housing, to make the most of the skills and resources they have and designing and delivering team days and remote development sessions for a diverse range of businesses.  

As a former Head of Comms, I am used to juggling a busy team, facing change around every corner, managing large volumes of work requests, and influencing tricky leaders.

This means I have walked in the shoes of many of the people I speak to and can draw on so many of the experiences and challenges I have tackled myself when I offer advice and support.

I’ve also worked freelance as a business owner which adds another dimension to my experience.  

Seeing All Things IC grow and expand gives me a huge sense of pride and I am super excited to be joining #TeamTeal this Spring as a permanent employee alongside Rachel, Louise Mackenney and the company’s latest Comms Consultant, Dan Holden. 

As I reach the end of my first week as an All Things IC employee, I wanted to reflect on what #TeamTeal means to me. If you are wondering what it’s like to work with us, I hope this provides an insight.   

It’s about being thoughtful. A considerable amount of unseen planning and care goes into everything we do.  

We are experienced. We may be a small team, but our skills and experience are wide ranging. There isn’t a lot we haven’t seen or heard. We willingly share what we know and love spreading knowledge across the comms community.  

Being attentive is something we pride ourselves on. Many of our solutions are designed collaboratively with clients around their specific challenges and issues. They are given a unique blend of support. We don’t expect them to pick from a menu of services.  

We listen. This allows us to keep evolving what we do and how we do it, always staying tuned in to the needs of the comms world.  

#TeamTeal is a special team with a genuine desire to nurture and guide. My creative juices are flowing for what lies ahead. If you have a comms problem that needs to be unravelled, give me a shout so we can drink tea and plan to do tremendous things together.  

Post author: Caroline Cubbon King.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts Caroline, I’ve loved our first week together as a team.

The coaster in the top photograph is available via my brand designer Nancy Poller’s website.

Thank you for stopping by,

Rachel.

First published on the All Things IC blog 28 April 2022.