Job Title: Stakeholder Engagement Manager
Company: Encirc
What is your background, and how did you come to be in your present role?
I actually came into my current role by accident! My background was in youth travel, where I spent years selling meaningful travel programmes and later moved into internal communications and branding within the same business. After becoming a mum, international travel became less practical, so I looked for more local, stable work.
I eventually landed at Chester Zoo—my dream job since I was eight—but COVID hit, and the zoo had to make mass redundancies. Luckily, with the rise of remote work, businesses started realising how important internal comms were. I had several interviews, but when I walked into Encirc for one, I just knew I had to work there.
I started as a Comms and PR Executive, knowing nothing about glass or manufacturing—never even been in a factory! It was a steep learning curve, but now I’m Internal Communications Manager. I handle internal engagement and community outreach, including fundraising, school partnerships, and ensuring we remain a good neighbour and employer of choice.
What has been your greatest challenge so far in your career?
Coming into manufacturing with zero background in the industry has definitely been the biggest challenge. It’s also a heavily male-dominated environment, which was a bit daunting. I had to learn a lot, fast—what the processes were, what certain job titles meant, how to translate everything for an internal audience.
I’m naturally creative, but I had to learn to tailor my ideas to a demographic that didn’t always think like I do. I’ve also worked hard to ensure women have a voice in the business, advocating for balance and inclusion wherever I can.
What about your greatest achievement so far in your career?
I’d say launching and running our “WIM Week” (Women in Manufacturing Week), which I’ve done entirely solo for the last couple of years. It started as a way to mark International Women’s Day and has grown into a major annual initiative.
We run events like webinars, resilience workshops, and sessions with menopause and sleep specialists for night shift staff. We also sponsor a local counselling charity and provide meaningful gifts from small businesses to every woman in the company. One business we supported was even able to buy new machinery and get her products into high-end retailers—so the ripple effect has been huge.
This year’s WIM Week was even bigger, with a “Daughters’ Day” where employees could bring their girls in to see the potential of a future in STEM. It’s become a meaningful tradition that highlights the industry and supports women across our workforce.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
“If you don’t know, don’t worry.” It’s a lyric from a Fred Again song, and it really resonates. I’ve dealt with mental health issues, anxiety, depression, chronic pain—so I’ve spent a lot of time worrying about things that never even happened.
I would tell my younger self not to waste energy on what-ifs. Most of it works out in the end, and I probably could’ve saved myself a lot of late nights and stress.
How do you think we can raise the profile of careers in STEM?
We do a lot of early careers work, going into schools and promoting visibility because, as we say at Encirc, “you can’t be what you can’t see.” But it can’t just be about kids.
As a foster mum, I know that hungry children can’t learn. Even if we send our best engineers into schools, if a child’s home environment doesn’t support aspiration, the message won’t land. So we focus on raising the aspirations of whole communities—supporting veterans, people from the criminal justice system, those with neurodivergence.
If we adapt how we work, there’s space for everyone in this industry. It’s about a holistic approach to inclusion and access.
What is your favourite engineered or manufactured product?
Personally? Hair dye! I change my hair every six weeks and love how expressive it lets me be—even if the green at Christmas did have people calling me The Grinch.
More broadly, anything that improves quality of life—prosthetics, hearing aids, mobility devices. We sponsor a local Paralympic wheelchair racer whose chair cost like £27,000 and was made by a car manufacturer. It’s incredible what engineering can do to transform lives.
What’s one interesting fact about you that not many people know?
Outside of work, I’m an energy healer. I practice Reiki, teach meditation, and run sound baths. I believe we live in an overstimulated world where people are under constant stress, and I love helping others find even two minutes of calm in their day.
We’ve even brought meditation and healing sessions into the workplace—it’s something that really matters to me.
What advice would you give to someone considering a career in manufacturing?
Don’t rule yourself out because your background is different. I had no experience in manufacturing, and now I’m more professionally fulfilled than I’ve ever been.
People assume manufacturing is dark, dirty, and dated—but it’s not. Our site has a gym, well-being room, and we offer family tours so people can see how clean and advanced it is. Automation and robotics are creating new opportunities, not taking them away.
The sector has evolved massively, and the next five years will see even more change. You can come in, climb the ladder, and build a rewarding, lifelong career.
