Stepping into a new role often comes with more responsibility and more questions than answers. After being promoted to Grocery National Account Manager at Harry's Grooming Ltd., Lauren Hayward wanted to develop not only the technical skills required for her role but also the leadership mindset that would help her thrive in it. Through the Femme Palette mentoring program, she found the confidence to navigate difficult conversations, communicate more strategically, and grow into the leader she aspired to become. Read her story to discover how mentoring helped her find her voice during one of the biggest transitions in her career.
I'm a Grocery National Account Manager at Harry's Grooming Ltd., looking after our Tesco, Morrisons, Ocado and Irish Retailers. When I joined the Femme Palette mentoring program I had just been promoted at Harry's from NAE on our Health and Beauty accounts to my current role, so it was a great time to seek some guidance from someone a little further ahead in their career.
The promotion into a new role made me realise it was important to start working alongside some of my skills outside of my day-to-day work, and starting thinking about how I work and communicate, rather than just ticking off the tasks.
Initially I wanted to work on strengthening my time management and task prioritization skills, build my leadership skills and strengthen my confidence in strategic communication, for example when talking to much more senior colleagues.
My conversations with Em gave me the confidence to have some really important but difficult conversations with my managers, and it gave me a great opportunity to discuss my feelings and ideas with someone removed from my immediate company, and also at times encouraged me to see things in a different way.
Em would often encourage me to be more direct, and I think going through a range of scenarios with her at different points over the year mean now whenever I'm not sure whether to ask a question or voice an opinion, I find myself thinking 'what would Em have suggested I do?'. Usually it means I say the thing / ask the question, and I think it's helped me navigate a lot of conversations I previously might have avoided.
If Lauren's story resonates with you, maybe it is time to write your own. Whether you are navigating a career transition, looking to step into your next level, or simply ready for that external perspective that changes everything, our mentoring program is here for you.
Your story could be the next one we tell. Explore the Femme Palette mentoring program and take the first step today.
