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RSS feedsI began my working life as an actress. I've appeared in Casualty,uir Communications, tell Infomatics how 'Life is but a stage ...' Eastenders, various TV Play for Todays and Robin of Sherwood, among others. I was even a magician's assistant for a while!
I vividly remember shooting a headache tablet ad in freezing weather, wearing T-shirts and mini skirts. We had to suck ice cubes so that when we exhaled there was no steam! I went down with the most horrendous flu.
I think drama school and my short stint of acting gave me a healthy sense of the ridiculous. I manage to laugh about the most difficult situations.
Prima donnas were not tolerated at drama school. The directors were tough, which I think has made me down to earth. I cannot tolerate arrogance and superiority.
As an actress, I got tired of the long periods without work. My first non-acting job was at a PR consultancy. After that I worked in high-tech marketing positions for a manufacturer and then a distributor, Computers Unlimited, where I gained invaluable experience of the channel.
I also used to do horse trials and dressage while at school, so the combination of this sport and my thespian stint has taught me something about showmanship. Before pitching for new business, I tell my staff to break a leg and enjoy themselves. I've even taught them how to breathe like singers and actresses!
There are a lot of PR consultancies making the same old promises, so one has to continually work at differentiating oneself from the rest.
We have an entrepreneurial spirit, without ever forgetting the basics and have purposely projected Stewart-Muir Communications as being a fun, creative, innovative consultancy. When we chose the three monkeys (hear, see and speak no evil) as our logo, we realised that this was a far cry from some of the rather staid logos other companies adopted, but it has paid off. Prospective clients often say: 'We love your monkeys!' It also means that we attract clients who have a sense of humour and this leads to long, successful working relationships. I think people forget how important humour is in building rapport.
I realised early in my career how important it was to stand out. I had a nasty skiing accident a number of years ago, which resulted in major surgery and one of my legs was in a calliper for a full year. When the caliper came off my leg was badly scarred, so I wore opaque tights for a while. Well, opaque turned to coloured and patterned, which have become my trademark. You wouldn't believe the number of people I've met through my tights!
Stewart-Muir Communications can be found at www.stewartmuir.com.
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