Women In Industry

AT WORK, REST AND PLAY

THIS MONTH: Fiona Lund, Managing Director of Brouha Marketing

This series in Glass News highlights the hopes and aspirations of women in the windows, doors, glass, roofs and hardware industry and will hopefully inspire more to make this their career.

AT WORK...

Please give a brief resume of your career to date.

After graduating in Modern Languages from the University of Durham and working abroad as an interpreter, I returned to London where I made it to the position of one of the youngest directors at a global media and advertising agency, which I loved. But a country girl at heart, having grown up in the Pennines, my time in London came to a natural end and I moved to Gloucestershire to what was then a fenestration market research agency.

How did you get into this industry?

That agency was my introduction to the window and door industry. At that time, we were conducting lots of ‘brand awareness and understanding’ surveys and one of the common outcomes was that brands were not as well-known as they wanted to be. So, we launched a PR arm at the business, and I became Director and GM, a position I held for 10 years. Then sadly in 2006, my younger brother passed away suddenly, and I was literally overcome with the real understanding that life is short. Carpe diem became my mantra and I established Brouha. In November 2022, we celebrated 16 years and I’m so proud that we’re now well established as one of the UK’s specialist PR, marketing and communications agencies, in residential and commercial building materials products and services.

Do you believe your speciality (finance, sales, management, marketing etc.) is transferable to any industry?

Yes, completely. As well as supporting clients in the door, window and glass industry, Brouha represents businesses and associations across lots of other industries such as Housing, Retrofit and Green. The important thing across everything we do, is keeping communications fresh, relevant and on topic, which is applicable across all B2B markets. Of course, the added value an agency can offer when they specialise in certain markets like housing, is the intimate knowledge of the sector, drivers and market trends.

Have you a career path mapped out or is it more about opportunism?

Anyone who knows me, will know how important instinct and opportunism is to me. In a psychometric test, I was described as a rare type of female who is imaginative yet decisive, creative yet deadline driven and ambitious yet private, falling into a category representing just 0.2% of the population. Maybe if we wanted to be the biggest agency out there, there are certainly areas I would need to brush up on, but for what we do, it’s always been about my gut feeling and intuition as to whether it’s the right thing to do at the right time. Sometimes they are, sometimes they’re not. But every time, I learn and develop. I’m a big believer in not only doing things right, but in doing the right things.

Looking ahead, where would you like to be in a) 5 years’ time and b) 10 years’ time?

In five years’ time I see myself still doing this – that’s not because I lack ambition or enthusiasm, far from it - I love what I do. We’ve worked hard over the years to build our business on reputation, and I want to hit that 20 year milestone. That said, in ten years times I’d like to be retired, as although I love it, I don’t want to be working forever. Back to that cape diem.

AT REST...

Away from work, what is your focus?

I am lucky enough to have my own horse, five cats and a garden full of chickens. I love animals and nature, the outdoors, the insight and peace they can give us. They help us to just stop and enjoy the moment. I also love running and pushing myself outside of my comfort zone.

AT PLAY...

Do you achieve the work/life balance you would like to?

It’s one of those things I constantly strive for, but never quite achieve. When you run your own business, it becomes part of your life, not just a 9 to 5. It helps that I enjoy what I do and can have some flexibility and quality of life within that.

If money and leisure time were no object, what would you really like to do for yourself or your family?

One day, I’m going to travel the world, visit every continent and spend time enjoying the different architecture and cultures….but I can’t do that just yet, who would look after all of my animals?