SIMONE WAUGH

Ironically we’ve become closer across the agency during ‘isolation’.

I’ve never stopped. I’ve never spent a whole day at home unless I’ve been very sick.

Even when I had my three children I had a fear of being locked in with my own thoughts and found an excuse to leave the house every day. So you can imagine my own fear when I realised the world was going into ‘isolation’. But I had to put that fear aside as I’m the person my agency looks to for calmness and as a parent I know my kids are only as anxious as I am.

I’ve had a bit of practice with health trauma and so I have a high threshold and acceptance of serious events. I took on the role of their protector and realised from day one every single person would have their own struggles and journey during this time and I needed to be there for them.

I know there are people in my agency who’ve had lonely and isolating days and my priority has been making sure they’re okay. But the thing that’s caused me the most anxiety – with work and family – is the thought of someone in my care contracting COVID-19. The decisions we’re making now to transition people back into the workplace, classified as risk environments, are high stakes.

The flipside is we’ve never been more connected as an agency. We’ve created great work during this time, pitched new business successfully and created new ways of working that I know will result in better creativity. Ironically we’ve become closer across the agency during ‘isolation’. And interestingly the biggest thing I’m now fearing is life will go back to how it was. I don’t want it to. I’m now being the parent I always wanted to be and I don’t want to give that up. So I’m busy leading the next era of how we work to keep what we’ve found.

SIMONE WAUGH

MANAGING DIRECTOR AT PUBLICIS WORLDWIDE