The lion’s share: The journey of… Fiona Stevens (Head of Marketing)

This blog series gives insight into the day-to-day life of LoyaltyLion’s leaders. We’ll look at managers from all teams – diving into their careers, roles and daily lives – as well as their mantras and passions.

So let’s meet Fiona Stevens, LoyaltyLion’s Head of Marketing.

What is your morning routine?

I’ve always been an early riser – I have more get up and go first thing than in the afternoon so it’s the best time for me to exercise. Fortunately for me, I moved back to the coast just as the pandemic hit so I’ve been lucky to do activities like ocean swims, paddleboarding or playing beach tennis a few mornings a week. 

After that, it’s back home for breakfast. I clear my inbox and Slack messages while I demolish a smoothie, and then make a coffee in time for a stand-up with my team at 9.15. I’ve only just started drinking coffee so this is a very new addition to the routine!

What does a typical day look like?

Every day at LoyaltyLion is different – that’s what I love about my job. I try to keep as many meetings as possible before lunch so I can dig into big tasks in the afternoon. Since we’ve been working remotely, I kick off the day with our Marketing Team Zoom call, and then it’s back-to-back calls for a while with breaks in between which I use to clear smaller tasks. 

Mornings always fly by and before I know it, it’s lunchtime – that can go two ways for me. Some days I’ll go outside in the fresh air with a book, others I head to the kitchen to make something special for lunch. There’s nothing more relaxing than chopping veg!

After lunch, I’ll get stuck into whatever big project I’m currently focused on and I’ll resurface a few hours later to address anything that’s come up during the afternoon. I try to finish off the day with half an hour of industry reading or listening to podcasts (but it doesn’t always work that way). 

Tell us a brief history of your roles before LoyaltyLion.

Marketing wasn’t my initial choice of career – I took an internship in a PR agency straight out of uni, purely because somebody told me they thought I’d be good at it. But, I quickly realized that, while it’s all glamor on the surface, I didn’t enjoy it and I wasn’t interested in selling to journalists. What I really wanted was to be part of the team crafting the messages and vehicles that get great products and services out there. 

My career path has been slightly unusual in that I’ve typically worked in agencies, but as an in-house marketer rather than client-side. Over the years, I’ve worked at SEO, PR, content and loyalty agencies. I’ve been entirely focused on retail and ecommerce for six years now. I’m lucky to have experienced a  variety of environments – from being a one-man marketing band to working in global marketing organizations, localizing campaigns for nine different regions.

What made you choose LoyaltyLion?

When I saw the job description for my role at LoyaltyLion, it felt like Cinderella trying on the glass slipper. They were a startup looking for a marketer with experience in ecommerce and loyalty. I was looking to move back into startups, with experience in ecommerce and loyalty. A perfect fit! I worked in startups before but decided to go to the corporate side Marketing to get a broader experience. While it was a great move for a time, I was becoming disenchanted with the politics and the time it took to achieve anything.

I had a great first call with Charlie where his passion and drive were immediately apparent and I knew I wanted to work for LoyaltyLion straight away. It was the kind of place where I knew I would get things done and make an impact. The rest, as they say, is history. 

What’s your most memorable moment at LoyaltyLion or in another role?

This is a difficult one! Memorable moments at LoyaltyLion range from a full-scale Nerf war to the all-nighter we pulled launching our new website, plus each and every client win or new feature along the way. 

The most memorable moment career-wise would be in my last role, launching our global content campaign about “Getting to the heart of customer loyalty”. Within two months it generated nearly 300 pieces of media coverage. Each week we thought the hype would die down and each week more publications featured the research – it was so exciting watching it spiral. The campaign was even nominated for an award which led to a very memorable night out too!

How do you spend your evening?

Currently, I seem to spend my evenings stressing about how early it’s getting dark these days! 

Typically I’ll finish work between six and half past, and as I’m working from my living room at the moment, I make a conscious effort to shut my computer off so I’m not tempted to go back to it during the evening. 

Then I’ll head out for a walk or run depending on what I’ve already done that day – either straight out of the front door or if my step count’s low then I’ll drive to a local National Trust area and explore a bit further afield. 

Then it’s home to make dinner and watch some seriously embarrassing TV. My recent obsession with Married at First Sight isn’t something I’m necessarily proud of… 

What’s your favorite mantra or piece of advice?

There are two key mottos that I try to live by. The first is personal and was instilled in me from a young age. It’s to make sure that whatever I’m doing, I’m doing it in a way that I’ll be proud of when I look back later. The most important thing is not the outcome or result, but being confident that you did your best and conducted yourself in a way that you and others can be proud of. 

The second is professional and something that I freely admit I’m still learning every day. This is the idea that you don’t need to have all of the answers to take the leap. For example, if you’re working on a product or brand, don’t wait until you’ve covered absolutely every eventuality before you launch – get it out there and see how it goes. You can always add, iterate and create a version two, but don’t wait for version one to be perfect or you could be waiting forever.

What are you passionate about?

At LoyaltyLion, my passion is tied up in the Marketing team. I love working with every one of them, watching them grow and develop. There’s nothing better than celebrating their successes and I’m lucky to feel very supported by them in return. 

Day-to-day, I’m driven by the impact we’re having on the wider business and on our customers. It’s a fantastic feeling to launch a marketing campaign that provides ecommerce merchants around the world with content that will help them make a difference in their roles. 

This has been particularly true this year as so many of our clients have faced unstable and unsettling times. It’s been a privilege to speak on webinars and podcasts and share advice that might have helped an ecommerce merchant along the way.

Fiona Stevens is the Head of Marketing at LoyaltyLion. Fiona has over ten years’ experience in Marketing, having worked in-house and agency side across functions including PR, SEO and content. She has specialized in loyalty for retail and ecommerce brands for the past six years.

Interested in joining LoyaltyLion? Take a look at our careers page for our current job opportunities.