Wendy Christie 00:00
In this episode, we talk about an upcoming event hosted by the charity Future Dreams. We’d like to clarify that the event is called Neon.
Tamara Littleton 00:08
This is the Genuine Humans podcast brought to you by Social Element. I’m Tamara Littleton
Wendy Christie 00:27
and I’m Wendy Christie.
Tamara Littleton 00:31
In our podcast, we’ll discover the stories of the leaders behind the brands and the trailblazers who are making a real difference in our industry. We’ll delve into how they got to where they are today,
Wendy Christie 00:42
and we’ll hear about the genuine humans who supported and influenced them along the way.
Tamara Littleton 00:46
Welcome back to the Genuine Humans podcast, and I’m here with my co-host, Wendy. Christie, Wendy, how are you doing?
Wendy Christie 00:59
Very well, thanks, Tamara. How are you? How was your weekend?
Tamara Littleton 01:02
It was great, actually, I was a little bit concerned that I wasn’t going to be able to do this podcast, because I’ve been singing all weekend at a festival with my pop choir. But I’m good. I can talk. Everything is good. And actually, I am delighted that we’ve got a wonderful guest on today. So we’re joined today by a very special, genuine humans guest, Nicola Young.
Now, I first met Nicola at a WACL event, and we instantly bonded and put the world to rights that evening. Nicola is so well regarded and recognised in the industry, she earned her radio stripes at Jazz FM and then Magic, and then she ran the marketing for a portfolio of brands at Global Radio, including Capital Radio, Heart, Gold and many, many more. And then she was at Estée Lauder Companies, where she headed up approximately 29 brands, including Clinique, MAC, and Jo Malone. And we’re going to hear all about that when she shares her story.
We’re also going to hear whatever she can tell us about a new-to-market skincare brand that she’s launching in September, as she’s now the CMO of Genaura. Welcome Nicola.
Nicola Young 02:13
Thank you very much. It’s lovely to be here. Lovely to see you both.
Tamara Littleton 02:16
So, Nicola, what we like to do with our guests is get you to sort of share how you got to where you are now. So if you wouldn’t mind, just give us a little sort of flavour of that early career.
Nicola Young 02:29
Yeah, well, I mean, I think going back over your very kind words in terms of my intro, I was the boss of the media side of all Estée Lauder CompanieS, which, just in case anybody’s getting upset that I ran everything, I didn’t get there, but never mind, in terms of how I got to where I am in my career really kind of starts when I was at school, because I was at a boarding school and I was incredibly sporty. But there is an and, rather than a but, I grew up watching my father in the advertising industry. My father ran an agency called Jaffe and Young, and he was Dick Young of Jaffe and Young, and it was just the Mad Men of advertising, and it was just such great fun to be around.
Nicola Young 03:14
So I kind of grew up, you know, really a combination of watching my dad in the advertising industry and all the fabulousness that came with that, and also being at my boarding school, being obsessed with sports. So I had a really kind of a dual thing going on with loving what my dad did, thinking, “Oh, I might go and do something there.”
Or I thought at the time I might be a good enough tennis player to be a professional tennis player, and I wasn’t hence why I am where I am today in media, marketing and advertising world, but it was unfortunate that my parents divorced when I was 18, and so that’s kind of a crucial time, having done your A-Levels at that time, and I just didn’t want to go to university. So there you go. There’s a confession right there. I didn’t go to university and I just wanted to disappear. So I decided in 1989 to head off to Australia with a rucksack and a tennis racket in my bag.
And when I came back a year later, I said, “Oh, Dad, how about giving me a job?” And he went, “No way. So do something different. If you’ve not got a degree, you really need to set yourself up.” And I went to Queen’s Secretarial College, and I literally did the backing of learning to touch typing on an Olivetti typewriter and doing Pitman shorthand. And it was one of the best groundings I’ve done, because I still can type 70 words a minute, and I can still do shorthand in every meeting, kind of keeping everything to myself. But I literally, at that point thought, Well, I’m on my own here. I don’t have a university degree, I’m not a professional tennis player, and I really need to get a job.
Nicola Young 05:00
And in the days back then, which we’re now into the 1990s, you know, it was directories, telephone directories. And I just remember going through every single media company and phoning everybody. I literally just phoned everybody, saying I have secretarial expertise, and I found myself being interviewed by Scottish Television, and I became PA to the Director of Broadcast Sponsorship, which was fairly new in those days, at Scottish in STV, and it was great fun. And I was just exposed to the media industry at a very young age. I was in my 20s at the time, and literally just worked up from there. And so, because it was broadcast sponsorship, we did a deal with Young and Rubicon, and the guy over at Young and Rubicon said, “Do you want to come and join me here and be a marketing assistant?” And I went, “Why not?”
Nicola Young 06:06
And this was actually, I’d done a very short stint at BDFM as a secretary to one of the planning directors, and they’d put me forward for a junior account, you know, account handling role. And I just was too scared. I was too young. I didn’t really understand what I was doing. I was exposed. And, you know, into this working world, I’d only really been, you know, I boarding school, doing sport every day of my life, and not really being that terribly, you know, with – very well educated, but not desperately coming out with lots of O-Levels and A-Levels. And I just needed to work through it.
Nicola Young 06:42
And I found myself at STV, then at Young and Rubicon, and then I then found myself at Jazz FM. And this is where my radio background started. I’d kind of started on the ladder of marketing, marketing assistant, and then I went across to Jazz FM, early 90s. It was actually JFM for, oh yeah, as old as me to remember it being JFM, and I was at JFM, and then we rebranded. So that was my first stint in a rebranding exercise a few years on. But, you know, I worked for great bosses, so I worked for the Marketing Manager at Jazz FM, and I just kind of kept ploughing through, learning from my mistakes. I remember one promotion I did with Jazz FM and Cafe Rogue and with a holiday company, and I had to put everything together, and I kind of forgot to do the car hire, but, you know, and so the truth is, we had somebody, a listener, a winner, stranded in California with no car. And I thought, “well, there we go. You know, there’s my first stint of making a mistake!” But I learned from my mistakes, and just kept going through, so from Jazz FM as I went through my 20s. You know, I really learned the ropes of radio, and I also learned from the best of the best, really, with very little marketing budget. So it was fantastic. It was £100,000. I think, if I’m allowed to say that, I don’t know if anybody’s still there that will tell me off about how much budget we had, but the audience was just so rich. It was such a rich ABC1 audience, 25-45 and we didn’t actually play Jazz either. So it was quite a big marketing conundrum.
Nicola Young 08:25
So it was a really good experience to learn marketing in that way from great people. But also just with it was such a small family, you know, I found myself in the studio with incredible people like Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder and,
Tamara Littleton 08:41
Oh, wow!
Nicola Young 08:42
Working with the greats. And, you know, working with incredible presenters. And still, presenters I’m friendly with now, including Angie Greaves, who I’ve known for nearly 30 years, who’s now at Smooth and it was just an extraordinary learning ground for radio. It was like a drug. You know, radio, to me, was like a drug. And I did a stint at what was Cinema Media. And I went across my first big job in marketing, Marketing Manager. I was 27. I remember it well, going across there. And the first thing we did was a massive rebrand to a Carlton company. I worked with Lambie-Nairn. You know, in the heyday of, you know, working with agencies such as Lambie-Nairn and Wolff Olins rebrands, as anybody will know, that’s just incredible experience. Carlton screen advertising is now DCM, and I work very closely with DCM and Karen Stacey, who’s the CEO of DCM, and the President, currently, of WACL, and we’re doing a Cinema campaign for Genaura. You know, it’s incredible. We’ll have things go full circle. I’m now a client!
And from there I went to back to Jazz FM. I had another stint. They kept calling me back, which is where I met Dame Caroline McCool from The Guardian, who owned Jazz FM at the time.
Nicola Young 10:00
Yeah, and then the Guardian, well, the Guardian Media Group did take over, and so therefore I worked with them and the great John Myers and radio. At that point, I’d got married, and I’d have my first baby, William. And William was a little bit early, and he wasn’t very well, and so it gave me a bit of a scare. I thought I’d be, you know, one of these women. I’ll be back within two seconds. You know, give me a couple of weeks, I’ll be back. And I wasn’t, I had to take a year out. And I learned a lot in that time.
Nicola Young 10:30
And in that time, I did leave Jazz FM, and I also then started to go through the process of getting back into work, and I went to what was eMAP radio at the time, and did an interview with Shaun Gregory that was there for a group role in radio marketing.
And I got through to the second round. And by the time I got to the second round, I was pregnant with my second child, Sidney, who’s now they’re both, well, they’re 22 and 20 this year. And I was really honest. I said, “I’m early doors pregnant, and I’m not prepared to take on a role, because I was a bit scared the first time around. I had a bit of a, you know, scary moment. And no, I’ve got to be a mum. I’ve got to stay and hang around and be a mum.” And they went, “Oh, not quite sure we’ve had this honesty before.” So I said, “But, you know, give me a project.” And they said, “Well, we’ve got Natalie Imbruglia booked, but, but we don’t know what we were doing with her.” And I said, “Okay.” and we did a trade event, and it was for Magic Radio. And I went, I’ll do that.
So I was, I remember being 14 weeks pregnant when the event happened, and I worked very closely with Richard Park, who has been one of the most influential people in my radio career, and the incoming Andria Vidler, who was coming in as the boss, the CEO of Magic. And I did the event, and I said, then “I’ll be leaving. I’m off to go and be a mum for the second time.” And Andria Vidler got a hold of me and went, “No, you’re not. You’re going to come on as Marketing Director after the event.” I went, “Well, hang on,” I said, “ I haven’t even had my baby, and it was fantastic. I did join as Marketing Director of Magic Radio, and there was Andria Vidler leading Richard Park programming, Alison Finch in commercial, and myself in marketing. And it was the most extraordinary experience from Magic of guilty pleasure at the time, where we all, you know, to getting it to be the number one radio station in London. It was just an incredible learning ground and fun and exciting.
Nicola Young 12:48
And I then got poached to Global to help Global at the time with Heart Radio to knock Magic off. And so I did. I joined Global pre their acquisition of GCAP, again, working with Richard Park, and I was very lucky and fortunate again to take on the role of Group Director of Marketing for the whole group for all their commercial output. And in that time, we rebranded Capital Radio. We launched Heart nationally. We launched Jingle Bell Ball, Summertime Ball. We put LBC on the map with the first TV advertising in a long time. We rebranded Galaxy. There were so many amazing things in that group. I worked very closely with Ashley Tabor and Stephen Miron and Richard Park, and I just became radio through and through.
Nicola Young 13:49
And then we uprooted our family to New York, where we had two years in New York, and my boys were young. William was five, and Sidney was three, and we came back a couple of years later, and I needed to get another job.
And I did some consultancies, various consultancies, and then I was approached by Estée Lauder companies to join them in this newly created role of Director of Media for the UK and Ireland, and it really was an amazing opportunity to work with, I think at the time, you mentioned, Tamara, that there were 29 brands. I think I worked on 35 at the time, but some big spenders, and then there were some smaller brands, but my role was to be the conduit between the brands and the media agency M2M, and to manage best practice and to maximise upon our media spend. And we were used best in practice. We were used on a lot of pilots for global projects and it was just an incredible experience. I worked for Chris Good, who was the President at the time, and I learned so much, the beautiful brands, beautiful experience.
Nicola Young 15:11
I did leave a couple of years later, due to just my family dynamic changed, and again, I talk very openly about what I’ve learned about myself and about, you know, I know you talked about, you know, what would your friends say about you? And I think the one thing, well, I know that we’re going to come on to it, but at that time, I really needed to look at myself, you know, I had to look at what was going on personally in my life. Had to, it was a very difficult time in my life, and I had two small boys, and I had to get through that and to, you know, re-establish what I was going to do next.
And from Estée Lauder, I did a lot of consultancies. I worked with Andria Vidler again, when she was President of EMI, worked on a big project there, worked on various projects, worked on lots of consultancies.
Nicola Young 16:01
And kind of really, fast forward to MiQ, to Vice President of Marketing for MiQ, which was just fantastic. Worked with Gurman Hundal and Lee Puri, the two founders. Great experience, new experience in programmatic.
Nicola Young 16:18
I then went on to a publishing company, and then we hit COVID. And during COVID, I had to reevaluate, you know, my boys were older. They were establishing their own lives as you know, teenagers. Well, you know they were, I’m very lucky, you know, we as parents, incredibly lucky that both boys knew exactly where they wanted to go, and their schools were set out in stone for them, because one was very, absolutely ready to go down the medicine route, and one down a sporty route. And so they were at schools that really suited them. But I had to re-establish myself in what I was doing professionally, and I ended up doing lots of consultancies.
Nicola Young 16:59
And in that time, I came across a consultancy whereby I was approached to launch Genaura. It wasn’t Genaura at the time, it was a formula in a bottle on a shelf in Brisbane, Australia, and this has been two years in the making of absolute dedication amongst all the agency partners, being Four Media, in terms of insight, due diligence, competitive marketplace, brand comms, launch event coming up, working with various agency partners are now with Firmative, who’ve done all the creative assets. We’re working with Social Element, as you know well, Tamara, and working with a platform whereby we’ll be selling the product. And I’ve just kind of all that experience of all those many, many years I’ve been in the industry over 30 years now, and to work now on a launch, literally the only person on the ground in the UK, working with all the various agency partners, I’ve been able to put all that experience, all those big teams, some massive budgets, to right back to the beginning, to bring it all back to the beginning of everything I’ve learned to two years down the road, and we will be launching Genaura later in the year, and I couldn’t be prouder of all the work that has been done, and I just can’t wait to launch now.
Nicola Young 18:34
So that’s kind of a round and about full circle way of realising I wasn’t a good enough tennis player to getting into the industry that my father introduced me to, and it’s, you know, my uncle ran a publicist in Asia. My brother’s been in the industry. It’s a bit of a family thing. So that, in a nutshell, is how we get to today.
Tamara Littleton 18:58
I love that, and I appreciate that you can’t say any more about Genaura at this stage, with that launch coming up. But it’s just wonderful to hear that all roads lead to exactly where you are now, and all of that experience and that incredible, little black book that you’ve got, you know, you’ve mentioned so many stars along the way, and then you get to the stage where you can just sort of pull in all of these people to work on what is going to be an incredible launch. So, yeah, thank you for sharing that.
Nicola Young 19:28
Yeah. Well, no, no, it’s been and it’s lovely to actually relive it. And I think it’s really important to say that, you know, I’ve learned my practice and mistakes and being on the ground and some graft. And it’s just been such an experience to be able to be able to put back into and what I can say about Genaura is as a marketer, to really believe in the product. It’s just, it doesn’t matter how many hours I work on the clock, or it just doesn’t matter. I believe in it so much, and it will be an extraordinary launch.
And having had the privilege to work at Estée Lauder Companies, and the privilege to work along the way with great marketers and great mentors, you know, it’s great to have done all the disciplines and do it all over again.
Wendy Christie 20:21
It sounds like an incredible career so far. And yeah, there really is that feeling of everything leading to this, this moment. And thank you for sort of being so open about a couple of your mistakes as well. It’s like it’s really hard at the time when you’re in the middle of that mistake to feel this is going to really help me in 10 years’ time, when this thing happens or that thing happens, so I think it’s it’s really great to be able to reflect on that. If you don’t mind, like to go back even longer ago to talk about what you were like as a child. And you know, maybe we can work out if there are any themes that we recognise in your adulthood and your career. So just speak freely about what you were like as a child.
Nicola Young 21:03
I was big. I mean, I’ve – and if anybody knows my boys, they’ll know that one of my sons is six foot three, and the other is six foot five and still growing. You know, I was the same, but as a female, so I was always bigger than a lot of my classmates, and that really kind of threw me into sport. As a child, I just literally became addicted to sport, right? And not really addicted to work, so I was far more down the sporty route.
I remember going to Brigidine Convent in Windsor. And I grew up just outside Windsor. And I remember when I got to about 12, and you know, my father was very old school. He went to Malvern. His father went to Malvern. My brother went to Malvern. They wanted me to go to Malvern. And I went, “No, no, no, I’m not going to Malvern. I’m going to rebel. I’m not going to Malvern.” And I went to what was more of a local boarding school, but I loved boarding school. You know, my youngest went to a boarding school, and he absolutely embraced it. My eldest went to a day school. You just need to be a certain type. And I loved it because I was so sporty. So I just did sport. I was known as the bigger girl that just did sport all the time, and I did all sports.
Nicola Young 22:25
What did it do in terms of themes? I loved it so much, so I always wanted to be Captain. I used to run to the sports board straight after lunch to go. Have I made Captain? Have I made Captain? I loved leading teams in sport. I loved, you know, I was in lacrosse, in tennis, in netball, in athletics. I just loved it all. And I think sport gave me confidence. I just loved it. I was good at it, so I just kept going with it. And that’s where the tennis competitiveness came through. And I ended up having more success in mixed doubles, probably because I just like hitting the ball. Really, really hard, no, but it was, I think, that the themes are, you know, when you go to a boarding school, you kind of work for yourself, you look out for yourself, and I love people, so I had lots of friends, and I just that’s how I got through. So I think some of the themes were, you know, sporty fun. And I think that just by being part of team sports that gave me a home.
Wendy Christie 23:40
Yeah, I think it’s an incredible grounding to leadership and team teaminess in a career as well. And I was going to ask, actually, but I think you’ve kind of answered it, if it was the sort of competitiveness, or if it was the physicality, or, you know what? What was it about sports that you loved so much?
Nicola Young 23:59
Oh, you only have to speak to my boys. I am fiercely competitive. In everything, I’m terrible. Fiercely competitive. But also I was bigger, so I was stronger, so I was goal attack in netball. I was taller than everybody, so it made sense to send them against me, I was bigger, so I was up front on a lacrosse pitch, often done for dangerous shooting. I was, got the school record in my first ever discus throw, which I’m not sure is something I should talk about, but it was, you know, so but, but I am, I am still, to this day, horribly competitive, and as a mum, I don’t vicariously live through my boys sporting prowess, but I do love watching them. And I was a little bit more vocal than a lot of mothers on the side of a rugby pitch. I wasn’t really worried. I was more worried about them getting in there. Then, you know, I just I love it. But yeah, well, I think a bit of both, really. I think you know I was, I was bigger, and I am horribly, I mean, to the detriment. I mean, I can’t play tennis in a game anymore. I’m too grumpy. I can’t do it. I can’t do it.
Wendy Christie 25:14
I’ve just picked her in an episode of Friends with Monica Geller and Chandler playing tennis with his boss. That’s all I can think about now,
Nicola Young 25:21
yeah,
Wendy Christie 25:21
and being awfully competitive. So did you have any particular heroes that you looked up to, whether, I mean, it sounds like your dad, potentially, but were they sporting figures as well?
Nicola Young 25:31
Yeah, oh, I mean, Steffi Graf. I mean, I’m still a one trick pony of a slice backhand and a flat forehand, and, you know? And I think I grew up in that era of tennis fans, but you know, of course, I was a huge fan, you know. So that was on the sporty, I just loved all sport. I loved all sports. So I would really follow it, but tennis in particular.
But yeah, and obviously, I hero worshipped my father, and, you know. And you know, when I did see Mad Men, I went, “Oh, my goodness me,” you know, this is how agencies, you know, the just, I remember going to visit with my brother to his agency in Upper Grosvenor Street. And you know, when Jaffe and Young was there, and, you know, in the days of Campaign and the black and white shots overlooking the balcony, you know, Dad and something, you know, I just grew up with it. So it was really, really, yeah, obviously, but I looked up to a lot of sports people.
Wendy Christie 26:24
And coming back a little bit more up to date, and thinking about your career again, you’ve mentioned some amazing people that you’ve worked with over the years. But is there anyone else who you’d like to call out as a genuine human who’s really supported or influenced or inspired you?
Nicola Young 26:39
Oh, my. Well, I mean, there’s so many, but it’s, it’s, you know, when I go back right from the beginning at Scottish Television, you know, still a lot. I mean, it’s, it’s so funny, isn’t it, people in TV are still in TV and you know that, and how everything’s moved on. But definitely, I still look to Andria Vidler, who has been a huge part of my life, both professionally and personally, she’s still one of my great friends, and it’s always somebody I would call and even, you know, whenever we see each other events, I make a beeline for it’s just one of those kind of, you know, somebody I’ve always looked up to, Philippa Brown. Philippa Brown is now a trustee of Future Dreams, and was hugely important to me, and I’ve worked with her agency client relationship when she was at Omnicom.
Nicola Young 27:25
You know, there are so many – Richard Park I’ve mentioned, massively influential on me in terms of my experience in the radio on the programming side. You know that it’s so, when you’re a marketing person to actually understand what you’re marketing. You know, that was just so great. And goodness me, John Myers – in radio, there are so many there. There are just so many people that I’ve, you know, and dare I say it, sparing your blushes Tamara, you’ve made a very big impact on these …
Tamara Littleton
Oh, thank you
Nicola Young 27:59
… meeting you at Christmas. And we just, we just hit it off. And I mean, how, you know, I’ve always definitely, if I had a university degree, it would be in networking. I love it and I’ve spent 35 years doing it, and you there are still amazing people. And I just love people, and I love great people, and I’m always learning from great people, and I’m learning off great people now, in general, and with the agencies around me, and, you know, I’m learning so many disciplines.
Tamara Littleton 28:28
So actually, Nicola, that’s a really good point, just to talk about your, you know, the team, the squad that you’ve got around you for, for Genaura. I mean, would you say this is your, your dream job now, and, are you doing things differently to bring, like, a new product to market, versus working on established brands?
Nicola Young 28:47
Oh yeah. I mean, it is so exciting. I mean, I’ve been sent some challenges personally, but the thing that gets me through all the time is how much I love my job. I absolutely love what I do, but to be able to have every kind of learning beyond what I know. So I’m always you know, so I know what I know, but I definitely don’t know what I don’t know. So I’ve been involved in compliance, I’ve been involved in retail, I’ve been involved in logistics, fulfilment, you know, so many different areas, but to actually, literally start from scratch, literally start day one going. Here it is. I’m holding the bottle in my hand, in a white bottle, you know, that is being shipped over from Australia, and then advising those that have trusted me to launch their brand, to go, this is what we need to do. This is who we need to engage with. This is what we need to do in terms of due diligence, look at our competitive marketplace to then have the background that I’ve had in terms of the experience, you know, not only in marketing terms, but by working in the beauty sector.
Nicola Young 29:58
It’s, yeah, I mean, there is no doubt I have loved every job I’ve been in, but this has been so exciting to bring something to market knowing that I’ve been involved in every single touch point from day one, and to be able to on the day that we do launch to beauty journalists, I just, I’ll be, I’ll probably have a little tear now. I will have a moment, because it’s just been an extraordinary ride, and it’s been nearly two years in the making to get to where we will be when we launch it. The product is stunning. The brand is stunning. I would say this, wouldn’t I, but it is. It looks beautiful, but we’ve done so much work. There’s been so much research. We’ve left no stone unturned. So we believe what with what we will be presenting, is the best that we could offer as to what the product is.
Tamara Littleton 30:55
And I think if I might just sort of make an observation that having worked with you for a little while now, just, I think what you’re brilliant at is you bring in people together – experts, and you kind of just let them shine and get on with it. But you’re also creating a real sort of collaboration, which is not always easy, with lots of different sort of agencies and people. And you’ve created that. So, you know, I just want to acknowledge that.
Nicola Young 31:21
Oh, well, thank you. But also, I need to thank the agency partners, because everybody that we’ve worked with has gone way beyond what the relationship is, because everybody has seen what a passion project this is, how amazing it is. And you know, I’ve never worked with a set of agency partners, so we regularly, and you’ve been there, you know, where we’re in the room together and we’re all working collaboratively together, and you forget that actually, on the ground, we don’t have many at all in the general team, but we’ve got so many within our teams working with US that are now. We’re all friends. We’re one big team. We’re one big happy family. We’re collectively doing this. We’re collaboratively doing this. And I’ve never been so in awe of the teams that are working on this, and will be so proud to be able to come out and show what we’ve actually created based on the product. Great briefing, great planners, you know, and also, I’ve managed to keep that network going of who I’ve met over the years, and old relationships have come back together again, working together again. And nobody’s too precious to get their hands dirty and roll up the sleeves on this one, absolutely not at all. And you know, again, sparing your blushes, you know you founded Social Element yourself Tamara, that you’re all over this, and it’s fantastic. And but then, when we work with Advertising Week, or with WACL, or with Cannes Lion or whatever it is, you know you’re coming together. And I get as much excitement from those that have worked on this brand than even myself. That is 24/7 on it. So, no, it’s, it’s so exciting. And yeah, and I’ll be honest, I don’t mind saying it. You know, it’s my birthday this week. I am in my mid 50s, and I feel really privileged to be at this position, doing what I’m doing, you know, on behalf of, you know, everybody like me, you know, I’ve learned a lot, and just getting on and cracking on with it, and sweating the small stuff too.
Tamara Littleton 33:29
Nicola you also mentioned Future Dreams as well, which is a breast cancer charity. Can you share more about the charity and why it matters so much to you?
Nicola Young 33:38
Yeah, I met up with my very good friend Philippa Brown. We were having a coffee, and Philippa is a trustee of the charity, and we were talking about just the amazing things that the charity is doing for breast cancer awareness. And I feel very honoured that Philippa asked me to, and Future Dreams themselves asked me to join the committee for an event for next year, and the event is called Neon, and it’s going to be on the 5th March next year. And it is really exciting, because it’s an extraordinary charity.
It was founded by Danielle Leslie and her mother, Sylvie Henry. They were both diagnosed with breast cancer, and very sadly, they both passed away within a year of each other of this disease. And I’ve been to the Future Dreams house, which is in Kings Cross, which is a real sanctuary. And I’ve worked with many, many charities, just, you know, on the sidelines, as it were, but to be able to be really involved in this, just as a committee member, working with other incredible people associated with the charity on something that’s so important. Yeah, no, it will be an incredible event next year, and it’s very close to what I’ve done, which is all around entertainment and artists and great fun. And it will be at the Roundhouse. Yeah, 5th March 2026.
Tamara Littleton 35:02
It sounds like it’s going to be an incredible –
Nicola Young 35:05
you’ll be there Tamara. So will you Wendy?
Wendy Christie 35:08
Oh, yes.
Tamara Littleton 35:08
Well, you’re an absolute role model. And I know that you’re a role model for your, for your two brilliant young boys as well. Well, men, really, you know. But, um, actually, I’m going to go back to go back to I mentioned that we met at the WACL event, which was a great evening, and I know that you’re a regular guest at WACL, and you’re a champion of driving change for women yourself in the industry. What changes do you think that we still need to make in our industry?
Nicola Young 35:38
You know, I always, I always think about the word changes, and then I think about the word observations, and I think about how I have definitely learned to listen more. I am very impatient, and I like to just crack on, and I have learned the art of listening. And one of the things that I’ve done by being able to be at many, many WACL events over many years is just to be part of them and to learn from these incredible women that are part of WACL.
And I think that one of the things that has really embraced change is what’s currently happening with the Empower Cafe at Cannes Lion to just literally gender equality. And also, you know, the energies that are going into getting more female CEOs, getting more women in the industry. And in fact, when you look at WACL, you realise how many there are and how many incredible women that there are. I think there’s probably still so much to do. I think there’s still a lot of old school thinking, but I do think that we’re getting there. And I think though there are so many incredible women, without being egotistical, they are just literally standing proud in the businesses that they represent, and they are an incredible inspiration to a younger generation who are now looking up to those people. And every single WACL event I go to, I always learn more, I always listen more and but just on every single level, whether it be to do with charity events, whether it would be to do with media owners, agencies, clients, you know, there is still a lot to be done, but everything I believe is in the right direction.
And definitely, I’ve always, I’ve always admired WACL from afar, and to be more and more involved with it every day, I just, you know, I want to be more and more involved within it. And I’ve been involved, you know, in the past, working with a company called Fair Break, which is gender equality through the vehicle of cricket. You know, I truly believe in it. I believe in it. And I mentor two young women now, you know they and I believe in reverse mentoring.
Tamara Littleton 37:55
I was going to say, is that reverse mentoring that happens as well. It’s brilliant.
Nicola Young 37:57
We did reverse mentoring at Estée Lauder Companies and, oh, it’s incredible, you know, literally, what I learned, and I’m learning through the two wonderful women that I’m, you know, involved with. And I don’t, you know, I use the word mentoring very lightly, because we’re listening to each other, we’re learning from each other. And, yeah, no, it’s good fun. But yeah, I stay very close to the kind of role that WACL represents in our industry for gender equality.
Wendy Christie 38:26
So let’s move on to the final section of the podcast now where we’ll get to know you a little bit more as a person outside work. Let’s start with what’s your idea of a perfect weekend?
Nicola Young 38:37
So perfect weekend is, I don’t see enough of my boys. I’m actually asking quite a few people together to my flat for my birthday. And there was only one, one kind of thing that I had to go by, one benchmark, that both boys could be there. And I couldn’t believe that there was one Sunday in the whole of the summer that I’m able to hold this day, because my son, that’s back from university, is away, out and about, doing lots of things, and my youngest is a cricketer, and I wouldn’t dare do an event on a Saturday when he plays crickets.
So what’s a perfect weekend? You know, a lot of my weekends have been working on Genaura, and I love it, and I’m not complaining about that at all, and it’s been great. But to be able to be friends and family, you know, I think you know that I’ve got a really good weekend coming up, which would be a bit of a perfect one for me.
Tamara Littleton 39:28
And what are you doing when you feel most alive?
Nicola Young 39:33
I’m going to be really honest with you. This project with Genaura makes me feel really alive. I love it. I love working. I love seeing what my boys have achieved. My boys are my absolute everything. You know, we’ve had some tricky times, and they’ve done nothing but stand by me. And sometimes I question whether they’re parenting me or whether I’m parenting them, because, you know, but you know, my eldest, William, is just completed his third year at Manchester University, and he’s, you know, he’s doing medicine, and he wants to be a consultant surgeon. He’s currently working in a neonatal unit with babies. I think that’s extraordinary for a 22 year old. And he’s just so, just so focused. And always has been so focused. And you know, you have to be in something like that.
And my youngest, who’s very much a bit more like me, which is Sport, Sport, Sport. And he went to Millfield, and he’s now just done a season in Australia playing cricket, and he’s playing cricket and kind of got his first day job, and so, yeah, that makes me feel alive, you know? That makes me feel alive seeing the achievements of those two boys, you know, and everything that I’ve achieved and everything I do.
I’m car-finatical. Everybody knows me well, knows I’m fanatical. I actually watched the F1 film last night, and
Wendy Christie 39:33
So did I!
Nicola Young 40:45
My God, I literally my feet were going as if I was in a simulator myself driving on the track it will, you know, I am car-fanatical. I love my sport. You know, just the fact that we’ve got Wimbledon on at the moment is just addictive. And so, yeah, that makes me feel pretty like people make me feel alive, Tamara. I love good people. I love being social. I love you know, I love that.
Wendy Christie 41:28
So speaking of being social, how would your friends describe you?
Nicola Young 41:33
Well, well, I’m not sure that every word is a good word, but, but I think that it’s funny. I asked a few people yesterday, and I wrote a couple of things down that seemed to be a bit of a theme. And one thing that came out, which I thought was really nice, is empathetic. Apparently, I’m quite empathetic.
And I would definitely describe myself as this, that came up a lot, which is resilient. I keep coming back, whatever is thrown at me, I will keep coming back. And, you know, I do. I’m very optimistic. But it was funny. I just wrote to some of my best friends, including my boys, yesterday. I said, How would you describe, you know, what would you say? And my eldest son, that was hilarious, William. So it’s William and Sidney, my boys, William, just went, oh, it just read something like, “You love work. You don’t stop working, even when you shouldn’t work, lol.” And it was just like, you know, he was just really telling me off. And then my youngest son went, “nailed it, William.” So they’re very close, so they looked, you know, but I love this. This really good girlfriend of mine. She said, “Well, Nicole, it’s very straightforward. I describe you like a protein bar. You provide energy and drive when people need it.”
Tamara Littleton 42:49
Wow.
Nicola Young 42:53
I’ll leave it at that!
Nicola Young 42:55
I definitely can laugh at myself. I will definitely take that out of myself. And sense of humour is everything, even when the chips are down. But yeah, no, there was a bit of a common theme coming through. But it was, you know, it was lovely actually, to get some comments, because sometimes, if you feel a bit, you know, when the world’s against you a bit, just to read some of those nice things. But yeah, I would say resilience was one that kept coming back. Because in tougher times, keep coming back.
Tamara Littleton 43:20
It’s a great exercise to do, isn’t it, we always ask our guests to actually ask their friends, because it’s lovely to hear that. Now, what was your favourite trip that you’ve ever taken – that could be a work or holiday?
Nicola Young 43:33
Yeah. I mean, do you know I keep coming back to 1989 when I took that long flight with my rucksack, with my racket. I mean, you tennis racket, yeah, I literally went on my own. I remember in the days where, you know, travel agents were all over the place, and I remember going in and saying, I’d like a flight to Sydney, please. And they went, well, when do you want to go? And went, well, Wednesday? It was literally like that. And, you know, I’d done my A-Levels, not done brilliantly well. And I thought, Oh, I better, I better leave the country.
Wendy Christie 44:05
The results weren’t that bad were they?
Nicola Young 44:06
They weren’t that bad. But also, you know, my parents had split, and I didn’t want it, and it was just like, this – this has got to be my adventure now. And it was brilliant. So I still have the most amazing, fond memories, and that’s where I learned just how to be on my own. And you know, I worked out there, and we were on a work visa, and I had lots of family out there, but I still just went out there and travelled the country, and had a brilliant experience. And you know, my youngest might still do another season out in Australia, cricket wise next year, and if he does, I’d love to go back, you know, be a double whammy, see the country again, get some of the old experiences, and be able to see my youngest son play cricket out there. So, yeah, no, that was a goodie, that trip.
Wendy Christie 44:54
It sounds like it. So, we kind of know probably where you’d like to go, but if you could time travel to any point in the past or future with no consequence. When would you go?
Nicola Young 45:05
Okay, well, that I had, I’ve got two answers to this one, but they’ve got two for different reasons. I’d go straight back to the 80s, not for music. Most people want to go to the 80s for music. No, not me. I go there for my tennis stars.
Wendy Christie 45:34
oh yeah
Nicola Young 45:35
for my absolute classics, tennis stars. And oh, Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg and Steffi Graf and Navratilova. And, oh, my word, you know. And just even like watching Wimbledon yesterday, Tracy Austin, you know, commentating, amazing so, but I would go back to the 70s for the music. I’m a real Disco Diva.
Tamara Littleton 45:47
I love that. I love that. Now, what would be the tagline on a poster for a movie about your life?
Nicola Young 45:55
Oh, well, it can only be one thing, because this is what I live by. It’s absolutely my mantra. And when I asked you right at the beginning Tamara, if I was allowed to swear, I have to swear, because it’s in the title, it will literally how I live my life. And I reckon my boys may well have bought me a t-shirt for my birthday with it on there, but it literally has to be, know your truth, own your shit, or basically “Know my truth, Own my shit.” And I like to think I do both.
Tamara Littleton 46:23
Brilliant. I absolutely love that. Karaoke.
Nicola Young 46:26
Oh yeah.
Tamara Littleton 46:26
On to, the really serious –
Nicola Young 46:28
oh yeah, yeah. Looking forward to this one.
Tamara Littleton 46:31
Do you like karaoke?
Nicola Young 46:36
No! But I’ll give it a go. There’s an absolute go-to track. “Don’t go breaking my heart.”
Tamara Littleton 46:39
Brilliant.
Nicola Young 46:40
Elton John.
Tamara Littleton 46:41
Elton John.
Nicola Young 46:54
but I’ve got to find the perfect Elton John. Sidney, my youngest has given it a go with me. It could be quite a good double act. And for lots of personal reasons, I love Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb, Guilty,
Tamara Littleton 46:56
brilliant. Okay, so lots of duets.
Nicola Young 46:58
Yeah, I’m not going to do it on my own.
Tamara Littleton 47:04
Oh, Nicola. It has been an absolute joy to have you on the podcast. Thank you for sharing everything. It’s been wonderful. And obviously we’re all rooting for the launch in September with Genaura. But before we go, I’m just going to sort of leave the platform to you with any closing thoughts.
Nicola Young 47:22
No, just to say, I feel very, very privileged that you asked me onto this, and it’s been really good fun, and it’s been really good to reflect over many years. And no, I’m just so excited. I’m so excited about what’s ahead. I’m so excited about, first and foremost, my boys and what they’re going to achieve in their lives. And you know, and I’m really excited about the future for Genaura. I’m so excited about that. Yeah, no. Exciting times ahead.
Wendy Christie 47:57
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