How Sara Payne Discovered Her Rhythm

What do music and advertising have in widespread? They each require creativity and cautious planning — a reality our senior challenge supervisor Sara Payne is nicely conscious of. 

For some, working at a advertising company was a simple job selection. For others, it was a segue into a distinct profession path. At the very least that’s the way it was for Sara. She took her love of music and creativity and combined it together with her knack for group and administration, making a cadence that sings. And what she realized throughout her journey prepped her to excel at Brafton. 

However, how did she get right here, precisely? Let’s have a look at her journey from learning media and music manufacturing to turning into a challenge administration maestro. 

Getting Her Begin

Sara acquired her undergraduate diploma in media and music manufacturing at American Intercontinental College in London, specializing in the music aspect of the trade. After graduating, she went to the College of Westminster to pursue a grasp’s diploma in audio manufacturing. 

As she seemed for her first job out of school, she knew the music trade was the place she needed to be. She broke into this sector by working in Artist Relations, then in launch planning within the central advertising division — her first style of promoting. After that, she took on a number of totally different roles, like enhancing video content material, managing bigger artistic groups, producing visible content material for manufacturers and heading the advertising and PR division of a communications agency.

She realized to juggle a number of initiatives directly, handle timelines, deal with partnerships, construct campaigns and work intently with creatives — all of which set her up for achievement the place she is as we speak.

Like a music that you simply simply can’t fairly get out of your head, Sara by no means removed the advertising earworm.  She desired a artistic function the place she might use her realized abilities. Though she’d by no means accomplished challenge administration earlier than, every part she’d accomplished up till then pointed her towards that function. 

Discovering Brafton

Sara’s journey to Brafton began like many others: on LinkedIn. Whereas trying throughout the platform, there have been two principal elements Sara thought of a precedence in her seek for her subsequent massive gig.

“I needed to have a little bit extra management and to be completely satisfied in my new function,” she mentioned. “So I requested myself what must be included [in the job] in order that I’m happier.” 

Her want for bodily freedom made distant work interesting, a piece model she’d by no means actually thought of earlier than. When Brafton got here up in her search, it immediately piqued her curiosity. On the time, she was additionally a British firm for a similar sort of job. 

“Though the British selection appeared extra comfy, I made a decision to go to the place that was totally different and may problem me extra,” mentioned Sara. 

She was employed in February 2022 as a challenge supervisor and has since been promoted to senior challenge supervisor. She excitedly commented she “acquired precisely what she was on the lookout for” by selecting to work at Brafton. 

“I needed a spot that had a constructive work setting and the place I might measure success,” she added. “I really feel like I manifested what I needed.”

Harmonizing Work and Effectively-Being

Earlier than Brafton, Sara was fast to hurry from challenge to challenge, hardly slowing right down to congratulate herself on her successes. Now, she’s in an setting the place she feels supported and capable of really feel really nice at what she does.

“It was necessary to have abilities, use them and really feel like I’m really making a distinction, the place the opposite setting was operating like a rooster and not using a head,” she mentioned, chuckling.

For instance, she loves that Brafton is massive on group, particularly via our challenge administration system, one thing her earlier roles didn’t have. 

As for work-life steadiness, she believes nothing’s extra necessary than caring for herself. One among her favourite elements about working at Brafton — apart from her coworkers, in fact — is how versatile the job is. 

“I’ve to be disciplined about making choices for my psychological well being and bodily well being,” she mentioned. “Though I is likely to be drained or working late, the fitness center is tremendous necessary [to keep a healthy work-life balance].”

Off the Clock

Whereas Sara excels throughout her 9 to five, she has a ton of enjoyable together with her 5 to 9, as nicely. As a result of she loves specializing in her psychological and bodily well being, train is all the time part of her each day schedule. Outdoors of labor, you will discover her on the fitness center doing yoga, meditation and pilates.

She’s additionally massive on journey, usually bouncing between her dwelling base in London and Washington D.C. — the place she’s initially from and the place her household nonetheless lives. Whereas she not often makes use of these abilities anymore, she casually talked about she has a sophisticated brown belt in American karate and is classically skilled in piano — two factors that another particular person would’ve made a a lot greater deal about. 

Though she doesn’t know what Sara 30 years from now shall be as much as, she’s centered on having fun with the journey and seeing the place it takes her. However one factor is for sure: Her focus on her well-being and artistic abilities isn’t going anyplace. A actuality that Brafton — and everybody else — will get to profit from.