A dynamic career spanning three continents and some questionable company cultures taught Natasha everything she knows about business – including how not to run her own.
She takes us back to the beginning to explain how and why she was inspired to make kindness the cornerstone of her market research agency MMC…
I left home in London at 17 and wasn’t fortunate enough to go into further or higher education.
I learned quickly how to hustle my way into making money, by doing all kinds of jobs. Looking back, I realise it was quite tough.
But I was always quite entrepreneurial. As a kid I had a car washing business and even asked for letter headed stationery for a birthday present so I could write letters on my typewriter.
Maybe I was destined to have a little business one day. My dad and a few others in the family were entrepreneurial too, so I guess it was probably in the genes.
I got my first break as an accounts’ assistant. Ironic as this was probably my poorest subject but I really liked the office environment.
It was a female-led business, staffed by about 80% females, which back in 1990 was a rarity.
I learned how to operate and how to get myself heard in a place where there were so many voices and so many things going on.
My career really took off when I started working for a dynamic entrepreneur who had a magazine business. He was the first person who really believed in me.
His way of working was wild! But I thrived on his drive. He just kept on giving me opportunities and I seized every one that came my way. Even if I didn’t know what I was doing, I would just say yes and work it out later. I developed this little motto of leaving no stone unturned.
I learned how to think fast and how to make him lots of money. I travelled the world. He sold that business, made millions and set up a magazine in Los Angeles, focusing on the booming dot-com industry.
Next thing I know, I’m a marketing manager living in LA, running a magazine focussing on the founders of the likes of Yahoo who were forging a path in the new world of e-commerce.
When the dot-com bubble burst, we were faced with bankruptcy. I stayed in LA and became a celebrity nanny to Burt Bacharach’s kids, among others, and had a really good time. A pretty good dinner party story!
Then I met my husband Phil at a wedding in England and decided to move back to London. We came to Phil’s native Sunderland in 2007 and I took marketing jobs in recruitment and software.
I had a two and four-year-old when I was made redundant in 2015 and I thought maybe it’s time for a change.
I was finding my roles challenging as they were very much 9-5.30. Though I had a wonderful childminder, there was always this fear of my child being sick or not being able to phone home just to check on them.
I had one boss who even declined my request to watch my child’s nativity play. And one who told me to disinfect my house once when both kids had been ill.
I felt like I couldn’t juggle my career with my family and get a place around the board table. So, I decided to give it a go on my own.
Within a month, I got my first client and then I was off and away. From the outset, I wanted to create a business from scratch that was about making its people feel safe because that’s what I’d always wanted.
I wanted people to have fun because I’ve had lots of fun in my career. I wanted a lot of laughter, but I also wanted a place with kindness and empathy at its heart.
I’d worked for some wild, bad-mannered entrepreneurs and managers.
While I loved their energy and learned a lot from them, I also learned how I wouldn’t want to be if I were a business owner.
Working in such fast and furious environments taught me how to be commercial, but also the importance of human-to-human connections.
We’re all human. We all have stuff to do, people to care for and wellbeing to achieve outside of the normal 9-5. I wanted to create a way of working that recognises that.
MMC will be 10 next year and we have a team in place that truly live and breathe those values. Though I’ve created the environment, it’s the team that’s run with it and created a supportive culture that we’re all so proud of.
We all work remotely. Everyone is empowered to work wherever they want, whenever they want. We have members of the team in different parts of the country and I’m often travelling so we’re really embracing this remote flexibility in a bigger way.
So, can you run a business on kindness?
It’s working pretty well for us! Being empathetic to one another, to our clients, our suppliers and everyone we work with actually makes good business sense.
We don’t go for every job that’s out there. There’s enough work to go around so we go for the work that feels like a good match for our team. I think we put out good energy and that attracts the right clients for us.
Market research is all about creating meaningful data. Clients are entrusting us to find out things from their customers, staff, suppliers and stakeholders that they might not even know themselves.
There’s a lot of discretion, tact and diplomacy involved and that comes naturally because of the culture and way of working that we’ve created.
Our emphasis on kindness and empathy pays off because clients quickly realise they can trust us. It’s a real market differentiator. We’re building a reputation for having integrity and being reliable.
I try to extend the same level of kindness to myself as a business owner.
Sometimes I push myself too hard but I recognise when I’m in that cycle and try to balance things out. I try not to work weekends or evenings and I take proper holidays when I properly switch off.
Age has something to do with it too. Now that I’m now in my 50s, I’m hellbent on enjoying my business and being around nice people. That’s what it’s all about.
About MMC Research and Marketing
MMC provides clear insights through intelligent market research so organisations can make informed decisions to shape their future.
Our team of senior inhouse experts, is bolstered by a group of trusted associates who are brought in to deliver large-scale, national projects.
This year, MMC decided to make the BIC our remote headquarters and it really does feel like coming home. I am very fond of the BIC, since its advisers helped me get started in the beginning. It has a special place in my heart and we are very happy here.