Kelsey Robb (Marketing, 2018, Fylde) is a creator manager at TikTok and has already had a job at Google, so has established herself on the cutting edge of tech, but she never misses the opportunity to learn.

As Creator Partnerships Manager at TikTok she supports teams looking at activity on and off the entertainment platform trying to spot and encourage trends and creative individuals, which she admits means spending an “exorbitant” amount of time online and in app. She also works with other companies and individuals to help showcase their talent on the platform.

“It's fun and challenging but incredibly exciting,” enthuses Kelsey. “You never really know what will happen. You can think that you have your week planned out and then all of a sudden a huge trend emerges or something unexpected pops up in the zeitgeist of the world. Suddenly it's all systems go - you’re rejigging this and changing that.”

She describes a recent trend in which mothers dressed in the same fashions as their daughters, which she loved: “It was so lovely to see how excited the women got about it. You could see it opened their eyes as to what they could wear and how they could dress. I love when people see new ways to express themselves.”

Her studies at Lancaster University proved their worth in her very first job for Google. She realised that two of the advertising theories she’d been taught had come up whilst consulting businesses, which boosted her confidence.

Brought up in Luton, Kelsey knew Lancaster was her first choice, after visiting more than ten other campuses with her family. She’d already decided to study marketing while at school, but it was the flexibility of the course and the emphasis on studying what interested her that convinced her.

Settling in required adaptation as she felt a long way from home and found the campus considerably colder than back in Luton. As a city enthusiast, she also found it so quiet that she played a YouTube sound track of traffic noise in her room to help her feel more at home.

The college atmosphere at Fylde however enveloped her and Kelsey found friends she could always call upon to accompany her to new events. This experience she says has made her ‘Fylde until I die’.

The Freshers' Fair was an eye opener - so many societies and the chance to try something new. She joined the Advertising Society and in the last year was President, she loved it so much. She also joined Hip Hop Society sessions which gave her moves that she still uses on the dance floor. She tried out for the rugby team, went to the Entrepreneurship Society and the Bright Futures as its Marketing Officer.

Advertising with Hayley Cocker was a highlight because of her ability to bring theory to life. She also relished marketing lectures with Alan Gilchrist because of his love and enthusiasm for sharing his subject complete with humour and relevant anecdotes. The group marketing project required in her final year provided invaluable experience of marketing consultancy which she used when developing marketing strategies in the first three years of her work life.

Even though the hiking group tours company was not her area of interest, she had opportunities to speak to directly to its founders. She says: “In the end I really enjoyed it. To take the principles and apply it to something you are not interested in turned out to be a better exercise in learning.”

She attributes a large part of her early success to Vicky Metcalfe, whose ‘Marketing Me’ course ensured she understood the need to prepare herself for work early enough during her time at Lancaster. She worked on a good CV and had sought out internships, so that she had already had a job offer from Google before her exams started. This meant she could concentrate on study for which she was rewarded with a First Class degree.

Kelsey loves her work for its constant variety and the opportunities it offers to learn and discover something new. It’s something that brings her huge pleasure both professionally and personally. She never knows what is going to be around the corner.

Lancaster set her up well for life after university, not only academically and socially, but also by giving her a rich network. She says: “It gave me a lifelong network of people from where I can get business advice and knowledge. That is so supportive. You have people to lean on in the daunting world outside, who have been through the exact experience you have.”