Employee spotlight: Emma Maynard

Business Director Emma leads our work for McDonald’s with passion, expertise and diligence. Having been with tms for almost 20 years, she knows the agency inside out and puts that knowledge to good use in her dual role leading our Agency Council.

Get to know Emma below…

What are your pronouns?
She / Hers / Her

What type of work experiences did you have prior to joining tms?
Hmmm limited considering I joined originally in 2001 but I’ve had a few breaks from tms and my ‘work’ experience in between has been a little varied:

Experience of Life – traveling for a year  – I’d recommend it to anyone.  Buenos Aires was my favorite destination.

Experience of parenthood  – maternity leave twice – I couldn’t wait to get back to the day job.

Experience of being a client – Head of Brand at Nectar (UK loyalty program) for a few years.  I learnt a huge amount but missed the fast paced nature of agency life!

What’s in your headphones currently?
Any comedy podcast I can find – my little bit of escapism in the current situation of home working, home schooling and just generally being stuck at home. I put them on, go for a run and enjoy some time to myself.

Describe tms in one word.
Family

During your time at tms, what piece of work are you most proud of?
Oh gosh there is a lot to choose from!  Probably on reflection I’m most proud of starting the journey on Happy Readers or Happy Meal Readers as it’s now known globally.

The work has developed organically over time but started back in 2007 in the UK, through a retail partnership offering books for £1.  A further partnership was then developed with the National Literacy Trust and we recommended to brand all book activity as a sub brand of the Happy Meal.  This was all started by the family team at tms and has now grown to a global sub brand which the Book or Toy initiative sits under.  Most importantly by the end of 2020 McDonald’s have used their scale to get 645m books in to the hand of kids across 10 markets.  Something I’m very proud to have been, and continue to be part of.

What would the title of your autobiography be?
‘Let me at ‘em’.

Anyone who knows me will probably understand why. Anyone who doesn’t your reference is Scrappy Doo (from Scooby Doo)

Which person (dead or alive) would you most like to be stuck in an elevator with?
I’m really struggling with this one! So I’m going to say Stevie Wonder.  Just because I’ve always been a massive fan and I figure that whilst this is theoretical it would be my only way to get to meet him.

What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve been given?
Simple yet effective.  ‘Pick up the phone’.  In a world where we all send too many emails, messages, chats, etc the power of a quick call to discuss a challenge, sound out thoughts or get to the point really damn quickly can’t be underestimated to build strong client relationships.

What’s your current side hustle?
I wish I had time for one!   My husband is a jeweler and due to COVID now setting up his business from home, which I frequently get dragged into for support on marketing, social activity and general organization skills. So maybe that counts? Hopefully I’ll get paid in diamonds.