6 Years at Share!

Rachel McKinnon, Share’s Events and Commercial Officer, recently celebrated six years at Share. Rachel joined the Share team in December 2017 as a temporary Learning and Development Administrator, whose role was to provide administrative support across the business, from learning and development training to marketing and events, and everything in between.

Fast forward to 2021, and Rachel was promoted to Marketing and Fundraising Executive, then Marketing and Events Executive and now, Events and Commercial Officer. Here’s what Rachel had to say about her journey and time at Share:

“I had graduated from Glasgow Caledonian University in 2016 with a 2:1 honour degree in International Retail Marketing. I worked during my student years in Tesco where I gained valuable customer service experience, I enjoyed being part of different departments and teams over my time there. After completing my degree, I started to pursue graduate job opportunities in a very tough and competitive environment. I was clear that I wanted to pursue a career that involved working with people in a team setting in using my degree, experience, and skills.

The job opportunity at Share was an excellent match to my degree and customer service experience. I knew that I could use my people skills, positive attitude, and organisation skills to contribute at Share. I recall the effort I made throughout the recruitment process, and I was determined to get this right. I was delighted to be selected for an interview and pleased that it went very well. Initially I was offered a temporary role, I couldn’t wait to start at Share and was looking forward to learning more about the housing sector and being part of a team who are passionate about delivering support to the housing sector.

The following year (2018) my contract was extended, and I became a permanent member of staff. To begin with, I was a little overwhelmed with how busy we were with so many courses going on, events coming up and getting to know so many new people. Although a small organisation, we are very busy and continuously work towards tight deadlines. Over the years through restructuring, there have been many changes. I have been happy to be part of some of the operational changes, I really enjoy my current role however during this period of change, whilst I felt apprehensive, I was also excited and looking forward to the challenges ahead. I have received great encouragement from Olwyn, Chief Operations Officer and Daryl our CEO and I have greatly appreciated the support of Share’s Board. My colleagues have also been helpful and supportive as Share continues to change and grow.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t overly familiar with Share when I went for the job. My dad, who was CEO of Cassiltoun Housing Association at the time, would speak fondly of facilitating and attending training and conferences through Share, and it was him who noticed the job advertised in Scottish Housing News and encouraged me to apply. At the time of applying, I was a Customer Service Advisor, working for Aviva Insurance where I had gained further customer service experience however, the environment was not for me in terms of culture.

I haven’t looked back and have embraced my role as the Events and Commercial Officer at Share. I enjoy the responsibility of being the main contact person for our conferences despite the stresses it can bring. An important part of my role is planning and working with multiple colleagues and agencies to ensure we deliver the highest standards possible. I thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to network with colleagues across the sector and to build strong relationships. I’m aways learning and with every event, I have the opportunity to use feedback to help improve future events. I have learned that communication is key and listening to our members is vital if we are to deliver meaningful and constructive events.

Finally, I couldn’t ask for a better team to work with at Share and colleagues have become friends. We work hard and some of you may have noticed that we can play hard too – partial to a karaoke night and usually first up on the dance floor at the Annual Conference, and usually last off it too!

Out with Share, I enjoy keeping fit by going to the gym, long walks, cooking, spending time with family, friends, and my husband Ryan. I enjoy travel and exploring new places, but I must admit, I could do Ibiza blindfolded!

I look forward to working with you all for many years to come and I am looking forward to seeing Share develop and grow in future years.”