Rebecca Wikman, Head of Growth at Clipchamp, an online video editing platform that gives users to access to professional video editing tools.

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1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?

I’d always wanted to work in marketing from quite an early age and always had a strange fascination for jingles, impactful campaigns and advertising.

Naturally, I finished high school and decided to pursue my passion, taking on a dual degree in Business Management and Communications at the University of Queensland. From there, I took up a bunch of internship opportunities with different companies to get as much exposure as I could to the world of marketing.

After uni, I stayed in Brisbane, working for a few years before moving to London and that’s where my career really accelerated. I worked in the marketing teams for a few different tech start ups before landing my most exciting role as Head of Marketing in International Expansion at Classpass.

After 5 years in London and as the world started experiencing COVID-19, I made a swift exit to get back to Brisbane where I work in my current role as Head of Growth at Clipchamp.

2) What does a day in the life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?

I’m lucky in that my role covers such a wide breadth of specialist areas, which means that every day is different.

I manage quite a large, high-performing and all-round wonderful team across the entire marketing funnel – from SEO specialists, email marketers and brand & PR experts to growth hackers and analytics gurus.

In this management role, my main focus is on providing the support and resources that my team needs in order to achieve their individual and our mutual goals.

I also sit on the leadership team, which involves a lot of collaboration – whether we’re talking about our strategy for the next quarter or putting our heads together to solve a weighty challenge.

The one thing that underpins each day, though, is data. Our business is data-driven so the common thread that flows through my week is a good cup of coffee and a few hours jumping between Amplitude, Data Studio and our comms platforms, which help to ensure we’re on track to hitting our OKRs.

3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?

It definitely does. Being a tech start-up, we’re inherently nimble and flexible in the way we work and one of our core values as a business is to be an inspiring industry leader that provides a workplace that people genuinely love.

Well before the pandemic hit, we had embraced the hybrid working model to give our team the autonomy to choose whether they wanted to work in the office, at home or find their own perfect balance of both.

Personally, I love the flexibility and try to balance my time between working from home and embracing the office culture.

I love seeing my team face to face and try to have regular catch ups with the team in person, but I also love being able to put my headphones in at home and really get stuck into some strategic work in the comfort of my own home!

It’s also great to have the flexibility to work from home when I’m in a big day of meetings, and can try and break it up with a walk at lunch or a coffee break on the back deck!

4) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?

Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is definitely one of my biggest challenges and has been for most of my career.

There are so many parts of my role that are so fulfilling, exciting and enriching, both on a professional and personal level and there are definitely a lot of days when I feel like 8 hours isn’t enough!

However, it’s something I have been actively trying to get better at – and it’s the little things like going for a morning walk or booking in an after work exercise class that help give me structure to my day.

I am actually 30 weeks pregnant which is a pretty major life change for me and my body so has really forced me to slow down and ensure I am leading a more balanced lifestyle. Something about being responsible for growing a human has definitely given me some perspective and helped prioritise achieving a healthier work-life balance.

5) In the past 12 months, have you started or stopped any routines or habits to change your life?

I have turned off Slack notifications on my phone!

Huge moment for me as I really tried to start the year focusing on work-life balance and I found that especially as we became more of an international business with a team based in the US that I was getting notifications on my phone at all hours of the day and night.

I still have slack on my phone and use it regularly to stay in touch with my team and colleagues, but have turned off those intrusive notifications and it has definitely changed my relationship with slack for the better!

6) Do you have any favourite books, podcasts or newsletters that you’d like to recommend?

I have recently reread Ryan Holiday’s Growth Hacker Marketing book. It really resonated with me on a professional level, given we’re experiencing a rapid growth trajectory at Clipchamp that’s only set to accelerate even further in the next 12 months.

It also dives into some really relevant case studies for product led growth including investing in powerful referral and virality mechanisms. In terms of podcasts, I’ve been hooked on the ‘How I Built This’ series for some time now. I find it inspiring, relatable and reassuring.

7) Are there any products, gadgets or apps that you can’t live without?

I’m a diehard Apple fanatic – can’t go anywhere without my phone, watch and airpods. I like to listen to music whenever I’m working, exercising and even meditating – so the airpods have been a game changer for me.

Health-wise, since I was diagnosed with endometriosis a few years ago, I’ve found it so important to keep track of my cycle, exercise, sleep and diet so I use a range of apps including SleepWatch, Qendo and just the standard Apple fitness app. It makes me feel more control of my disorder that is often unpredictable and uncontrollable!

8) If you could read an interview about work-life balance by anyone, who would that be?

Melanie Perkins. Her career trajectory and achievements have been absolutely awe-inspiring and I’d love to get an insight into how she manages to find the perfect synergy between work-life and everything else in between.

9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?

I think it’s important for individuals to define their own version of work-life balance as it’s so personal and subjective.

For me, work has always been something that I find intellectually stimulating, personally motivating and also enjoyable – so I know my version of balance is very different to someone whose cup isn’t filled by what they do.

What I’m also finding is that work-life balance constantly evolves and the ‘balance’ will change based on where you are in your life.

Currently as I enter the third trimester of pregnancy, prioritising rest, eating well (and often) and exercise have been more important than ever so I’m making sure my day to day life has time for all of those elements. If you met me a year ago my definition of balance would have been completely different!

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