Learning the Art of the Possible with Torchbox

I’ve grown up in the generation of technology and I come from a background in digital marketing, but now at Torchbox I’m really discovering what’s possible with the right approach and the right tech.

It’s a world away from what I was doing before. My background was selling simple brochure websites, it was a one size fits all approach. Here everything is custom, everything suits the needs of the client. And I’m slowly beginning to realise that just about anything is possible.

My first experience of Torchbox was receiving my swag in the post and signing up to some training on full stack development. I first met everyone on the Monday morning team call and introduced myself. I was then met with a flurry of welcome messages and the support from my colleagues has only grown since.

At Torchbox nothing is too much trouble. There’s a general consensus that everyone is willing to help everyone. We may be working in a remote world, and I might have only met some of my colleagues perhaps one or two times (and some not at all), but no-one is ever more than a Slack message away. Everyone is friendly and everyone is willing to chat.

We also do a lot of socials which are great for getting to know your team. Recently our social voice group has organised Pizza in the Park, a virtual murder mystery and some classic British punting. Christmas seems to be a big affair too!

Mine is not a role in tech, but I’m discovering the art of the possible with tech. I’ve been learning a little of everything so I can hop on a Zoom call with anyone about any project and discuss everything from user research, to design and build projects and digital marketing campaigns.

I’ve received training on Agile and the continuous cycle of working in sprints to adapt and improve what you’re building. This method ensures your end product and its functionality is best aligned to your user’s needs and is the best possible solution for the original problem.

I’ve also learnt so much about open source Content Management Systems and Wagtail, the CMS built by Torchbox originally for the Royal College of Art and now used by the likes of Google, the NHS and NASA. I’ve become accustomed to the technicalities involved in a re-platform project, from migrations to integrations, and beyond. I’ve been learning on the job, writing proposals and preparing pitches for some truly inspiring charities and not-for-profits.

I take pride in the fact I get to work with such great organisations who help those in need and make the world just that little bit better. I wasn’t born to be a teacher or a nurse but this way I feel like I can give back to society.

My induction has been bespoke and changed as my needs have changed. I’ve taken part in internal and external training and have been able to join webinars led by industry experts. My confidence has grown and I have made use of a mentor as well as my line manager. These mentoring sessions are a great space to improve on focus areas and make personal goals for progression.

I’ve also been able to play to my strengths. I’ve dabbled in social media and given the YouTube channel an overhaul. I’m slowly but surely becoming a LinkedIn expert and will soon get the chance to immerse myself in marketing strategy as we plan to launch our latest Wagtail campaigns.

When I first started I thought it would take a year to get up to speed with the sheer vastness of tech but I’ve surprised myself with how far I’ve come in such a short space of time. There’s still a lot to learn but that’s also the beauty of tech.

My role is a hybrid one and personally I love the diversity. I communicate with incoming enquiries and set up chemistry calls to flesh out projects and see if we’re a good fit for each other. I write proposals and statements of work as well as getting involved in pitch prep. I work closely with the marketing department in generating ideas for outbound lead gen. I have written content for the Torchbox website and have been improving our various profiles across the internet, like Clutch and G2.

If I had to pick one thing I like most about Torchbox it’s that I genuinely believe in our offering. We have an incredible team who deliver great services for amazing charities and nonprofit organisations. The team has a remarkable talent in being able to add a lot of value very quickly. Design sprints propel projects forward and creating a proof of concept like we did for Oxfam GB goes a long way to show what the team are capable of and how we work.

The industry has changed beyond belief since Torchbox started over 20 years ago in a sleepy Oxfordshire village. As an agency we continue to grow and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us over the next 20 years.

If you feel like you might suit a role at Torchbox, take a look at our careers page.