Working with Lord Sugar’s business partner – Alumni Stories, Katie Alderson
We recently had the chance to catch up with Business Management alumna Katie Alderson, Katie graduated in 2016 and since June last year, has been working for Alana Spencer, the winner of Series 12 of BBC TV Programme the Apprentice, which was broadcast in 2016, which prompted us to ask the question, what’s it like working for Lord Sugar’s business partner?
Katie has always held aspirations of running her own business, particularly around the food industry, an area for which she has a long held passion, so it was only natural that Katie was drawn to our Business Management programme at York St John University, where she had the opportunity to further her critical understanding of the management of organizations, providing a solid foundation for entry into the wider world of business.
However, six months after graduating, and being an avid fan of The Apprentice, Katie came across an opportunity that she couldn’t resist, the chance to work for one of the winners, Alana Spencer.
Alana’s company, ridiculously rich was rolling out an brand ambassador programme across the UK, giving aspiring business owners the chance to take ownership of representing Alana’s brand to their local area, and giving them vital experience and development for starting their own company. “The opportunity to work for Alana has been amazing for me”, said Katie, “the chance to work closely with a successful entrepreneur was really appealing, especially for someone who has held a long term aspiration of running their own business, like I have”. With a WhatsApp group in place so that all the brand ambassadors across the country can stay in touch, Katie receives a lot of support and input, not just from the community of fellow brand ambassadors, but from Alana herself, “I have regular catch up’s with Alana which is great, it gives an opportunity to directly feedback on how everything is going, as well as discuss ideas and opportunities for growing the business in the region, the fact that she’s so involved has been amazing for me”.
Katie in her role as a Brand Ambassador at a regional event
As the Brand Ambassador for Ridiculously Rich covering West Yorkshire, Katie is responsible for representing the company and selling products at events across the region, liaising with wholesalers and the local authority, as well as managing the region specific social media accounts for the brand. “My favourite part of the job is being out there actually selling the products at events, meeting people and talking to them about the company and our cakes, it’s very rewarding”. So what are Katie’s aspirations for the future? “I’d love to keep on progressing with the company, working towards further growth and employing extra people to help me run the West Yorkshire region for the company”.
Towards the end of our chat we had to ask whether she had met Lord Sugar, “not yet” replies Katie “but he does follow us on social media and occasionally retweet us!”
Do you have any interesting update to share with us? get in touch my e-mailing us at Alumni@yorksj.ac.uk
