The next Hatchling in our regular Meet The Team feature is Associate Director, Helen Simpson!
Name: Helen Simpson
Job Role: Associate Director
Q. First things first – how do you like your eggs?
A. Scrambled, runny with little bit of cream or grated cheese for added naughtiness. Lots of pepper. On a slice of buttery toast
Q. If you could invite three people to a dinner party, who would it be and why?
A. The legend that is Sir David Attenborough – the root of my intense obsession with the environment and let’s face it, he made sloths (and wildlife documentaries in general) cool
Nelson Mandela – having sat outside his home in Soweto (creepy I know) and attempted, and failed, to read all 630 pages of Long Walk to Freedom six times
Michelle Obama – because as they say, behind every great man is a great* woman… (*I think the saying goes ‘better woman’ but in the name of equality we’ll keep it balanced)
Q. What is the oddest possession you own?
A. I have an addiction to buying art from places I visit – unfortunately when I get them home, they look totally out of place in a characterless new build in Leeds, so now I’ve got South African canvases and Italian watercolours with no place for them
Q. What has been your career highlight while working at Hatch?
A. Dressing up as a human pea pod in central London ‘for the love of peas’ during Great British Pea Week – because PR really is as glamorous as they say
Q. What is your office nickname?
A. I don’t have one (not that I’ve been privy to anyway)
Q. Time to choose: White Rose or Red Rose?
A. As a born and bred Cumbrian, neither
Q. If you could only ever listen to one song again, which would it be?
A. It would have to be one of my ‘sing-my-heart-out-in-the-shower’ jams – Simply Red, Holding Back the Years or Whitney Houston, I Have Nothing. Yes, Smooth FM, I am the anomaly in your average listener age profile.
Q. What is your office snack of choice?
A. Pop chips but I’m sure my fellow Hatchlings can back me up when I say, if there’s snacks to be eaten, I’m game.
Q. Which brand would it be your dream to work with?
A. Nike
Q. You’re on a sinking ship with all the Hatchlings, and you only have the power to save one. Who do you choose?
A. It’s got to be Lucy – the other half the ‘quad squad’. Not only because I feel very confident her 125kg deadlift PB could prove advantageous when faced with killer whales or rogue pirates, but because I reckon her culinary skills would be well applied to rustling up ceviche, king prawns or even a spot of sushi. Nobody is thinking up a successful escape plan on an empty stomach.
