Managing innovation! Having left school with her GCSEs but no idea of what she wanted to do in life, Cerys Williams shares her journey to the busy job she enjoys today. If you don’t know what an Innovation Manager does, read on!
"I was lucky enough to be given a chance by the owner of an estate agency who saw that what I lacked in formal training, I more than made up for in enthusiasm! I knuckled down and worked hard. I learnt how to support people selling their home, when they entrusted me with their most valuable asset. I learnt to guide first time buyers or downsizers to seeing potential in homes that they may not have previously considered. Eventually I also learnt how to hold my own against experienced solicitors and surveyors who had no patience for ‘rookies’ like me. After five years, I understood conveyancing, the process of selling a house, inside out and had even the stoniest of solicitors warm to me! We were a busy city centre estate agency, and I had become Sales and Lettings Manager. Looking back, I realise I needed that bit of maturity to get these positive outcomes. I had been a bit of a wild child in my teens and early 20’s but I was
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Make The Future Yours! Issue 4
quick to learn life lessons once I got serious about working. I guess what I’m trying to say here is that you need determination and perseverance. I would say that you also need luck, but I believe you make your own luck. I think that was how I met the founders of Sero, a group of businesses working towards a green, net zero carbon home for everyone. The business was growing rapidly, and they needed a team member to help manage all the new ideas and technologies being planned. I jumped at the chance and that’s how I became Innovation Manager here. Although my previous estate agency experience clearly gave me an insight into homes, I realise how little I actually knew about energy efficiency. I think it’s safe to say that this is not one of the main selling features of a house and that, actually, the industry as a whole is pretty
