International Women’s Day 2021 – Rachel Meldrum, Sales Development Manager

Rachel Meldrum, Sales Development Manager, Leyton UK

What does the International Women’s Day slogan, #ChooseToChallenge mean to you?

*Choose to Challenge – “A challenged world is an alert world. Individually, we’re all responsible for our own thoughts and actions – all day, every day. We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. We can all choose to seek out and celebrate women’s achievements. Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world.”

Definitely rings true, it’s not just women who need to stand up against gender bias and inequality – especially in a male dominated industry, it’s so important that our male counterparts play their part too.

What advice would you give to women who are about to embark on their career?

Don’t underestimate yourself and if you don’t take yourself seriously, how can you expect others to.

Do you have a role model who has inspired you during your career?

I wouldn’t say I have one single role model but there has been a number of different people who have inspired and influenced me throughout my career. Sarah Anderson is definitely a key person at Leyton who’s propelled my career forward as she constantly reminded me to take myself seriously and believe in my ability.  

What do you enjoy most about working at Leyton?

Would have to be the meritocracy and the culture we have, even when working from home. It’s great to be part of a global company but still feel like I have a voice and can impact the wider business.

Finally, how do you feel that Leyton supports women – both in their roles and their career growth?

It’s great to see a number of women heading up different departments across the UK, at one point we had an all women management team for Glasgow SD. However, would love to see a greater number of women come through Sales Dev, something we can all work towards.