Linda O'Connell, National Online and Media Coordinator, Society of St Vincent de Paul
Linda O Connell is the founder of Digi Nomad whilst working full-time as the National Online and Media Coordinator, for the Society of St Vincent de Paul. She has worked in the Non-Profit sector for over 16 years as a communications specialist. She qualified with an MSc in Digital Marketing Strategy from the Cork Institute of Technology in 2018.
Linda has extensive experience with social media, website development, SEO, Adwords, graphic design and advertising, both traditional and online. Linda won overall Network Cork Businesswoman of the Year and the Transformative Employee category at the Network Ireland Awards in 2020.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
LinkedIn would be my favourite as it is a place of substance and a platform where I can connect with like-minded professionals while at the same time being true to myself and the type of person and professional I am.
Tell us about you and your current role or area of interest.
For almost 30 years, I have worked across an array of fields and disciplines; I have run my own arts and crafts business; been employed as a graphic designer; worked as a wildlife warden and zookeeper etc. These experiences have provided me with greater insight and understanding of how people and businesses operate and interact, allowing me to develop and enhance my communications skills and live and work in line with my values of giving back and furthering the development of others.
I have been working and volunteering in the Not-For-Profit sector for over 20 years and have been a full-time employee with the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) since 2007. My roles within the organisation have been wide-ranging, allowing me to grow professionally and personally.
Starting in the SVP Cork Regional office in 2005, firstly in administration, while having no real office experience, I was quickly promoted to interim office manager looking after the accounts (approx. €4Ml per annum), staff and wages for over 20 employees. The following year, I was promoted to regional communications/fundraiser officer at a time when SVP did not even have a national fundraising department. Developing and implementing a fundraising and communications strategy resulted in a huge increase in donors and revenue. I started the Christmas Food Appeal Campaign and managed the Giving Tree, where the public purchased gifts for children who might not otherwise have a Christmas. This gave rise to over 50 large companies like Apple partaking in the campaign, and many still do to this day.
I was seconded by the national office in 2007 on a part-time basis to project manage the redevelopment of a national website. Twelve months later, the site saw an increase in online donations going from €80,000 to €1.6 Million.
That same year I became a full-time national employee and National Online and Media Coordinator managing my own department, looking after all aspects of the Society's internal and external communications. I became editor and chief of SVP's quarterly 52-page magazine in 2015. This, at first, I found daunting, causing a lot of anxiety as I have dyslexia and did not want people to find out, but with practice and encouragement from a mentor, I embraced the challenge. It was the first of many signs that I had it in me to step outside of my comfort zone, deal with my personal challenges and seek out support when I needed to.
Managing all aspects of the National website, it now generates an average of €5ML per year, over half a million visitors, and nearly 40,000 requests for help. I established all the charity's social media channels from scratch. As brand protection is essential to SVP, I am responsible for overseeing and policing over 230 charity shop Facebook pages and Instagram accounts.
The role requires one to wear many hats to best communicate the charity's message to its many different key audiences, e.g. donors, volunteers, government or those looking for help. My team graphically designed and produced in-house approximately 80% of all the internal publications such as the Annual Report, booklets, posters, leaflets and various other books.
All email marketing for the different departments is handled, designed and coordinated through my department. It is worth noting here that Communications is one of the smallest teams within the organisation. Still, the demands on our time have increased massively as different technologies and platforms emerge. Since Covid-19, it has forced many departments and functions to find new ways of communicating to their various audiences requiring substantial strategic input from Communications.
I am also engaged in several additional not-for-profit roles. Voluntary work has always been an integral part of my life since I was young, even while working full-time, and continues to have a stronghold on me to this day. Carrying out these responsibilities while working full-time has often resulted in burnout. However, I still love doing it and continue to try to find ways to balance my personal well-being with my drive to contribute to society.
Until recently, most of what I had achieved in my role within SVP was all self-taught. I had suffered from depression and terrible imposter syndrome since I was a very young child. I never really had any career ambitions as I did not have any faith in my own abilities and truly believed I was winging it and would be found out at any time as being a fraud. For that very reason, I decided to begin the journey of doing a Masters in Digital Marketing in 2016, so I could at least hold a piece of paper to say, "look, I kind of know it". I graduated with a 1.1 for the first time in my life and received a special award for being the best master student at a special honouree ceremony.
This gave me newfound confidence in myself and my abilities, and I feel I am growing professionally and personally, day by day. So, in June 2019, I set up my own part-time business, Digi Nomad, to help others who I felt were displaying the same lack of self-belief in their abilities and skills. I have developed some amazing friendships with these people during the process and have also seen them grow, which brings great pleasure and a sense of purpose and satisfaction in my life. So, I build websites and train people in the use of social media platforms and analytics for their business.
I am particularly interested in working with local artists, artisan food producers, and holistic therapists, all to bring their products and services as large an audience as possible through judicial use of various social media channels. On a personal level, I have been practising Buddhism for over 20 years, and I travel to India every year and stay in a Buddhist monastery to make a retreat. I love travelling and meeting new people, and interacting with different cultures.
What do you like about your career or area of focus?
The reason that I work in this particular part of the market, digital marketing, is because it chimes with my own personal beliefs, interests and outlook in life. I am concerned with ethical online service provision. Sustainable, environmentally friendly, equitable trading is quite important to me. And bringing erstwhile hidden talent to the fore is another motivator for me, particularly in my work as Digi Nomad.
While I don't work for nothing, money is not the main driver for me when choosing who to work with or not. I have to be capable of total belief and commitment in the worth of the product or service promoted, so there is a far more personal commitment to the client or product than might be with other companies. That is what motivates me!
With SVP, it is more personal. I completely believe in what the organisation does, and having used these services myself many, many years ago, I know the true value and purpose of what the organisation does.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
The best advice was from a mentor I had in SVP, who encouraged me to believe in myself and what I was capable of. While I didn't see it myself, I needed to believe that I could achieve whatever I set my mind to. This gave me inner confidence as I had so much respect for this person.
What inspires you, motivates you, or helps you to move forward?
I have always known my purpose in life is to help people. Even at a young age, this is something I have always wanted to do. However, now I feel that the professional career provides me with the ability to help people grow themselves, be it through the assistance SVP gives or building websites for small businesses or sole traders through Digi Nomad.
These people are not trying to become the next Bezos or Steve Jobs but want to change the world for the better and trust me to be part of helping them achieve that, and I feel honoured, so this is what drives me to move forward.
What are you proud of in your life so far?
Completing my MSc in Digital Marketing and Strategy with a first-class honour and receiving a special award for the best master student has definitely been my top achievement and something I am extremely proud of. The confidence and self-belief this has given me have been beyond description.
I was never very academic in my view. While I completed so many courses, including a degree in Earth Science, I never really knew exactly where I belonged in my professional career. After completing the masters, I recognised where and who I wanted to be.
What is your preferred way to meet new people/network?
For me, I think true business networking only came into my life in late 2019 when I joined Network Cork. When I first joined, I attended one or two in-person events, and I really didn't like it at all and felt very much out of my depth.
Then the pandemic hit, and everything moved online. This, I feel, is where I grew in confidence and truly networked and built relationships with fellow business people.
What skills or qualities do you feel have helped you?
I believe I am a very good listener and recently identified my leadership style as being servant leadership - a leadership philosophy in which the goal of the leader is to serve. This is different from traditional leadership, where the leader's main focus is the thriving of their company or organisation.
A servant leader shares power, puts the needs of the employees first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible. Instead of the people working to serve the leader, the leader exists to serve the people. This, for me, feels like an absolute true fit both personally and professionally.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
Probably to trust my own capabilities. Imposter syndrome can be quite crippling and doesn't allow you to see your true potential, so if I had the power to not listen to that inner voice, perhaps I might not have suffered as much professionally. Still, I believe I have grown so much, which may have been the journey. I needed to experience in order to become the person and professional I feel, and I am proud to say I am.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles and why?
Edith Eger is a psychologist practising in the United States. She was born to Hungarian Jewish parents and is a Holocaust survivor and a specialist in treating post-traumatic stress disorder.
Her resilience is truly astounding, and she has forged an amazing career as a writer and psychologist and helped countless people and professionals to let go of the thoughts that imprison us and the destructive behaviours that would hinder us.
What happens to us in life is not the most important thing in the end. Rather it is what we do with our lives.
Outside of your professional/work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
As mentioned earlier, Buddhism and meditation form a huge part of my daily life and have massively helped me in my life, career, and as a person. I also love photographing, and as I studied Zoology have a very keen interest in wildlife photography. When I first finished secondary school, I also studied art, so I will often paint or draw in my spare time.
Has the pandemic had a positive or a negative effect on you and/or your business, and how have you managed it?
Because I am someone who enjoys my own company, I really don't feel the pandemic had a huge negative impact on me personally. However, my yearly trip to India obviously came to a halt, so I look forward to the time when I can go back.
Working in SVP most certainly increased as much of our activities moved online, which was very tiring and took a lot out of me. Digi Nomad work grew again because of the pandemic, and people were in a way forced into moving their businesses online if they were to survive.
Managing my time is probably the main negative from this period. It was often very difficult to switch off, particularly given that my work is nearly completely done online, so I am still learning to force myself to take breaks and walk away from the computer for some time.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever mentored anyone?
I do have someone I call a mentor who has guided me for many, many years. Although they now feel the roles have reversed and that I am now mentoring them. I am currently a volunteer mentor as part of the Carmichael Mentor Programme for almost three years.
This programme was set up to facilitate and support the needs and concerns of CEOs, Executive Directors and Managers working in the non-profit sector by using a panel of highly experienced mentors who share their knowledge and expertise in a supportive and encouraging manner.
The skills and support I offer help others navigate their way through the difficulties and challenges they encounter, such as funding, staffing levels, increased regulatory and compliance requirements and review of strategic plans.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work or interests?
Be yourself, bring passion and full commitment to what you do. If you don't believe in what you are doing, then it is difficult to move forward. If you feel you don't want to work with a particular client because they don't fit with your ethos or outlook, then don't.
I have received a lot of feedback from people I have worked with over the years, and the most common thing I have heard is that I listened and got to know them as a person before starting to work on a project with them or for them. Of course, you can have all the technical skills in the world, but it is just as important to be a genuine and good person as well.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
I think many people see life as linear and a clear path with particular set goals that must be achieved and feel a failure when they don't reach them, but life is not like that for everyone.
I have taken many different career paths over the last 30 or more years, trying out so many different things, never quite knowing what I wanted to do. So, life isn't simple, and if the career you chose didn't work out, then try something else; it doesn't mean you failed. It just means you got to experience that journey, but now you are on another and isn't that exciting?
Is there a phrase, quote or a saying that you really like?
Waiting to wake up! This is from my Buddhist teachings and has more to do with truly seeing life and not clinging to the way life is supposed to be.
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
I think people want to always feel like they are being listened to as customers or clients, so on a very practical level, two companies come to mind, particularly from a customer service or care point of view.
One would be MailChimp, which have amazing customer service. They will stay online with you until your issue is resolved. For that reason, I would have a lot of trust and respect for them.
The other, who I just think have nailed it and probably don't get enough recognition, is the Irish web hosting company, Blacknight. These guys are just phenomenal; you literally think you are talking to a best friend when reaching out to them.
I believe so many companies could take a leaf out of these guys books. If I feel I can trust a company, I am being listened to, and someone is going to help me resolve my issue and do it in such a caring way, then they are totally getting it right.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience/readership?
This is an interesting question as I never really had ambitions to climb any career ladder, yet I always want to be good at what I do and give 100% to everything I do. So, I think I would measure success by how I leave people feeling who work with me. I believe I am a very loyal and trustworthy colleague, always willing to help others grow and develop and not see them as competition. So, I think being a true and genuine leader is what I aim for, rather than titles or the size of my salary.