Work hard, remain curious & take opportunities

Julie Bramham – Chief Marketing Officer, Diageo India, says she is happy to see businesses working to ensure female participation at all levels across organisations. She is proud that Diageo is a trailblazer with 50% female representation on its board.

Julie Bramham hails from Birmingham in the UK. She studied Business at the University in Leeds. Her parents and sister live in the UK. After passing out of college, she worked in the UK on premise helping design brand concepts for retail outlets. That gave her a thirst for business, and after a couple of years she joined Diageo, working first in sales and later in marketing. Julie’s first job in Diageo was selling Guinness in pubs and bars. “It was a brilliant start as I quickly got to learn and understand the business, our customers and our portfolio,” she says. Her parents were happy with her career choice. Diageo is all about ‘celebrating life everyday’ and promoting responsible consumption. “My parents felt it was a great company and a good business to join.”

She says, “As the Chief Marketing Officer in India, I am responsible for the marketing of all of our brands, the innovation we do and how we build our portfolio.”

Huge impact

She credits Diageo for her growth as a person and a professional. “I have been with Diageo for nearly 20 years across geographies,” Julie recalls. “I have changed my role roughly every 2-3 years and feel lucky to have gone through enriching experiences that helped me grow.” She did not find it difficult to come up in her career. “If you work hard, remain curious, stay open and take opportunities as they come along, then the sky is the limit,” she says. she enjoys working in the alcobev industry. “It is a highly social business, and I enjoy being with people. I also get a chance to travel both in India and outside India.” Talking about the traits women need to succeed in the job, she says: “Women should be able to think big and create possibilities for brands.”

A Galaxy of Gurus

Julie says she is lucky to have many inspiring mentors and gurus. “Both Syl Saller (Diageo Global CMO) and Mairead Naiger (Diageo Global CHRO) have been great mentors. In India, I have learnt a lot from Mamta and Abanti. I think women need to come together and support each other in business. That has been my experience in Diageo. Outside of Diageo, I look up to women leaders like Anita Roddick (founder of The Body Shop), Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook) and Dame Cilla Snowball (ex-CEO AMV BBDO). I just read a great book called A Good Time To Be A Girl by Helena Morrissey, which I highly recommend. She is a successful CEO in the financial sector, who has balanced a successful career while bringing up 9 kids.” Her goal in life is to “be happy and do my best for my kids”