Great People: Introducing Had Armistead

Meet Client Partner, Had.

She has big enthusiasm, big ideas, big laughs and even bigger hair. She's friendly, she's funny, she gets the job DONE, but whatever you do, don't call her Hagrid.

Without further ado, here she is...

Who are you and what do you do?

Hi, I’m Had, to some Angharad (it’s Welsh) and to others Hadders, and I’ve been called Hagrid before. I’m never sure whether to be insulted by nicknames, but you are sailing close to the wind if you call me Hagrid these days...

I’m here at Great State as a Client Partner. That means staying close to what the client needs, being at the heart of the strategy, and keeping my ears pinned to the ground for ways that the Great State team can make their stars shine even brighter.

How did you get to be here?

I have weaved through to where I am, but it's been a joyful journey with rough and smooth in there for good measure. I’ve worked at brand agencies big and small before throwing in the full-time towel and doing 5 years as a freelance Digital PM which I loved, and which saw me through COVID. I then moved into consulting on running small businesses and teams with a lovely bit of coaching to add flavour.

What freelance, consulting and coaching all gave me was deep experience, rich insight into how people work together, and a keen sense of how we can learn from others. But what it lacked was consistency, teamwork and being landed inside a rich business culture, all things Great State has in spades.

What are you working on right now?

So here I am working on Great State’s Defence clients; Defence Digital and the Royal Navy. Currently the work is based on innovation in the Defence Digital space, and in supporting the Royal Navy’s Communications and Recruitment teams to deliver the very best digital experiences across the board.

At Great State, we deliver tech solutions to create impact for our clients, and by mapping solutions and ensuring it is both backed by insight, led by expertise and then delivered on brief and to schedule, we can track the impact and value.

How can intelligently designed tech deliver ROI for clients?

At every turn we need to ensure we are laying the foundations in our benchmarking of data at the very outset to make that impact measurable. More importantly still, as we learn we must iterate and incorporate insights to allow us to get better and better, building the ROI as the projects and campaigns map out over time. These feedback loops are critical to success for our clients. Working in Defence has been eye opening, as this space is fast becoming a sector where the advances in technology are pushing ahead of the curve. It’s fantastic to be a part of this. 

What are the tech innovations that excite you the most?

In my own time, I’m a keen environmentalist and this is another place where we can learn more using data. But even more exciting for me is the predictive tech; the stuff that allows us to anticipate global issues, to predict the changing weather patterns, and to understand how we can protect people and planet too.

What excites you about your work?

I get excited at work when I can shift someone's perception whether that's with the team in the office day to day, or working on a project or idea with a client. It’s human nature to get bogged down in the day to day, and forget the big picture, so it’s thrilling, showing someone how to achieve something they thought they couldn't do or boosting someone's confidence in a new way.

What excites you in life?

Outside of work I love nothing more than listening to music and occasionally making it myself. I’m more creative and musical than I like to let people know about. Don’t ask me to sing you a song as I just might break into one!

What is the future of tech looking like to you?

I think tech is bound to go into the AI space. Sure, we are all talking about it and us millennials fear it ever so slightly. But I like to think that technology is usually built for a better world, and if it's not I want to believe we can steer whatever innovation is out there in the right direction. It's well known that AI has a growing carbon footprint, but we also know that there is good at the heart of it. The aim in using it well can be to help businesses and governments better prepare for climate change and the growing challenges for communities that come with it.

Ask a question back. What do you want to know? 

If you read this far my question for you is, when's the last time you looked up and watched the clouds passing?

Want to chat with Had?

If you do, we don't blame you, she's a hoot. Ping her an email via had.armistead@greatstate.co.