{"id":29495,"date":"2011-09-06T15:20:00","date_gmt":"2011-09-06T05:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-328533-4778250.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=29495"},"modified":"2021-09-13T09:30:15","modified_gmt":"2021-09-12T23:30:15","slug":"jennifer-gabrielle-chapman-talent-acquisition-lead-at-bought-by-many","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/balancethegrind.co\/interviews\/jennifer-gabrielle-chapman-talent-acquisition-lead-at-bought-by-many\/","title":{"rendered":"Balancing the Grind with Jennifer Gabrielle-Chapman, Talent Acquisition Lead at Bought By Many"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Jennifer Gabrielle-Chapman is the Talent Acquisition Lead at Bought By Many, a pet insurance company based in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Interested in talking about how you balance the grind? Get in touch with us <\/em>here<\/a>!<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been lucky enough to work for some fantastic brands throughout my career.  I started out in my career working in publishing as I always hoped to break into copywriting, although I soon realised that I had a knack for building rapport in a short space of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was approached by a client to try recruitment I thought I\u2019d give it a try and fifteen plus later, I\u2019m working for a truly amazing employer and helping them source, hire and onboard top talent across their global business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I moved into management about ten years ago and on reflection, this was a much harder transition than I realised as I didn\u2019t have much exposure to training or mentoring \u2013 but as with all things, I found my feet and it\u2019s one of the areas of my role that I enjoy the most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I currently manage a team of incredibly bright Talent Scouts, who amaze me with their skill and enthusiasm every day and work alongside a \u201chuman and resourceful\u201d People team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My role at Bought By Many focusses on talent acquisition (sourcing, hiring and mobility), DE&I (building inclusive hiring practises) and ensuring we have a clear strategy for the team, which is backed-up by best-in-breed tech, data and insight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) What does a day in the life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My first three months at Bought By Many have been a blur!  Every day presents a new area for growth and learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Typically, I start work at 9.30 as I\u2019m not a morning person (!) and it\u2019s a mix of coaching the team, recruitment deliverables for our open hires, talking with candidates, supporting the People and leadership teams – and helping raise the profile of DE&I across the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am at my best in the evening, so sometimes I use my free time to try new things out, ideate or focus on chunkier pieces of work like market research or systems admin which needs my creative brain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I didn’t enjoy working from home, mainly because I had a small house in London which wasn\u2019t geared up for home working. It was tough when some employers were reluctant to let their employees work from home too, although I\u2019m glad things have been properly shaken up in the last 18 months in that respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since relocating to Yorkshire I now have my own office space and I truly love the remote life. Bought By Many has always been flexible on how we work, allowing it to be a joint decision between both us and our employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m fully remote right now and in time, I hope to be able to visit our offices in London, Birmingham and Haywards Heath more regularly. Once we can fly safely, I can\u2019t wait to meet our folks in Sweden and the USA too. It\u2019s great to see them on Zoom, but face to face is always a lot more fun when you\u2019re meeting someone for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

4) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To me work-life balance means what I do either inside or outside of work, shouldn\u2019t affect others.  The way I\u2019ve achieved this is through discipline \u2013 and it\u2019s not been an easy balance to find. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m the sort of person who likes to do things straight away and with plenty of gusto, so I know I need to be careful to manage my own commitments and stress levels.  I am mindful of how much I have in my diary and if it starts to get too chaotic, I start to say \u2018no\u2019 or I re-evaluate what is a priority and shift things back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bought By Many are fantastic about allowing autonomy and my manager is also a great supporter of finding the right balance, which is superb.  It takes time and I don\u2019t always get it right \u2013 however my mental health is more important than anything else and always comes first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5) In the past 12 months, have you started or stopped any routines or habits to change your life?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve picked up meditation and mindfulness more since the pandemic.  I also make sure I take a full hour for lunch (something I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever done when working full-time from a company office). I walk my dogs three times a day and being among the glorious nature of North Yorkshire really helps put things in perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every stress and worry can be dissolved by a walk through a ruined castle, a beautiful sunset or a hike by a river.  On the flip side, I have found I drink more wine in the evenings than before the pandemic and that\u2019s something I want to change as I know this will have a detrimental effect on my health in the longer term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6) Do you have any favourite books, podcasts or newsletters that you’d like to recommend?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve never really been a fan of podcasts, however I do subscribe to Hung Lee\u2019s Brainfood newsletter, which is a curation of all-things-Talent on a weekly basis and always full of great content.  I subscribe to B3TA and Popb*tch too \u2013 but a word of warning, the content can be quite rude and it\u2019s definitely NSFW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m a big fan of reading books which have absolutely nothing to do with my day-to-day life.  Currently I have these books on my bedside table:<\/p>\n\n\n\n