My Journey from Infrastructure Comms to Energy PR - Sasha Cook

We asked our very own Sasha Cook, Senior Account Executive here at Energy PR, to share some thoughts on her journey in PR so far!

Here’s what she said…

Hi, I’m Sasha, and I’ve been working at Energy for 15 months now (time flies!).

I graduated from the University of Birmingham with a BA in English and Creative Writing in 2021 – I’ve always loved writing, so this seemed like a natural choice. However, my uni experience was largely derailed by COVID, and the job market wasn’t at its best (to put it lightly) that summer.

When the opportunity to work for a corporate communications agency came up in Cheltenham, I jumped at the chance – the work seemed interesting, and I was excited to take part in national infrastructure projects that would be affecting the entire country.

These projects were almost entirely to do with renewable energy and helping the UK to achieve its Net Zero goals. They ranged from solar schemes (Fosse Green Energy and Gate Burton), to offshore wind (the Mona, Morecambe and Morgan projects, alongside the accompanying Transmission Assets), to substations (Is-orsaf Llandyfaelog in Carmarthenshire), to huge grid upgrade projects (Norwich to Tilbury). I got the chance to work with massive names, like bp and National Grid, as well as with Martin Grant Homes and Bellway on smaller housing projects.

A lot of my work consisted of managing community consultations, which involved everything from drafting materials like consultation booklets and legal documents that would be submitted as part of the planning application to booking and running consultation events, where I got to meet members of the public and talk to them about any questions or concerns they had about the projects.

Whilst it was incredibly eye-opening and such valuable experience, I knew I wanted to do something more creative professionally. Which is why when the chance to work with Energy PR came up, I knew I had to take a leap of faith!

Although PR and communications are often considered as two sides of the same coin, and though there are some aspects that are very similar, my work with Energy can be quite different to some of the things I did at my old agency.

There were absolutely some things that stayed the same – juggling a range of different clients, the ability to draft copy and managing client accounts were all transferrable skills that helped me hit the ground running. However, building up my media relations and B2C content skills was my initial focus.

This was an interesting learning experience – and one that my colleagues were invaluable in facilitating. I learned from the best about how to speak with the media, how to draft data-led press releases and how to slip into someone else’s shoes to write features. I’ve also had the opportunity to get familiar with a range of different sectors, engaging with media titles ranging from luxury to farming. I even have a contact from the Wall Street Journal saved on WhatsApp!

On any given day, I could go from writing a blog about how full-fibre broadband differs from 5g broadband, to analysing data about what recruiters are really looking for from university graduates, to talking about my favourite PR campaigns for a company TikTok.

I love the creativity working at Energy awards me – there’s so much space for individuality here, whether that’s sharing ideas in one of our client brainstorms or picking up on an angle that’s been in the news to provide a new hook for one of our releases.

15 months in, I’ve developed my media expertise (learning the ideal mix of persistence and strategy when pitching!). I’ve had the opportunity to attend webinars and workshops – such as Suzanne Bearne’s ‘How to secure media coverage’ session – which have been invaluable in my development. I even got the Perfect Pitcher award at our last Energy PR Christmas party!

I’ve also had the chance to get involved with different areas of the business, too. I used my past experience with infrastructure projects to support a new business pitch for a renewable energy project, guiding the team towards a set of proposals that drove huge value for the potential client.

Finally, I’ve been able to use my background in sorting consultation events in a much more exciting way: helping the culture team to plan the yearly summer social and Christmas dinners!