Love in Everything We Do: it was there all along

In her blog post, Laura opens up about how Kirsty and Jon’s vision initially threw her for a loop. After spending over 20 years in healthcare communications, she was taken aback by the idea of bringing something as personal as love into the professional world. It just didn’t seem to fit. But as she let their idea sink in, Laura began to realize it wasn’t as far-fetched as she first thought. Here, she shares how embracing that idea can actually lead to more meaningful and compassionate work.

“Wasn’t love a bit, well, personal? Or at least, not particularly worky?? How would I reconcile it with the professional?”

When Kirsty and Jon first shared their vision with me, I don’t mind saying I felt a bit uneasy. I mean, it was so different! So out there! In the 24 odd years I’d been working for and with healthcare comms agencies, I’d never seen anything quite like it. Love hadn’t been mentioned by anyone! Wasn’t love a bit, well, personal? Or at least, not particularly worky?? How would I reconcile it with the professional?

I listened to their rationale and let it percolate. And over time, it dawned on me. This vision wasn’t actually as ‘out there’ as it had first appeared to me. I thought back to all the times I’ve done great work, for clients I’ve really admired. There was a sense of ‘the personal’ to all of it. Whether that was the extra email/call I’d made to a patient without being asked just to check they were OK after a difficult interview, to the Teams meeting where the client and I decided we could cover the key actions in 10 minutes, leaving 20 to chat about our summer holiday plans and what the hell we’d do with the kids the rest of the time. The difficult conversation I’d had to have when my work had fallen short of the expected mark. The lovely conversation I’d had when my work had exceeded expectations, that left me on a high all day.

I might not love everything I do in a day. Do you? There are always tasks and projects that leave me a little drained, just as there are when I’m wearing my other ‘hats’ of wife, mother, sister, mate. But that’s love, isn’t it? The give, and the take. The highs, the lows, and most of the time, the contented equilibrium. The exciting, the boring and the hilarious. But through it all – the red thread of mutual respect, of compassion, of humanity. Of love.

How I Turned my Unique Interests into a Career I Love

Szonja, one of our fantastic Account Executives, shares how her differences have propelled her into a new direction. From not knowing what MedComms was just over a year ago, to finding a newfound passion in medical writing, Love in Everything We Do resonated with her from day one. Have a read to learn more about her journey.

“I was given projects right off the bat that allowed me to have challenge and autonomy to use my strengths—attention to detail, natural curiosity, critical thinking.”

In my early life, I struggled with fitting in. I always had the tendency to have strange fascinations and to read and talk about them endlessly. The earliest I can remember was kindergarten; I was obsessed with deep-sea creatures. A young kid talking about jellyfish a bit too much was endearing to adults, but as I aged it dawned on me that I was the odd one out, and worse, everybody noticed that before I did.

I knew there was something different about me, but I didn’t know what it was. I communicated in unique ways, had a strong sense of justice, and developed intense interests that I researched extensively, often knowing so much about them that it weirded people out. But stranger things have happened, I thought, and focused on my goals, eventually leading me to medical school due to my love for both literature and science.

At the age of 21, after a particularly difficult time in my life, I was diagnosed with autism. This diagnosis was a turning point, thankfully for the better. Psychiatry had always been a passion of mine, and I quickly focused on autism as my new area of interest and left medical school to shift to a more research-oriented path. By pure chance, I met an autistic professor who became my dissertation supervisor.

Writing my dissertation was a fantastic experience. I dreamed big and conducted original research on a large dataset, exploring how the altered immune system of autistic individuals increases their risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19. I enjoyed every bit of the process—reading research papers, analysing information, identifying patterns, and writing about my findings. It felt like a reward rather than a chore.

Upon graduation, I began looking for a job, unsure of the career options available. I felt anxious, as it was the first time I didn’t have a clear plan for my future. I applied to Mearns & Pike for a seemingly arbitrary reason—I liked their tagline, “Love what you do,” and their heart-shaped logo. I had never heard of MedComms before, but this resonated with my intrinsic motivation to do things because I was passionate about them, not because I was forced to. Having a workplace where this mindset was central seemed like an unattainable dream, but upon meeting Kirsty, Jon, and later, the rest of the team, I felt weirdly like I was in the right place.

Working here has been a fulfilling journey from the start. Without having to ask, I was given projects right off the bat that allowed me to have challenge and autonomy to use my strengths—attention to detail, natural curiosity, critical thinking. Even the directness that has sometimes been a double-edged sword earlier in my life. I feel not just leveraged but genuinely valued. With the great added advantage of working from home, which allows me to stay focused and energized, unlike the noisy and crowded settings that often drain me. I decided fairly quickly that I wanted to be a medical writer, and it was met with nothing but encouragement. It’s great, not having to dread Mondays, and I would be lying if I said I never had to.

Now Mearns & Pike has a new and improved purpose statement, “Love in everything we do”. I was honoured to be around for the beginning of this new chapter, and motivated to embody what it means for me.

To me, love is about getting to know both my colleagues and our clients on a professional, and sometimes even personal level, listening to them, learning from them, and bringing my best self to work every day to achieve what we set out to do together. The company values and encourages individualism, but paradoxically, allowing us to each bring our distinct personalities, dreams, stressors and strengths fosters a culture of collectivism, where collaboration and the creativity naturally flourish.

10 Years On: Kirsty reflects on the journey to Mearns & Pike today

As we approach the launch of our new purpose tomorrow, we are sharing the thoughts of co-founder Kirsty Mearns on the journey so far for Mearns & Pike.

“We have taken risks, employed amazing people with different outlooks and experience, worked on some truly inspiring campaigns and created beautiful, lasting relationships with our clients and partners. Through everything we have listened to our hearts.”

When we started Mearns & Pike Ltd seven years ago we set out to do things differently. We didn’t want to follow the models of other agencies. We wanted to forge our own path based on what we believe is the right thing to do and guided by our purpose to Love What You Do.

Some people labelled us as a ‘lifestyle’ agency and questioned our growth plan and our virtual business model – but we believed that this was the right approach for us and would lead to success.

Seven years on we have achieved much more than we ever imagined we would. We have punched above our weight and outperformed many, much larger agencies. Our work has been recognised for its impact, winning seven prestigious industry awards and shortlisted more than 50 times. We have a client list that includes some of the biggest healthcare companies in the world as well as some smaller, exciting clients with huge potential. We’ve done all this whilst always staying true to our purpose to Love What You Do.

Our virtual model was embraced by clients even before COVID changed the world of work. We have colleagues working from around the world ensuring that talented people who have made life choices that make traditional agency working challenging can continue to thrive. And despite working tremendously hard, we’ve maintained a balance that has enabled us to achieve fulfilment in work and in life.

We have turned down work that doesn’t match our ethos, pulled out of pitches where the chemistry wasn’t there and on rare occasions politely walked away from client relationships that didn’t make us or our team feel good.

We have taken risks, employed amazing people with different outlooks and experience, worked on some truly inspiring campaigns and created beautiful, lasting relationships with our clients and partners that connect at a much greater depth than we have experienced before. Through everything we have listened to our hearts.

Following our hearts is what has led us to define the future direction for Mearns & Pike.

The question of what our future looks like was bugging us for a while. Many agency leaders in our position are by this point exploring a lucrative way out or at least ways to expand and continue to make more and more money. But those traditional measures of success aren’t what drives us and the idea of selling out, whether now or in the future just wasn’t something either of us could stomach.

We enlisted the support of Jon Bircher to challenge us and help us to imagine the future of Mearns & Pike. Together we embarked on a journey of reflection about where had come from, how we define our success and what we want our legacy to be.

This week, on our 10th anniversary of meeting, we will reveal our new Purpose and share what it means for our team, our clients and everyone we work with.

Watch this space...

The Future of Love What You Do: As told by Jon Pike

Approaching this evening’s Communique Awards, Mearns & Pike co-founder Jon Pike reflects on our story so far ahead of turning the page to a new chapter tonight.

“We established Mearns & Pike to do things differently, and that is what we plan to do in the next chapter of our journey.”

Thursday marks ten years since Kirsty Mearns and I first met and started our journey in life together that has given us many wonderful experiences, memories to cherish, an amazing family, a gorgeous little boy and a business – Mearns & Pike – that we are both very proud of.

Mearns & Pike Ltd, the company, has existed for seven years and over that time we have achieved so much. Seven industry awards, countless short-listed projects, growing our company to eleven people, a client list that includes some major healthcare companies with a mixture of passionate patient advocacy groups and nimble start-ups are on the list of our achievements. Perhaps the biggest achievement has been staying true to the purpose we came up with all those years ago, to Love What You Do.

This has been a guiding light for us which has helped us to identify which projects and campaigns we have chosen to work on, to create a working environment that helps others to love what they do and to make sure that our time is spent doing the things that matter.

Often at this stage of their journey agencies like ours start to think about what next – what does the next chapter for our business look like? For many it is about profitability and sustaining growth with a view to seeking or attracting someone who might purchase the agency and take it to new places. For many agency owners that is absolutely the right thing to do.

What is clear to us, seven years into our journey, is that it is not the right thing for us. We established Mearns & Pike to do things differently and that is what we plan to do for the next chapter of our journey.

On Thursday we will be sharing what’s next for us. On paper it is a subtle change in words but in reality it will be a significant and deliberate shift in our outlook and focus. The ‘What’ we do will not change: we will continue to deliver high quality, impactful programmes that really matter, with clients and partners that share our values. We’ll still focus on finding the sweet spot between healthcare clients and their audiences with campaigns that appeal to the heart, not just the head. However, 'How' we do it is where the difference will be.

To be honest, we’ve probably been working in this way for a while now. Which is what makes it feel so right for us and for the people we work with. We have followed our hearts to this point and we will continue to do so.

First Steps into MedComms: a Work Experience Placement with Mearns & Pike

“Starting my work experience at Mearns & Pike was both exciting and a bit scary (at the start). But what I discovered and learned here has been amazing. Here’s a glimpse into my incredible experience and the valuable lessons I’ve learned”

Last week was a Mearns & Pike first, as we opened our doors (laptops?) to a Year 10 work experience student, who joined us to learn a bit more about the diverse and collaborative world of PR and communications. A learning experience for all of us as well, we were so impressed at her approach to taking on the very same work that makes up our day-to-day, as she tackled a range of tasks within our current projects.

In this blog post, she shares her first impressions and thoughts from her week with us. Her fresh and enthusiastic perspective gives a great insight into what it's like to step into Medical Communications for the first time, something that is so valuable to be reminded of. We’re so pleased that she enjoyed her week with us, and hope that by sharing her experiences it may spark interest in others who are curious about a future in this field. Who knows – maybe we’ll see her again someday as a new Account Executive!

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My Journey and Learnings at Mearns and Pike

Starting my work experience at Mearns & Pike was both exciting and a bit scary (at the start). But what I discovered and learned here has been amazing. Here’s a glimpse into my incredible experience and the valuable lessons I’ve learned.

Freedom and Teamwork:

One of the first things that struck me at Mearns & Pike was the freedom compared to school. Here, I can work with team members and ask for help whenever needed. Everyone was super supportive, and I felt like I belonged right away. Plus, I got to wake up later than I need to for school which was great!

Overcoming Initial Nerves:

At the beginning, joining calls and meeting new people was quite daunting. However, the team were so chatty and friendly that I soon forgot about my nerves. The calls soon became one of my favourite parts of the experience. I loved learning about everyone’s roles and chatting with them about all kinds of things. It was fascinating to learn about their jobs and career journeys.

Exploring Different Roles and Tasks:

Mearns & Pike provided me with loads of opportunities to learn about different aspects of the business, allowing me to discover what I truly enjoyed. Each task was different, which kept things interesting. I realized that this industry might be something I want to explore more in the future.

The Power of Teamwork:

One big thing I learned is how important teamwork is. Working with others makes the job easier and more fun. Sharing ideas, combining knowledge and listening to everyone’s point of view helps everyone understand things better and complete tasks more effectively.

The Necessity of Communication:

Regular communication is super important, especially for people working from home. Catching up with the team ensures everyone is on the same page and helps track progress on various tasks. This is important when everyone is working towards the same goal.

The Importance of Taking Breaks:

Staring at a computer screen for hours is neither healthy nor productive. I learned how important it is to take breaks and get some fresh air. Sitting in front of a computer all day isn’t good for anyone. Taking a break helps recharge and stay focused.

Client Care and Respect:

Treating clients with respect and caring for them is really important. Each client deserves the same level of attention and respect. This not only builds strong relationships but also trust and satisfaction.

Time Management Skills:

Effective time management was another critical skill I learned during my time at Mearns & Pike. Balancing multiple tasks and ensuring they are completed to the best of my ability required careful planning and prioritization. This skill will definitely be important in my future.

A Heartfelt Thank You:

I want to say a huge thank you to everyone at Mearns & Pike for their warm welcome, guidance, and patience. But especially a massive thank you to Kirsty and Jon for providing me with this amazing opportunity. My work experience here has been interesting, insightful and exciting! It has offered me a sneak peek into the working world and I can’t wait to get started.

My journey at Mearns & Pike has been incredibly rewarding. The lessons I've learned and the experiences I've had will stay with me into the future. Thank you for making this such a memorable and enriching experience.

What we love about our Communiqué shortlisted campaign, The World Through Patients’ Eyes: Immersive Role Play Training for Ophthalmologists

We are finalists in the category for Excellence in National or Local Education Meetings/Stand-Alone Events at this year’s Communique Awards - here’s a bit more about what we did.

Dry eye disease (DED) can have a major impact on patients’ lives, with people making significant compromises to manage their symptoms. Despite the severity of the condition people often struggle to access the right treatments. Ophthalmologists can underappreciate the impact of DED on people’s lives and may delay escalation of treatment with a detrimental effect on patient outcomes and their confidence in the healthcare system.

Our immersive role play education was created to motivate ophthalmologists to think more proactively about the needs of DED patients and build confidence to treat appropriately.

Built around a simulated consultation between a clinician and a patient (played by an actor), the role play was constructed based on real patient insights to highlight their needs and expectations and offer clinicians practical tips to address these.

This innovative training format, which allows the audience to step into a real-life scenario, led to a change in behaviour for attendees – who have modified the way they communicate with patients, how they try to understand their needs and concerns and how they approach decisions around treatment.

Kirsty - What I Loved About This Project

“I loved the collaboration on this project between us, the client, the clinician and the actor to take the concept of a ‘live’ consultation and make it into such a powerful, educational approach. It required everyone’s passion and belief to make happen and once we saw the reaction from the audience we all knew it had worked.”

Jon - What I Loved About This Project

“Being able to watch a ‘live’ consultation, pause it mid-consultation and have the patient and doctor explain to the audience how that interaction felt provided a much richer experience for the audience. I loved how you could see people look at the consultation in a different way and think to themselves ‘what can I do differently with my patients.”

What we love about our Communiqué shortlisted campaign, the Launch of 670G

We are excited to be shortlisted in the Excellence in Media Relations category of the 2020 Communique Awards TWICE!

In this blog we talk about what we loved about the launch of 670G for our friends at Medtronic.

The Minimed 670G insulin pump marks a significant advance in the treatment of type 1 diabetes thanks to the ability of the pump to automatically adjust the basal (background) insulin given to an individual based on constant readings from an accompanying continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) device.

The national launch of the innovation provided an opportunity not only to raise awareness of the technology but fuel discussion around CGM and access to this essential tool in diabetes management among the T1D community.

Using traditional media as a spark to encourage debate on social channels, we ensured that 670G was the talk among the T1D community. With exclusive broadcast coverage across the BBC network and a well-timed story with the Press Association we generated a campaign that reached the masses and our target patient population in equal measure.

Jon – What I loved about this project

“The best thing about this project was working with Laura and her mum Lynn. Laura was the first person in the UK to have the pump and she was brilliant at sharing her experience of what it was like to have diabetes as a teenager, about to go off to University. Together with her mum Lynn they not only told a great story but also helped others who came to them on diabetes forums with questions about the technology and their experience of it. A good case study always brings a story to life but this duo were the best!”

Kirsty – What I loved about this project

“It doesn’t always happen that a media strategy goes to plan but this one did - with a lot of hard work up front and ongoing liaison with everyone involved. I loved that the BBC got the story they wanted and the Press Association were able to post a regional story which went national before most journalists had finished their cornflakes.”

What we love about Putting the Digital Transformation of Leeds Pathology Department in the Spotlight

The aim of this project – shortlisted in the Excellence in Media Relations category – was to share the experience of the Leeds Pathology Team in implementing an end-to-end digital pathology service and ensure their recognition as a leader in the digital transformation of pathology in the UK.

We turned a routine Trust Board Meeting into a celebratory event – offering a unique behind the scenes tour of the department for carefully-targeted media and creating an opportunity for the Leeds team to inspire other hospitals to follow their impressive lead. We worked closely with the media to make sure their story was told in detail, not just as a short piece of news.

The results were awesome: we were proud to secure quality coverage in 14 different titles (targeted at pathology and hospital C-Suite audiences), a spot on the local BBC News bulletin and endorsement from the Royal College of Pathologists. The media attention even inspired Health Secretary Matt Hancock to include the Pathology Department in an already packed-out visit to Leeds the following week. 

Jon - What I loved about this project:

I loved putting myself in the shoes of the different journalists we were targeting and thinking about what they needed to make this a story for their readers. The Communications Team at the hospital were great and we put our heads together to think about the angles that would appeal to different media and how we could package the story in the right way to get them to write in depth about how the pathology department had made the transition to digital, not just celebrate the fact they had done it. The highlight for me was The Biomedical Scientist deciding to make their next edition the ‘digital’ edition and making this story their front cover with in-depth articles from three members of the team from Leeds.

Kirsty - What I loved about this project:

This was the first time this client had done something like this. They put their confidence in us to deliver and we did. We worked quickly and collaboratively to pull it together in a very short time, and we were all proud of the results. A true partnership based on trust! 

Looking Back on 2018

2018 was our first full year of Mearns & Pike. It felt like it went by in a blink. It is easy when life moves so quickly to forget to take time to reflect on where you have come from.  We think that celebrating our accomplishments is just as important as looking forward.

Join us in reliving some of the things we have loved doing in 2018.

Brushing Up On The Floss

Image: Epic Games

Last weekend found me on the edge of a football pitch, wrapped up warm, the nerves slightly on edge. It was the second round of the Cup competition for my son’s football team. The pressure was on. The kids were excited. The whistle was about to blow. And there’s my son standing on the left wing…doing the Floss!

Disclaimer: I can’t do the Floss. Don’t ask me to try.

Look around any playground and there will be loads of kids flossing. Listen into any playground conversation (or eavesdrop into any family dinner conversation around the country) and there will most likely be discussion about Fortnite – the free-to-play Battle Royale game.

It’s the latest computer game craze and the popularity of the game has grown massively in just a few months. If you want to find out more here is an interesting BBC Radio 5 Live feature on Fortnite.

What interests me most about the game is how it has created such a following and what goes into making it so popular. And what might we learn about communications and engagement from the experience.

1)    You can make it personal – you can create your own character in the game (for a fee – which is where the company makes it money from). From dinosaur heads, to disco spacemen, to medieval knights with the latest headphones on – you can be who you want to be in the game.

2)    It’s funny and quirky – you can purchase little dances for your character to do. Before the game loads you spend a couple of minutes in a holding pen (waiting for other users to join before the game commences). Here everyone is running up to each other and showing off their dance moves and trying to impress the other users.

3)    You can play with your friends. You can team up in groups of 2 or 4 and play the game with your friends – talking with them over headsets and enjoying the experience together.

4)    You can watch other people playing it – Fortnite is one of the most watched games on YouTube and Twitch with millions of views every week. There are popular influencers like Ali A who advocate the game and command a huge, loyal following.

5)    There is a steady flow of new content to retain interest in the game. The challenge with anything like this is that users will get bored and find another game to play. Fortnite seems to have judged the release of new content just right to give players enough to get excited about but not too much that they run out of new ideas. New ‘limited edition’ game modes or weapons or moves keep it feeling fresh even if the basic game play never changes.

While there are some general lessons here for PR and Communications around engaging with influencers, fresh content and customisation of messages or platforms, the biggest lesson I can see from the Fortnite phenomenon is around the importance of engaging their gaming community.

Listening and responding to the community who play a computer game is key. It makes or breaks a game. A company that is seen to listen and acts to improve the user experience creates a positive momentum that is then spread across social media. It means you can make a few slip ups or when something goes wrong (like a server issue) you are given the benefit of the doubt. And when you add or introduce a new product or feature it rapidly infiltrates the community and becomes adopted.

Yes, you need a good game. Yes, being able to Floss helps. But more than that – listen to your audience, show that you are acting on what you have heard and the potential is limitless.

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