In conversation with our CEO
Getting to know Sam Rowe…
We are proud of the award recognition that we’ve received over the last few years, and it is clear to see that sustainability has been a recurring aspect for much of our success. This is in part why we are able to refer to our team as sustainably driven, multi-award-winning exhibitions and events specialists.
Our accomplishments are attributable to our employees, the support of our trusted suppliers, and our champion of environmental, social and economic issues - CEO, Sam Rowe.
Sam is a leader who demonstrates how passion, hard work, innovation and leadership can inspire positive outcomes for our company, industry and society at large.
We thought we’d ask Sam for her thoughts on sustainability and running a sustainable agency, as well as finding out more about career challenges, achievements and more.
Questions & Answers
What does being CEO of Ignition entail?
I’m responsible for the overall direction of the business, ensuring it’s financially stable, functions properly and reaches its strategic goals. Essentially, the job is about holding everything together! The senior team we’ve put in place in recent years to support the CEO role has made the job feel very different. There’s real shared responsibility, leaving me more time and space to make sure everything is working well within the wider team.
What does a typical day look like?
Each day is different, unsurprisingly, but it will always include a number of meetings with different people internally, whether that’s senior management or teams that are driving any one particular company project. I’m not a hands-off manager. I like to be in touch with people and the flow of information. Above all I like my input to be both personal and strategic.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
What makes me happiest is when individuals achieve their goals that also benefit the company. I love helping people’s development and enjoying their subsequent successes with them. People have worked so hard to grow this company and, whilst recent times during the pandemic have been very frustrating, in that people should, by rights, be enjoying the pay-off of those efforts, it is what it is and we’re all in good health. We have to remember that we’re in a much better position than many in our industry; mainly I think because of our commitment to sustainability.
Something I personally enjoy too are the international aspects of the business, both working with our US team and the immersion in other cultures all over the world.
How would you describe the culture of the company?
We’re centred around teamwork. We’re open and collaborative and anyone can come forward with an idea at any time. We’ll always try things. Our EPIC company values (entrepreneurial, personable, Intelligent, collaborative) really ring true in the day-to-day. People outside the company comment on how personable our people are, but whilst we’re a nice bunch, we’re not plodders! It’s an ambitious culture too. People can be whatever they want to be here and can move into other roles if that’s what suits their skills. Some people achieve what they want and stay with us just for that time period. For others, we’re pretty much a home for life. We’re happy either way.
How did your own career journey begin?
After doing a degree in Modern Languages, I did a TEFL course and taught abroad in Italy and the Caribbean. I returned to do a Masters in Business Management and began temping to get an insight into business. I particularly clicked at BAE Systems and moved into a graduate role with them in Strategy and Planning, eventually re-locating to their Farnborough Head Office which was my first exposure to events and exhibitions. After a few years, I took a two-year sabbatical, travelling extensively through Central and South America, Asia, New Zealand and Australia.
When I came back, I met Claire, our Chairwoman, when I went to work at RTH Group, a major exhibitions agency. In time, Claire negotiated a partial business sale agreement to leave RTH, I left with her and Ignition was set up in January 2007. We grew the business ten times over in time, but the early days of the company were a real test of ingenuity. We were based in an aircraft carrier, battling with dial-up WiFi and having to take mobile phone calls sometimes while standing in a field when reception was poor!
Claire and my working relationship grew and grew and I moved from communications into an MD role, although in the early days, everyone invariably did a bit of everything. One of our early projects, for Etihad Airways at Farnborough Airshow, was a real game-changer. We had ridiculously short notice – only around three weeks – and with no hotel rooms available had to work out of two camper vans. We worked night and day to pull it off. I think we then realised we could do anything we put our minds to!
How did you initially imagine your career developing and how different has the path been?
Completely different! I loved academia, languages and teaching. My Father did a lot of work with Spain and spoke fluent Spanish and I spent a month with a family in Madrid when I was 13 and loved it. I always loved travelling and being somewhere else, so I certainly never imagined I’d end up based in the UK! I was also drawn to business, so there was a definite fork in the road, though the internationalism of what we do at Ignition has brought the paths together again to some degree.
As a current-day champion of sustainability, did you start out with a passion for the issue or is it something that’s grown over time?
No, I absolutely didn’t start with an existing interest or passion. The drive towards sustainability has come directly from what I’ve seen and experienced and particularly from my horror at how wasteful so many events were – as well as from working with Claire, for whom sustainability has always been a major concern. We really wanted to do something different as a company – to be different and to make a difference. It’s become a passion now, though. I find I can’t stand waste in any aspect of life!
What are the greatest obstacles your industry still needs to overcome?
I think sustainability remains the largest, but it’s a complex scenario with events taking place in different countries, with different venues hosting and organisers, brands and agencies all playing a role. Venues have improved hugely and many now won’t allow wholesale waste at the end of shows. For many clients, it’s still a massive challenge to overcome internal prejudices about using and re-using modular stand design kit, when different sub-brands have different rules and ambitions, but things are changing, slowly.
The other big challenge is the perception of the industry by some clients, who often spend huge sums on exhibiting, but don’t value it enough or train their staff to get the most out of what they do. We try to encourage really clear objectives, so that we can design in line with that and deliver quantifiable results. I believe that out of every challenge, something good always comes, so after Covid-19, I think that there’s been enough of pause for people to make sustainability a greater future commitment and to explore digital and virtual approaches and make a real leap into the future.
What tips do you have for being a successful company leader?
Have brilliant people around you! This has become very obvious to me over the last 3-4 years. Also, be personable and don’t micro-manage. You have to trust people to do the job you employed them to do. It’s important to let people try things. If they fail, it doesn’t necessarily mean it was the wrong idea, but don’t be afraid to stop something that obviously isn’t working either. I believe in being a real part of the team, so that everyone feels they can contribute and understands they are of equal value. Finally, you have to be tolerant of difference. There are a lot of different ways to reach a goal. Personally, I’ve had to learn to be pragmatic rather than the perfectionist I am by nature and to realise that our ‘good enough’ is, in fact, very, very good!
What do you look for in the people you bring into your team?
We don’t want half-measures, so we’re looking for conscientious people. People who want to do a good job, whether or not they’re ultra-driven or just want to do what’s in front of them well. Loyalty is important, as is collaboration. We don’t have room for egos. We really look for people who enjoy coming to work and we’re lucky to have a lot of those; people who really want to make a difference and are committed. During the Covid-19 crisis, our people have been amazing.
Do you have any mantras, books or quotes that help you in your work?
My big thing is never giving up. We’ve had difficult times before, but we just kept going. I come from a sporty, competitive family and that’s been a huge influence. You have to keep punching!
Who do you personally admire? Who inspires you?
I don’t really have heroes in the way other people have, but I’m constantly inspired by people from all walks of life – science, art, sport, politics – who’ve achieved things by making sacrifices or overcoming adversity.
Is it important to you to have major interests outside work?
Yes, very important. For me, it’s all about the great outdoors – walking, running, going to the gym, skiing. I used to play a lot of sport, but with a young family at home as well as a company to run, it’s hard to find the time you need for training as well as competing, though I’d love to go back to doing more. For now, it’s about getting out and about with my family as much as possible and being active.
What would your ideal day be away from the workplace?
Hiking or skiing somewhere in the mountains. I love to travel and so new environments, languages and food are always great for me and, I hope, for our children. I very much hope they’ll be as open to and as interested in other cultures as I’ve always been.
What outstanding ambitions remain in your career?
For the company, one major ambition is to open a mainland European office to join our UK and US bases. This will help reduce logistical costs for international European clients, especially post-Brexit, and it would be great to be closer geographically to some of our newer clients to grow the relationships, which happens so much better at close quarters. I’d also like us to win a handful of great new clients. We have some amazing ones right now. A few more of their ilk would be just great! On a personal level, I’d like to see the business reach enough maturity for me to work a 3-day or 4-day week. My children are young still and the Coronavirus pandemic has taught me, by slowing things down, how quickly life passes by and how important it is to spend more time, even with the people you live with day-in, day-out, to get to know them better. Plus, I could do more sport!
Sam Rowe, CEO, Ignition
Ignition UK and US staff
First office located in an aircraft carrier