Focus on What You Can Influence: Mike Hope-Milne – Enterprise Director Pearl & Dean Inspiring Leadership: Jonathan Bowman-Perks

Mike Hope-Milne -Enterprise Director Pearl & Dean: Focus on the things you can influence and accept the things you can’t.

Mike first came into the media industry reasonably late, at the age of 26, after having spent some time in Denmark working out what he wanted to do with his life. He joined Zenith Media as a graduate trainee TV buyer (buying TV advertising space on behalf of clients), and then worked at a number of agencies and media owners before coming to Pearl & Dean, where he has been Enterprise Director for the last 14 years. During his time at Pearl & Dean they have been through three changes of ownership and have had to face many challenges along the way.

As we face the biggest challenge of our lifetime, Mike still believes in the mantra of focussing on the things that you can do and not getting bogged down in the things that you cannot change or influence. It means being prepared to be flexible and fleet of foot and this is only possible if you have a solid and supportive team around you.

What keeps you busy all day: Spinning an ever-increasing number of plates.
What keeps you awake at night: I normally sleep very well, unless I get the seed of an idea in my head late in the day. My mind won’t leave it alone until it has worked it through to all possible conclusions…which can often be just before the alarm goes off at half six.

Describe your working day: Every day is completely different. A large part of my remit is to develop new revenue streams and revenue-generating opportunities for our clients. The never-ending search for new ideas brings me in contact with a huge variety of different people, takes me into new territories and every path opens up yet more new opportunities to follow. It can mean being constantly pulled in different directions, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

What’s your busiest time of day: 9am – 5:30. The working day goes by at the rate of knots, often meaning that I do not have the chance to put a dent in my to-do list. I usually get in an hour early and stay an hour later to catch up on the important things that need doing.

What brands accounts have you worked on: I have worked both on the agency side of our business, as well as the media owner side. During my career, I have probably been involved with the marketing of most national brands in the UK in one way or another.