Westpac rising star Rahma El Sayed is carving out her place as one of the industry’s sharpest emerging leaders, a trajectory that helped her earn a coveted spot in this year’s B&T 30 Under 30 Awards, presented by Vevo.
As we polish our Salomons in preparation of celebrating the industry’s freshest trailblazers, B&T sat down with El Sayed to hear what else has changed, other than landing a channel strategist role at Westpac following nearly six strong years with UM Australia, since she took home one of our prized trophies.
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B&T: What’s happened in your career since being recognised as part of B&T’s 30 Under 30?
Rahma El Sayed: It opened a lot of opportunities for me and really expanded my network.
Beyond just increasing my LinkedIn connections, it enabled me to meet and have conversations with different people across the industry. This ended up allowing me to think about my career and really consider what I wanted my next steps/move to be, and opened up some great opportunities for me to explore!
B&T: What are your career ambitions? Has this changed after being recognised this year?
RES: Oooo, this is a tricky one! To be honest, it’s something I am still working on—mainly because the industry continues to change and evolve, and it’s hard to know right now what roles may open up or evolve, even in the next year or so.
However, my north star has always been to create and push great media and marketing work; and I don’t think that will ever change!
B&T: What trends/ opportunities are exciting you in the industry?
RES: It’s not the change in technology or the introduction of AI that excites me, but rather the fact that we’re seeing an evolution in consumer behaviour.
Australian’s are more distrusting of brands and advertising, more discerning with their attention, and more demanding of proof. This is creating fertile grounds for both brands and agencies; it’s not enough to put an ad out. We—meaning both brands and agencies—need to focus on developing solutions that put the customer at the heart of what we do and say.
For media agencies, the shift from focusing on audience consumption to customer behaviours has also opened up opportunities for the industry to be more creative in how we approach our media and finding (or creating!!) the right touchpoints to authenticity show up in.
We’re slowly starting to see this happen—and I am excited to see how brands and agencies can really start to push the boundaries to become customer centric (no AI slop though please).
B&T: Why did you choose to enter this year’s 30 Under 30?
RES: Besides the fact that I was about to turn 30 and it was my last year to enter.. it was something I really wanted to accomplish for myself.
I was really proud of where I had gotten to in my career, and everything I had accomplished to date; both personally and professionally—so I really wanted to put myself out there and celebrate my achievements, and I don’t think there’s any shame in wanting to do that!
I’ll also note that it was actually my 2nd or 3rd time entering too! I was determined to keep trying for as long as I could (and luckily I did).
B&T: What advice would you give to other emerging leaders in the industry?
RES: You need to find and make the opportunities you want—you can’t wait for them to come to you. It’s also equally important to communicate it with your own leaders so they can help you too.
Sometimes, you have to be a little cringe and embarrassing if you want your career to grow. Putting yourself out there, celebrating your work/yourself; these things can feel unnatural and cringe, but it almost always pays off.
Enter B&T’s 30 Under 30. What are you waiting for!
