Frances Healy

Where do you work and what do you do there?

I currently work for Virgin Media Television, which is the biggest commercial broadcaster in Ireland. I am a Programming Coordinator there. So I help ensure that content — wherever it may come from, whether it's a studio, commercial, or acquired commission — makes it to air. I help with contracts and paper, negotiations, and helping to get things across the line.

My job is very varied. That's the trick of Virgin Media — everyone wears many hats.

I love television, so it’s a perfect fit for me.

What was your professional and educational background?

I studied film and television in the National Film School in Dublin. I used to work in a post-production house where we would work on mainly documentary stuff and media management. And then I worked for a stint on a show called Vikings, working on the ground on set working on all the big battle scenes with Viking ships.

If you're really passionate about something and really want to learn about something, BrainStation is a great place to go. The Instructors were so informative and had such great personalities — it was so encouraging to interact with them.

What motivated you to look into digital skills training and eventually take our Digital Marketing course?

One thing I noticed about the companies in Ireland is that no one advertised television or content online effectively. I had the ideas for content and I had the technical expertise to make that content, but the only thing I didn’t understand was the commercial side of it — how to market things or how to increase revenue in that way.

I saw a gap in my skills. I loved creating content — I loved writing, filmmaking, photography. I loved the idea of creating marketing campaigns and the actual content side of it, but I wanted to build out my understanding of the marketing side and the technical aspect of that.

As the BrainStation course progressed, I was really drawn to Google Analytics and learning to make data-driven decisions. I love interpreting data and figuring out how to make things better.

I was honestly surprised that that was a part of me — that I was really enjoying learning about how to use this information to create content that would resonate with the demographic we were looking for. That was really a pleasant surprise for me.

This was your first online learning experience — how did you find that?

In terms of my energy levels, it was a hard slog at times. I would do a full day’s work first before my classes. It took me a while to create my own learning environment at home.

But I loved that people on my team were all over the world. I found that really, really exciting. It also really helped my learning experience — when we would talk about certain marketing campaigns, for example, we could look at them first from a North American perspective, then a European perspective, and so on.

It was great to work with people from all of these different walks of life and backgrounds.

What advice would you have for someone else who was considering a course like this?

I’d say if you're really passionate about something and really want to learn about something, BrainStation is a great place to go. The Instructors were so informative and had such great personalities — it was so encouraging to interact with them.

I would also encourage people to collaborate. I went into this course thinking that I would do the final project by myself, because I was afraid of being put in a group where I might not like the people or have the same kind of learning or academic approach. But I was really pleasantly surprised at how much collaborating on that project with others really did enhance my learning experience.

So I would try as best as you can to drop any sort of prejudice or preconceptions that you might have about the way that you like to work. Try to open yourself up to a new way of working and a new way of learning — because that really did enhance my experience.