We love nothing more than getting to know our team and what could be better than celebrating them on their own National Day? This National Sebastian Day we chatted to our PR Account Manager Sebastian McBrien about how creativity runs through most parts of his day. We took the chance to quiz Sebastian on what brought him to ASG and where he’s hoping his creative drive will take him.

Hi Sebastian!

We’d love to hear a little about your professional path before you joined the ASG team.

Before I got started professionally, I completed my Undergraduate Degree in Psychology and followed that up with a Masters Degree in Marketing from Queens University. I was always interested in the social side of psychology so moving into marketing made sense to me. Through the roles I’ve had into since graduation, I’ve found it really is the right fit.

After graduation I decided to move to New York in the hope of securing an internship with a company in my field. It was a challenge and right before my visa ran out I found a position working with a German company based in NYC. My mother is German and I speak fluently so the position of a bilingual marketer came at just the right time for me. I stayed in the role the length of my visa and soaked up life in Brooklyn and NYC.

From New York I moved home to be near family.  I worked in a couple of roles where I’ve undertaken marketing and communications responsibilities. Each position has underlined my interest in the field and finding the ASG role has been the perfect move for me.

What is it about marketing that interests you the most? 

Originally when I was doing my Marketing Masters I thought I was interested in marketing in the broad sense, everything to do with marketing and communications. Now through my work and experience, I can see that it’s the creative, communications and PR side of marketing that most interests me. I do appreciate and value the  digital and financial side of things but it’s not what makes me feel energised. I’m excited to focus on the creative piece of marketing going forward.

What have you most enjoyed so far in your role at ASG? 

Really I’ve been enjoying all aspects of my new position. I feel like I’m already part of the team. My ideas are taken on board and I feel I can really contribute in the work we do for clients. It’s so satisfying! So far I’ve particularly enjoyed working on the events we’ve planned with Four Loko and 6 by Nico. Really, each aspect of work has helped me learn, and has sparked an interest in doing more.

Outside of ASG do you find ways to be creative?  

For the most part I’m a creative person inside and outside of work. Before my role here, I felt I was missing a creative outlet and decided to launch my own YouTube Channel, Instagram profiles and an Online Community for Star Wars Gaming fans. These were all routes for me to fulfil my creative side. Through my work here I’m definitely finding more of a creative outlet. I have to admit I still love working on my Star Wars Community outside of work. That’s a hard one one to quit!

I also have a lot of creative friends and we support each other in our goals. One friend has an art gallery and I often volunteer to help him out creatively. I like the balance and perspective working on other projects gives me. I feel I can learn something that might be useful in my role at ASG.

We always like to ask for some advice. Is there anything you’d suggest to aspiring marketers as they plan their professional journey? 

My advice would be to keep trying things until you get it right. You might get a job that on the surface seems like a good fit but you find you’re unhappy there, or it doesn’t hit the focus you really want. It’s important to know what you really want and to keeping working towards that. Finding fulfilment within work is hugely important and if you’re at a stage where that is not happening yet, there are avenues you can explore outside of work where you can fulfil creative interests or continue learning while you wait for the right professional opportunity to come round.