Chief marketing officer

I'm a chief marketing office because...

I value the chance to treat people right and to work with people I really like.

We’re a start-up just over a year old. Most of my job involves helping our clients with their marketing, social media and PR. Since it’s my own company I’m also co-founder, director, chief letter opener – you name it! At the moment our team is fairly small so we do everything ourselves. Running your own business is tough but gives you freedom and autonomy.

I used to be a journalist but couldn’t lipread while I did shorthand. I still loved writing and websites so moved into PR and digital. It was a total shock dealing with clients, but after a few years you get the hang of it.

My biggest challenge has been explaining that I’m half deaf upfront. Things have been much better since I spoke up and shared ideas for how colleagues could best communicate with me. I’ve asked for meeting rooms to be changed or calls to be done on Skype so I can read people’s lips or avoid bad acoustics. Other than my hearing aids I don’t use special equipment.

One of my biggest achievements is surviving a year of running a new business – an extreme learning curve.

Amy Rowe