A Day in the Life: Avvy Phull

It all starts...

With a huge smile from my 3 year old daughter saying Good Morning Mum! To keep it real, I’m a Mum of 2 beautiful children. My day always starts with her infectious personality, coming into my room with her crazy, curly hair and a huge Cheshire cat smile; perfect start the day!

The Phull household is a military operation in the morning, just like any family household, but I’m a stickler for a routine and so are my kids, so we get s*** done efficiently! Things are organised, they get themselves ready.

Dad drops her to nursery whilst I spend time with my 8 year old, listening to him read, practice his spellings and have a hearty breakfast that I prepare; brain food!

My morning coffee, school run and a clean house/office is what sets me up for the day! A clutter free environment means a clutter free brain. I’m also a firm believer in affirmations, meditation, showing gratitude and praying every morning which provides the clarity and focus that I need to start with, before I even log on.

On a typical day...

I usually compartmentalise my days, so that I can balance and focus on individual tasks and clients/agencies where needed. As I deal with a variety of clients, agencies, media owners and inventory queries, no day is the same which is what I absolutely love about my business and what I do for a living; I barter all day long!

Each morning, I do housekeeping first thing, check my inbox, deal with any finance related tasks and ensure that my inbox is only full of opportunities to trade and grow as a business. This takes no longer than an half an hour.

Typically, I use Monday and Tuesday mornings; 10am to midday, to pitch to new clients and agencies. I’m fortunate enough to be approached on a regular basis to see how I can help clients with redundant stock and turn them into media budgets so talking through the process and gaining those relationships are key for me. Someone once told me, if you’re not growing your business, it’s already dead!

I take that motto quite seriously and enjoy networking those mornings. Not everything comes in as a new business opportunity, we know that, but to know that I’m spreading the word on barter, particularly to personnel up North who haven’t come across it before or don’t know much about it, I feel that I’m a step closer to growing that knowledge for someone.

I’m a firm believer in doing barter workshops and ‘intro to barter’ presentations to ensure that my partners are fully on board with the concept and it’s process. I tie these into the mornings too, it also energises me for the rest of the day, to speak about and share what I’m passionate about; making a difference in the media industry and to provide solutions for my clients.

The afternoons consist of working closely with my current partners to maximise barter and media delivery. As budgets get signed off according to the barter transaction for that particular client, it’s vital to keep conversations flowing with Media Owners whilst trading and getting those deals done!

This often takes me well into Wednesday when I catch up with my remarketing directors to collaborate and deal with inventory queries. I keep Tuesday, Wednesdays and Friday afternoons for networking in person where possible (especially since restrictions have been lifted), building those relationships, as I’m still only 19 months young and I have so many people to meet! Whether they are clients, media owners, re marketing directors or media agencies.

I carve out 2 hours a day for admin too as it’s only me, myself and I running the business, it’s important to keep on top of each barter transaction, each media trade, and most importantly, the finances of the business.

Having worked in large corporate companies previously, mainly in media trading and sales, I was rarely exposed to the finance end of the business, so I’ve learnt so much from my accountant and from launching a business, to building and sustaining it’s finances. Thursday mornings I spend the day with my daughter, we go swimming first thing and love spending time together doing puzzles, working on her phonics, arts and crafts whilst I juggle working at the same time.

Since becoming a Mum, I’ve always had Thursdays off to spend time with my toddlers and take them swimming every morning, this is the 8th year running. As you can imagine, since the birth of ABC, I’ve not had Thursdays off, but I’ve learnt to prioritise my daughter until midday unless something urgent needs my attention. She’s extremely independent, so I always tend to be just as productive as any other day. I just choose not to have any face to face meetings on Thursdays as it’s our day until she starts school soon.

I got into my career by...

Fate and luck! I was always a bit of a hustler and knew how to make money from a very young age. Being of Indian background, my Dad taught me how to graft and sell early. I graduated in Media Communications, Film and Broadcast Production.

I quickly learnt that I loathed the production side of things and became interested in the theory of media and advertising. I interviewed at Active international (the largest worldwide barter agency) 16 years ago as I left uni and almost fell into the role. I didn’t have a clue about corporate trade or barter, but it turns out that I’d been doing it on the side for most of my life! Whether it was bartering my free Blockbuster’s Video and games allowance for some free lunch at Subway, or investing in cars, getting them repaired and selling them on!

After an amazing 9 year stint, working for a fabulous small company, I moved onto agency side where I set up and grew the barter department significantly; an incredible journey! My husband often said I can do what I do for others, for myself. I just didn’t believe it until I had my daughter and the pandemic enabled me to rethink my priorities and understand that I needed a new challenge! ABC was born whilst I was being furloughed and I’ll never look back.

Nothing can beat the satisfaction of owning and running your own successful business from scratch! No matter how long it took to get that first £ and first client in!

The positives I have taken in the last 12 months...

Ahhhh there are so many highs! The first thing I did when I was at a low point (beginning of last year in lockdown 3) was to better myself mentally and invest in myself. I found an amazing life / business coach, did a 6 month course which changed my entire outlook. I absolutely loved it and wouldn’t be where I am if it wasn’t for my coach!

Business and clients now come to me effortlessly, I’m selective of the people I work with and the business I work on as I’m no longer desperate! Quality over quantity for sure! I also realised that it’s absolutely fine to take time for myself and switch off, or prioritise my family and work the hours that I want. I don’t do a 9am-5pm day. Every day is different and I chose whatever suits me, my family and my lifestyle.

You don’t have to work more to earn more…that’s a myth! Business and money is energy and effortless. If you’re vibrating high with ambition, goals and gratitude, you’ll find yourself being surrounded by like-minded people which is key! I work with fantastic clients and the work now comes my way with ease.

I was stressed, full of anxiety and uncertainty when I first started ABC in August 2020. The pandemic made it impossible for me to see at the time that I’m possible! But with time, determination and patience, things worked out amazingly and I’ll never turn back!

I live life on my terms, I’m always available for my kids and I also manage to travel whilst working which is my biggest passion…seeing and experiencing the world!