On today’s episode of Word on the Street, Katie speaks to Jess Tyrrell, Managing Director of Beyond. Beyond is an ideas company, using design and technology to create beautiful experiences that transform the world around us. With studios in London, New York and San Francisco, Beyond provide design and technology services to leading companies including Google, Facebook, Paypal, Mailchimp, Snapchat, Just Eat, PurpleBricks and the Royal College of Art. Beyond is part of the Next Fifteen Group, an AIM listed company. 

Jess believes in the power of technology to improve people’s lives, and in agile design processes that harness the knowledge of people right across an organisation. 

In this episode you will hear: 

• The importance of diversity and inclusion within agencies
• Defining your values and what is important for you as an agency 
• Creating avenues for young people to get into work and giving them opportunities 

There were so many amazing takeaways from today’s episode, and these were just a few of our favourites.

The importance of diversity 

“How can you come up with answers to problems that are genuinely innovative, different, and are going to solve that problem if you’ve got the same group of people with the same experience?” – Katie Street. 

Diversity encourages diversity of thought, which is essential in order to create work that not only resinates but also innovates. Lack of diversity in design teams is often extremely obvious, such as early health apps didn’t have women in their design teams and therefore didn’t include information on female health, such as periods. 

Beyond practise ‘diversity driven design and development’ (the 4 d’s), which means they think about diversity as a design tool. If you are creating something without including diversity, that’s a mistake. You can design products and services that reach a wider market by having diversity front of mind and thinking about product design in the widest possible sense. Beyond believe that you can reach 4 times your standard audience if you think about design in this way! Better design = better business. 

Diversity is top of the agenda for brands

Big brands such as Google now consider factors like diversity, inclusion, and culture when  choosing their agencies. If you don’t already have good policies and practices in place, you have to prove how you are making changes and creating a positive impact within your agency by ensuring it’s more diverse. Considering how your agency or business reacts and responds to movements such as Black Lives Matter can show whether you are doing enough. Can you implement practical solutions rather than just turning your profile picture black for the day? 

For Beyond, the makeup of their team matters and believe diversity is essential to create amazing work in a more authentic way. 

Creating opportunities for people to access the world of work 

Giving back, empowering, and enabling employees to have the best careers possible is something that is really important to Street Agency, and something they actively encourage. Since founding Street in 2019, Katie has employed 3 apprentices and worked with Bournemouth & Poole College to give apprentices amazing opportunities to learn and develop skills within the industry. 

In 2018, Beyond co-founded Flipside – a sustainable diversity scheme helping a wide range of talented candidates break into the industry and access the world of work. One of the greatest things you can do as an employer is to give people access to jobs and opportunities who don’t otherwise have a way into the industry. Giving these opportunities to individuals not only changes their lives but also has positive effects on their peers, families, and whole communities, creating a positive ripple effect. Flipside enables young people growing up in poor communities to gain opportunities by opening up doors to companies in their neighbourhoods, and empowering them to explore careers they might have not even been aware of. 

Links & references

Katie Street: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiestreet/ 

Jess Tyrrell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jess-tyrrell-9977072/

Our Sponsor

Series 6 of Word on the Street is sponsored by Tanba, The Agency New Business Academy, is a brand-new initiative aimed at equipping agencies of all sizes with the knowledge, content, partnerships, and opportunities needed to accelerate agency growth by optimising their new business ‘engine’. Tanba is an on-demand and affordable solution for agencies looking to upskill their team via training courses, content and insights delivered by our panel of industry experts, leaders, and partners.   

The academy is all about empowering agency teams to get noticed, attract opportunities, increase conversion rates, and reduce the costs associated with the sales process. Visit https://tanba.io/ to find out more and start empowering your agency.