For some, anniversaries are epiphany moments - natural occasions for reflection and often catalysts for life changes. Here, PRF Composite Materials’ marketing director, Hannah Khusainova looks back on her career in the UK composites industry.
I read an article recently that said your work anniversary should be an opportunity to stop and reflect. As mine coincides with the backwards and forwards-looking nature of January, I thought I would give it a go.
I started this job after reaching a ceiling in promotion opportunities, and PRF Composite Materials - the family business which I had never been interested in joining - needed a few marketing activities managed. I interviewed with a panel of three senior managers including my dad, the managing director! I took the job as a stop gap and to broaden my marketing experience into industry. Joining the team to manage an exhibition and create a catalogue ticked both mine and PRF’s boxes.
12 years later, the one exhibition has turned into a decade worth of industry shows. The single catalogue branched into several and then websites, social media, and videos, etc. I’ve learned so much from joining a company with no marketing, having to build this from the ground up, giving voice and visual to a brand that already had a rich and diverse 30-year history. We've taken our exhibitions from shell-scheme to headline sponsors, and built a social media presence from scratch.
As a non-technical person, it has surprised me how much I enjoy being part of the advanced engineering community. In 2012, I created a campaign that highlighted what our materials do: generate power, win gold medals, help medics screen for disease, create music, etc. This is still my favourite campaign, because the capabilities and impact of composite materials still amaze me. Not enough people know about composites. As such, it is wonderful to work with projects like ThrustWSH, where the wider public can get interested in what we do.
I’m incredibly passionate about PRF. Founded in 1982 (before I was born), PRF has always been a part of my life. It is part of our family, and working in the business has both increased my passion for the brand, and also my awe and respect to my parents for 40 years of building a brand that still honours the principles it was founded on: highest quality materials, advanced and innovative products, exceptional customer service and doing business based on integrity.
It is a challenge to grow a company over so many decades and retain a focus on customer service, so it is a privilege when we receive customer feedback that highlights the quality of our materials and service. It’s also been fantastic to watch the PRF team grow, and as a company to support new careers in composites engineering.
What I’ve learned about working in a family business is that the successes and challenges feel bigger, and my duty of care to this brand, that my parents have worked so hard for and that I have been entrusted with, is paramount. I know what has gone into PRF, so there is a huge amount of love and pride that goes into every marketing output created.
12 years later, I’m just the lucky one who gets to tell others about this amazing company and what we do.
