Parrus Doshi

How did CLS get you ready for the world of work?
When I reflect on my time at CLS, it strikes me that as students we were all really pushed to think about “what if”, not “what is”. I recall we were consistently being tasked to deepen our curiosity of why things were the way they were and armed with that understanding, question how could they could be different. Being taught in a manner which stretched beyond what was just required for the syllabus and the examinations themselves was an experience I really valued.

What was your first job?
I started my career as a client service executive for DDB, a global advertising agency. After a few years I transitioned into marketing strategy role within the industry and I now live and work in the US (Boston) leading a team of communication and innovation consultants.

Your biggest professional achievement?
I work specifically with clients in the healthcare, wellness and pharmaceutical sector, helping these businesses with their marketing and communication strategies. It’s an incredibly rewarding role, as the work we do stands to shape the way we interact with our health and wellbeing in a more positive and impactful way. One project that worked on that is close to my heart is The Bread Exam for the Lebanese Breast Cancer Foundation.

Breast cancer is the leading cause of women’s cancer deaths worldwide, accounting for 1 in 6. Early detection could prevent up to 98% of them. Yet in some countries such as Lebanon, and in some communities, awareness of breast self-examinations are hindered by tradition and cultural taboos, which can prevent women talking openly about their bodies and specifically discussing early signs of breast cancer and the steps involved in self-examination. To encourage conversation about self-examination, we worked with The Lebanese Breast Cancer Foundation to turn tradition into an advantage: showing women how to perform a self-exam by drawing on one of the oldest customs in the world: baking bread.

The Bread Exam was a campaign in which the steps of a breast self-exam were demonstrated through the act of kneading and pressing dough. The gestures were shown without a single mention of breasts, transforming an intimate, taboo subject into an acceptable, everyday experience. The recipe featured on packs of flour in Spinney’s Supermarkets, on bread wrappers and demonstrated live in souks and Spinneys stores. It was praised by the Lebanese president and shared across social media via social influencers around the world. The recipe reached 112 million people around the world and 86% of Arab women admitted that baking would remind them to self-check. By shaping taboo into a tradition, the Bread Exam created a new language to talk about breast cancer.

Your most challenging professional moment?
Being “let go” at an early stage of my career. An agency I was working for came to the decision that my role was now redundant as it was no longer a part of their future growth plans. It was tough to weather that knock to my self-esteem, and to be honest, my ego! But that also taught me something about resilience, trying my best not to let circumstances beyond my control knock my confidence or limit my ambition as I went about finding my next opportunity. It also taught me to be better with saving (which I had NOT been doing) as you never know what’ll happen!

What inspires and motivates you at work?
As mentioned above, working with the health, wellness and pharmaceutical industry gives me some great visibility into the treatments and innovations that are shaping the way we treat and manage acute and chronic disease. But being able to understand the science (the rational information) and find interesting, creatively arresting and emotionally engaging ways to bring that to life, is a very rewarding process. This is all aided by deepening our understanding of our audience’s needs, wants, fears… and and dissecting their attitudes and behaviours. All to try and create the most memorable experience with our brand as possible.

One piece of advice for pupils and other Old Citizens about getting into your profession?
Be curious and inquisitive in your search to learn more about the marketing, communication and innovation industry: there are so many different types of roles and sub-sectors, so what excites and entices you? Don’t be afraid to be a bit bullish and contact folks who have been where you have been to learn more: take the opportunity to reach out via LinkedIn for instance, and get a unique perspective directly from those with the experience, all just for the price of a coffee! Finally, don’t just think about your value today, but what you might want  to be doing in a few years time: our industry is moving at pace with generative AI set to revolutionise our creative product and a richness of data and insights increasing our ability to better target the right people with the right message. You certainly don’t have to have it al figured out, far from it. But what can you be doing to invest in your skill set today, that may bear fruit down the line?