Barbara Cox Awards 2023
nominees: Kate Ruberry-Shoemack
Head of People & Communication at Rygor Commercials
Brief biography of you and your career
I am a Cornish girl, who has lived and worked in Yorkshire and Bath and have now settled with my husband and daughter in Somerset. I started my career, agency-side in PR and marketing, which was a great opportunity to gain a broad and varied knowledge of different sectors. In fact, one of my main clients was a car repair company, so my experience of the automotive industry started early in my career.
In 2013 I took a marketing campaigns manager position at Rygor Commercials. I remember my first day in that role. I thought that I would never learn all the names of the vans and trucks, what a long wheelbase was and what a tachograph was for! But it was amazing how quickly it slotted into place and after a couple of years in this marketing role, I began to see where I could potentially add more value to the company: internal communications.
I proposed this to the Rygor Board, who fully bought into the need for this function in the business and trusted me to make it a success. In 2015, I became Rygor’s Communication Manager and over the next four years I had the pleasure of developing an internal communications strategy which focused on employee engagement.
Over these years it became apparent that internal comms is intrinsically linked with people management, well-being, employee lifecycle and much more. In 2019 I was promoted to Head of People & Communication, to robustly bring together everything which impacts our team members, to deliver our company mission of being a place our team is proud to work.
Tell us what this nomination means to you
When I was younger, I thought there was nothing that could hold me back and that I absolutely could do it all. Now I am a bit older (though maybe not terribly wiser!) I know that there are many things that can crop up in life, which can stop you in your tracks. There have been life events, such as having my beautiful baby girl, which put things into perspective and there are moments of pure frustration, when you feel that you are in fact not able to do everything, or at least everything in the way you would ideally like to. This nomination is a moment for me to reflect on what I have achieved to date, not only in my career, but in my personal life and the way that I choose to live my life.
I am proud that this nomination focuses on our drive (pun intended!) as women to hold each other’s hands as we achieve and succeed together. No doubt like all the other incredible women on the list, I am exceptionally proud to be shortlisted. For me personally though, it allows me to take a second to see that others recognise what I am doing, that hard work really does pay off, that actually I’m doing alright trying to balance it all…and that when I kiss my little girl goodnight, I know that I am doing everything I can to help make her future better as a young women – in whatever she wants to do.
What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in automotive?
The fact that these awards are in existence shows that women have and are really carving out their place in the motor industry. When myself, and the incredible women who are nominated for this award, found out we were shortlisted, we actively found each other on LinkedIn and congratulated one another.
For me, these are the type of people I want to work with and connect with, and the automotive sector has enabled me to do this. As I woman, I have been able to bring new ideas to a predominantly male-dominated industry and that has been really rewarding and empowering. It is an industry full of incredibly talented and skilled people, who are not only passionate about what they do, but about sharing their knowledge and helping others learn.
There are so many career paths within this industry: journalism, dealerships, technical roles, marketing, manufacturers…the list continues. The opportunities are abundant and my experience has been, that career progression feels limitless.
What advice would you give your younger self on having a successful career?
It’s a cliché, isn’t it? But, care less what those who don’t know you, think of you. Know your worth, know what you bring to the table and be proud of it and who you are. The qualities that you have shine through and help you be as successful as you can and want to be. Kindness, strength and resilience will guide you forwards and make sure your surround yourself with those you trust and love.
And on those days when it is a little harder to shine as bright as you want to, or things are feeling tough, look around you and see the other incredible people, women especially, who are there supporting you and fixing your crown!
About the Barbara Cox Award 2023 Nominees:
