Barbara Cox Awards 2023 nominees: Mariam Aslam-Digger

Barbara Cox Awards 2023

nominees: Mariam Aslam-Digger

Commercial Director at Rhino Group

Brief biography of you and your career

I started my career in the automotive industry at 21, straight out of university working for a full-service automotive marketing agency, which was subsequently acquired by Vertu Motors. I developed from a graduate business assistant to Divisional Marketing Manager for Vertu Jaguar Land Rover, where i was part of the initial transformation from dealer level marketing to group level marketing. I then moved into a head of marketing role for Revilo Group, and developed the ‘We don’t buy every car’ brand, a moniker of Revilo Automotive.

My most recent role has taken me from Head of Marketing to Brand and Marketing Director, and now Commercial Director for Rhino Group; a marketing, events and technology business servicing automotive manufacturers and retailers in the UK and across Europe, developing new initiatives across the sector.

Away from work, I am a ‘Justice of the Peace’, better known as a magistrate in the Family Court as part of the Greater Manchester Bench. I currently take at least a day each month to sit in court. I’m also a huge advocate and supporter of Endometriosis UK, providing helpline support for women suffering with the disease. Most weekends, you’ll find me on a tennis court, rather than in court, or pretending I haven’t just slept a whole afternoon away.

Tell us what this nomination means to you

It’s an absolute privilege to share this platform with such accomplished women. I’m genuinely honoured.

I’ve also been reflecting on the women that have helped guide, support and advance my career, and in some ways this feels like a celebration of them. I am a sum of their time, patience, and faith. So for the incredible women, past and present who have served as an inspiration throughout my career, and those I still aspire to be like, thank you.

What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in automotive?

Autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles, new battery technologies, a new vision of the “car dealership”… these are are only a few of the massive innovations hitting the automotive sector, and so it’s important to have a diversity of minds at the table.

An industry being reinvented needs innovative talent, and I genuinely believe more women should be looking to influence the direction of it.

What advice would you give your younger self on having a successful career?

You don’t need to be the toughest, tallest, prettiest, smartest girl in the room. You only need to be in the room.

Start fostering your own confidence so when the opportunity arises, you can put yourself in those rooms, at those tables. And while you’re there, do not ever underestimate yourself.

Self-belief is so important. You’ve got to champion yourself, as much as you champion those around you.

Above all else, dare. Do not let fear get in the way of your success or of your choices. Do not look at your role models and wonder if, or fear that – you are not enough, or that you do not have what it takes.

Those who are more successful than you really only have one thing that you don’t have (yet) – experience. What separates you from them, if you work hard and dedicate yourself to the cause, is only the time it takes to acquire that experience.

The path to success is rarely a straight line, it is filled with pitfalls, hurdles, and hardships. Those will all be looked upon as gifts one day, when you have overcome them and you are stronger.

Every painful lesson, every embarrassing faux pas, is an opportunity to improve – and you will improve. Embrace the difficult, do not fear it. And when you make it, stay humble by remembering that you too were once that scared little girl who made mistakes.