In the Limelight: Our Werdah

When did you start at innocent? 

January 2017. 

What’s your role here at innocent? 

Supply Portfolio Team Leader.    

When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? 

An engineer – I got as far as doing my Undergrad and Masters degree in it, then decided it wasn’t for me. It made me realise that it’s actually fine to not know what you want to do and switch when you do. 

If you had to explain what you do to a 10-year old, what would you say? Asking for a friend. 

Innocent has loads of ideas for new products to make sure we can keep bringing exciting stuff to our drinkers. I’m responsible for making sure that we know how to source and make the new ideas and products. 

What’s been your innocent career highlight?  

I won the innocent scholarship* in 2018 to learn how to swim. Without being over dramatic, it changed my life, allowing me to start my triathlon journey and now being a coach myself.  

*4 of our people a year get chosen by their colleagues to receive a £1000 for anything at all that they want to pursue and are passionate about. Churning butter or making skis is not off the table.

What’s the best thing you’ve learnt whilst working here? 

There are challenging parts of any role or project, but I've learnt at innocent that working with fun people who want to solve problems together makes it so much more enjoyable to turn up to work every day.

Are there any affinity groups, clubs, schemes, or any other ongoing activities you’re a part of? 

Kensal Strides – innocent’s running club 

If you were a piece of stationary, what would you be? 

Coloured marker – love to collaborate, big picture rather than detailed and brings a bit of brightness. 

How did you end up carrying the Olympic torch? And what was it like? 

There were a handful of Olympic torch bearing spots that were up for grabs, thanks to Coca-Cola, our parent company.

To apply for these, we had to talk about our contribution to local community or sports. I co-founded a charity called Fundhertri UK, to get more women into triathlon, and I coach several groups all focussed on getting more diversity into sports such as running, cycling and triathlon. 

To you, why do you think it’s important to exercise, and how do you fit it into your busy schedule? 

It’s important to me to keep my body strong and healthy – I’m conscious of how much lifestyle can impact your health. I also just really enjoy it, have made loads of friends through sports, and it helps my mental health a lot. 

I’m an early bird so usually squeeze in exercise before work, and I especially like doing it with my cycling or triathlon group as we get to catch up and always end with coffee. 

It’s also important to eat right, do you have any top tips on getting enough fruit and veg into your diet? other than smoothies of course. 

I’m a bit boring and have more or less the same lunch every day – butternut squash, chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, some greens and prawns or salmon. So my top tip would be to find a meal with veg that you really enjoy and have it on repeat. Taking the guesswork or decision making out of it means I know I get some good stuff without having to think about it. 

Last question. What's one bit of advice you'd give yourself when you were little? 

Be bold and take risks – you’re capable of so much more than you think you are.