Michelle Wright
CEO of Cause4
In the back of my mind I always thought that I might want to start a business.
Up to that point my career journey had been slightly unusual. I had trained as a violinist at one of the UK’s leading conservatoires – London’s Guildhall School of Music & Drama – and then had a four-year career as a professional violinist playing in London orchestras. I then found my way into the charitable sector where I worked in a variety of communications and marketing roles and eventually became a Chartered Marketer.
Immersing myself in the world of arts and social charities I accepted a job in 2005 as Marketing Director of a socially-driven theatre company in the East End of London. The job turned out to be both a baptism of fire and fortuitous in equal measure. On my first day, one of the Directors said ‘we need to raise £1m this year just to keep the charity going,’ and on that note….and quite by accident, I found myself plunged into the world of charitable fundraising. For a year I rolled up my sleeves to raise the money needed just to keep the charity on its feet.
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