A ‘Merci’ from Yannick Ondoa

Merci

If you had told my 22-year-old self, fresh out of university and walking through the doors of the Little Red Rooster office in September 2020, that he would one day work on a project involving Kylian Mbappé, I’m confident he wouldn’t have believed you.

That’s just one of the many memorable experiences I’ve had with Little Red Rooster. I never imagined I’d travel so much, especially so early in my career, or secure coverage for brilliant clients such as Western Digital and Marshall. I also never expected to work alongside such a creative and hardworking bunch of people. They’re a huge part of the reason I’ve stayed at Little Red Rooster for so long.

Summarising four years in a blog post is tough. Ironically, one of the first lessons a colleague taught me about writing press releases was: “less is more”. But if I had to sum up my time here, I’d say it has been insightful, incredible, surprising and a huge learning experience.

Learning what PR really means

Before starting at Little Red Rooster, I had a vague idea of what Public Relations was about. Anyone can Google “Public Relations” and read the definition. But until you work in the industry, it’s difficult to appreciate how much work goes into what we do.

One of my first defining experiences at Little Red Rooster was producing the monthly reports. From the outside, reporting might sound simple. For the Junior Account Executive I was four years ago, it was anything but.

The first time I produced a report, I honestly thought I wasn’t cut out for the job. My reports needed numerous revisions and missed significant pieces of coverage. I had to go back through them, make the changes and put in the time to get them right.

With the team’s mentoring and support, though, I improved.

Today, reporting is a seamless part of my job. I’m proud of how far I’ve come. I went from struggling with coverage reports to becoming one of the agency’s primary coverage drivers. I never imagine the possibility when I first started my Little Red Rooster career.

Learning to work in another language

Resilience and facing challenges are two of the biggest lessons I’ve learnt at Little Red Rooster. Improving my English is another.

English is my second language, which made things more complicated during my first few months at the agency. Thankfully, everyone was incredibly patient and always willing to help.

My writing has come a long way since then.

Working with French clients such as Framery also gave me the chance to keep an eye on what was happening across the Channel. It allowed me to flex my PR muscles in my native language and helped build my confidence.

Funnily enough, the first piece of coverage I secured — and still one of my favourites — appeared in Femme Actuelle, a French lifestyle publication. It featured Contigo in a winter round-up.

I’m also grateful to the many people I’ve met outside work who helped me improve my English without even realising it. Few of them will read these lines, but I’d still like to thank them for being such good, sincere and wonderful people.

Four years of change

I feel incredibly lucky to have been hired by a company that trusted me and gave me the time and patience to develop.

Over the past four years, I’ve watched Little Red Rooster evolve, from re-organising the agency to moving offices and continuing to grow its client roster.

I’m grateful for having the opportunity to have learnt so much and to have met so many amazing people, within and outside the company.

Looking ahead to Canada, I’ll make sure to remain enthusiastic, relentless, refined and always honest. Oh, and I will not forget to ‘make shit happen.’

Once a Rooster, always a Rooster.