Campaign’s PR Faces to Watch 2021 — Layan Shadid, Junior Account Executive, Hill & Knowlton Strategies
Campaign’s PR Faces to Watch 2021 — Layan Shadid, Junior Account Executive, Hill & Knowlton Strategies
Age: 22
Nominated by Jennifer Engmann-Kedissa, Regional Director MENA, Financial + Professional Services, Hill & Knowlton Strategies
Layan is a bright, young colleague who demonstrates great talent and maturity beyond her age. With not even two years of experience, she is a core member of several high-profile accounts across the region and is known for her confident, sensible contributions. Layan expertly deploys her rapidly growing set of core skills and her very good working knowledge of the financial sector for our clients’ benefit, tackling complex briefs with ease and a smile on her lips. Her can-do attitude and commitment to quality have won her the trust of clients, team members and the media There is no doubt that all of this taken together will take Layan far in the PR industry.
Bio
Layan began her career at H+K as an Intern and has transitioned into a Junior Account Executive position within the Financial + Professional Services practice. She currently supports account leads across core F+PS clients, including Abu Dhabi Global Market, Standard Chartered Bank, and the Central Bank of the UAE.
Layan has played a hand in multiple industries and her work experience thus far has consisted of an internship where she conducted extensive research and synthesized results to fit the needs of multiple clients, including government entities within the UAE. She has also done some volunteer work for the World Government Summit and EXPO 2020.
Layan recently graduated from the American University of Sharjah with a degree in Finance and is working towards receiving her CFA Level 1.
Guiding principles
Layan approaches her work, and so too her daily life, with three key principles: compassion, determination, and genuineness. She’s found that, both professionally and personally, these principles play an instrumental role in her ability to overcome challenging circumstances and continue driving her growth, be it when juggling multiple client deliverables, or dealing with a frustrating encounter with a colleague.
How has Covid changed your job?
I began my career just shy of the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, meaning that a work-from-home regime was not completely out of the ordinary. However, the pandemic has certainly impacted what I believe communications and public relations to be, as well as why we communicate. This unprecedented period has called for equally unprecedented solutions that, above all, reflect a sense of support and compassion for colleagues and consumers alike.
Side hustle
In her spare time, Layan engages in medium-term trading and identifies key movements in the stock and digital asset sectors that she’s able to leverage by using popular trading applications. Thus far, Layan has cultivated an impressive portfolio and hopes to burgeon this second stream of income in the long term.
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