Black Vanilla has a core team of PR, content creation, copywriting, social media and event experts who work with an extended family of talented marketing professionals who bring their own expertise to our campaigns. Together we’re better.
Nichole Culverwell, Chart. PR, MCIPR
Director
Expertise: Nichole manages the business and leads all client services at Black Vanilla. She has worked in the public relations industry for over 25 years and combines strategic communications planning skills with “front line” media relations experience. Nichole will also work alongside your senior management team to deliver stakeholder mapping, crisis management, internal communications and social media transformation projects.
Nichole is a Chartered CIPR practitioner, the highest accreditation in professional public relations practice and is also a trained copywriter. She also has a CIPR Specialist Diploma in Crisis Communications.
Background: Nichole has experience in many different industry sectors in London and Sydney, including healthcare, finance, publishing and FMCG. As well as working in-house and in one of the UK’s largest agencies she set up and ran her own boutique PR company in London.
Why we love Nichole: Nichole brings energy, experience and communications acumen to Black Vanilla’s integrated marketing campaigns. She is social media savvy, a demon copywriter, cuts through problems and is highly strategic in her thinking.
Outside of work: At the weekends you will find her watching her sons play hockey, running, swimming in the sea and practising yoga. She also loves to cook and is passionate about health and wellbeing.
Favourite film: Anything with Daniel Craig! Layer Cake, Casino Royale..
Favourite holiday destination: Austria for family skiing holidays, Australia to experience wide-open spaces and Asia for its amazing sensory experiences.
Catharine Haywood
PR Consultant
Expertise: With over a decade of experience under her belt, Catharine supports the Black Vanilla team as a freelance PR consultant, working across a variety of consumer and B2B campaigns. With both in-house and agency expertise, Catharine’s experience covers a wealth of sectors and her work includes copywriting, media liaison and feature writing.
Background: Catharine’s PR career began during a gap year in which she worked across various sporting events, including the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, Australian Open and Grand Prix. Following her return to London, she built on her media experience with in-house roles at Waterstones and the London 2012 Olympics. Agency life followed, where she managed multiple accounts spanning finance, sport, recruitment and technology before moving to the Cayman Islands and Guernsey and embarking on her freelance career.
Why we love Catharine: Not only is vanilla genuinely one of her favourite flavours, but Catharine also keeps the Black Vanilla team stocked up with chocolate.
Outside of work: With a love of the outdoors, when she’s not playing tennis or running, you’ll generally find Catharine trying to keep up with her two little boys, Joe and Tom, or making the most of Guernsey’s fabulous beaches.
Favourite Film: Good Will Hunting.
Favourite Holiday Destination: Italy; anywhere at all, as long as there’s pasta, wine and sunshine.
Alisha Smith
Account Manager
Expertise: Alisha works across a variety of Black Vanilla’s accounts, supporting consumer, B2B, charity and fiduciary clients. Copywriting, PR, media liaison, client communication and event planning are just a part of the day job and, as a blogging expert, her online writing skills are often put to good use on social media.
Background: Following six years working within the finance sector, Alisha turned her passion for home interiors into a career-changing blog. She is also currently studying for an interior design diploma. Writing and promoting her lifestyle blog, as well as revamping the social media, marketing and blog profiles for a local boutique, taught Alisha a lot about photography, copywriting and social media – all of which now benefits Black Vanilla’s clients.
Why we love Alisha: Nothing fazes Alisha and she is both creative and super organised – both essential qualities for a good PR pro.
Outside of Work: In her spare time, Alisha is a bit of a gym bunny but is equally happy when out enjoying cocktails with her friends. In the summer months you’ll find her down on the beach or in Herm with friends and family.
Favourite Film: Lord of the Rings films or Avatar.
Favourite Holiday Destination: Italy for the food or Nepal for the awe-inspiring scenery.
Natalie Davidson
Event Consultant
Expertise: Natalie brings nearly 25 years’ event management experience to Black Vanilla. As a freelance consultant, Natalie applies her extensive knowledge of the local landscape and her unrivalled network of contacts to deliver some of the Bailiwick’s most popular business and community events.
Background: Natalie has honed her event marketing skills through roles in both London and Guernsey, and has worked across several different industries. She started her career with a classical artist management company, where she organised orchestral tours that spanned the globe, before managing events for the Prince’s Trust and Royal British Legion. She latterly joined a financial publishing company, organising conferences and seminars for the company’s magazines and their associated awards.
Here in Guernsey, Natalie is probably best known for her role at the Guernsey Event Company. During her 11 years with the business, Natalie spearheaded the creation and implementation of some of Guernsey’s largest events, including, amongst others, the Guernsey Air Display, Guernsey Awards for Achievement, Proms on the Pier, charity bike rides to France with Only Fools and Donkeys, and British Irish Council Summit meetings in Guernsey and Jersey as well as countless bespoke events for a wide range of corporates and charities.
Why we love Natalie: Natalie applies the same level of professional expertise to every brief she handles. Whether working on big-budget corporate events or smaller, community initiatives, her ‘can-do’ attitude, attention to detail and strong work ethic ensure impeccable client service and a seamless event experience from start to finish.
Outside of work: Natalie can be found spending time with her two growing sons supporting their myriad sporting and musical activities, playing the clarinet or walking their new puppy.
Favourite Film: Can’t go wrong with a good musical….The Greatest Showman and Moulin Rouge are firm favourites.
Favourite Holiday Destination: Anywhere you can ski; London for a big city fix.
Candice Vermeulen
PR Consultant
Expertise: With over a decade of experience in PR and marketing, Candice supports the Black Vanilla team as a freelance PR Consultant, working across a variety of financial service clients and B2B campaigns.
Background: Candice has more than 15 years’ experience in PR and communications, the majority of which has been spent in the financial services sector, and more recently private equity. Previously Candice worked as a broadcast journalist for the BBC.
Why we love Candice: Candice knows the financial services industry inside out, and her journalistic background means she has a nose for a good story and leaves no stone unturned. Super efficient, she gets stuff done before you even know it needs doing.
Outside of Work: On summer weekends you will find her on a Guernsey beach with her husband and young daughter. Candice also likes eating out and indulging in a good book.
Favourite Film: Pretty Woman.
Favourite Holiday Destination: Mauritius because it’s where Candice got married, and Cornwall for family holidays. But really anywhere sunny. On a great summer’s day Guernsey is hard to beat.
Katie Leach
Junior PR Executive
Expertise: Katie’s work experience in broadcast journalism and a media degree has given her a fantastic grounding in how journalists work and the role of PR in reputation management. As a junior member of the team, she’s enjoying finding her feet and experiencing all aspects of agency life.
Background: Katie graduated from the University of Winchester earlier this year with a degree in Media, Communications and Journalism. She formed a strong interest in PR and communications through her university course and was keen to get started in the industry.
Why we love Katie: She’s already proved herself to be an excellent copywriter, turning her hand to crafting press releases, social media posts and website copy. Katie’s happy to get stuck into media relations too and is already supporting a variety of clients with research, writing and event management.
Outside of work: Katie enjoys all aspects of island life, especially in the summer. She will likely be found swimming at one of the beautiful bays or enjoying a barbeque and chasing the sun.
Favourite Film: Little Miss Sunshine.
Favourite Holiday Destination: The Maldives – a magical, once-in-a-lifetime trip that she will never forget!
Krista Assisstant
Social Media and Events Executive
Expertise: As one of our newest members here at Black Vanilla, Krista is just getting to grips with PR life. She has already organised events for JT and is proving herself to be a much-valued member of the team.
Background: Krista recently graduated from the University of Sussex with a degree in History and Philosophy. With wide interests in social media, Krista runs her own YouTube channel, Instagram and Twitter account largely promoting a more eco-friendly lifestyle. The skills she has learned from studying for such an intense degree along with her love for social media makes her the perfect woman for the job.
Why we love Krista: She might be Black Vanilla’s latest recruit but she is already a valuable member of the team. Krista is super organised, has lots of energy and gets things done with the kind of efficiency you’d expect from an industry old-timer! We already predict she’ll go far.
Outside of Work: Her love of music means you can often find Krista at a gig or simply singing at the top of her lungs in her car – Keep an eye out Guernsey drivers!
Favourite Film: Anything Marvel/Avengers related.
Favourite Holiday Destination: Somewhere with sunshine and great vegan options!
Jo Pickford
Bookkeeper
Expertise: Jo works behind the scenes here at Black Vanilla, keeping our finances up to date.
Background: Jo started her accountancy career at a small local firm before moving to BDO Limited. Following a biref stint in their audit department, she moved into the local business team where she was responsible for the preparation of financial statements for a number of local businesses. After a brief career break to have her two children, Jo fell into the world of bookkeeping in 2015 and hasn’t looked back since!
Why we love Jo: As well as being extremely efficient at keeping our finances in check, Jo also happens to be impressively good at quizzes. Black Vanilla simply couldn’t be without her!
Outside of work: When she’s not running around after her two young boys, Jo can be found in the kitchen, walking her dogs or at a Barre class.
Favourite Film: Romeo and Juliet.
Favourite Holiday Destination: Without the kids it would have to be the Maldives – but for now she’s quite happy wandering around Disney World with her little men!