Meet Franki Smith, Account Manager at Swagpack. With a marketing and content creation background, Franki brings her creative flair and client consultation skills to our team while balancing life as a mum of two.

What does an average day look like for you?

My average day involves consulting with clients – I have a couple who require quite bespoke items, so I spend a lot of time sourcing supplies that fit their ethos and products.

I’m often in consultation with the rest of the team about different projects we’ve got going on, sharing ideas for other things they’re doing. I’m currently studying for my PRINCE2 in Project Management, so if I get a bit of spare time, I set myself away in a quiet corner or put my earbuds in to focus on some revision.

My background is in marketing and content creation, so I often get involved with helping put concepts together when I have time in the day.

Can you tell us about balancing work and family life?

I have two boys – a five-year-old and a two-and-a-half-year-old. I work five days a week, fitting everything around school and nursery drop-offs and pick-ups. The workday starts long before office hours, often being woken up at 5am or 6am by energetic little ones. It might be a part-time job, but it’s not a part-time day!

What do you enjoy most about your role as an Account Manager at Swagpack?

I enjoy client consultation – I like having those calls where they say “I’ve got this idea, what can we do?” and I can bring ideas to the table.

I like to do the background work first – what kind of company are they? Is sustainability a focus? This helps me go into meetings prepared. I enjoy that kind of investigative consultation.

I also love it when a project finishes and it’s gone well. And as cheesy as it sounds, I love the team here. We’re a friendly bunch of people, making the day much better.

What inspires you about branding and creative solutions?

I love creativity. I’ve always been interested in art, design and storytelling. For me, the storytelling behind graphic design and branding is fascinating.

In my previous role at another creative design agency, we got involved in messaging and pulling that through to branding. I enjoyed working with clients who had an idea and design but needed help aligning them with their brand. That cohesive exercise of bringing everything together is most interesting.

What has been your favourite project to work on?

I worked with Deliveroo during a Black Tech Launch for Black History Month, celebrating different tech businesses run by black owners.

My client wanted products for the event focusing on wellness, wellbeing, and giving back to employees. We had bespoke Roo head plushies made – little cushions that looked like the Deliveroo Roo head – for about 100-150 employees as a thank you.

This particular project stands out because not only was it a new concept for me and my client, but also because we made it work in the very short turnaround time we had. I’m an avid planner and prefer to add buffer time into my orders – this was a TIGHT one! But we delivered and they loved them. We also did merchandise when they sponsored the UK Caribbean Food Awards in December. Seeing that side of Deliveroo – the smaller things they’re doing in different communities – was really refreshing.

Can you share a challenging project or problem you tackled in your role?

My colleague Ana and I had a situation with a product being shipped from China with a strict deadline. We ordered it four months in advance, but instead of the expected three-week delivery time, it took two months to reach us.

For about five weeks, we constantly watched the tracker and updated the client: “It’s in Russia… It’s in Latvia… It’s in Poland… It’s on the truck…” This was for Advent Calendars, which needed to be with the client by mid-October.

When it became clear that the shipment wouldn’t arrive in time, we sourced extra products at cost to ensure the project could go ahead. I’ve never taken anything so personally! I remember thinking, “If I could drive to Latvia, put this stuff in my car, and come back, I would!”

All you can do in these situations is be honest with the client and give them as much information as possible. Thankfully, they understood, and we sorted everything out in the end. Thankfully, we still work closely together because they valued our honesty and endeavours to correct the situation; we just supplied four global markets with new products and have two very exciting projects lined up for the end of 2025.

What do you get up to outside of work?

My husband owns a gym and has done for over a decade, and I coach there as well. If I’m not at Swagpack, I work a couple of hours in the gym and train there myself.

I coach body conditioning sessions using different styles, including cardio and strength-based methods. In my heyday, I was a competitive, strong woman and did stage competitions and weightlifting. I use all that experience to coach others now.

Want to know how our team delivers exceptional client experiences? Get in touch with Franki to create something brilliant together.