35 www.printmonthly.co.uk May / June 2023 - Issue 342 Do you feel there are enough women in the industry, and if not, how can we address this? Although print is considered a male-dominated industry, I do think there are many opportunities for women to grow and thrive within it. However it does need to diversify to ensure it is attracting the best talent, whatever their gender. My concern at the moment is how the print industry is going to attract younger people into the sector. We need to find those people that were lost during the pandemic and put a spotlight on why working in print is an attractive and thriving career path. This year’s International Women’s Day is all about celebrating women that are driving digital innovation and technological advancement and I believe that with the print industry being more balanced between men and women, we will see what some consider an ‘old fashioned’ industry start to diversify more and attract the best people. What’s your proudest career moment to date? My proudest moment so far has been being awarded one of Lincolnshire’s 30 under 30 at the end of 2022. I received this award for the impact I’ve made at Visual Print and Design, the progression, and becoming a familiar face in the Lincoln business community. How did you come to be in the print and paper industry, and what has your career looked like to date? I started out at this very publication! I didn’t choose the print industry initially, but I have chosen to stick around. I happened to be looking for a journalism role in Bristol and landed a role at Link Publishing, which was a great place to learn a lot about the industry and actually get out and experience it. I spent time freelancing on the PR side as well as writing for other industry publications and businesses, and in 2019 I established Karis Copp Media. I now work with a fantastic range of clients in print and adjacent markets, helping them tell their stories and reach the people that need to hear them. I am lucky to count so many people I work with as personal friends, which is one of the amazing things about this industry. Do you feel there are enough women in the industry, and if not, how can we address this? I would say no, there aren’t enough women, I think that’s clear to anyone. How we address it is a big question and I am not an expert, but I think it starts with community, education, and access. The fantastic work of a number of industry initiatives that bring together women in print to share experiences, ideas, and inspiration is a great example of building strong and supportive communities that allow women in the industry to lift each other up. Education is crucial, from the more general challenges of closing the STEM career gap, to showing young women what a career in print could look like for them. Education is also key to dealing with unconscious (and conscious) biases that do the gender equality a lot of harm. Access is definitely complex, and businesses need to scrutinise and strengthen diversity, equity, and inclusion frameworks, but there are wider societal issues that point to why there are fewer women in senior positions in a whole host of industries, such as the dire state of childcare. On a positive note, I definitely notice a change for the better eight years into my career in the industry, we just have to keep it moving. What’s your proudest career moment to date? This one is hard, I am not great at being my own hype woman – I save it all for clients! But I will say that having started a business in 2019 and navigating the pandemic shortly after, I am proud of seizing that opportunity to show that I could support businesses that couldn’t communicate their messages through the normal channels and build something I love doing at the same time, and will continue to do it as long as it keeps the lights on! How did you come to be in the print and paper industry, and what has your career looked like to date? I think most people would agree that we ‘fall into’ the industry! I’ve always been surrounded by print as my dad was a printer, and when he eventually had his own business, I worked there through school, college, and university holidays, but I never really planned to follow in his footsteps. I finished Leeds Met University in 1992 with a degree in Manufacturing Systems Engineering to find a career within manufacturing, but never thought I would go into print. It was then in the early 90s with the introduction of digital printing that I first fell in love with the industry. When dad and his business partner at Blackburn’s of Bolton decided to invest in one of the first Indigo presses in the UK, I jumped at the chance to help set up a small division focussing on digital print. These digital years really did change the industry and to be on this curve was thrilling. After seven years there I had the choice to stay with the business and buy in, or to spread my wings with a job at HP. Even though I missed the family business, I entered the corporate world at an exciting time and truly enjoyed my 13 years at HP. I was initially in Business Development, then progressed to become European Customer Programme Manager. I did my latter years there selling the Indigo presses into the packaging industry. My job took me to lots of amazing countries, trade and customer events, and I was lucky enough to work with some of the most successful (and fun) salespeople across EMEA at the time. It really was a tough decision to leave the job that I considered ‘my baby’ when I had my son in 2015. I decided to take a break from the industry and focus on my gorgeous boy Reuben. After a few years, I was approached by The Printing Charity as they were launching the helpline and wanted someone with knowledge, experiKaris Copp, owner of Karis Copp Media The theme of International Women’s Day 2023 was ‘Embrace Equity’ meaning ‘creating an inclusive world’ Factoid Nicola Peacock, senior relationship manager at The Printing Charity FOCUS ON / WOMEN IN PRINT
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