Vapouround magazine ISSUE 12 | Page 45

DAVE JO

Sales Director Dave Turner has been a driving force behind Vapouround ’ s keen business sense from the beginning , and now oversees our continual expansion and upturn . “ I joined in April 2015 , I was here as a salesperson before we had launched a full-blown magazine . I sold for the other publications that we were doing at the time , newspapers like the Derbyshire and the Staffordshire Guardian .” Dave was appointed director of sales late last year , and liaises between the various departments . “ It ’ s my responsibility to hit targets , keep advertisers happy and provide a professional service . We ’ ve always had a lot of talented individuals that work well as a team here , so I have faith in everyone to do a good job . The biggest and most pleasant surprise for me entering the vaping industry were the people that work within it . They ’ re real , normal , nice people . I ’ ve worked in a lot of marketing and advertising roles previously , and the approachability and honesty of people in vaping is unique .” Dave was always optimistic about what Vapouround could be . “ It was clear if we worked hard on behalf of our customers , we could make Vapouround a worldwide brand . And look at us now : magazine , show guides , awards , lounges and the Vapouroound bus . From tiny acorns , mighty oaks grow .” Favourite memories : “ Two things stick out . Firstly , being at the expos in person . You get to meet and know people that become more than customers , but your friends . I remember coming back from a show , standing in a long queue for a plane and realising I knew about 80 % of the people there . “ The other one would be just before the second annual Vapouround Awards . Steph ’ s video on our last twelve months of progress really put everything into perspective . Sometimes when you ’ re right at the centre of things , rushing around , you don ’ t often have the chance to stand back and appreciate something in the way that others might be able to . To see the best bits condensed . There ’ s a lot of work and stress in doing what we do to the quality we ’ re known for , and I was proud to see it all together .”
Money makes the world go ’ round , and nothing around here gets done without the steady , stalwart work of our accounting department . As the chasers and coordinators of Vapouround ’ s capital , nothing gets past them . “ When I first started here , I was the only account manager , said Joanne Stubley .” As Vapouround and its accounts expanded , so did Jo ’ s responsibilities . She soon found herself taking on , training and mentoring new team members for money management . “ It ’ s been very rewarding , watching them progress ,” she says proudly . Jo joined the team in September 2014 as our sole accounts coordinator . She now enjoys a position as our general manager . Like her coworkers , Jo had a solid background in newspapers and found so much more when moving on .
“ There ’ s always something new to learn . You come in and pick up so much as you go along . But it ’ s still a well-run , professional operation . No one cuts corners .”
Jo ’ s contribution to the logistical side of Vapouround has also proven invaluable . Keeping the books balanced and bills paid is a hefty task when your company has a warehouse , several lounges and a main magazine office . “ If anything stops at accounting , it won ’ t go anywhere .” Fondest memories : Overseeing our move from the old Derby headquarters to the new . An operation which looked like it would take a week was completed in a day . “ Moving here to a whole new office was definitely a sign that we ’ d made it .”
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