It’s been a minute since our last team interview, following a wide range of SEO-focused content being produced for the Climb & Conquer blog as we make it our business to be our own best case study. You can see the latest here, in case you missed it. We’re back, however, with a sit-down chat with Alex Jennings, our newly-appointed UX Manager.
Reading-based Alex has extensive experience in the digital industry, particularly in automotive and eCommerce, but his knowledge of UX is far-reaching, and we’re delighted to have him join the team.
We caught up with him to discover a little more about his career and route through the digital industry, what he’s going to be doing at Climb & Conquer, and more:
Give us a whistlestop tour of your career journey to date:
I began by designing websites and apps while studying for my photography degree, which meant that once university was over, I could get a job doing both – as the marketing guy at an independent estate agency, taking photos of the houses and creating all the marketing collateral and website.
From there, I joined Select Car Leasing and was fortunate enough to be part of its growth from a small car leasing company to the market leader in the space of 5 years. I worked up from a Marketing Executive to a Marketing Manager and specialised in UX and CRO.
I then moved into e-commerce as a Website Optimisation Manager, leading the online experience for major online garden centre Primrose, before going back into automotive at MotorEasy for a two-year stint.
Now I’m agency side, and the happiest I’ve been in my career.
Describe briefly a typical day in the life of your role:
My role is new and unique at Climb & Conquer, so no day is the same. It involves a lot of collaboration across the agency, as typically, my colleagues will be more ingrained with their clients than I am, meaning we need to work together to get the best results for them. That’s what sets our services apart from others, I think – we don’t give generic advice and guidance; it’s tailored very specifically to the client.
What made you want to join Climb & Conquer?
I do what I love, and I have the freedom to work from home with a bunch of genuinely nice people. It was a no-brainer. The agency is doing phenomenal work, the buzz is constant, and it’s refreshing to be part of a company doing things differently.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
The people are probably the best bit, and the variety of the client base keeps things interesting, too. I’ve really enjoyed working closely with the team to help problem solve, and have also provided cross-agency training and coaching on UX principles, helping the teams understand how they can improve things for clients even more than they are already.
And what’s the most challenging part?
We do a great job of being ‘digitally social’ to prevent anyone from feeling isolated, but it’s a real challenge, and I think video calling software has work to do to improve that. It’s designed for presentations with a single speaker and actively attempts to kill group dynamics.
What’s your hot take on Digital Marketing for 2025?
AI is the hot topic at the moment, obviously, but aside from that, I think our use of social media will change as research continues into its impact on our well-being.
If you could give one piece of advice to anyone looking to get into your field, what would it be?
It’s a fascinating field, and I’m always surprised to see that people very rarely behave how you would expect them to. So probably that. Whatever you think people do on your website, they probably do the opposite. They certainly don’t do what you would do, so investing in CRO and UX is never going to be a bad idea if you want to stop the guesswork.
We’re still on the hunt for talented people to join us, specifically in our PPC team, where we’re looking for a PPC Strategist and a PPC Executive. Both roles are fully-remote and you can find out more information by contacting us.
