Charlie Lait

I’m a digital content creator for a global millennial audience with 6 years experience across digital roles in the public and private sector, in the U.K. and in the U.S.

I currently work in the EMEA hub of TicToc by Bloomberg, a 24/7 social media news network. I’m obsessed with how people think and what motivates them to make choices. That obsession underlies the two things that matter most to me in my career – making smart digital content that people respond to and interact with, and making that content in a team pursuing a common vision.

I’ve been singular in pursuing my career since I hit 18 – never did a semester of my university education go by when I didn’t have a media job while keeping a full-time course load. But my curiosity about people has taken me around the world, and I’m lucky to have lived abroad in Italy, New York and Chicago aged 18-24. That international experience continues to shape my worldview and ambition.

My current job is to grow the EMEA audience and create stories from EMEA that resonate with users globally, be it breaking news, a hyperlocal story with a global resonance, or anything in-between. I might be working on a program of content including video, animations, graphics, writing, and interactive mediums (Instagram stories, Twitter moments, etc). Depending on the day and the story, I’m a one-man band, producing and packaging content, or I’m working with others in London, New York and Hong Kong.

On a daily basis I manage the workload of video editors in London and early New York hours – setting up the brand’s daily news agenda for EMEA and the Americas. I deputise in approving final content for the Global Editor In Chief, as needed – but I’m not a line manager, and don’t hold a managerial title. I have grown into this responsibility by developing my relationships and responsibilities across the team.

I partner with teams across Bloomberg’s global network to turn written stories into dynamic social media packages. That could be a reporter in Ireland, a stringer in a remote Morocco town, or an external agency. As part of this collaboration, I also sometimes write for Bloomberg News traditional properties.

Previously I was digital editor for HM Treasury during the EU referendum, and at the Prime Minister’s Office during the 2017 general election. If you know the Treasury has a cat, and that cat has an Instagram (www.instagram.com/treasury_cat), that’s because of me. Within four months I managed that account directly, with a completely nonpaid social strategy that resulted in 15,000 followers within six months. I ran the digital communications strategy for the New £1 Coin campaign, winning the PRWeek Awards 2017: Public Campaign, I oversaw the work of the external agency — delivery of the website, promotional materials and social media strategy, including setting paid media spending.

Prior to that, I worked across multiple digital roles at Yahoo EMEA editorial. I was Launch Editor of Yahoo Live, a live video events project that streamed high-profile events (The Academy Awards red carpet, NFL games, exclusive concerts) used entertainment influencers and high-profile events to engage the digital millennial audience. As editorial lead, it was my responsibility to design the digital content strategy that would deliver a large, continually engaged millennial audience.

I worked with the marketing department to highly shareable create digital assets for maximum social sharing reach, and with our production partners to ensure original content was delivered to specification from the ground. I was personally responsible for pitching and delivering the social media strategy for many of these events directly to the PR teams for the high-profile entertainment figures we worked with. My digital strategy for one of our events resulted in a global hashtag trend on twitter, which was re-trending the next day in multiple international markets.

I started my media career in news production at CNBC and Sirius XM in New York. I went on to work in online audience development and social media management for an investigative magazine transitioning to web-only, and a media non-profit looking to increase its donor base. In both of those roles, I assisted the Heads of Audience redesign the website and implemented new social media strategies to grow their 16-24 audiences.

From 2010 until 2015, I was a freelance digital video production assistant in New York and London, working for global media clients including the BBC and Endemol. I continue to informally advise small businesses today on their social media strategies, via Bloomberg Philanthropies partnerships.

I have a BA in Journalism and Religious Studies from New York University, U.S.A.