From an apprenticeship to national sales director of one of the biggest print companies in the country, the meteoric rise of IVE Group’s Natalie Taylor exemplifies the potential and power of women in the industry when given the opportunity to shine.
Starting in print straight out of high school, Taylor undertook an apprenticeship in Graphic Prepress for a newspaper and newsprint publisher of community newspapers, Torch Publishing. Staying there for 12 years, Taylor first learned the production processes, with a range of background from platemaking to compositing newspapers.
Then, after learning the range of estimating and product planning, she evolved again, moving into sales, driving the commercial heatset and coldset mix into the business.
Taylor explains, “Torch was a publisher, printing newspapers, while also printing commercial work. From my perspective it was about bringing more commercial value into the business.
“I think it was a fantastic opportunity to get into an industry that I had a passion for. I always had a passion for printing and magazines. I was glad the managing director of that business, Trent Engisch, saw an opportunity for me to be mentored and grow across the different divisions of the business. He pushed me to go into sales, which was a natural progression from production.
“I have been fortunate throughout my career to have amazing male mentors, and they have all encouraged me to have opportunities and progress.
“It was a great experience, I was sad to leave, but it was about building upon it, and making the next step to high-quality commercial and magazine printing. Webstar was the perfect choice for me.”
From that role there was an opportunity at Webstar in 2007, and growing her sales acumen, Taylor begun to predominantly sell print contracts for the magazine sector.
She explains, “I vividly remember the first day I was shown around the plant. I was absolutely blown away with the excitement of cutting edge technology, the hum of the web presses, the high speed binders all rolling away and the passionate buzz from the team. It made me want to be part of it.
“Coming from a newsprint background, the appeal of selling high quality magazines, travel brochures and so many diverse parts of the market was endless.
“From winning business from small niche publishers to securing large tenders — there was never a dull moment as sales executive at Webstar, I loved every minute.
“When IVE acquired Franklin Web and AIW, my role naturally expanded into retail catalogues and I am proud to be national sales director across Blue Star Web and Franklin Web, the heatset web offset divisions of the IVE group.
For Taylor, there has been a positive shift in the way the industry operates, even if her own experience has been consistent over time. In her words, “I have always had a great experience as a female in the industry, but I know that is not the case for all the women I speak to.
“I think the print industry is working towards motivating and encouraging progression for women across all sectors.
“I am a strong believer in being available and motivating, mentoring is a big thing I believe in. The support network among our industry is something that we should constantly be trying to improve across the board.”
Women make up fewer spots than men in executive, director, and management roles within print.
Taylor defies that trend, and recognises the importance of it, “It is an amazing opportunity to be in any leadership role, not only as a woman. To have an opportunity to influence, motivate, and inspire other women in the industry to take a leadership role, that is what it is all about for me.
“There is a definite benefit to more even gender splits within companies, and company boards. The mixture of female and male minds gives the best outcome.
“I do not think it should be equality just for gender’s sake, a team should be established based on the best people in the business, an equal split just for the sake of numbers does not send the right message.
“But if a business does not give those opportunities to women, it is hard to climb the corporate ladder. That is why there is such an uneven split across so many companies, not because men are better at those roles.”
As an ambassador for Women in Print, Taylor is always giving back, volunteering with the group, and bringing women together.
She says, “I work for a large organisation, but a lot of the women that work for smaller print companies, there is only a handful, or they might be the only woman in the business, so the forum of Women in Print is great to connect to connect with other women.
“We want to grow it, and reach out to more women in not just print, but print media, networking is so important, it can lead to anything.”
True to form, Taylor cannot help but talk about the women she works with, saying, “All of the ladies in the IVE Group should be noted, there are fantastic women across various sectors, and we have female leaders across other roles in our group.
“We see the young aspiring account managers, the ladies in production, all across the business, every single day.
“All of our girls are amazing, and you should definitely be looking out for them.”
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