I feel like all of my Christmases have come at once. You get out of life what you put in. Put all your effort into trying to get on the 2011 intake of scholars, and you will get a life changing experience out.

This isn’t just any marketing course, this is a marketing course for the leaders of tomorrow.

‘Time taken to create your ‘Pick Me’ presentation = 10 hours, Time taken to complete the psychometric tests = 4 hours, Intensive interviews = 2 hours, Being a scholar of the academy = Priceless’

6 months in, I am still pinching myself to see if I am dreaming!

The scholarship has been an amazing opportunity for me. At the beginning it was difficult to get my head around all the advice I was given, however 6 months down the line the experience has helped me not only understand where I want to go in my career, but also helped me action them now at Mindshare. 2012 is going to be an exciting year

The Marketing Academy still feels a bit unreal. Every time I have a mentoring session, attend a faculty or we go to boot camp I literally have to pinch myself. The opportunities that the marketing academy gives us are so amazing, at times you can’t get your head around the fact that all this has been opened up to you. The access to senior marketers and the insights they are sharing with us and the inspiration they are giving us to become the best marketing leaders that we can be, the skills and learnings we taking from the faculties, the support and direction we are getting from our coaches, the sense of purpose and fulfilment that working with our Donate28 charities brings and the bond we are forming with our fellow scholars - on their own these things would be amazing, but together in one intense programme, it’s literally life changing stuff. It’s challenging and exciting and uplifting – I’m loving every moment and I can’t believe we are over half way through already. I want to press pause and take stock to make sure I have properly taken in everything I’ve been exposed to, but of course you can’t and it continues to wrap us up and carry us away on our fast paced journey of development. I feel very very fortunate

The Marketing Academy: An intense year of learning, self reflection, inspiration and friendship that is truly character defining. Allowing young talent, access to a toolkit of skills that will equip them and those around them to reach their greatest potential.

A journey that will truly have a positive impact on your life. In an environment with like minded peers, passionate in achieving their potential and a support network that truly inspire and believe in you to make it happen!

The Marketing Academy has given me access to a wide range of people who have candidly shared their knowledge and experiences with me. Understanding their different approaches and views has helped me better shape my objectives, given me tools to improve my leadership style, and made me realize the true worth of building my own brand.

You only need to look at the names of the mentors and board members involved in the Marketing Academy to see that this is a programme like no other in the industry. A genuinely “step changing” programme and a unique programme of learning. And critically, because it’s free, it’s open to all – the only thing you need to bring is ability. A programme that has a big role to play in the Marketing industry for many years to come.