Welcome to the next instalment of our 5 Minutes with Blueface series, where we introduce you to some of our Blueface Superstars and offer an insight into their career and team culture.
This week we met the most reserved man in Blueface, Joe Roche. Anyone from Blueface will know this is an absolute lie, as Joe has never stopped talking since joining Blueface in 2017 and has a passion for storytelling, which works in his favour as the Head of Marketing in Blueface.
So buckle yourself in, this will be a good one!
What’s your Professional Background?
Well, I’m not one for long stories, but here we go… I began my career working door to door sales for a telecoms provider, followed by a good stint in sports PR. From there, I moved on to the weird and wonderful world of tabloid news, scripting slanderous headlines and salacious subject matters for some of Ireland’s more infamous newspapers.
Subsequently, I began acquiring some digital marketing skills, which led me into content marketing positions across various startups (because I love a challenge). Fast forward a few years, and I am Head of Marketing here at Blueface!
Why Work at Blueface?
It’s very simple, the people. I’ve been lucky enough to share an office, pre-COVID with some of the most passionate people in the industry. Although I usually spend my days looking like a headless chicken, the effort and support across the business doesn’t go unnoticed. We have a real entrepreneur vibe, and people are encouraged to speak up and give their opinions, not that I need a push on this one!
My team is another reason, and I can honestly say I have never worked with a more hard-working, passionate team. Blueface Marketing are all specialists in one way or another. They challenge me to be better every day, and I have no doubt I will look upon working with this team as one of the most critical periods of my entire career.
What Values Drive You?
My values have remained the same for every one of my jobs since I started working on sites for my father at the age of 13. If you do a job, whether it’s cleaning the floors, stacking shelves or slinging VoIP phones – do it well and have pride in what you do.
And like most, I also just want to make the auld pair (Irish parent slang) proud of me!
Something We Didn’t Know About Joe Roche?
I organised and ran music gigs across Dublin for over a decade, I never did this to make a profit and anything I made was invested into the music scene and community. I had the opportunity to see and play with every act I wanted to, and it was a dream come true!
Advice for Anyone Considering Working at Blueface?
My advice would be to have an idea of the type of road you want your career to take. As a quickly scaling business, the opportunity to grow and be part of something special is genuine.
As we are in the process of building out new teams, technologies and projects, it is essential to identify how you can bring your skills to this. Blueface has a real self-starter feel to it, so don’t be waiting for instructions, be a driver of innovation and change!
If you Could have Anyone Else’s Job in Blueface, Who Would it be?
Pritish Panda, assuming that I inherit some of his competency. One of the fundamental differences between our platform and some fly-by-night provider’s is the attention to usability. Customer experience and engagement is a constantly shifting psychology problem that is inherently attractive to a marketer. It’s also just kinda cool creating stuff.
Pritish… or…. Mick Clarke. I know it’s supposed to be one person but I have never met a man who courts such celebrity-attention in Dublin and at telecoms events. Aspirational adoration!
What is your Proudest Moment Working at Blueface?
Personally, the Business Communications Technology Report launch was a flu-stricken fever dream that worked out really well. Writing and presenting a 90-page report on business communications during your first three months on the job was one of the most challenging and rewarding parts of my career to date. The CMO100 award was a nice surprise too.
Team-wise, there is no match to the Comcast Business acquisition. Blueface Marketing and Brendan Gaffney spent a week locked in Alan Foy’s office. When we finally came out, we had achieved an incredible result for the business and we are all still on speaking terms, which was an added bonus.
Interested in joining the team? We’re hiring across all departments! Visit the Blueface Careers page to learn more.
