Snowplow Spotlight: Miriam de Medwe

How would you describe what you do in a nutshell?

As Head of People, my responsibility is to ensure that we’re building, developing and supporting an amazing workforce. I have a fantastic team that helps me with this and together, we manage both the full candidate and employee lifecycles, looking after everything from hiring and onboarding new team members to thinking of wellbeing initiatives and building a truly inclusive working environment. 

What does an average day look like for you?

Busy and varied! My days are usually packed full of meetings, interviews and working on different ways we can continue to improve our people processes at Snowplow. My activities could include managing our various HR systems, running performance review processes, conducting intro meetings for new starters, organising company-wide events and comms, developing policies, researching ways of looking after our international workforce and supporting the team with any HR queries – with a rapidly growing team there’s never a shortage of those.

How did you get to do what you are doing?

I went to University of Exeter and first studied English Literature then switched to Law. After quickly realising that Law wasn’t a career I wanted to pursue, I tried switching back to my English course but this wasn’t possible and honestly, I wasn’t that excited to continue down a path of further study. I took some time out to figure out what I wanted to do and after working a few different jobs, I stumbled upon recruitment. I loved the fast-paced nature of recruitment combined with a ton of people interaction, I’d found something that I truly loved and that I was naturally good at. After working in agency recruitment for a few years, I came to Snowplow to set up the recruitment function here and over the last 3.5 years have built the recruitment and wider people ops function, and have never looked back! Leaving university early was the best decision I ever made and I hope more young people are encouraged to listen to their gut and follow something they’re truly passionate about.

How does working for Snowplow compare to previous roles?

Snowplow is such a supportive environment and the company is full of incredibly intelligent, talented people that you can learn a lot from every single day. There’s never been a day that I’ve felt bored and the drive to make the company a success is evident in every individual. 

What has kept you motivated and sane throughout lockdown?

Outside of work (genuinely don’t know what I would have done without Snowplow), I’ve picked up about 1000 hobbies. I started longboarding, bought myself a bike and started cycling around London, and picked up my rollerblades again. During the first lockdown I had 5 housemates so we had tons of BBQs and then after moving, my housemate and I kept each other sane with wine & movie nights. I have to say though, the third lockdown was definitely the most challenging for me – Winter blues hit me pretty bad as it is and I was also supposed to be in South Africa for a few months, so that was tough. A mix of weekly therapy and amazing friends kept me sane.

How do you make the most out of remote working? 

Remote working has so many positives! While I definitely miss some of the office interaction, remote working means no commute and more time to workout/read/work etc. I also love to travel so for me, the ability to take my work with me has been such a blessing. I’ve worked from Cape Town, New York, Corfu and plan to start travelling again as soon as we’re able. The freedom to take my work with me and do a job I love from anywhere is amazing.

What are you most looking forward to this year?

Travelling! I cannot wait to go and see new places, visit friends & family and have adventures again. Work wise, I’m excited to continue on this huge growth journey we’re on and I’m also about to finish my CIPD Level 5 Diploma which I’ve been doing alongside work for the last year. 

If you could see yourself working alongside Miriam in People Ops, you might be interested in one of our exciting HR roles. Get in touch, we’d love to hear from you!