A guide to doing something awesome

My attitude towards everything changed after a chance encounter with a remarkable, smart, sassy lady called Claire Wilson. She was freelancing on a project we were working on with her brother, and it also turned out she was my neighbour. We became good friends.

Claire was in remission from cancer and her attitude made me realise that life is what you bring to something, not what you get from it. She had a canny way of persuading people to agree to things. I remember in the space of one cab journey home, she'd persuaded me to mentor a young person and offer them a work placement, sit on her board and help with the marketing strategy of her charity; all in the most unassuming way, with a smile on her face.

I learned that I could make an impact on a charity and help out young adults. It got me thinking - if I can make an impact, imagine what more people can do if you bring a collective of curious minds together. We may be all time short, but what we have in our network at The Marketing Society are the most talented minds in the business. So how can we empower everyone to give something back? This was the initial seed of Marketing for Good, a Marketing Society initiative of which I'm really proud.

Claire clarified what doing something awesome means. It's about bringing interesting and interested people together to solve problems, generate big ideas and make the world a better place.

There are lots of ways we can do this as an industry. For example, we've pulled together some great minds to brainstorm how to make a live London venue more successful. This venue is well known for inspiring young adults through arts and culture. I'm optimistic that together we can make a difference here, and elsewhere.

Sadly, Claire passed away a year later. At her funeral it was standing room only. My inspirational friend is dearly missed but her legacy lives on in Marketing for Good and so many other things she touched.

For Claire, doing something awesome was what she did every day without thinking. Some of us need more guidance. The first step is to recognise the impact you can have, and the second step is to realise how much more we can do if we act together. We really can make a difference.

Here are my three top tips for doing something awesome.

Go into every situation
with what you can bring to it, not what you can take from it.

Create experiences
in a space where you can build connections with in people. Bring these curious minds together to form a collective.

Love what you do
and be passionate about it; that's the only way you'll be truly great.

Gemma is managing director of The Marketing Society. Read more from her in our Clubhouse.