Hello. My name is Asano. I joined Candlewick in April. I had been working here as an intern since I was a college student, so it was such a great pleasure to officially become a full-time employee in the Spring!

As the newest member of Candlewick, I am excited to announce our new project, “Behind-The-Scenes Staff Interview”, in which I, Asano will have an interview with each member of Candlewick and introduce their backgrounds, as well as their thoughts on PR and working at Candlewick. For our first interview session, I sat down with Natasha.

A: Asano

N: Natasha

A: I heard that before you came to Tokyo, you used to work in the PR department of a publishing company in New York. Did you face any difficulties adjusting when you first joined Candlewick?

N: I didn’t find it too difficult to adjust to the culture, however, it was a big transformation in terms of the content of the work. When I was in NY, I was in charge of promoting niche products to a very specific target audience. Therefore, the methods for approaching the targets were fairly set. In contrast, here at Candlewick, because I have been working with various brands that target a wide range of consumers, I now need to be much more creative in thinking about effective approaches.

A: I see. So it wasn’t too difficult of an adjustment?

N: The biggest challenge was really adjusting to everything being in Japanese but even if it was difficult, I knew this was something that couldn’t be avoided since I chose to move here. Therefore, I would practice by listening and mimicking what I heard around me. For example, I would write down the phrases that the senior members frequently used during meetings with media and later looked up each of them to comprehend the meanings. When making phone calls, I always prepared a script in advance, anticipating how the conversation would take place. That was how I adjusted to working in Japanese.

A: I have always thought this, but you are really hardworking and diligent in learning new things.

N: When it comes to learning languages, the best way is to use the language every day. Even if you study a lot, if you don’t use it, you’ll forget it quickly. So using Japanese every day has been the best way to learn quickly.

A: What made you decide to work in Japan, and more particularly, at a Japanese PR agency?

N: I studied abroad in Japan and after graduating university, I was interested in moving back to Japan. However, I also wanted to work towards discovering my career path and doing something that would truly interest me. When I was working in NY, I realized that though I enjoyed PR and marketing, for my next job, I wanted to work on products that I myself would use, products for the general consumer, rather than niche products. So, I began looking for job opportunities that would allow me to do just that.

A: You succeeded in advancing your career overseas. That must have been quite difficult and taken a lot of effort to achieve.

N: Right after I graduated from university, I could have come to Japan as an English teacher; however, I knew that I could not feel satisfied with that choice. To build up my future career, I chose to stay in the States for several years and experience a lot of jobs to improve my overall business skills and discover my true passion.

A: You really like to take on a challenge!

N: I don’t know what I was thinking at the time!

A: And, here at Candlewick, you are now in charge of PR in two different sectors, food and travel, right? When do you feel most motivated by the work that you are doing?

N: In the case of Monaco, for instance, every time I visit there, I can see that the number of Japanese visitors is increasing. Of course, we can see this in the statistics, but experiencing firsthand Japanese visitors in Monaco makes me motivated to continue our work. I love being able to share with people information on great foods and destinations, that bring joy to people’s lives. Therefore, all the wonderful clients that I have at Candlewick keep me motivated to work harder and do a better job to introduce people to great products and experiences.

A: I agree that all the clients we promote are great. That is one of the reasons why I wanted to join Candlewick! It makes me sad though that because of the global pandemic, the travel industry is taking a big hit. Are there any particular things that you focus on now when promoting tourism?

N: I think it is very important in the current climate to share information in a way that brings people hope since this has been such a difficult time. That is why I have been trying to spread news that will make people feel positive and dream of the day when they can travel again. Of course, we also understand the importance of sharing the latest facts and information though!

A: It’s always exciting when the information we share finally reaches the consumers! Is there anything you do to make sure you have the latest information?

N: Of course, I check the news on a daily basis. However, the other thing that I find is very important is making sure we share information as quickly as possible. Particularly now with things changing constantly around the pandemic, it’s important to share travel news with consumers as soon as possible.

A: Last question! In the present climate, there are no givens and many things are changing. Are there any new things you want to take on as a challenge?

N: This is actually something which I challenged recently. The other day, I had the opportunity to hold an online interview between the UK and Japan through Zoom. Previously, we mostly conducted interviews in person when our clients came to Japan but the industry is changing and people are more open to doing things online, which is a fun challenge. I am also excited to work on more virtual events going forward.

A: Thank you so much. It was great to be able to sit down and dive into these topics together.