Mediaboss Marketing

Our series What I Learned... takes a look at those who have pivoted from unusual job roles before settling on a life in adland. This week, we caught up with Alex Moran from Space & Time, who shares his lessons from life as a Ugandan teacher and the lessons for his current position as an SEO lead.

Hi Alex! Tell us a little about who you are and what you do now.

Im the search engine optimization (SEO) lead at growth marketing agency Space & Time. I lead and grow the team by boosting brand visibility and demonstrating to brands the value of SEO across mediums they may not have considered to be part of search. In the past, Ive held roles at Jellyfish, Dentsu and WPP.

And before all that Uganda?

I previously worked as a primary school teacher, with my first role teaching IT in Uganda for a year. I was 23 when I packed my bags and left behind a role in agency sales to move to the Ugandan capital Kampala. While I was there, I also helped market a local home-care charity, taught the basics of business studies, and even coached a local team.

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How did you adjust to the role?

Teaching IT certainly started as a challenge... initially we didnt have any computers. So I had to focus on the things that had become part of our natural language that we havent had to learn. If youve never been around a computer mouse before, you only know mouse as one thing. We later found a scheme online called Computers 4 Africa, which provided laptops for the school.

The other challenge was organizing too many projects at once. It meant I was spread thinly at a young age, at a time when I experienced many changes in my life. On reflection, it might have been more impactful to focus on one or two projects rather than take on too much at once.

What impact did that time in Uganda have on you?

I loved teaching so I went on to do a PGCE afterward. [British educational standards and tests] Ofsted and SATs didnt quite leave me with the same feeling, so with my new skills and life experience of working abroad, I re-discovered agency life with a fresh perspective. I knew from working across digital channels that my passion lay in SEO, and I decided to do what I enjoy the most first and foremost.

Im incredibly lucky to be able to run SEO training courses in my current role, so I can bring my teaching skills to the world of digital. Its a part of my job that I take a lot of enjoyment from. I try to ensure those in my sessions too.

Do your lessons as a teacher still sit with you?

Sometimes, you need a wide lens to find out what you want to zoom in on. The experience helped me understand the value of picking a specialism. Within that, I initially focused on the technical part. While its important to have a broad understanding across channels and capabilities, Id recommend to those starting out to find and develop a specialism.

I was lucky at [previous agency] iProspect to initially work in a technical role, and then move on to local SEO. However, if your company cant offer such varied roles, there is still scope to champion a particular service and become the expert on the Amazon SEO product. Youll soon realize: no matter how niche you go, you arent the only expert out there and theres lots to learn.

Would you recommend working as an international teacher to someone else?

Im not the first or the last person to spend a year working abroad; in fact, my mother and grandmother both worked in Africa in their twenties for a year. Im also not the first or last person to make the move from teaching into the corporate world.

I think a lot of people leave university without a defined job in mind, or the job market doesnt initially facilitate their dreams. Take the time to do something positive and uplifting; it will help you find out what you want to do on a permanent basis. Dont feel like a year out is too much time to give up searching for a career. If you plan to work for another 40+ years, its important to take the time to find the right path for you.

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What I learned... as a teacher in Uganda, with Space & Time's Alex Moran - The Drum

Carmen and Amanda Brooks are among the over 600 participants who have completed the Skills for the Future digital literacy programme, but theyre not your usual pair of students. This mother-daughter team went on a journey of completing the course together and in the process developed new skills while strengthening their relationship.

Carmen first introduced the programme to her daughter Amanda after learning about it on a radio programme. She immediately thought about how beneficial the course would be for her daughter, particularly as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted traditional learning methods.

I thought it was a good opportunity at the time, especially with the way how COVID-19 was affecting our education system. I also thought it would enhance her resume, said Carmen.

However, shortly after her daughter started the course, Carmen joined her on a learning experience that would turn out to be fun and an extraordinary bonding opportunity for both women.

It was a motivational and fun experience, said Amanda of doing the course with her mother. We motivated each other to keep going, reminding one another of the benefits of the programme.

Carmen added that, It made our relationship better the hours she and I spent encouraging each other. It was a fun and supportive experience.

The Skills for The Future programme is a collaboration between the Flow Foundation and the Mona School of Business and Management through the Caribbean School of Data. Its a free 12-week programme for persons 16 to 60 years old, offering training in digital literacy and data management so they can compete in the growing digital environment.

Amanda, who now works as a digital clerk, said she benefited greatly from the programme by improving her digital literacy.

I learnt various topics ranging from Microsoft Excel, SEO development, data governance and web development. Being able to learn these gives me the push I need to boost my resume and knowledge in general, Amanda stated.

With Amandas renewed hope and optimism, this is how Carmen imagined impacting her daughters life when she first learnt about the programme. Her parental instincts saw the value in the Skills for the Future programme and in the process she too gained valuable skills that will help her in her job as a student assistant at the University of Technology Jamaica.

I am very grateful for the opportunity to improve myself in areas I never thought I would be doing. This programme has taught me to be more assertive in areas I was timid in before, said Carmen.

The Skills for the Future Programme has a goal of training 4,000 Jamaicans in digital literacy. Graduates of the programme can further their education by applying for the Training for Professionals programme, another educational platform offered by the Flow Foundation.

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Mother and daughter find value in Skills for the Future programme - Jamaica Gleaner

Marketing organizations are still doing it. Ripping out martech solutions in favor of alternatives with better features, better integration capabilities and more data centralization.

And that includes mission-critical solutions like marketing automation and CRM.

The 2022 MarTech Replacement Survey showed a continuation of some of the trends detected in 2021. Organizations are still re-training team members to handle new technology rather than bringing on new hires. Proving ROI has always been important, but the importance is growing. Businesses are still switching from homegrown to commercial technologies. And the voice of marketing operations is getting louder.

Solutions replaced. It never ceases to surprise us to see so many marketing teams facing the challenge of trading their existing marketing automation and CRM platforms for something new. Its easier to swap out SEO tools, and thats the third most frequently replaced category in this report.

Up this year was the replacement of project management, ABM and e-commerce platforms but respondents seem to have figured out virtual events in 2020 and 2021, because there was less activity in that category in this latest report.

A deep dive. The survey, based on responses from almost 300 marketers, not only looks at which solutions were replaced, but also:

Download the 2022 MarTech Replacement Survey here. Its free and requires no registration.

Why we care. Marketing technology is no longer a nice add-on that supports campaigns and creative initiatives. In fact, it stopped being that a number of years ago. The martech stack is at the center of marketing, determining what marketing organizations can attempt and achieve, defining viable and exceptional strategies, and creating the conditions for success or failure.

Within the constraints of budgets and the need to demonstrate ROI, every savvy marketing team sees the stack as something constantly evolving and hopefully improving. Youre all on a journey what we are humbly trying to do is help show you the way.

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The 2021 MarTech Replacement Survey is here.

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Replacement Survey: Marketers want better features from their martech solutions - MarTech

Omega-3 fats, whey and exercise are just some meaningful ways to fight sarcopenia, or age-related muscle loss, before it strikes during your later years

A form of muscle loss,sarcopeniais a common condition affecting up to 12% of older adults. The progressiveloss of skeletal musclemass and strength is linked to an increased risk of physical disability, poor quality of life and death.[i]

Despite the lack of international consensus on diagnosing sarcopenia, its characterized by loss of skeletal muscle mass and function in older individuals along with a wide range of patients.[ii][iii]

You may take meaningful actions to prevent and reverse sarcopenia. Some of its causes are a natural result of aging, but others are preventable through a healthy diet and lifestyle strategies. Quality of nutrition, for instance, may help preserve the ability for skeletal muscle regeneration as you age.[iv]Here are five strategies to help fight this condition naturally.

Omega-3 fatty acids are known to stimulate protein anabolism in animals and may benefit sarcopenia. To test this hypothesis, researchers randomly assigned 16 healthy older adults to receive omega-3 fats or corn oil for eight weeks.[v]Results showed that omega-3s stimulated muscle protein synthesis and may be useful for preventing and treating sarcopenia.

Omega-3 fats are deemed a useful therapeutic agent for the disease due to their anti-inflammatory properties targetinginflammaging,the age-related chronic low-gradeinflammationassumed to contribute to the development of sarcopenia.[vi]

A diet rich in pro-inflammatory foods has, in fact, been correlated positively with the risk of sarcopenia, suggesting an anti-inflammatory diet may be one key to preventing it.[vii]

In addition, omega-3s may also have an anabolic effect on muscle by activating mTOR signaling and reducing insulin resistance. They may complement the effect of exercise or protein supplementation, with researchers urging a further review of the exact dosage, frequency or use of these fats for the said benefit.

Protein supplementation is sometimes necessary to maintain skeletal muscle mass, andwheyprotein is among the best.

In two animal experiments, researchers found that whey protein attenuated induced muscle atrophy by enhancing the net protein content that regulates the synthesis and degradation of muscle protein.[viii]They dubbed the food anecessary and probable candidatefor developing sarcopenia-fighting functional foods.

Highlighting the combined benefit of therapy and nutritional intervention, separate research found that, combined with omega-3s, polyphenols and electrical muscle stimulation, whey protein increased muscle strength in elderly adults suffering from limited mobility.[ix]Paired with Panax ginseng berry extract, soluble whey protein hydrolysate also ameliorated sarcopenia-related muscular deterioration.[x]

Exercise leads to sustained benefits to sarcopenia in heart failure cases, helping to attenuate skeletal muscle wasting in this population.[xi]Among sarcopenic men of advanced old age, tai chi and whole body vibration were also found to be effective in improving muscle strength as well as physical performance.[xii]

A 2019 review of 331 articles also revealed thatexercisewas beneficial for skeletal muscle regeneration, muscle metabolism and motor function in mice with sarcopenia.[xiii]Interventions involved using treadmills, particularly for high-intensity interval training.

Diets marked by high consumption of fish, soybean products, potatoes, most vegetables, mushrooms, seaweeds and fruits, along with low rice intake, was inversely associated with sarcopenia in community-dwelling older Japanese.[xiv]

Miso is afermented pastethat is traditionally added to many Japanese dishes. In a cross-sectional study, habitual miso intake was associated with a low prevalence of sarcopenia in patients with Type 2 diabetes.[xv]Insulin resistance is considered a risk factor for the condition, which is characteristically present in type 2 diabetes sufferers.

Studies onvitamin D supplementation, including a systematic review of 29 studies, offer compelling evidence of increased muscle strength.[xvi]Vitamin D deficiency is a common health problem globally, particularly among older individuals. Vitamin D regulates multiple human functions, including the skeletal muscle, so the fat-soluble vitamin may be crucial to maintain and improve muscle strength and physical performance over time.[xvii]

In a 2012 study, greater visceral fat and lower muscle mass were associated with lower vitamin D3 levels among elderly Korean men.[xviii]Results suggested that screening for deficiency may be appropriate in the elderly withvisceral obesityor sarcopenia.

Republished fromGreenMedInfo.com

[i] Kurose S et alPrevalence and risk factors of sarcopenia in community-dwelling older adults visiting regional medical institutions from the Kadoma Sarcopenia StudySci Rep. 2020.

[ii] Suetta C et alThe Copenhagen Sarcopenia Study: lean mass, strength, power, and physical function in a Danish cohort aged 20-93 yearsJ Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2019 Dec;10(6):1316-1329.Epub 2019 Aug 16.

[iii]Clin Cases Miner Bone Metab. 2014 Sep;11(3):177-80.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25568649/ [iv]Domingues-Faria C et alSkeletal muscle regeneration and impact of aging and nutritionAgeing Res Rev. 2016 Mar ;26:22-36. Epub 2015 Dec 9. [v]Smith G et alDietary omega-3 fatty acid supplementation increases the rate of muscle protein synthesis in older adults: a randomized controlled trial.Am J Clin Nutr. 2011 Feb;93(2):402-12. Epub 2010 Dec 15. [vi]Dupont J et alThe role of omega-3 in the prevention and treatment of sarcopeniaAging Clin Exp Res. 2019 Feb 19. Epub 2019 Feb 19. [vii]Geng J et alDietary inflammatory potential and risk of sarcopenia: data from national health and nutrition examination surveysAging(Albany NY). 2020 12 14 ;13(2):1913-1928. Epub 2020 Dec 14. [viii]Shin J et alSoluble Whey Protein Hydrolysate Ameliorates Muscle Atrophy Induced by Immobilization via Regulating the PI3K/Akt Pathway in C57BL/6 MiceNutrients. 2020 Nov 1 ;12(11). Epub 2020 Nov 1. [ix]Boutry-Regard C et alSupplementation with Whey Protein, Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Polyphenols Combined with Electrical Muscle Stimulation Increases Muscle Strength in Elderly Adults with Limited Mobility: A Randomized Controlled TrialNutrients. 2020 Jun 23 ;12(6). Epub 2020 Jun 23. [x]Han M et alBerry Extract and Soluble Whey Protein Hydrolysate Mixture Ameliorates Sarcopenia-Related Muscular Deterioration in Aged MiceNutrients. 2022 Feb 14 ;14(4). Epub 2022 Feb 14. [xi]Cho J et alExercise as a Therapeutic Strategy for Sarcopenia in Heart Failure: Insights into Underlying MechanismsCells. 2020 Oct 13 ;9(10). Epub 2020 Oct 13. [xii]Zhu Y et alTai Chi and whole-body vibrating therapy in sarcopenic men in advanced old age: a clinical randomized controlled trialEur J Ageing. 2019 Sep ;16(3):273-282. Epub 2019 Mar 2. [xiii]Guo S et alImpacts of exercise interventions on different diseases and organ functions in miceJ Sport Health Sci. 2020 Jan ;9(1):53-73. Epub 2019 Jul 13. [xiv]Yokoyama Y et alAssociation of nutrient-derived dietary patterns with sarcopenia and its components in community-dwelling older Japanese: a cross-sectional studyNutr J. 2021 Jan 18 ;20(7). [xv]Takahashi F et alHabitual Miso (Fermented Soybean Paste) Consumption Is Associated with a Low Prevalence of Sarcopenia in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Cross-Sectional StudyNutrients. 2020 Dec 28 ;13(1). Epub 2020 Dec 28. [xvi]Nutrients.2020 Oct; 12(10): 3189. [xvii]Remelli F et alVitamin D Deficiency and Sarcopenia in Older PersonsNutrients. 2019 Nov 21 ;11(12). Epub 2019 Nov 21. [xviii]Seo J et alAssociation Between Visceral Obesity and Sarcopenia and Vitamin D Deficiency in Older Koreans: The Ansan Geriatric StudyJ Am Geriatr Soc. 2012 Feb 8. Epub 2012 Feb 8.

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5 Ways to Prevent and Reverse Age-Related Muscle Loss - The Epoch Times

The first person fan gets to meet in Money Heist: Korea Joint Economic Area, is the K-dramas narrator. Actor rsula Corber initially played Tokyo, but Jeon Jong-seo took on the role for the K-drama remake. In the Spanish series, a tragic death due to a heist went wrong leads Tokyo to the Professor. In Money Heist: Korea, Tokyos story is changed to fit the economic and political circumstances of the K-drama.

[WARNING: This article contains major spoilers forMoney Heist: Korea.]

The series is told with the narration of Tokyo as she and the characters go through the planning stages of the heist and its execution. One rule set by the Professor is that none of the thieves know each others real names or backstory. In real life, Tokyo is Silene Oliveira, a thief since the age of 14. As a teen, she joined her 28-year-old boyfriend in planning and pulling off a total of 15 heists.

Tokyo falls madly in love with her boyfriend and gets engaged, but their new heist results in tragedy. With her boyfriend, they rob a Prosegur pickup truck. But the plan goes wrong and leads to a shootout, resulting in the death of three people, including Tokyos fianc.

She becomes a fugitive on the run and one of the most wanted thieves in Spain. Tokyo has a set plan to escape on a boat but decides to see her mother one last time. The Professor approaches her and explains police have her mothers home surrounded.

He offers her the opportunity to join the heist alongside the other thieves. Still troubled by her lovers death, Tokyo vows not to mix love and the heist but fails. Money Heist: Korea completely changes Tokyos story to fit the economic setting and turmoil.

RELATED: Money Heist: How Leon and Mathilda in The Professional Influenced Tokyos Story

Money Heist: Korea begins by introducing its narrator and protagonist, Tokyo. In North Korea, fans see a young Tokyo jamming out to BTS and is a self-proclaimed ARMY. But the countrys strict rules forbid South Korean music and entertainment.

The only difference between me and the other ARMY was that I had to join the real army, explains Tokyo. The scene shows Tokyo among other soldiers doing target practice. She is a perfect shot. In the flashback, she explains its been years since the summit between North and South Korea and the United States. When hope dwindled, the government announced the North and South would become a unified country.

Tokyo was determined to start a new life and heads to Seoul after her discharge. The year is 2025. Her new life does not go as planned as an immigration broker ran off with her money and job. Tokyo starts to work as a waitress and hostess, keeping men company.

She visits the gangster she owes money to when his thugs bring in a severely beaten woman. The woman is the waitress Tokyo worked with. When Tokyo tries to save her, the gangster hits her and plans to assault her and the girl. Tokyo uses her training to kill them, save the girl and rob them. She becomes wanted by the police for a series of thefts against loan sharks.

RELATED: Money Heist: Park Hae-soo Teases How Berlin Differs in the K-Drama Remake

There is one slight similarity in how Tokyo meets the Professor. Both the Spanish version and the K-drama version meet him at their lowest point. They see him as a guardian angel. In Money Heist: Korea, Tokyo sees the news report about her, but her bloody hand reveals she is gravely wounded.

In an empty alley near a church, Tokyo decides there is no way out and plans to take her own life. The Professor (Yoo Ji-tae) appears and entices her with a plan to pull off the biggest heist in history. The Professor explains if she is willing to throw away her life, why not put it in his hands.

Unlike the Spanish original, Tokyos backstory is not tied to a past love. Instead, the K-drama Tokyo is grittier due to her harsh past and has more combat training. As Tokyo does not have the same rule about love as the Spanish version, this means romance does not play a role for her.

Money Heist: Korea Joint Economic Area, is available on Netflix.

RELATED: Taxi Driver Season 2: Lee Je-hoon and Main Cast Confirmed Heres Everything We Know

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'Money Heist: Korea': Tokyo's Backstory Is Nothing Like the Spanish Original - Here's Why - Showbiz Cheat Sheet