Square Works Member Spotlight: Georgia Mizen

by Evie Andrews

Regular Squarely readers will know that here at Square Works, the achievement that we are proudest of is our wonderful community. We are so lucky to have so many amazing businesses and individuals in-house, and as such, we like to show them off whenever we can! One such example is the fabulous Georgia Mizen, who joined Square Works midway through 2023. As the founding Director of Fable & Verse, Georgia specialises in freelance marketing and advertising support for businesses that bring joy. When she’s not excelling professionally, Mizen is a competitive athlete, world traveller and eminent Taylor Swift
fan. Read on to find out more.

Congratulations on winning Bristol’s Businesswoman of the Year at the UK Business Awards! What inspired you to pursue digital marketing in the first place?

Thank you! I’m honoured and delighted. Honestly? It was a total accident. I wanted to be a journalist, but somehow segued into content production and copywriting in 2013. When I reached a ceiling with that around 2017, I decided to diversify my skill set and taught myself social and search advertising, SEO, email marketing, analytics and more. From there, I just went from strength to strength. It’s not been a linear journey, but I think being self-taught has made me more determined, dedicated and inspired.

Fable & Verse has grown dramatically since its founding in 2017. What is your proudest achievement as founding Director?

Nourishing other womens’ careers and pulling them up the ladder with me. My core team at Fable & Verse is made up of talented, creative, ambitious women – when I Iook around me, I’m most proud that I’ve played a part in giving them opportunities to thrive. One of the biggest challenges facing women entrepreneurs is combatting the endemic gender bias, leading to struggles securing investment, being taken seriously as a business owner and outright sexism.

Have you had any experiences with this, and if so, how did you overcome these obstacles?

Absolutely! I don’t know a woman entrepreneur who hasn’t. Earlier in my career, I took this bias on board and it manifested itself as imposter syndrome. Over the years, I’ve learned to trust my instincts, believe in my decisions, own my mistakes and push for my voice to be heard. I genuinely believe that if you are confident in yourself, others are
confident in you and that’s what helps you to overcome the setbacks and start to be taken seriously. If you treat the sexism as ridiculous, it becomes so.

What are the biggest professional challenges facing digital marketing freelancers in 2024?

Hands down, the lack of financial support. I know so many freelancers who are going back to employment for the security of sickpay, holiday leave and maternity cover in what is a rollercoaster market right now. This is exactly the challenge I’m hoping to combat with my new project: a financial support platform for freelancers.The Guild of Fable & Verse will be an innovative platform designed to support and empower freelancers across various industries by providing essential financial and practical resources. The project aims to bridge the gap in support that freelancers often face, from grants for taking time off to have baby, being unable to work due to illness or a slump in incoming work to corporate-style benefits and learning and development support.

You are (arguably) the biggest Swiftie I know. What is your favourite Taylor Swift song and why?

What an impossible question! My current favourite song is The Great War from Midnights (3am Edition). The song uses the symbolism of the First World War to describe conflict in a relationship, which I find poignant and multi-layered. It’s songwriting at its most clever.

You were a member of the Poetry Society during your time at the University of Oxford. If you could grab a drink with any poet, living or dead, who would it be and why?

Carol Ann Duffy. Her poem “Words, Wide Night” lives rent-free in my head. I first read it when I was around 16 and no other poem I’ve read since so succinctly captures the perfect agony of being in love, perhaps unrequited, and how ludicrous it is to put that feeling into words. For me, that’s the essence of poetry and I would love to soak up that skill from her.

Thanks for chatting to us, Georgia, and check out more about Fable & Verse on their website: www.fableandverse.co.uk. 

Key features of The Guild of Fable & Verse:

Grant applications: The ability to apply for grants that are released every month.

Mentors: Access to a programme of free mentorship with an experienced mentor.

Corporate style benefits: Integration with a corporate style benefit portal, providing additional perks like brand discounts, “bonuses” and access to health insurance.

Member profile management: Members can manage their profile, skills, rates and subscription.

Event booking and courses: Freelancers can book events, access written and video courses and download resources.

Mastership applications: A system for viewing and applying for mastership programmes.

Open to work: Creative Freelancers can choose to submit their details to the Fable & Verse network as open to work, and to be invited to work on agency projects.

Keep an eye out for our bespoke events tailored to women in business on the Square Works website.