How I Made It: Nicole Melillo Shaw, Volvo UK MD

I was really motivated at school. I didn’t necessarily know where I was heading in terms of my future career, but I always wanted to move to the next level. My degree was in French and Spanish, and then I did a master's in marketing management. During that process, there was the opportunity to leapfrog quite a lot of the programme and do the top level of a post-grad diploma. A lot of people might have said they’d had enough – and I had started to feel like I was top heavy on academic education rather than experience at that point – but the post-grad diploma is a really high accolade, so I did that as well. 

My preference was to work for a company where I could really embrace my marketing background. At the time, Smith & Nephew was based in Hull, which was quite close to where I'd come back to from university. The reason I chose them was that it was very clear they would nurture talent, it was a very professional set up and you didn't have to follow a linear programme. I got the strong impression that I would be guided through the early stages of my career and that’s exactly what happened.  

Starting as a marketing assistant, you do a bit of everything. You have fingers in every pie and get to spend a lot of time with senior people. I really enjoyed that. It was a proper immersion into what the business did and all its products. When I was there, we launched Smith & Nephew’s nano crystalline silver technology, which helped speed up the time of wound healing. It was very much a sales-led company, so it was important that I went into the field. I chose to focus on Liverpool and did really well there, which was important because then I had so much more credibility when I came back. 

It was then that I decided to go to London and get a more consumer-focused role. At the time, Reckitt Benckiser (RB) had a healthcare division in Hull and a homecare division in London. They’d acquired a few brands from Boots into their healthcare portfolio, one of which was E45. I could really see the link between what they wanted to do with that brand – make it more mainstream – and my background. I saw this as an opportunity to spearhead the understanding of that division, so I sought them out. They were very pleased that I could face off to dermatologists, speak to the field team and turn the product into more of a daily moisturiser rather than something just for extreme skin issues. 

It also marked a step up in terms of leadership. I’d had a couple of brand managers and more junior teams which had been great for developing one-to-one relationships. But this was the first time where I had to learn to manage the team, the brand, the visibility of the portfolio – and myself. It challenged me and forced me to look at where and how I was feeling uncomfortable. Sometimes I’d come home at the end of the day and think I’d got it wrong today. Other times I’d think I’d really made a difference.  

You find out who you are in these sorts of environments. When you are being asked questions and need to have robust answers daily, either you avoid or embrace the learnings. I always found the latter – being able to admit when you got things wrong – more effective and disarming. Sometimes you can learn to challenge back, which RB really encouraged. I was able to tell them I disagreed with what they were saying or if they were being unfair. That kind of authenticity and confidence developed as part of a company culture that championed it. Navigating all of that definitely laid the foundations for future leadership. 

From RB I moved to GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). I worked there for about five years, in a similar capacity, but with more of a global lens. I was able to use my languages, which was great and by the end of my time there, I had quite a big portfolio of brands. They decided to consolidate them and move the role to Switzerland, which wasn’t right for me and my family at the time. So, I took a step back and asked myself what it was that I wanted to do. I thought it was maybe the universe telling me this was an opportunity to try something different – I've always been okay with that. I cast the net wide in terms of looking but didn't apply for everything. Instead, I applied for things that were interesting at the right level across different industries.

When I came for the interview at Volvo, I could tell quite quickly that this was going to be a place where I could really embrace so many synergies with E45. That sounds bizarre, but Volvo was another family brand that fostered long-term relationships with customers and had a really strong heritage that it wasn’t afraid to lean into. It felt like there was a similar opportunity for Volvo to jump into mainstream markets and for the people there to really get back in touch with how customers felt when they took the cars for a test drive. Cars are democratized by definition – most people need one – so why would we only talk to those who understand them?  

At Volvo, I started as a consumer director. Then the direct model conversation started about how we were going to make our business model more personalised and relevant. From there, I moved into a commercial director role and that’s when it became clearer about what I had to offer. It was very different to other people, so had it not gone in my favour, I’d have been at peace knowing the company’s direction was not aligned with my thinking.  

I knew that trying to outmanoeuvre my competition would probably lead to failure. I had to focus on what I could bring to the table and whether it was the right direction for the business. I was nervous about applying for the MD role – the stakes were quite high – but I channelled that into preparation and planning for the interviews for a long time. In every meeting, I’d have a little notepad to jot down soundbites in case it came up later down the line. It really brought to life what I was trying to achieve. I did that consistently. I also processed a lot of my thoughts in a weekly exercise class! Ultimately, I did have a strong sense of belief underneath it all, but I definitely had some wobbles along the way. 

The first thing I did as MD was send an email to everybody about how I felt. I wanted my first move to feel quite tangible. I also asked the current MD not to come to the town hall. It was a difficult conversation, but I knew it would be like watching someone hold your baby. I didn't want to feel like I had to hold back. I set out very clearly the three things that I wanted to do. It was much more about the culture I was going to set and wanting people to be heard. I wanted to create a culture where you felt you could speak up about things you're seeing. We were also only five months into a new business model and there was still a lot of work to do. I felt that I needed to lean in to do that.  

Automotive can be quite hierarchical, so I wanted to break that down. I talked about being your authentic self, so that you haven't got all these narratives in your head and being bold. I also did a bit of an immersion into me, my family and did an interview with my HR director, so everyone could get to know me a bit more. I talked openly around how I felt about the opportunity and what I wanted to do. I think that really did set the scene. As a new boss, you have to get comfortable leaving the room and knowing that there might be some frustrations, because that's just life. It’s not about trying to keep everyone happy or trying to be friends with everybody. 

Because we were in the thick of navigating this new model, it was important to have some quick wins. It demonstrated what my leadership style had done and what my plans had driven and helped enable a reappraisal of me in an MD capacity rather than as a peer. It’s good advice for new leaders: have some quick things you can do to set out your stall – not for the sake of it but in a way that enables you to demonstrate what you've done differently to someone else. It took from November to March but by then there were a couple of meetings where I thought this has landed now. 

You go to events or look at our network and a lot of the investors and partners are male. Visibly, male domination feels real but I haven't felt it. Some of the most forward-thinking people in the network decided that if we are going direct to consumer, then I was the future. They weren't thinking male or female, they were thinking, who's going to lead us through this next transition? I sit in meeting rooms today and I don’t feel like there's a gender split – even though there is. In the UK, about half of the management team are female, half are male and it’s very similar stats in terms of the whole organisation. We've seen nearly a 10% increase in female buyers as well. 

Once you’re at this level, anything else you choose has got to fit with your personal values. If you choose to go into an environment that doesn't suit your individual needs, you’re going to be gone quite quickly because you can't be inauthentic at a higher level. Is a role you’re looking at something that allows you to be authentic? That's how I would choose my next company or move. 

I’m not going anywhere yet but that doesn’t mean I don’t think about legacy. I’d really like people to say that when Nicole was here, I felt like I grew as a person as well as in my role. It’s about fostering a culture where people can feel richer as a person when they leave than when they started. 

If I could give young people any advice, it would be to not have any limitations. If you do that, then it automatically cuts you off from opportunity. If I'd have said I was only a brilliant healthcare marketeer or commercial person, I would never have considered a move into automotive. Think about your skillset rather than the actual role. Also, don’t overly focus on the competition. You never really know what other people's journeys are. I remember very early on looking at my vulnerabilities in the context of another female colleague but when I chatted to her, I found out she wanted to do something completely different. Basically, don’t benchmark yourself against things that are not necessarily real. Everyone's on their own journey. Spend more time on honing your skills, thinking about different opportunities for you, what your passion points are and just go full throttle towards them.  

When I think about what’s helped me get to this position, it’s leaning into empathy. Sometimes women feel like they've got to compete by being more aggressive but what I've learned along the way is that if you’re not that person, don't try to be. Having empathy and flexibility and focusing on top talent is more important than whether they do 12-hour days or whether they're visible in the office day to day. When it comes down to it, good people rise to the top – so surround yourself with them. If people at Volvo could describe me as a leader in three words, I would say authentic, ambitious and fair.  

What’s helped me balance this career with a personal or family life? First, being clear with my husband about whose career was going to be the focus. You’ve got to call it so you know how to make future decisions about who looks after the children etc. I'm not saying I'm never flexible, but there’s a framework to work with. Second, there's quite a lot of people behind the scenes making sure things happen seamlessly. I have a fantastic team and support network.   

I talk to both of my daughters about what I do. Because on those days when you feel bad for leaving them, they’ll say good luck and want to know how it went afterwards. That motivates you to keep going. Being a working mother is a day-to-day process of trying not to beat yourself up and I think you can only do that if you measure things more generally and make sure your support network is helping where they can.  

Being completely open with your team is what helps you get through the tougher days. I'm here to listen. I don't have all the answers. But if we need to resolve a few things, then I encourage people to ask questions. I need them to be open. I need them to speak up and be happy to do that. Also, my husband is a great sounding board as are our children. I always talk to our eldest, who's eight, about what's been good and what's been bad today. I have to disseminate my day in a childlike way and when you do that, you feel like it's possible to overcome any problem.   

Visit VOLVOCARS.COM